7/31 - A Life Well Lived, Part 2

I suppose the reason I'm so compelled by Dr. Vedala's life is that I witnessed the power that her testimony had on all who present. The power to cause people to want to be more dedicated to the Lord. What I saw in her, just through the testimony of others, is something I want for my own life - for people to be able to see me, and catch a glimpse of Jesus.

I mentioned yesterday that her daughter said that Dr. Vedala had "packed her bags a long time ago" and that she was holding on to life to comfort her children. In the ride to the cemetery, that statement begged of me the question - Do I have my bags packed? Am I holding on to the things of this world or am I truly anticipating the moment when God returns or calls me up to heaven? This was mentioned of Dr. Vedala as her last days rapidly approached, but who's to say that my last day isn't right around he corner?

¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. ¹⁴People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)

So then I realized Lesson 3 - I need to pack up my bags. All the things that I hold on to so dearly in this world, no matter how noble, are counted as loss to me considering the heavenly glory God has set aside just for me. In other words, not that I should forsake everything and everyone, but if I desire anything more than communion with my Savior, somethings not right. Having your bags packed means so many things - living a life with no regrets, as if each day were your last. It means eagerly anticipating the day when Christ returns. When you pack up for a short trip, you usually live out of your suitcase because unpacking for such a short trip would be ridiculous and you know that you're returning home soon. So for our 'short trip' on earth, our mindset should be the same - stay ready because your return home is coming soon.

Finally, Dr. Vedala lived a life worthy of these words. A beautiful verse I hope rings true for me one day:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Lesson 4 - Fight the good fight. Finish the course. Keep the faith.

Thanks be to God for His Word & for this faithful example.

The Results Are In....

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!! I can't describe how excited I am that God saw fit to give us a son. Watching the ultrasound yesterday was simply amazing and something I'll never forget. Each time I see it, I'm left in total awe of God. He used His creative power, through me & Kendra, to create this life that is forming and being able to get a sneak peek into all that is positively ludicrous in my mind.

7/30 - A Life Well Lived

Couple quick hits:
- I totally forgot to list what scripture that was yesterday, it was Isaiah 8:11-14.
- In about 2 hours and 15 minutes we find out the sex of the baby! Big announcement in tomorrow's blog!

Yesterday I went to the funeral for my friend who lost his mother and had the honor to serve as pallbearer. Never have I been to a funeral so beautiful, so moving, so motivating and even so convicting. His mother, Dr. Hanna Vinaya Kumari Vedala, was a professor in her time here on earth and yesterday that was so evident, because I got schooled. So many life lessons learned simply through the testimony of her life. Going in, I expected what I normally do from any funeral service and was really just there to support & sympathize with my friend.

Lesson 1 - don't go into the house of the Lord without any expectation of God moving. If He's there when 2 or 3 are gathered (Matt 18:20), and amongst believers, how can something not happen?

I didn't know her very well and it's quite evident I really missed out on that one. As the funeral proceeded and remarks were made by close friends and relatives, a consistent theme was forming - this was a woman of faith. Known for writing, composing and singing songs unto the Lord, devoting herself to study and speaking to doubters faith-filled statements like "You don't know my God." Another lesson came when I heard from two different friends that when they came to visit her, even as the cancer was progressing and her condition worsening, they found her studying her Greek. The doctor's report was that they couldn't do much more for her, yet she still found it necessary to grow in knowledge.

Lesson 2 - I've said with my own lips before that you're never too old to learn God's word, but would I have the faith to continue in that although my life was quickly coming to a close? We are to seek God diligently (Hebrews 11:6) and she understood that our diligence is to continue until the day we leave.

I don't know all the details of Dr. Vedala's life but I also heard from more that one person yesterday that she had some afflictions in her life, even some far worse than the cancer. The testimony of her children left no one in the room with any doubt to how much she loved them. The sacrifices she made for them, the example she left and even the fact that the children didn't want to let go in the end all testify to her love. I believe it was her daughter who said that she had packed her bags a long time ago (will come back to this later) and that she held on to her life longer just to comfort her children. That's love. Prolonging your own suffering, and delaying your appointment in heaven, just to comfort those you love. I have no doubt in my mind that God honored her for that. John 13:34-35 - "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

I'll write more on this tomorrow. The testimony of her live really had a termendous impact on me. Good day to all

The Beginning of Wisdom

In the midst of tough economic times, the best is usually not brought out in us. We fear what may befall the financial institutions, what actions Congress will take, how long this will last, how much more value our homes & IRA's will lose, and a host of other things. The glimmering hope in this darkness, however, is that it brings us to a place of need and that gives God something to work with. It gives place in our lives for the realization that we're insufficient without Him.


