1 Peter 5:8 – “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Many of us as believers go about our days without realizing that we have a very real and present enemy.  From the Bible, we know that were it possible, Satan would lead astray even those chosen by God for righteousness to be heirs with Christ.  We know that our personal sinfulness is fertile ground for our enemy to attempt to convince us of lies – to tell us that Christ is not enough or worthy of our praise in joy.  So what are we to do when tempted, or when life is a struggle?  Well the one offensive weapon described in the Bible (as a sword) is the Word of God itself.  Be encouraged.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 – “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Proverbs 18:10 – “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”

Joshua 1:9 – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 – “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

When we are tempted, or encounter trials in life – know that you are never alone, God is always with you.  I hope these verses are an encouragement – there are many more that point to the faithfulness of God in all things, especially towards His children.  Memorize them, and write them on your heart, so by the Word of God, you will take Him with you wherever you go, and you will know that you are never defenseless in your daily battles.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

The hardest battle for a believer is to continue living by faith each day, trusting God.  We have at our disposal, many resources by which we could alter our surroundings, the very idea of the “American Dream” exalts this idea – that you can be whatever you make yourself to be.  How do we manage the tension, as Christians, between trying to work things out on our own, and being inactive; waiting when God wants us to be moving?

Many of us have heard the familiar scripture to “work out your own salvation”, have have seen that as license to take the reigns of our sanctification, or progressively being made holy, out of God’s hands, and put it into our own.  What is interesting is if you look at the verse that follows, you get a fuller picture of how God’s work is accomplished in us.

Phillippians 2:12-13 – “¹²Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

So how does that work?  How is it that we work in a way that it is God accomplishing it?  The apostle Paul, who wrote the letter to the church at Phillippi, from prison, also wrote to the church of Galatia.  I think we might gain some insight on what Paul meant in Phillippians from his lamenting over the church of Galatia’s return to pursuing righteousness through their works based on the Jewish law, instead of trusting in Christ’s righteousness.

Galatians 3:2-3 – “²Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? ³Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

When we first believed on Christ, through the hearing of the gospel message, the Bible says God gave us Himself, in the form of the Holy Spirit, to live within us.  Our sanctification, is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of our flesh.  That being said, the Holy Spirit will prompt us to act in our flesh, He will give us a new delight in God that will grow, as we pursue God.  As we seek after the truth of God, we will find a delight in God that outweighs our temptation towards sin.  This heart and mind, that the Holy Spirit is forming in us, is the heart and mind of Himself, of Christ.  This heart and mind, formed by the Spirit will prompt action in our lives, so that our actions are compatible with the will of God.

So then, how is it that we can ensure we are acting from the Spirit’s prompting, and not turning back to our flesh?  What are the things we can do to facilitate the Spirit’s work in our hearts/minds?

First and foremost is prayer.  There is nothing that is a better pride-killer, and glorifying to God, than coming to Him in prayer, seeking his guidance.  God LOVES this.  God will ALWAYS bless you for this.  Matthew 7:7-11 – “ ⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? ¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” 

Here it seems prudent to note – is what you’re asking God for going to draw you closer to him, or create an idol in your life?  Some people would read this and say, GREAT!  I’m going home and asking God for a Ferrari!  I hope that’s not you, but in the spirit of self-disclosure, I’ve probably misunderstood this verse to mean that myself before.  That being said, if God gives you a Ferrari, you owe me a ride, ok?  God loves us so much that he will not answer affirmatively our prayers for things that would be unhelpful, and create idols for us, but He will always answer affirmatively our prayers to draw nearer to Him.  God will always answer our prayers that will be helpful in accomplishing His will for our lives.

Secondly, the Word of God.  Do you read your Bible?  This is not an ordinary book.  This is God’s revelation of Himself to us as believers.  Most of us look at it and say – whoa, that’s a thick book!  We open it up, and we don’t know where to begin.  We see stories, and poetry, and letters, and wonder how it all fits together.  Here my encouragement is to not allow yourself to be overwhelmed – just start in the book of John, and start reading forwards.  Then when you realize that all of the Old Testament is pointing to Christ, read that as well.  Here’s what I want you to see though – Do you realize that when you are reading your Bible, the Spirit is at work in you, conforming you into the image of God?  2 Corinthians 3:15-18 – “¹⁵Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”  When we read the Bible, we see a picture of who God is, we see all of his character and nature, his glory.  As we see it, we are transformed into it.  If you want to love God more, if you want more God in your life, read your Bible over and over, it will always bear fruit in your heart.

