"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:11, NIV)I think this is a great memory verse, especially considering the things we often sacrifice as believers. The times when we think it's too hard or not worth it it's important to remember that it wasn't promised that it would be easy and that the reward for our obedience does have a payoff in the end (John 16:33). I encourage you all to consider this verse today and how it applies to you. I'll definitely be doing the same. God bless
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
9/30 - Memory Verse
Monday, September 28, 2009
9/28 - The Cost
Ben's main point was that salvation is free and costs us nothing. But following Jesus will cost us something. This is a very important truth, a foundational one in fact, that believers should hold on to. Oftentimes the gospel is presented in a way that might lead one to believe that salvation and everything after it is free. When we don't reveal the cost, we set people up for failure when they realize that following Jesus isn't the cakewalk it was presented to be. Ben gave the analogy of "sticker shock" and I've seen it happen, particularly to someone very close to me. My friend came to our church, joined and wanted to live for Jesus. It wasn't until afterwards he realized the cost - losing friends, a complete change in lifestyle, trading the world's pleasures for God's pleasure. I'm sad to say he's not been back for a while. Please lift up a prayer for my friend & I'll continue to do so. I'm confident in what God is able to do.
One thing that stuck out to me from the sermon was the Ben described following Jesus as beginning a process of cooperation with God. The invitation was free. Now begins this process which for us feels like pulling teeth sometimes because its so contrary to what our flesh desires --> the cost. I'd rather tell this person off for how they treated me but I'll forgive them & hold my tongue instead. The cost. I'd rather use my money toward some things I really want or even bills and savings, but God requires a tenth. The cost. I really want to physically express my love with that special person but I'm not sure I'm ready for marriage. We all know the cost there. What it comes down to is a key word Ben pointed out - obedience. Simply put, following Jesus means doing what He tells us to do. Not agreeing with it or even understanding it. It's in the doing that God is pleased. We must determine, then, is it really worth it? (Matt 25:23, 2 Tim 2:12, 4:8, James 1:12, 1 Peter 5:4)
We understand that there's a great cost to following Jesus but the beauty of it is the underlying principle that we're all aware of as consumers - you get what you pay for. The verses I just listed are some good examples of that. Even more are the practical benefits of doing what Jesus says. We must trust that He knows whats best for us. Ben walked through the parable of the wise and foolish builders (read here - Matt 7:24-29). Building the house on the rock was much harder than building it on the sand, but the practical benefits were tremendous and became evident when the storms came.
Jesus compared two types of people in this story and there were a lot of similarities. Both heard the words of Jesus. Both built houses. In both situations, the storms came. The key difference to remember is that one put Jesus' words into practice and we see the benefit he received. The key similarity to remember is that the storms came for both. Following Jesus doesn't protect us from the storms, it sustains us during them.
Thanks Ben for teaching this & if you're reading this, thanks for the blog material today!
Friday, September 25, 2009
9/25 - New Experience
Amazingly, we were able to get a little study time in and still are plugging away on the the second coming & rapture. I thank God for what He's revealed thus far and pray for even more wisdom as we continue. Wanted to say more today but cereal & Blue's Clues are calling.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
9/24 - Prayer & Scripture for Today
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
A few things are apparent from this passage. First, I'm so not worthy of a holy God subjecting Himself to this just for me. I'm so glad that He did though because without His sacrifice I'd be on my way to hell. Without the provision He made for us, namely us Gentiles, I'd be without hope. Praise God for first loving us so much!
The specific characteristic of Christ we studied as it relates to this passage is His compassion. His compassion was unconditional. At the time of His death many considered Him stricken by God and afflicted, yet He took up our sins upon Himself. Even today, as we turn away from Him and dedicate ourselves to the distractions in this world more than Him, as we fall asleep during study, as we hurry out of church on Sundays, the fact remains that He still died for us knowing full well how we'd show our appreciation.