Beyond financial hardship, so many people I know are dealing with pain & heartache in their lives. Again, something God can work with, but it's very easy for us to rely on worldly tactics for coping. We distract ourselves with parties, gatherings, and whatever fun activities takes our minds off our situation in stead of seeking the One who can heal us.


God's word today, whether or not you're going through hard times, is to follow after Him, not the world.

^"11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:

¹² "Do not call conspiracy
everything that these people call conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.

¹³ The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread,

¹⁴ and he will be a sanctuary;
but for both houses of Israel he will be
a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a trap and a snare."

Let us fear God and no longer follow after the ways of this people. Study the Word to understand healthy fear of the Lord and to gain a desire to seek after Him. Don't be deceived, that desire doesn't come from will power alone. Don't be like some from the houses of Israel for whom God was a stumbling block. Rather let Him be the Rock on which you stand. Peace & Love

God, our Comforter

The blog postings have been a bit scarce lately. There's been a lot going on lately and my thoughts weren't very organized. I needed some time to pray through some of this before I shared. Again, I'm asking for your prayers today. Please click & read the scripture links as you go along.

My friend lost his mother yesterday. We've known for a couple days that her time here was quickly fading away. When I first heard the news my heart broke for him. All the time we had spent praying together and talking about his mother, I know he loved her very much and the news hit me pretty hard. Another friend told me Sunday that because she was saved this ought to be a time of rejoicing, and I thank him for that because truly it is. As I prayed for his family this morning, God spoke to me about all his mother was experiencing and, my God, what a time indeed to rejoice. A mansion prepared just for her (John 14:2), immunity from pain or sorrow (Rev 21:4), worship among a multitude of believers (Rev 7:9) in clear view of Christ who sits at God's right hand (Acts 7:55), beautiful words of praise coming from her lips like "holy, holy, holy" and "Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty reigns!" (Rev 19:1-8). Thank you Lord for your promise & for what you have in store for us beyond this life. I can't wait to meet you there, so let me praise you now as I will when I get there.

Other friends of ours lost their child this weekend immediately after birth. I can't imagine how that must feel. My prayer for them, and I hope you'll pray with me, is that this experience will draw them closer to God, not further away. Amidst the questions, confusion & pain I pray that God will impart on them a supernatural wisdom and peace. And though tremendous pain is there now, joy comes in the morning. We went to visit yesterday and could see that her heart was so broken. We offered what encouraging words we could but knew that God's Holy Spirit, the Comforter, would need to be with her for some time to come. I wanted to tell her so much more, but the day after may be too soon for preaching. Wanted to tell her that He loves her and even though He allowed it to happen, still felt her pain; that He is our High Priest that can sympathize with us (Hebrews 4:15), and He also knows the pain of losing a son; that there's a purpose for her pain - that she can come out stronger, as purely refined gold (Psalm 66:10). In time God, reveal your words of promise to the child's parents and cause them to draw closer to you, and ignore the enemy's urging for them to drown in sorrow. Protect them, strengthen & encourage them Lord. Surround them with godly people and most of all, with your presence.

Finally, my grandmother is not doing so well in the hospital. She was supposed to be sent home this weekend but due to some problems with her kidneys will need to stay longer. I know her earnest desire is just to go home (she's been in hospitals for quite a while) and she's discouraged about staying longer. I just ask for your prayers for her strength and healing so she can make it back home. Also for patience with the process and doctors and bills and everything else that comes along with this. Pray for faith that nothing, even cancer, is too hard for God.

I thank you all. I know this post is fairly somber but growing in the Lord won't always be an easy or happy thing. But its so necessary and we're fortunate, those of us who are saved, to have been chosen by Him. What an awesome God we serve. Let us have the faith of Jeremiah who said,

"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." (Jeremiah 32:17)

Philippians 4, Part 2

I changed the format of the blog a bit, I guess I get bored easily. If you're getting this by email you may not notice, the changes are on the site itself [here]. Hope you enjoy.