The Bible is how our minds are renewed to know and do the will of God daily – Romans 12:1-2 – “¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Lastly, humble yourselves before other Christians.  In our culture of individualism, this is perhaps the hardest to follow for some.  Are you accountable to anyone?  One of the saddest things to see is the pastor of a church fall to sexual sin, drugs, alcohol, or some other sin that disqualifies him from service as a pastor.  Do you know the one common gap in 100% of those men’s lives?  They did not have any real accountability, where they submitted to the wisdom and counsel of other Christians.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 – “¹²And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

James 5:16 – “¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

If you show me a Christian that considers faith a “private” thing, it tells me two things.  One is that they do not read their Bible, and two is that they are about to fall – hard.  God never meant for us to go through life alone, we were meant to process our decisions with others, to have others who love God and love us help guide us for our good.

My exhortation is to seek after the things of God today.  Trust him with everything in your life, and seek to facilitate His work in you.  God is faithful, and loves to be at work in His children.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

First off, I apologize for missing the WFTD on Friday.  Sometimes people have asked if I write these out beforehand, and the answer is “no”.  These are always written (at least in part) the day of, based on how God is leading me.  As I’m not a vocational minister, some days I can just be really slammed at work, and it makes it difficult to send these out.  Separately, also know that often times I am writing from an authoritative voice – I can do this because most everything I write is simply scripture explaining scripture, or an exposition thereof, so my confidence isn’t drawn from within or my opinions, but in the Word of God.  Secondly, I also want to share, that usually what is written is as applicable to me as it is anyone.  I’ve found that usually what is helpful to me personally will be helpful to others as well, so that’s how/why I write – not as someone who has “arrived”, but as someone who is running the race along with all of you.  I hope this finds you well!

That said, today I wanted to wrap up what we can learn from Lot, which is… a lot.  Ok enough puns, ha ha.

So we’d looked at how blessed Abraham’s decision to walk by faith, and we’ve seen, in part, the fruit of Lot’s poor decision to go by what seemed right in his own eyes.  We saw how Lot’s sin, grew and grew, to where he moved close to Sodom, to living inside the city walls, to in Genesis 19, where he was actually an elected person greeting foreigners.

What I want us to see today, is the faithfulness of God.  In Genesis 19, Lot convinces the two angels of the LORD who had come to judge Sodom, to stay in his home.  The people of the city surround his house demanding that Lot give over the foreigners so that they could have “relations” with them.  How wicked can you be?  As a note, in this time/place, if a stanger came into your home, you would defend them even unto death; so Lot offered to give the mob his daughters instead.  The mob refused, and before Lots daughters were turned over, the angels of the Lord struck the mob with blindness so that they could not see, yet they still were groping to find Lot’s door.  At this point, I’d say the angels of the Lord had seen enough!  They came to see the wickedness of Sodom and now were going to judge the city.  They told Lot to get his family together to leave their house.  What was Lot’s response?  He didn’t want to leave!!  After all that Lot was lingering about his home, so the angels of the Lord in their mercy, grabbed Lot, his wife, and their two daughters and moved them outside the city.

What I want all of us to see and be encouraged by here are two things.  One is that Lot clearly had fallen far away from God, but God had not forgotten Him.  God is so just and righteous, that He could not destroy the city, if even one righteous person was left in it.  Even though Lot had sinned against the Lord, God’s faithfulness to Lot, is seen by His acting to remove him from the place of sin, to save his life.

The second thing I want us to see is that the basis for God’s saving Lot was not in Lot’s righteous works.  Clearly Lot offering his daughters to the mob showed that he was still doing what seemed best to him, instead of trusting the Lord.  Yet, God is so good, that He will not allow a single one of His children to perish – God had chosen Lot to represent his mercy amidst righteous judgement, and whomever God has declared righteous, he will not later declare unrighteous.  The providential choice of God, and His promises are true.

