Worrying?

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:27-34 NIV)

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7 NIV)

So my friends, remember this and let's pray:


The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

We love you Father and more importantly, we know that you first loved us!

He's got "this".  Whatever your "this" may be.  God is just a prayer away. Call on Him!

What does it mean to "follow"?

Francis Chan has been ministering to me in such a powerful way.  His teaching is simple, basic, practical, real and HARD!  What?  Hard?  How can simple be HARD?  Well, because our flesh doesn't like to submit.  We like to do what we want to do.

Yesterday I posted a link by Francis called, Basic, and today is once called, Clean Your Room.

What do we mean when we ask our children to go clean their room?  Well, we mean for them to go and DO something; like make the bed, pick up the dresser, put clothes in the hamper, straighten up the books...action. Right?

Why do we expect action from our children yet we ourselves don't live a life of action?  We think that when Jesus said for us to go "do" the gospel, we think that means going to a bible study, memorizing scripture, talking about the Word or even going to church and hearing a sermon.  Don't get me wrong, those are all fine and good things, but are they GOD things?

See, God is interested in what we DO.  Remember the sheep and the goats?   (Matthew 25:31-46).  "The only difference between the sheep and the goats, according to the scripture, is what they did and didn't do." - Keith Green  Reminds me of a fabulous song I heard years ago, by Keith Green.  Take a minute to listen to the Sheep and the Goats.  It will change your life!

Follow Jesus...What's not to understand?

We as Christians can complicate the simple Gospel with our rhetoric, or our laziness, our opinions, or our selfishness and we even can complicate the message with our "spin".  We live in a culture full of "spin", which the bible calls justification.  We love to make excuses.  Excuses for everything.  Well, sorry to say, that is NOT acceptable if you want to call yourself a "follower of Christ".

If you have never heard of Francis Chan, I suggest you begin to get yourself familiar with his teaching, his books, his life, his testimony and most of all his impact on the family of faith.  He started a church in his home with 30 people and grew it into a "mega" church and then walked away.  He is a successful author and lives off 10% of his royalties.  He downsized his "large" home and his "large" income and currently helping house homeless people in his modest home in northern California.  He is DOING the gospel, just not teaching, preaching, studying, and memorizing it.

Take a look at a great teaching called BASIC!  God had called us to "go".  Jesus showed us how to make disciples.  He gave a great model to follow.  Today, "millions of people on this earth who call themselves followers of Jesus, but their lives look NOTHING like His but in their hearts their convinced they are followers." - Francis Chan.   OUCH!

Have you been "blocked"?

"You can have no greater contempt for someone, than to live your life as though they don't exist." – Ray Comfort

I read this today on a post from Ray Comfort and I had to pause, reflect and think about this. This used to be a practiced behavior seen only in children.  You remember, "Hey, I'm not gonna be your friend anymore", as you marched off the playground, the lunchroom or home from the bus-stop.

We expect "childish" games from children but unfortunately, this is becoming more-and-more common today with even adults; the art of "ignoring" people seems to be in full operation mode by many.  Today in the world of Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and on-and-on, we have so many new opportunities to put this into practice.  You know, maybe you have someone who has upset you, challenged "your" beliefs or even, heaven forbid, disagreed with YOU on political issues, so what do you do?  You "block" 'em, "delete" them or "hide" them and somehow then feel like you've "won", you've "conquered",  you're "right"!  Or maybe you have been on the receiving end of such treatment and you have been "blocked", "ignored" or "deleted".  Either way, seems a less than ideal solution for grown adults to "default" too.

Don't get me wrong, I know that sometimes there are REAL reasons to "block" someone but most of the time, from the situations I have experienced, the reasons are just plain childish.  It seems petty and even ridiculous for grown adults, friends and even family members to "block" each other because "you hurt my feelings" but unfortunately this response is very much alive and true today in our "social" society.

Even though we see this behavior being modeled more and more today and yes, adults seem to be the biggest offenders, Ray didn't make the statement regarding just human interaction with each other. He was referring to people who live their lives ignoring the existence of God.  Think about it.  How rude is it for one human to ignore another, "block" them or "delete" them over nonsensical issues?

As has been noted, this is in the least a very childish behavior when two adults won't talk through an issue but now, think about it in light of the God of creation.  Do you really think that if you decide to "delete" God, "block" God or "hide" from God it is going to work out for you?  Really?  Whoa...not such a good choice to "delete" Him from your "wall".  Just sayin'. :-/  You should consider "messaging" Him with an apology and then submit another "friend" request.  You really don't want to live life without Him!

Friend of God

So my apologies on my absence from this blog.  Life has been busy this spring for me, so my time has been limited.  With that said, I recently was talking with a relative about the goodness of God and sharing my testimony.  As our discussion developed I mentioned that even Jesus memorized three scriptures when He was faced with opposition from the devil.  (The account is found in Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13 and Luke 4:1-13).  Jesus was just baptized by John and was just about to begin his 3-year "ministry" when the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the dessert.  There Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights and Mark describes it that Jesus was with "wild beasts" - Mark 1:13).