If God has made anything clear to me this weekend it is that He's always speaking whether we care to listen or not. Sometimes that voice is easy to ignore, and other times its the only thing you can hear. I had several encounters with people this weekend in which I received way more from spiritually that I had ever expected. I tried my best to go through the normal motions of my day, just like any other Saturday but at every turn there was God speaking to me through other people. Honestly, a lot of it I did not want to hear. Each encounter was different - the brothers in my accountability group, the men at the prayer breakfast, my granny in the hospital, even the movie I watched with my wife - but the theme was so consistent ans so clear: God is calling me higher. I'm not sure what to, but it's clearly a higher level of responsibility, accountability, ministry, love for others & time with Him. It's a scary feeling because I feel so incapable and I even feel that my current level of responsibility is challenging. What's more weird is that I'm anxious about this call and I don't even know what it is.

I was supposed to be writing about Philippians 4 today but obviously that hasn't worked out. I'm asking for your prayers today that I wouldn't be fearful and that God would grant me the grace to hear clearly where He's guiding me. Grace & peace to you all

7/23 - Philippians 4

Good morning. Just a scripture verse today. This one really encouraged me.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 4:4-7

My focus from reflecting on this - praise God & trust God. In all I do today, this will be my focus.

7/22 - Philippians 3, part 2

Is it silly to strive for something we know is impossible? As humans we're well aware that we're imperfect but is it worth our time to even strive to be perfect? We often fall back on the excuse that "nobody's perfect" when we fall short and it's a very true statement (Romans 3:23, Psalm 14:2-3). So is it even worth trying? We also know that as humans we are limited to ground transportation (without the use of vehicles or any other device we weren't born with) so would it be a waste of time to stand around flapping our arms hoping we'll fly? Probably so. But as for striving for perfection, I'd say it's definitely worth it. The difference, while both are impossible, only one are we called to do. Striving for anything less than God's standard will guide us toward spiritual mediocrity and unfulfilled lives. When I say unfulfilled I don't mean unhappy - I mean it with regard to God's purpose for our lives. I believe that God has called us to much more than just happy lives but rather to fulfill His will here on earth. Paul explains here:

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (v.12-14)

Although realizing that he was yet imperfect, he presses on. This is the sort of perseverance worth having. Not only is he pressing on, but pressing toward the high calling of Jesus Christ, a calling of which there is none higher. God commands multiple times in Leviticus and we find it , here also in 1 Peter 1:15-16, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." We see the benefit of such perseverance is that we may attain that which Christ has for us. This is clearly something worth striving for.

One of the things that can buffet us from our pursuit is guilt & worldly sorrow. Of course our imperfection means that we will fall short sometimes and the enemy would love nothing more than for us to stay there and wallow in self-pity, guilt & hopelessness. His aim is to devour us (1 Peter 5:8) and what better tools to consume one's soul than these? In dealing with my own sin issues I'm all too familiar with the propensity to stay away from the Word, to distance myself, to dive headlong into self-pity and guilt to the point where ministry seems like something I'll never be qualified or able to do again. What else would the enemy like more? But nonetheless, we persevere: "forgetting what is behind and striving toward what is ahead." We press on to receive all that Christ has for us and to please the One who sent us.

So we follow Paul's pattern - walking in sound principle s of spiritual growth and no longer like the world for "our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (v. 20-21).

7/21 - Philippians 3

To those reading this who have confessed & believed in Christ and are now saved, reflect on this fact this morning: we have been chosen by God. Take a just a few moments. There's so much in that simple statement. So much to rejoice about, so much to stand in awe of.

"For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh," (v.3).

We believe in Christ as our only means of sufficiency, truly as our Lord - our leader & guide without whom we'd be lost. The more I read this chapter the more I realize that growing in faith is relying less and less on yourself and more and more on God. It's a rigorous process since everything around us tells us to be self-sufficient. Make sure you have an IRA, invest in your future, save enough emergency money for 6 months, always look out for yourself first, if you don't look out for yourself no one else will, etc. Hey, these statements may have some merit but I'm trying to establish that this manner of thinking is ingrained in most of us. Maybe this is why I trust in my own ability to handle my finances rather than give God full control. That might be a topic for another day but I just imagine that a check book under God's complete authority will look a little different than that of a half-surrendered, half-invested believer. Yea...topic for another day.