How does this apply to you today?  Are you struggling in sin?  Are you dealing with the consequences of decisions you made a long time ago?  Are you stuck in sin, and feel like you can’t/don’t want to leave?  There is always hope in God, God delights in seeking and saving the lost, this was the very reason Jesus came to die.  His rescue of you may be costly – after all, Lot had to leave everything behind when he was dragged from the city, but it just may save your life.

Secondly, are you a believer wondering how to approach God, when you’re struggling with sin?  Do you realize that when God saved Lot, it wasn’t because Lot was a good person.  What kind of person tries to get out of a bad situation by offering up his daughters to a mob?!  God saved Lot, because Lot was declared righteous, and he was righteous because in between God and Lot stood the person of Jesus Christ.  All of us deserve the judgement of Sodom – all of us fall short of the holiness of God.  Lot was an object of God’s mercy, just as we all are in Christ.  When God sees you, He doesn’t see the sinful wretch that we all are – he sees the new creation (2 Cor 5:17), he sees the perfect righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ, which has been given to us by God’s grace (unmerited favor) through our faith in Him.  Your sin does not define you, you are in Christ, and in Him you have become the righteousness of God.  Live life confidently out of this truth, live a life in keeping with your calling and faith, and approach God boldly, knowing that in Christ, all of the promises of God to us have been fulfilled.  2 Corinthians 1:20-22 – “²⁰For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. ²¹And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, ²²and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Yesterday we looked at the decision that Lot made, which was based on sight / his own understanding instead of walking in faith, trusting the Lord.  Today I want to dig into what happened to Lot after that decision, to see how it applies to each of us.

Specifically, after Lot had chosen his land, he moved his family, servants, and all their posessions near the town of Sodom (known for its wickedness), but made his home outside it’s walls.  Genesis 13:12-13 – “¹²Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.”

The next we hear of Lot is when Sodom is being attacked by outside invaders.  At this point it is said that he was taken, along with everything he had, making specific mention that at this point he was dwelling in Sodom, no longer outside.  Genesis 14:11-12 – “¹¹So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹²They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.”

Abraham hears of Lot’s capture, goes out and rescues him and returns him to his lands.  The next we see of Lot, is when God has come to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their unceasing wickedness, and Lot greets the Angels of the Lord at the city gate.  Genesis 19:1  “¹The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth.” This position of standing at the gate was an elected or appointed position.  Thus at this point in time, Lot was not only living amongst the wicked people of Sodom, he was actually settling in there, even having a position of some renown amongst it’s people.

I’m going to wrap up tomorrow, but hopefully from above we can see the picture God is giving us of the consequences of sin.  Sin is not static; a “small choice” away from God today, leads to another tomorrow, and so on, which leads to our heart hardening and rationalizing it to ourselves, which leads to separation from God, which is leads to death.  But we have been made alive with Christ, therefore, be encouraged and renewed to draw strength from him, knowing that He has overcome the world.  We are always in motion – either moving towards or away from God.  My question is what small choices are you making today?  Are they decisions that will grow you closer to the Lord, or are they putting you on a path away from Him?  Be sober-minded, what you begin today will bear fruit, either good or bad tomorrow.  This isn’t just a lesson about Lot’s bad decisions leading to painful consequences, we also know that our faithfulness to the Lord will bear joyful fruit for all eternity.

Galations 6:7-10 – ” ⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Be good to each other.  Encourage one another, that we would all continue to grow closer to God, where true joy is found.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

In the book of Genesis, we’re given a picture of two men chosen by God, Abram (later given the name Abraham by God) and Lot, who were kinsmen (Abraham was Lot’s uncle).  At one point, God had blessed Abraham and Lot to the point where each had large flocks and herds of animals, to the point where the land would not support both of them.  What follows is a picture of what it means to walk by faith (trusting in the LORD) and the blessing that comes with it, or pursuing what seems right to us in our own eyes, and the consequences of a heart that is not dependant upon God.