First Satan tempted Jesus saying, "command that these stones become bread."  (Remember Jesus was fasting for 40 days/nights and I think He was a bit hungry.)  Jesus' response was, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God," (Matthew 4:4). Jesus quoted the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 8:3), and in doing so, laid out a principle of righteousness so plainly here that we have to be sure to catch it.  Even Jesus quoted the Word!  There is power in the Word!  He knew it!  So if Jesus quoted the Word - shouldn't we?

Second time Satan tempted Jesus, he took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and placed Jesus there. (Ok - this whole concept has a LOT to dig through like how did Satan "take" Jesus anywhere but we will save that discussion for a later post.)  Satan told Jesus (can you imagine the audacity of Satan TELLING Jesus anything) but anyway, Satan told Jesus that is He was the Son of God, He could cast Himself down and therefore, as God, He would not be "hurt". Satan, then being the arrogant thing that his was, quoted from the Psalms (Matthew 4:6). "If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'He will give His angels charge concerning You'; and 'On their hands they will bear You up, Lest You strike Your foot against a stone.'"  Geeze - what gaul!  And doesn't that same like the same devil who harasses you?  I recognize that tone!

Jesus, being amazing and humble didn't let the devil have it, but instead, QUOTED THE WORD!  He said, "On the other hand, it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (Matthew 4:7,8). This is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:16. It was not that these two passages were in conflict with one another, but that Satan had misused the Scripture to justify something that was unjustifiable. The purpose of the passage quoted by Satan had nothing to do with jumping off tall buildings, or any other kind of foolish behavior. To do as Satan had said would be to try to push and manipulate God into action. We are the servants of God; He is not our slave.

Finally, there is the third confrontation of the devil to Jesus.  Satan took Jesus (again - this has significance but we will address that later) to a high mountain and showed Him a vision of "all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time (Luke 4:5) and the "glory of them (Matthew 4:8).  Satan "offered" this to Jesus (as satan had this authority when Adam gave the "keys" or dominion over to Satan in the Garden of Eden) in exchange for Jesus to worship Satan.  He was enticing Jesus with his power, his dominion, his rule (this world) but Jesus KNEW that He would soon regain control of this "earth" and take the keys of life and death from the very hands of Satan (after Jesus' death on the cross) so Jesus simply responded to him with the Word!  Jesus responded by saying, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'" (Matthew 4:10).

Satan left and angles ministered to Jesus.  (Mark 1:13 and Matthew 4:11).

So, we see above that Jesus needed at LEAST three scriptures to fight against the devil, so if Jesus, being the Son of God needed three verses, how many verses should we know?  Well, at least three, I would say - for starters!

I wanted to share some scriptures with them, some of my favorites.  And when I think of sharing scriptures, I began with rejoicing.  I love starting there!  It is always a great place to start.  Always find SOMETHING to rejoice about!  So I shared that God is BIG and Strong and Mighty! (Yep - that's a verse...Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Psalm 24:8)

I love this verse: “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” I Peter 2:24. This says that Jesus TOOK EVERYTHING on His body, on the cross and so we don't have to take it. HE DID! Sometimes Christians think they need to "suffer" for Christ. This is simply NOT true. He suffered FOR US! He had paid it all, done it all, finished it all. In fact, that was the last thing he said on this planet before dying...It is finished! HE finished it. (John 19:30) We just have to believe that and receive it! Amen?

A faith-building verse for me is found in Numbers 11:23 and says, "The LORD answered Moses, 'Is the LORD's arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.'" Basically this is God saying, I double-dog dare you to see if I fail on my Word. See God WANTS us to KNOW that we KNOW that we KNOW that He is who He says He is!

He is SO for us (Romans 8:31 - What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?)

He LOVES us:  1 John 4:19 We love Him because HE first loved us.  Jude 21 Keep yourself in the love of God.  Galatians 5:22 For the fruit of the Spirit is love.  Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ...  Romans 8:39 ....(nothing) shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.)

And He has provided ALL that we need for LIFE and GODLINESS! (By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3)

We are not alone!
Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."  Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."  Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

This verse helps me to keep being motivated to study the scripture and to KNOW them. So many times as Christians we let OTHERS (the pastor, the priest, the rabbi, the leader know but WE need to know): Hosea 4:6 says, "MY (this means us - believers!) people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children." Ok - I don't want my children destroyed so I choose to KEEP God's Word.  I want to KNOW what the Bible says! AMEN!

Then there is this FABULOUS promise from God (one of many) but this one is found in Jeremiah 1:12... Then said the Lord to ME (you!), You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it. See, God WANTS to do His Word for us, but if we don't "remind" Him (not that He has forgotten but don't you love it when your children CLING to your promise?) He waits on us to move first, then He moves FOR us!  HE WANTS RELATIONSHIP WITH US! WOO HOO! I am a friend of God. Imagine that...ME, a friend to God? Are you kidding me? All this and heaven too!

Begin to HIDE God's Word in your heart. (Psalms 199:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.)  We have to be ready with the Word!