The verse says we should have no confidence in the flesh. Paul goes on to list why he could be confident in the flesh: "circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless" (v. 5-6). Today that might sound like "I was raised in the church, I'm there every Sunday, my daddy was a deacon, uncle was a minister, mother was a trustee, a faithful tither, I read my Bible everyday and serve on 5 church committees." Again, nothing wrong with any of that. But the point in this chapter is that our sufficiency comes from true faith in Christ and all of our "stuff", no matter how good it is, is still inadequate for salvation. Our abilities and achievements apart from God are a wash. Verse 7, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ."

So we should continue on in our well doing, and even do more (as God has called us) but our confidence should remain in Him - "that [we] may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having [our] own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (v. 8-9, emphasis added)

7/20 - Philippians 2

It's pretty cool how God chooses to communicate with us. The primary sources for me haven't been the booming voice from heaven (that I sometimes act like I need to hear) but have been through preaching and through His word. Yesterday's sermon was about how we need to love one another and so is this morning's passage - Philippians 2. It might serve me well then to consider how I love other people, especially because I tend to think I'm not so bad at it. However, its good to be careful in situations like these when I think I'm good at something because when my love is tested under the microscope of the scriptures, I think I'll find some room for growth.

In verse 3, Paul commands the church: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." It didn't take long for me to reconsider how well I was doing loving others after this verse. There are plenty of people for whom I would gladly concede that they were better than myself - other believers in the church, pastors, friends, relatives & pretty much the people in my life that I enjoy. It's a quite another thing to consider those you don't necessarily like as better than yourself; those people whose lives show no evidence of a relationship with God, any sort of love for another person or any semblance of caring about the well-being of others. Verse 3 puts no restrictions on who we ought to consider better than us - it didn't just say other Christians or really nice people, it meant everyone. Luke 6:33, "if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same."

So God is calling us to a higher level of love. This isn't easy to do by any means but Paul puts it in context in the verses that follow. He tells us, starting at verse 5, to let our minds be like Jesus Christ who "took the form of a bondservant [and came] in the likeness of men" and "humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death." (v.7-8). Consider that Jesus, who was no stranger to annoying people, hypocrites, backbiters, betrayal, envy, and things of this sort, was able to humble Himself and die for these people. If He can die for these people, the ultimate display of love, surely our response - as we try to be more like Jesus - should be to love the 'unlovable' people in our lives. We should love anyone or anything that God loves. This is a passage from yesterday's sermon that would be good to reflect on:

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11)

7/18 - Philippians 1...take 3

I know I've been on this chapter for pretty much the whole week but I think God is working on me on some issues related to this chapter. I've found it thus far to be more inspiring than ever before this time around. That's the thing I love about the Bible, it's alive, always relevant and you can gain new insights from passages of scripture you may have read several times.

This chapter reveals the extent of Paul's passion for God. There's nothing that seems to be able to detract him from his mission - persecution, unfaithful friends, problems within the church, false teachers, opposition from other Christians - in spite of these things, he remained determined.

"Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly" (v. 12-14)

A couple things jumped out immediately to me. First off, Paul's life had been lived in such a way that there was no doubt who he served. No one had to ask him or wonder what he believed. Secondly, it was because of his suffering for the gospel that his witness had such a great effect. I imagine that while Paul was imprisoned that he spoke to the inmates and guards about Christ ad nauseum. However, here he credits his suffering for the gospel for the fact that not only was his faith made evident but that other Christian brothers were encouraged to speak boldly about the Lord. Is our testimony anything like Paul's today? Do we suffer for the gospel? Is there any doubt amongst our various social circles that Christ is our Lord?

There's several scriptures that clearly state that the expectation for all believers is that we will suffer persecution (Luke 21:12-13, 2 Tim 3:12, Mark 10:30, Phil 1:29). So if we're not facing any persecution - ridicule about our lifestyle, for not conforming to the world, opposition from non-believers - there's a good chance we're not as serious about God as we ought to be. The world and all it's ways are diametrically opposed to God so if we find our ways to be like the world and receiviing nothng but praise & adoration from the world, there may be something wrong there. I'm not saying that receiving praise in and of itself is a bad thing, but if that's the only thing the world offers you, it may be worth considering why the verses I mentioned in this paragraph haven't applied to you. For me, this was definitely worth reflecting on this week.