Gen 13:2-18 – ”
 ² Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD. ⁵And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, ⁷ and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. ⁸Then Abram said to Lot,”Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORDdestroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. ¹²Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD. ¹⁴The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. ¹⁶ I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. ¹⁷Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.
Much could be said about how Abraham’s desiring reconciliation and peace with his kinsmen, Lot, and seeming sacrifice is a model for how we ought to love, serve, and submit our desires to others, especially our Christian brothers and sisters.  Today, however, what I want to focus in on, is how Abraham’s choice was fruit of His faith in God, and the blessing found in faithfulness.  You see, God had already asked a lot of Abraham.  When Abraham was 75 years old, God told him to pack up everything he had with his wife, and to go inhabit a new land, hundreds of miles away.  This was no easy task in those days, always at risk of attack, disease, or exposure to the elements (for anyone let alone a 75 year old man).  Abraham had been able to see God’s faithfulness, and so when it became necessary to divide the land between Himself and Lot, He trusted that whatever the outcome, God would be faithful to provide for him, just as he has done.  We see that God did bless Abraham’s faith, not only did he give Abram the land he expected, but he promised Abram all of the land in the whole world, including Lot’s.

We’ll pick up with what happens with Lot tomorrow, but today I want us to see that this story is pointing us to how we are to live – by faith.  Lot chose what seemed best to him, in his own eyes and understanding, by looking out over the land and making his choice.  Abraham, through faith, kept his head bowed, allowing Lot to choose and trusted God; he was rewarded with an infinite blessing (As a note, the blessing spoken of by God to Abraham was Himself, Jesus Christ – God in the flesh, which would come through Abraham’s line of descendants).

In the same way, many people, the media, and the world as a whole around you will try to entice you to live for today, for the happiness that material possessions, sexual immorality, or selfish living can bring.  They can make many seemingly rational arguments, which may draw away some.  An example – people are told by their “friends” to “get a divorce, you’ll be happier single, and God wants you to be happy right?”  They’re never told that God hates divorce, that God has mad man and woman to become one flesh, and when that is separated, it will never be what it could have been.  God’s Word isn’t the driving force behind the advice we receive.  Often we buy into these lies instead of looking to God in His Word ourselves, to instruct us on how we ought to live, carrying with us the faith that God loves us and will give us the strength to endure (Rom 8:28, Jam 1:2-8).

As believers, we do not walk by sight, but by faith.  We know that we were never promised an easy life, but that God is faithful, trustworthy, and good.  We know we have a greater treasure in Christ, than all of the world put together, and if God loved us enough to spare His only Son for us, surely He would never lead us that ultimately would harm us.  We know that God desires our greatest good, which is to be in fellowship with Him.  We know that in His presence there is a fullness of joy, and we are living in the hope for that day.  Psalm 16:11 – “¹¹You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  

We are to set our minds on the things above (Col 3:2), to live by faith in the finished work of Christ.  While others may settle for fleeting happiness promised by idols such as sexual immorality, we find joy in an eternally secure relationship with the perfectly good God who has created all things.  Proverbs 3:5-8 encourages us – “ ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  ⁶In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.  ⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.  ⁸It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

My exhortation is to look at your life today.  Are you struggling with a big decision, or have you just not realized that most of your decisions have been made based on your own understanding?  Are you trying to “figure things out yourself” or have you prayed for God’s guidance with faith that He will answer, pleading with God as you study His Word to make His will known to you and your path straight?  Have you even sought answers in God’s Word at all?  Do you possess the faith to trust God, even if that means you struggle for a time not knowing an answer, and/or perhaps go through a time of hardship by choosing God’s way instead of the “easy way”?  Someone once said that there are three ways of doing things in life, the right way, the wrong way, and God’s way, and of the 3, I’ll pick God’s way every time.  Those are wise words, which lead to life and peace.  I pray for increased faith for us all, that we would live out our lives this way from God’s Word, and our identity with Christ, in keeping with our affection for Him for who He is and all He has accomplished for us.  I’m sorry for the late delivery today, I have been slammed!  Know you’re prayed and cared for.  Stay encouraged, and continue to root yourself in God’s Word, His wisdom is better than life.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Psalm 42:   “¹ As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.  ² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and appear before God? ³ My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” ⁴These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:  how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. ⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation ⁶and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.  ⁷Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.  ⁸By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.  ⁹I say to God, my rock:  “Why have you forgotten me?  Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”  ¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”  ¹¹ Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