His compassion also led to action. Oftentimes we can feel a deep compassion for someone or some circumstance and feel justified in the fact that we at least feel bad for the person. But how often do we act on that compassion? How often do we stop & pray with the homeless person we avoid eye contact with? How often do we reach in our pockets and offer some very practical help for them? Christ's demonstration of compassion shows that there's some action to be done. Matthew 9:36 gives an example of how Christ felt about us -
"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."Other examples can be found in Matt 14:14, 15:32, 20:34. These examples show Christ feeling compassion and then doing something about it. Verse 5 from the Isaiah passage show the ultimate action He took to show how He loved us. Let's put some action behind our professed love for others today (and everyday).
Monday, September 21, 2009
9/21 - Prayer & Scripture Reference
Saturday, September 19, 2009
9/19 - 2 Thessalonians 1
"Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering" (v. 4-5)It is in the enduring of trials that we are found worthy of the kingdom of God. We've already been promised that we would suffer (John 15:20-21) but it is not in the suffering alone that we are honored, but how we endure. The purpose behind suffering is the process of purging, purifying and perfecting us thereby making us worthy for the kingdom. It is in our positive response that this process manifests.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
9/17 - Don't Give Up
"He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law" (Isaiah 42:4)In this chapter, Isaiah speaks about the characteristics of Christ and gives a prophetic outlook into some of the things He will accomplish. Christ would come to offer a new covenant and to be a light to the Gentiles, who at this point had little hope for salvation. This was His purpose. Verse 4 says that He would not fail nor be discouraged until the time His task is completed. What does it take to have this sort of confidence?
I believe that Jesus first knew what His purpose was. He knew who sent Him for that purpose. The One who had sent Him couldn't fail and He, having the same Spirit of the God who sent Him, also could not fail. As imitators of Christ, I think this is the same attitude we ought to have. We ought to be confident that whatever God has sent us to do, it will not fail in its purpose and we ought not be discouraged. For me, it happens too often. People don't show up to events or I get little support for something I'm trying to start and I get discouraged. If we can attain this sort of confidence, that whatever God has called us to do it will succeed, I think that would even drive our actions a little differently. Instead of moving cautiously, we'd move boldly. Instead of defining success by numbers or whatever other measures we use, we find a new & more accurate measure. I'm not saying we lower our expectations to build our confidence. I'm saying that we define success by our obedience. Were we obedient to what God called us to do and did we do it to the best of our ability? Did we water the field? Because only He can provide the increase anyway.
Please keep me in prayer b/c honestly a lot of this was for me. Going through some things that have had me discouraged & unfocused. I'll keep praying for you guys too.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
A Brief Aside
I, like much of our country, have become disgusted with our political system. I don't for one second judge the men & women that serve as representatives and congressmen but rather hold them in high esteem. Their job is not an easy one. Try balancing pleasing your constituents & those who voted you in, passing legislation to make our country better, negotiating with partisan counterparts, all while trying to get re-elected and within a period of 2/6 years. Anyway I imaging balancing these things, I could easily see someone classifying my actions as playing politics. The point is, I get how hard it is.
My frustration peaked last week when Senator Joe Wilson yelled out "You lie" during President Obama's speech on healthcare. I don't fault his stance on the issue at all and will concede that there probably are provisions or loopholes in the presidents plan that will allow illegal immigrants access to healthcare. So the significance of his outburst, for me, was how Obama's election has divided the country more than it has united it, much to my surprise and disappointment.
In the black community, by and large, our president is revered and given an automatic pass on any and every issue, just about opposite to how we treated President Bush, who could do no right. Then there's this other community who I suppose has always been there but, of late, have arisen with a new zeal and incredible boldness. We've seen it in the townhall meetings, the McCain/ Palin rallies, Fox news, generally anywhere staunch conservatives hangout. We've heard charged phrases such as "I want my America back" and "what happened to my country" and we're left only to wonder about the implications of such rhetoric. I wanted to believe that it was a minority of close-minded Hannity/Limbaugh disciples, that it was just a few people who would never let go of the fact that Obama is in office.
So when I heard Senator Wilson yell out, it was like one of those townhall meetings all over again. This culture, which I had attributed to only an under-infomed portion of our society was now present among our leadership. What other president would our leaders be so cavalier about disrespecting? Then the liberal response was to exploit this guys mistake and only further widen the schism in our country that our president has tried to bridge. Liberal vs. Conservative. Republican vs. Democrat. Will we ever get past it?