7/16 - Philippians 1...pressing through

OK, I'm not giving up on this chapter. Internet Explorer, clearly a tool of the enemy, will no longer be a problem...it has been deleted. A little over the top? Maybe. But will it be a problem again? Absolutely not.

Thanks to my brother in Christ for guiding me and encouraging me to study more to find out what this 6th verse in Philippians is about - "being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." My study bible reveals that this phrase "has begun" is used in the Bible only in reference to salvation. When God begins a work of salvation in a person, He finishes and completes that work. This would seem to support the fact that once you're saved, you're always saved. I don't doubt that saved people can fall back into sin, but the truly saved - because of the Holy Spirit within them - will repent & come back to the Lord. I don't think God's confused about who is or isn't saved. Once you're found in Him, once you repent and are baptized by the Holy Spirit, this verse doesn't leave much wiggle room for anything else but the fact that God will complete what He has begun.

It's an awesome thing for us who believe to reflect on the fact that God is continually working on us. One of my favorite resources is desiringgod.org from the ministry of John Piper. In this article from that site, Tom Steller writes:

The fact that God is at work in his people, changing the thought patterns and preference of our sinful nature, so that we love what he loves, re-tooling the grooves in our brain, knitting together the complex strands of our emotional wounds with infinitely greater skill than the world's foremost micro-surgeon—there's no greater promise than this. It is nothing other than the New Covenant promise of Ezekiel 36. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes."

To me that sounds like a lot of work, especially when this work is duplicated for every believer, but its a great witness to God's amazing love. This process of refining and transforming us isn't always pleasant. It's hard giving up the things that gave us so much pleasure before we were saved or before we knew any better.

Philippians 2:12-13 - "...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." God works in us, after our salvation, a process of sanctification which involves much of what Steller writes in the aforementioned paragraph. So this shouldn't be an opportunity for us to be complacent & rely on the fact that God is going to complete what He started. It requires our full participation and a healthy fear of offending God and a righteous awe and respect for Him.* I know there's nothing we can do to earn our salvation but we can seek to please our Saviour because He's worthy.

*from John MacArthur Study Bible

7/15 - Windows products strike again

So I wrote a pretty extensive blog this morning about Philippians 1, all I had learned and was lookign forward to sharing. As I went to submit....I lost everything. I need to go to work and can't retype everything now but here's an article I referenced -

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1986/555_God_Finishes_What_He_Starts/

Internet Explorer, I am done with you. I'm exculsively Mozilla from now on.

7/13 - Philippians 1...kinda

Hope the weekend treated you well. It was a great one for me - got to see my Mom from Florida, Uncle James from Las Vegas, Aunt Diane from Atlanta, my godbrother from Savannah & it's always good to see my Dad. Also two of my friends joined our church which I'm still pretty excited about. Our church has been praying for more "laborers for the harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38) and I'm sure that's what He's given our church with these two. I'm looking forward to continuing in the labor we've already begun with them.

So I've been looking at Philippians 1 for a couple days and got a little hung up on a familiar passage, verse 6:

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

How does the "day of Jesus Christ" differ from the "day of the Lord" (if in fact there is a difference)? How do I apply this verse to my life and not risk growing complacent (since God's going to complete things anyway)? Maybe I'm looking at this too deeply but I still have some questions on it & need to study a little more. So that's why I put the "kinda" in the title. I don't have much to offer today but would appreciate anyone else's insight on this topic as I'll continue to study it. Happy Monday to all

7/10 - Ephesians 6

Ephesians 6
I think I might read verse 1 to our baby tonite: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." I know the baby's still in the womb but you can never start too early. I need to establish some things now so baby won't ever get it confused ;-). Meanwhile, I guess I'll focus on verse 4 and try to do my part now so that as they grow I can build them up in the word of God and not provoke them to anger.

Paul explains in this chapter how the employee-employer relationship for a believer should be. Now it's probably been this way for a while, but today's views of authority & management are pretty low. We see it in Dilbert cartoons, shows like The Office or Office Space and of course we experience it day to day. I don't doubt that people have legitimate beef with their managers but I would venture to guess that our relationship with them is, in general, sub-par to God's standard for it. As you read this you may be thinking of your own manager - maybe you're not convinced of their competency, maybe they actually don't have a clue, maybe they micromanage, maybe they have no people skills, maybe you feel you should be in their position...whatever it might be - the question before us is, as we read verses 5-8, can you serve a person like this as you would serve the Lord?