Have you ever felt like being a Christian means that you have to put on a happy face all the time?  That you go into church, and if you don’t smile and act like nothing is wrong that you’ll get shown to the door?  That is rediculous.  I’ve been to churches like that before, I can tell you that they are not being helpful to anyone.  What about the times when life is hard?  What about those days when you just don’t feel joy for God?  Well if that’s you, know that you are not alone.  Almost every great theologian of the past, and even David, the author of this Psalm, who was described by God as “a Man after His own heart”, had times when he just didn’t feel it.  He wanted to, but it wasn’t there – there was no joy.

So what do we do when we don’t desire God?  When our hearts cannot find joy in Him?

We are constantly being fed information, and making judgements based on what we see, ponder, taste, etc.  Now this is going to sound slightly funny when I say this, but it’s actually quite true.  Of all the people who talk to you throughout the day, there is no more important and influential person – than yourself.  I don’t meant this to say we should walk around all day having an audible conversation, you might find yourself quickly in a padded room with a white jacket on if you do that.  What I am saying is that constantly you are being fed value statements about how you should feel about yourself, and the world from outside influences.  Given the condition of the world as fallen and sinful, how important is it to properly filter that information with your own knowledge of God and the Truth?

So if you find yourself struggling with your joy for God, the first thing to know from above, is that it’s ok,  you don’t have to put up a front.  The second is this – ask yourself, why are you without joy? (vs 5 & 11) Has something happened?  Is there ongoing sin in your life?  What has your relationship with God looked like?  Perhaps the most loving thing for God to do when we are moving away from Him is to remove Himself for a time, for us to feel the full weight of our sin, and see our utter dependancy upon God for all things good.  Perhaps God merely wants to grow our faith, for us to discipline ourselves to persevere.  I wouldn’t spend too much time here though, because regardless of the cause, no one wants to stay without joy, so I would quickly move on to the next step.  Turn to God.  Just go to Him – acknowledge your lack of joy for Him, and everything that you’re carrying with you emotionally.  David was very up front to tell God that his “tears had been his food day and night” (vs 3) and that he feels forgotten (vs 9).

Having confessed your heart to God, and sought Him in prayer, preach to yourself what you know of God:

1)  Remind yourself of God’s goodness – His steadfast love.  Lamentations 3:17-24 – “¹⁷my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; ¹⁸ so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.” ¹⁹ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!  ²⁰My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.  ²¹But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²² The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; ²³they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  ²⁴ “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 

Romans 8:28 – “²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Jeremiah 29:11 – “¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

2)  Look to the cross and the finished work of Christ.  Grab on to it with your heart, and preach to yourself.  Romans 5:8 – “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

John 3:16 – “¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Set your mind on eternity, and the secure place you have with God.  Psalm 73:23-28 – “²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.  ²⁴You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.  ²⁵Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  ²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  ²⁷For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.  ²⁸But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”

Romans 8:38-29 – “³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now this is probably a good time for you all to see how important daily time in God’s Word is, and memorizing scripture (I know it’s hard).  Where else will you turn when your heart is downcast except to the One who loves you enough to die in your place?  How helpful it is to have these truths carried with you every day, throughout the day to remind yourself of.  We are men, and women, and God is God.  We cannot understand all his ways (Deut 29:29), but we can know that He loves us – he showed that perfectly and magnificently for all time on the cross.  My exhortation today is this – arm yourself now with the Truth and Promises of God, so that you can guard your heart against lies from the world that you will confront you each day, seeking to rob you of your joy in God.  Arm yourselves now, so that when dark times come (and they WILL come), you will be able to turn to the Lord and God willing – soon find joy again in Him.