It'll take some courageous people in Washington who won't revert to the same old politics. We have to allow those courageous people to rise up by demanding a higher level of accountability, with opinions formulated by truth, not mass mobs. Let's turn off Hannity & Olbermann, Maddow & Limbaugh and base our opinion on facts and with a Godly worldview.
9/12 - 1 Thessalonians 5, Part 2
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
There's a reason we need to be told these seemingly obvious things - they're not easy. Many mornings (this morning) I struggle to rejoice in spite of what I go through and offer a meaningful prayer. Sometimes I allow my mind to wander and lose focus.
I won't be discouraged & will continue to pray even though its hard to do at times. When I say hard to do, I suppose I should say its hard to want to pray. My flesh desires so many of life's other distractions over quiet time with the Lord. Man, that was even tough to admit just now...
Anyway, if anyone else feels this way let's pray for each other. If i'm alone, then just pray for me! I don't believe it will always be like this because I'm confident in the word of God to change me, that a greater desire for Him will develop in me and that this growth process will draw me nearer to Him. Verse 18 even says its the will of God for us to do these things.
Let's stay in prayer for each other. God bless u all
Friday, September 11, 2009
9/11 - 1 Thessalonians 5
"Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."
Considering Paul's previous exhortation I believe that not only did this church know this fact, they internalized it. Its one thing to know information, but wisdom is properly responding to the information.
In elementary school, whenever our teachers would have to leave the class for any amount of time, it was like it was an automatic reaction to act a fool. Throwing paper balls, blurting out obscenities, drawing on the chalkboard, spitballs - it was a free for all. It was pretty much "how much can I get away with b4 teacher comes back" and thinking back, that was pretty fun. All the while, we knew the teacher would return. So once the lookout (yes we had a lookout) said the teacher was coming back, seats were straightened, paper thrown away and our best innocent faces were put on. We straightened ourselves up when the teacher returned so at the end of the day we'd have a good report.
How much more should we now "straighten ourselves up" knowing the Master is returning. Especially since we don't know when He's coming. We don't have a lookout this time. Most of us know He's coming back and doing so unexpectedly. But if we truly internalized it, we wouldn't do (or not do) the things we do. This truth is supposed to drive action, not just be a piece of useful Christian knowledge. If you knew Christ was coming back in 2 hours, how would you act? Think about that for a moment. It'd be a little different than the 2 hours you had planned wouldn't it? If you truly believed He was coming back like a thief in the night, should it be different?
Sunday, September 6, 2009
9/6 - 1 Thessalonians 4, Part 3
v4 - "that everyone of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor"
v7 - "for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."
The battle for purity rages in all of us. For some the battle is light, for others it is consuming. God has placed within us a strong sexual drive but like all of what God has created, it has become distorted as that message is now delivered to us through the world. The information we receive, and most of it is by choice, comes through media, our thoughts and through what we see. This information is largely contrary to Gods views but is pushed so frequently we hardly have time to even process it all. To get Gods perspective on this issue takes an intentional and consistent look into Gods word. If we don't counter all the misinformation with truth, what views will e form & what habits will we develop?
These verses stuck out to me this morning because I often use society's incessant promotion of sex as an excuse for why its so hard to remain pure. These verses forces us to look at it a different way. Verse 4 says that we should know how to possess our bodies in sanctification. There were no stipulations on that statement. It didn't talk much about what others were doing, just about what we ought to be doing. Same as verse 7, God has called us to holiness. That call isn't hinged on anyone elses actions, the commercials they show or the clothes they wear. It comes down to us. No excuses, live holy.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
9/5 - A Different Spirit
Been meditating on scripture my boy Jarvis sent - Numbers 14:24, "But my servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it." Meditate on this today and determine how different your spirit really is from the world. What evidence marks your distinction?
Also read Joshua 14. Good day folks.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
9/2 - 1 Thessalonians 4, Part 2
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit" (v. 4-8)The opening to this passage, I believe, would be better understood as "for this is a will of God," meaning I don't think Paul is explaining the exhaustive will of God but just a portion, particularly, our sexual purity. As believers, our goal is to please God and the only way we can accomplish this is first understand what it is that pleases Him or, in other words, His will. The specific part of His will we must understand here is that we be sanctified.