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free."

I don't pretend it's easy, but it is what we're called to do. God is always raising the standard isn't He? Well the cool part about this is that it comes with a promise: that the good you do to your employer/ manager, God will reward because the good you impart on them is as if you're imparting it on the Lord.

7/9 - Thought for the Day

To those of us who believe - we hold within us the greatest story ever told. And not just a story, an answer by which people, upon hearing it, can receive eternal life. What does it imply about us when we decide to hold this information to ourselves? What does it say when we look at a drowning victim while we stand and observe with a life preserver tucked comfortably under our arms?

As Christians, who have been saved from a fairly severe eternity, we ought to have a heart for the lost that leads us to prayer, but not only that - to act. In his book "The Way of the Master," Ray Comfort writes: "...[if] we don't share our faith with the lost, in effect this is what we're saying:

"Lord I know that You have commanded us to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. But we will stay here and pray. We know you have chosen the 'foolishness' of preaching to save those who believe. But we will stay here and pray. And we know that the Bible asks us, 'How will they hear without a preacher?' But we will stay here and pray, because it sure is easier to talk to God about people than it it to talk to people about God.""

Let us go beyond just caring or praying for those who don't know Jesus. Let's toss those life preservers out.

7/8 - Ephesians 5, Part 2

Ephesians 5
Continuing on from yesterday, Paul gives the command that we be imitators of God and that we walk in love. All the other things we strive to do as Christians - study the Bible, show compassion to the poor, share the gospel, pray faithfully, serve the community, etc - all will flow out of love; both for God and for others. He presents us also with the other side:

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

Just another evidence to the fact that this walk with Christ is a black and white thing. It's not fuzzy nor does it have 'gray areas' as the world would have us believe. Walk with God, follow Him completely, love Him with your whole heart and enjoy the benefits of His salvation OR follow the world & it's greed, lusts & pleasures and forfeit your place in heaven. I'm not trying to simplify Christianity, only the results. There's not many paths as some believe, there's really only two - choose today which way you will go (Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 7:13-14, John 14:6).

Paul also relays that if we are to walk in love and in wisdom that we should submit to one another in the fear of God (or in other words - cuz He said so). Thus begins the famous diatribe on marriage - that wives should submit to their husbands and husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church (v. 22-33). As I read this again, I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure you ladies are getting off easy yet again (see Genesis 3). Here, God calls women to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord and maybe that's kinda hard. He establishes a foundational principle in marriage which, if studied more carefully, really starts to work out for you ladies in the end. So what are men called to do? Be to our wives what Christ was to the church. Are you serious? Need I remind you what Christ did and is still doing for the church?! Come on man...OK, got that off my chest.

But seriously, for me this was a great passage of scripture to read over the past couple of days, especially with Kendra being pregnant. We're called to love our wives and, based on Jesus' example, pray for them, sanctify them with the Word, nourish & cherish them. Wives (can I say this?...yea, of course I can) submit to your husbands as he is the head of the household, regardless of income, education or spiritual maturity. Verse 33 is of particular significance: "and let the wife see that she respects her husband." God wisely commands us to do that which by nature we're drawn to anyway: women deeply desire love and men equally desire respect. I couldn't begin to do this topic justice in a blog so I'll wrap it up here. These things that we're called to do, we're also able to accomplish them no matter how hard it sounds. We're able because it's God's desire that it happen and somehow I don't think God engages in wishful thinking.