If you know me, you know that I deal with this more than most people.  So it is fitting for me to say to you all, that I deeply, deeply want you to know that in Christ, you are loved beyond what you can possibly imagine.  As your brother in Christ, know that my affection for you personally, even those I don’t know, powerfully drives me to want to see your joy in God abound in His truth.  If you’re downcast today, please do not let that be something you go through in isolation, God has given you other Christians as a means of His assistance and blessing to you.  If you’re downcast today, know that many great men and women of God before you have been where you’re at, but God is faithful – He proved that on the cross.  He will not leave you to this point in life forever.  Don’t worry so much about the questions of “why is this happening?”.  You’ll have plenty of time and perspective to figure that out a year or two down the road – it isn’t helpful to your situation today.  What is helpful is the encouragement to seek the Lord right now in your pain/struggles.  You’ll find a loving Father who is acquainted with your sorrows, and who in time – when it is good for you, will renew and increase your joy.  That is my prayer for myself and us all – may our joy in God be renewed daily and increasingly made complete.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

If you look around in society, there are many sayings/cliche’s that encourage us not to place all our hope in one place.  We’re told we should diversify our investments, not to “put all of our eggs into one basket”, that “everything in moderation” is a good thing.  Those ideas are fine and good except when it comes to our faith.

(Jesus was watching people at the Temple) Mark 12:41-44 “And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴²And a poor widow came and put in twosmall copper coins, which make a penny. ⁴³And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Now before I go into what I think God was meaning to say here, I first want to say that I don’t believe God was saying that each of us should sell everything we own.  God isn’t after money; what does the God who created the entire universe need with money?  It’d be like going up to Bill Gates and handing him a penny, thinking that the future of Microsoft was at stake.  Our giving to God is a gift to us, primarily, to draw our hearts to Him, not a means for us to “support” God.  But that’s something to dig into another day.  So if this isn’t a strcit model for giving financially what was God’s purpose in this parable?

I believe this parable is meant to be a picture of faith for us.  For this woman, there was no welfare, or social security.  Family was the only means of support for widows during this time, and the fact that she only carried 2 copper coins with her, likely indicated she didn’t not have a support system.  This woman could die of starvation – the money she just gave to God could have helped make her life easier.

Contrary to what some of us may hear from popular televangelists down in Houston, our best life now isn’t financial gain, or a comfortable life.  Trusting God isn’t hard when life is good, but what about when we lose our job, or when a loved one dies, or when a marriage is struggling?  I’m not going to try to explain exactly how God will use specific tough life experiences, He is God, and there are some things that are hidden except to Him alone.  God has a view of all things much greater than we can know in our small limited view and understanding.  All I will confidently say, standing on Biblical truth in view of the cross, is that God loves us so much that He wants to happen in our lives whatever is necessary that will draw our hearts closer to Him.  For that to happen, we will continually have to place our trust in Him, in His goodness and love for us, because that road likely will be very difficult for us.    

These are heart issues, and we have to wrestle with them every day.  Every day we’ll battle our flesh to determine who will have our trust, God or ourselves.  Christians, my question is this – who better to trust than our perfectly good and holy God, who loves us enough to die for us on a cross?  Are there areas of your life you haven’t turned over to God yet?  My exhortation is this – do that today.  Talk with God, seek Him in His Word, gather other Christians around you to encourage you, and God will grant you a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Grace and Peace,
Adam  

Hosea 6:1-3 – “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.  Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Our God is not unaware of our sinful condition.  We do not have to try to “fool God” into accepting us.  That whole idea is futile anyway, because even our “righteous” deeds are like filthy rags in front of a Holy God (Isaiah 64:6).  The question for us, however, is will we come to the Lord humble, meek, and dependant?  There is no other way to approach God.  Whoever seeks to come to God under his own power, will be judged according to his deeds.  As a friend, let me encourage you that before you seek to come to God on your own terms, know that nothing is hidden from God, even the whispers of our heart, God’s standard is perfection, and He is an all consuming fire.

So when two men are being judged after death, one who serves the poor every day, is always a nice person, and volunteers at the orphanage on the weekends, and the guy that is a struggling sinner hiding behind Jesus, the self righteous person is going to come out extra crispy… Hmmm, you can take your works, I’ll take Jesus.

This isn’t easy though, right?  We all are born prideful.  We want to live for ourselves, and even in “religious” matters we want to choose whatever suits us, instead of looking at what the Bible says.  We want to make ourselves right, instead of admitting we’re hopeless apart from Jesus.  Here’s my question – will you humbly come to the Lord for healing?  Will you look to Him for life and salvation?  Do you trust that He is with you even now?

Each of us is unique.  Each of us have unique backgrounds and lives.  Each of us makes choices.  Will you continue to choose a life that is moving away from God, or will you choose to turn to the Lord?  That is a daily decision we all make.  Will you seek the Lord, and continually seek His power for life and living or will you continue to try to “manage” things yourself?  Aren’t you tired?  Haven’t you experienced enough to know that NEVER works, that the whole idea that you’re fine on your own is a lie?  If you’ve been seeing how long you can juggle things on your own, with God as a afterthought at best, here is the peace of God extended to you – just stop.  Stop.

You don’t need to do 15 things today, you need to do one thing.  You don’t need to make your relationship with him or her better, you need your relationship with Him to be restored and that will overflow into your other relationships.  You don’t need to make a living of trying to be good, you need to humbly admit there is only One who is good, and He died so that you could live.  You don’t need to be anxious about your 401k and the next 40 years, you need to rejoice that your next 40 billion years have already been taken care of and are secure.  So with that in mind, my exhortation today is the same as Hosea – press on to know the Lord.  He is good, He is our healer, He has given us the Bible and all of creation to know Him, let’s all continue running the race of faith, pursuing God in all things, delighting in our restored relationship, and renewing our minds daily in the Word.

These are the worlds of Jesus, God in the flesh – Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Have you ever felt cheated?  Like someone wronged you, and took something that was rightfully yours?  Maybe some amount of money, maybe a promotion at work, maybe something else.  That feeling of bitterness that arises, comes from a sense of entitlement, that in some way these things are ours, or that we are owed them.  This is how we view these situations from our small perspective.

Now step back a moment, and look at things from a larger perspective.  Each of us was created to reflect the glory of God.  That means, we were created to represent God, to display his character and nature fully, to show His worth.  Using a bad analogy, this would be like Picasso painting a masterpiece – it would reflect not the worth of the painting, but the worth of the painter.  Each of us was created for this, but we all have sinned, each of us has rejected God and has gone his/her own way.  In light of this, each of us is entitled to something – but not the money or promotion we might think – the only thing we are entitled to is judgement, death, and separation from the God we’ve rejected.  So then in life, when we are wronged, in reality, we are not owed anything good, so we ought not to be bitter.  Every breath that we take as a sinner, is in actuality, a mercy and blessing by God.

But God doesn’t leave us in this state.  He isn’t content merely to judge each of us in our sin, although He would be perfectly just to do so.  While this would display the justice of God, which is just as important as any other attribute of the glory of our Holy God, he sought to make known to magnitude of His mercy and love in Christ Jesus.  Romans 5:6-10 – “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. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

So God has given us what we were not owed, and took upon Himself to be wronged for the sake of His glory, that His love might become known, by dying in our place, taking the judgement and wrath of God on Himself.  What a God we serve!  Do you know anyone that loving in your life?  If you did, wouldn’t you want to be around that person all the time, wouldn’t you want to be their best friend?  That is the good news of the gospel, that’s what was accomplished on the cross, Christ died to reconcile us to God.  Now we know God as more than just a judge, and Lord, but as a good heavenly father, and friend.  1 Peter 3:18a – “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God”  John 15:15 – “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” 

So, now that we have been reconciled, what are we owed?  We are owed, the most valuable and precious gift in all creation, infinitely more valuable than money, or a job – because of what Jesus died for us, we are owed God Himself, He is our portion.  No matter what else the world may take from us, they can never take God from us.  His love is neverending, His lovingkindness is everlasting (Lam 3:23).

My exhortation today is to meditate on this.  Do you see God as a treasure in your life?  Do you cling to Him for comfort and peace, not just when things go wrong, but every day?  If you do, you will be given a peace that surpasses understanding.  You will become firm in your faith, knowing that God will do exactly as He said He would do – He is with you now, and will be for with you for all eternity.  When the tears flow from life, I hope these words of a Psalmist will resonate in your heart.