7/7 - Ephesians 5

This has been one of those mornings where it's tough to get through a prayer and thru reading the word. My old nemesis Sleepiness has tried to get the best of me again but I'm battling through. I'm convinced that my daily battles with getting to sleep on time, the snooze button, and closing my eyes during prayer are all spiritual warfare. Sounds silly, and I was even staring to joke when I typed that last sentence, but it's gotta be real. Sleepiness has kept me from the Word and I'm sure the enemy uses it because we don't suspect him of a thing. So, a cup of hot tea...and here we go

I think verse 1 is a good memory verse as each day this should be our goal:

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

All of what we attain to become as believers is summed up in this verse and so much fruit will flow out of it. The verse requires that we first know who God is before we set out to imitate Him. Actors who depict real life characters spend countless hours studying that person - their mannerisms, speech, tendencies, attire & habits. If the person is still alive they'll even spend time talking to the person directly so they can get the full picture of who this person is as they set out to imitate them. The best example I can think of is Jamie Foxx in Ray. I was able to enjoy that movie as if it were actually Ray Charles I was watching because nothing Foxx did resembled himself - everything looked, sounded and felt like Ray Charles. I'm sure it's the goal of every such actor, that when viewers see them on film, that they see the character and not the actor.

And so it is with us. We study God's word to get to know Him and there's an infinite wealth of knowledge there for us. We should want our actions, mannerisms, & thoughts to so model God that people see Him, not us. God's word to me these last few days through these passages of scripture has been "more of Him, less of me."

God, help me to imitate You today. I want to be pleasing to You just as Jesus was. I want the sacrifice of my life to be a sweet smelling aroma to You, that you're glorified in all I do.

7/6 - Ephesians 4, Part 3

God invites us, at our point of need - when we realize that we can no longer live of our own sufficiency but require His grace for salvation - to come to Him as we are (see 1 Corinthians 1:26). We were unwise, resistant to God, blind, spiritually dead. An old southern baptist preacher might say we were unrepentant, degenerate sinners!! God calls us in this condition, just as we are, but has no intention whatsoever that we stay as we are.

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (v. 22-23, cf. 2 Cor 5:17).

When God enters our lives He has every intention on completely changing us because before we accepted Him, we were nothing like Him. So it should even be our desire and prayer that God continue to change us because, in light of His holiness, anything that's not like Him, He won't even recognize (Matt 7:21-23). So for us who believe, we shouldn't say things like "Well, that's just the way I am," "I'll always be that way so get used to it," or "I'm just being real." That last one is probably the best. We use that to suggest that what we feel (about out language, our dress, our fleshly desires) is a more legitimate reality than what God's word says....that's probably a topic for another blog. God wants to change you. Anything in you that suggests otherwise, anything that wants you to hold on to things that are not like God is a lie from the enemy.

So the end of this chapter (v. 17-32) is all about embracing this newness that can be found in God. It's so easy to conform to the world. They're the majority and there's comfort when you're in line with the majority. There's comfort nowadays in believing that sex [or even living together] before marriage is not only normal but encouraged; that drunkenness, girl-watching, smoking, excessive TV watching, pornography, foul language....comfort in believing that all these things are OK. First of all, because it satisfies the flesh but secondly because there are no social consequences for it. In fact, I may lose a few subscribers to this blog. But God has called us out - "no longer to walk as the Gentiles walk" and that we "put off [our] old [selves], which [are] being corrupted by [their] deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of [our] minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (v. 17, 22-24; pluralization mine).

My pastor mentioned yesterday that we can't be like the world and be like God because the two sides are in conflict, in fact they're diametrically opposed. So it's my goal, my prayer that each day I become less and less like the world which will in turn mean I'm becoming more and more like Him. Becoming less like the world means being different, but that's OK. I think God wants us to stand out.

7/4 - Ephesians 4, Part 2

Yesterday I talked about God's desire for us to walk in a manner worthy of the awesome call He has for our lives. In verse 2, it directs us to do so in meekness, patience and with love. We see from this chapter that it's God's desire for us, in order for us to fulfill His purposes, to be unified in spirit (v. 3). Paul persists on this point of unity by describing the unity or oneness of God: "There is one body and one Spirit--just as there is also one hope that belongs to the calling you received--There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of us all, Who is above all Sovereign over all, pervading all and living in us all" (v. 4-6, Amplified).

He describes how God has distributed gifts to the body of Christ in the form of teachers, pastors, apostles, prophets and evangelists so that every need of the church would be fulfilled. Here I think a great case is presented for the necessity of church in the life of a believer. The next verse explains why pretty explicitly:

"His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints His consecrated people, that they should do the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body the church, That it might develop until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God, that we might arrive at really mature manhood the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection, the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him." (v. 12-13, Amplified)

You simply can't get all God wants you to get on your own. No matter how much individual study you do or what televangelists you subscribe to, you need to be an active participant on a local body of believers. He designed the church, the instrument He chooses to use to fulfill His purposes on earth, so that we might receive instruction & guidance through it and thereby be perfected and fully equipped. And as we're built up in the knowledge of God in our own study as well as the teaching and direction of God's anointed teachers, it protects us from being deceived. Verse 14:

"So then, we may no longer be children, tossed like ships to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, the prey of the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, gamblers engaged in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead."

Just last night I watched a minister on TV tell me about 7 prophesies that were going to change my life forever and bring me into financial prosperity. The eligibility for such blessing, from what I gather, were that I "sow a seed" or become a "faith partner" in his ministry, not that I change my life to model Christ & please God (2 Chronicles 7:14-18). So if we're not careful and fully equipped as the Lord would have us to be, we can fall to such a doctrine as this.

7/3 - Ephesians 4, Part 1

Thank God for our independent & prosperous nation and more importantly, thanks for a day off! A lot of lives were sacrificed so we could enjoy the freedoms we now have and if you ever need to gain an appreciation for what this day means (I know it's really tomorrow), take a look at just about most countries in the world and consider moving there. We're pretty blessed.

I never realized how full Ephesians 4 was of, for lack of a better term, good stuff. It begins with an exhortation to "live a life worthy of your calling." There's a mouthful. Let's take a look at just a few of the things God has called us to:

- To be His loyal friends: "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants...but I have called you friends... (John 15:14-15)

- Into fellowship with Jesus Christ: "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:9)

- To good works: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10)

- To perform His purposes on earth: "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13)

- To evangelism: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28:19-20)

- To be holy and blameless: "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Ephesians 1:4)

- To freedom & love: "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13)

And in all this, Paul commands us to live a life worthy of this calling. That's a challenge. And I mean a challenge like asking me to guard LeBron for 48 minutes, compete with Bill Gates in a software design contest, and pairing me with Tiger all in the same day. It's not easy but we know it's possible (Mark 9:23, Matthew 19:26) and worth striving for. Imagine what it looks like to live worthy of all God's called you, and thus far allowed you, to be.... Looks kinda crazy huh?

Again, there's a lot in this chapter and I'd like to study it a bit more. Lord willing, more on this chapter tomorrow

7/2 - Corporate Prayer

In our Bible study last night we discussed, and experienced, corporate prayer. It was great being able to share in that with the group. We've had the pleasure of experiencing answered prayer together and I think that reflecting back on answered prayers encourages us and help us to view God in a more real way, especially when the enemy attacks us so often with doubt and fear. We also discussed this article, which gave me a new insight on the purpose and effectiveness of corporate prayer.

http://www.gotquestions.org/corporate-prayer.html

7/1 - Ephesians 2

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (v. 8-9)

Paul makes this beautiful statement as a reminder to the Ephesians that their salvation, their peace, their hope, is all a direct result of God's grace and had nothing whatsoever to do with them. What's true for them, is just as true for us today. There's no amount of Bible studies, church services, or any other spiritual acts that we could do that would cause God to save us. It is His grace alone that allows us access to Him and the eternal life He offers.

Before Paul gives them this answer, he gives them some background on themselves which I believe is invaluably important to understanding the grace he talks about here. As we read this, it serves us well to take all the "you" references very personally:

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts...remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world." (v. 1-3, 12)

It's important for us to remember that we haven't always been saved. It gives us an appreciation for His grace and for verses 4- 5: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." In today's times, we're exposed to so much mess: billionaires who swindle thousands of people out of money, governors having affairs, countless murderers, nuclear war threats, raping, brutal crimes against children (this is all from just this week's news by the way). The conversations I hear about the people who commit these deeds, among Christians and non-Christians alike, is along the lines of"how could he think he could get away with it?", "he should get 150 years in jail for his unforgivable offense", "how could someone do something like that?" A brief realization of the passage above could clue us in to the fact that we, who consider ourselves incapable of these sort of things, were once lost in our trespasses and if it had not been for God's grace, it could have very easily been us. Our response then, shouldn't be "thank God I'm not like those sinners," because we see how Jesus felt about this attitude in Luke 18:11-14. It should rather be like the tax collector in this passage who realizes his unworthiness in light of God's mercy. Thank you God for your grace & mercy today.