Psalm 73:23-26 – “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

I never know who reads these each day, or who they might get forwarded to, but know that I pray for the readers, so if you’ve read this you’ve been prayed for.  I know that God is faithful, and capable to work mightily in anyone’s life, no matter where you’re at today, today is the day of salvation, today is the day God wants you to pursue Him as your portion in life.  If you’re married, seek God together.  If you’re single, seek God, and live boldly.  If you don’t know where to start, get a Bible, start in the book of John.  The Bible is more than stories, and “life advice” it is literally a picture with words of who the One True God is, so if you want to know Him, read about Him.  Things won’t all make sense at first, but God will grant you eyes to see Him with time, and you will find joy and in Him.  You will reap in time what you sow today, and know that there is more joy to be found in God, than we could experience in 1000 lifetimes.  Some of us know that already, some of us God is drawing to Himself to see Him as He is, a great and glorious treasure, but for all of us who believe on Jesus Christ, no worldly pleasures would ever satisfy us – God is our portion forever.  Grace and peace be with you.

-Adam

Has anyone ever told you that you are a minister?  That may be a scary thought!  You might be saying to yourself… if they only knew what happened yesterday, they’d fire me as a minister, ha ha.  Well certainly that isn’t true, at least not in the sense that I am speaking of.  We may not all lead a church, but God has said that if you are a believer, if you truly saved in Jesus Christ, you are a minister.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

If you are not yet a believer, I’d look at the last part of that passage, and my message to you today is this, I implore you, be reconciled to God.  Jesus Christ, God Himself in the flesh, has died for your sins, ransomed your life – past, present, and future, knowing all your sins and struggles, so that you would be reconciled to God, if only you trust Him – if only you believe on His name, that Jesus is God, and He was done exactly what He has said He has done.  If you are are a believer, read over that last part twice, because that is now your job – you are a minister of that message.  You are to live your life now not for yourself, which leads to death, but for the One, Jesus, the Christ, who has set you free.

A lot of us misunderstand the Bible.  We’ve never had a teacher help us understand what we’re reading.  Would it surprise you to know, that this same message was preached from the very beginning in the Old Testament?  We know that the Old Testament was filled with imagery, that was pointing to our need for a savior, it was telling us about Jesus, and our need for Him.  Hear the word of the LORD from Genesis 18:19 when God is speaking about Abraham – “For I havechosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

What do we see?  Did Abraham choose God?  No, God chose Abraham, apart from any works.  Does this mean Abraham was a better person than the others around Him?  No, right before this we see that Abraham did not trust God, and sought to give himself an heir by impregnating his wife’s maidservant, at her request.  Abraham was an adulterer and idolotar, but God chose Him for God’s purposes.  Having chosen Him, God told him he was lead his family and others to righteousness and justice, so that the LORD would bring to Abraham what was promised him.  What was promised to Abraham was full reconciliation to God, an inheritance through his offspring (Jesus came from the line of Abraham).  God is saying that to be accepted by God, is to be a new creation, to be able to have the blessing to be used by God for His purposes, to be a part of God’s ministry of reconciliation.  That kind of blows the argument of faith being a “private matter” out of the water doesn’t it?

Do you realize what Christ has done for you?  As believers, the more we learn of God, the more we see his holiness.  The more we see God’s holiness, the more we see our own sin.  The more we see our own sin, the more we are amazed that Christ’s love paid it all for us on the cross.  The more we are amazed by Christ’s love the more we are unable to keep that to ourselves.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is one of freedom and joy, not to be kept in.  I thank God that each of us has been gifted differently (I’m sure my small group guys are thankful there’s not 20 of me as well, ha ha)  Do you love music?  Find a way to make music a means of ministry for the reconciliation of others to God.  Do you like helping children?  Find a group of kids to pour into, to encourage them to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.  Are you married?  Love your spouse enough to die to yourself, to your own fleshly pursuits and wants, and encourage them daily in their walk with Christ.  Let the world see that there is greater joy in Christ, and being a part of His work, than in anything else.  Keep running strong, in time what joy we have now in this ministry will be a fullness of joy in His presence when we hear the words from Jesus “Well done, my good and faithful servant”.

Grace and Peace,
Adam