Connecting Points

Monday, November 23, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic: Jesus Gave Thanks!

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I love this week of the year. If I had to rate it, it would be in the top 50 or so. Actually, it would be in the top three. For as long as I can remember from childhood, Thanksgiving week has always been the time of my fondest and deepest family memories. My kids all make fun of me for this and will understand when I say, “This is so special.” At some point during the Thanksgiving dinner I will probably say that with tears in my eyes. Last year one of my sons imitated me early in the meal and everyone roared with mocking laughter. I love my family!

This morning, as I started to put together a list of all the reasons the New Testament provides for us to be thankful, I stopped at the third one I came to. I guess I will go into that list deeper tomorrow, but for today God stopped me and made a connection with me at this point.

Jesus is just hours away from His crucifixion. He’s in the upper room with His disciples, and He’s telling them the details of His suffering that is at hand. Then, in a symbolic gesture incredibly deep with spiritual truth, Jesus takes the bread. Let’s read how Matthew relates it to us in his Gospel.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Two times Jesus gave thanks. He was thankful for the bread and thankful for the cup of wine. But His thankfulness goes far deeper than mere habit or courtesy of praying before a meal. In fact, they were already eating, so any blessing of the food had already taken place.

Just think what the bread represented in the plan of God and in the understanding of the Son. The bread was symbolic of His body – the physical body that would soon endure excruciating pain and suffering. He would be spit upon and struck, beaten and bloodied, crowned and crucified. His body would suffer more than we dare to image but not more than we deserve ourselves because of our sin.

The cup of wine represented the blood of Jesus. Once shed on the cross it would become the once-for-all covering for our sin. Every sacrifice for sin required the shedding of blood – the expelling of the source of life from the physical being. Jesus knew that on the cross His blood would be spilled out. He knew that the weight of sin would crush His heart and His chest cavity would fill with blood as He took His last breath and gave up His life for ours. He foresaw the spear thrust into His side so that His blood could be shed to meet God’s righteous requirements and provide eternal forgiveness.

Yet, seeing it all with His infinite mind’s eye and knowing the suffering that was ahead, Jesus gave thanks!

I am in awe of my Lord! I am ashamed of myself. I complain. I grumble. I criticize. I find fault. I want change. I want to be more like Jesus. Jesus gave thanks!

I think I’ve discovered a connection. Being thankful is the product of a surrendered heart. Self-centered hearts aren’t thankful. Jesus was fully surrendered to the will of God, so He could be thankful for every step, even suffering ones, that He was directed to take. He had His eyes fixed on the finish line, not the competition of the race. It is in full surrender that thankfulness abounds.

Jesus, forgive us for being self-willed and not surrendered. Forgive us for complaining and criticizing when we could be content in knowing that You are in control. May we express gratitude rather than grumbling. May we learn to be thankful before, during, and after suffering as was Jesus.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Friday, November 20, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic:  God’s Affirmation

Scripture Reading:  1Peter 5:10 (NIV)  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 

I am overloaded with blessing today because of the many truths in this one verse. In order to be brief, please enjoy a bulleted format of connecting points today. Choose the one or several that best fit your needs today.

• All grace is from God, and God gives grace generously. His grace is sufficient for every need. His grace has conquered sin and death (Romans 5:20-21). Every suffering, every trial, and every difficulty is yet another opportunity to experience the grandeur of God’s grace as He sustains us and supplies our every need. Our sinful flesh deserves the suffering. Our suffering Savior is God’s gift of grace that calls us to eternal fellowship and glory. Each hardship is God’s activity to reveal His glory and strengthen our bond with Him.
• Suffering is temporary – the glory to which we have been called is eternal.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. My friends, please take time to read this entire passage of Scripture in 2 Corinthians 4:6-18.
• God Himself is affirming me. This is my personal connecting point for today. When I used to be in business, it was nice to get words of affirmation from my manager, and then from my district manager, but I will never forget the time I got a call from the owner of the company. When the person responsible for the bottom line calls, it means more. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
• God Himself will deliver the grace you need to accomplish four things:
  • He will restore you. The Greek word means to render fit, sound, and complete; to put things in order. God is personally setting all things in order in your life so you are fully equipped to do His work. (Hebrews 13:20-21)
  • He will make you strong. This is the only place in the entire New Testament where this word appears. It is probably derived from the same root word used in Ephesians 6:10 where Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might so that we can stand against all the attacks of our enemy the devil. God Himself is providing all the strength you need to resist the devil and stand strong in the midst of all trouble.
  • God Himself will make you firm. He will establish you. He will make you stable. Stability is not a pipe dream. It is a reality for all who live wisely, recognizing that wisdom comes from God alone through our faith in Jesus Christ. God is the personal source of stability. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:5-8).
  • God will make you steadfast. The Greek word here refers to the placing of a solid foundation upon which anything can be built. That foundation is Jesus Christ, the Rock of our salvation. This same word is used to describe the three building materials of a solid foundation.
• Faith – continue in your faith, established and firm. (Colossians 1:23)
• Hope – established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. (Col. 1:23)
• Love – And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,   may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,   and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

God Himself will provide for you. God Himself affirms you. God Himself is at work in you. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic:  Suffering Brings Perfection

Scripture Reading:  1Peter 5:9 (NIV)  Resist him [the devil], standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

I want to encourage you today with one word from 1 Peter 5:9. It requires looking at the verse in a different translation. The New American Standard Version reads – But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. I want to focus on the word accomplished.

Did you know that suffering is accomplishing something positive in your life? Hard to believe while we’re in the thick of it, but it’s true. The Greek word in the original text here is epiteleo, and it means to bring to an end, to complete, to perfect. It is the same word the Apostle Paul chose to describe the completion of the work God is doing in our lives when he wrote to the people of Philippi. He said, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (emphasis mine)

Here’s my simple yet profound connecting point for today: All suffering of all Christians is the same kind – the kind that moves us towards experiencing the completion of the character of Christ. The types of suffering people experience may be different, but the reason for all suffering is the same. God is completing a grand work in us to perfect the life of His Son Jesus.

It doesn’t matter whether the suffering was self-induced by our own choices, or people-induced because of the choices of others. It is all God-designed and God-controlled for one primary reason – to train our character by testing our faith. Peter says that the knowledge of this process being active in all of us is the motivation for us to unite in our stand against the devil who seeks to stop the process.

Satan doesn’t want Christians to act or think like Jesus. He doesn’t want us to be a threat to his singular purpose to destroy as much of God’s creation as he can – especially the part of it created in His own image. He seeks to eliminate the proof of the resurrection of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit by discouraging, defeating and devouring the faith of every believer. He wants us to look just like the unsaved people of the world so that none of them have any hope of change.

But the work of God to perfect the life of Jesus in His children will not and cannot be stopped. It can be hindered by our responses to how God is working, but in the end it cannot be stopped. So resist the devil, and stand firm in your faith. God is working through each and every situation of your life to produce the character of Christ in you. Nothing about your current situation surprises Him or overwhelms Him. It has been designed by Him to bring the fullness of fellowship with Jesus to your life. It is the same for all of us. Let us together stand firm in our faith.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic:  Stand Firm

Scripture Reading:  1Peter 5:9 Resist him [the devil], standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

One of the most enjoyable things I get to do with my oldest son is take a trout fishing trip every spring to the Peshtigo River in Eastern Wisconsin. I look forward to it every year. We camp in a rustic national forest with no modern conveniences whatsoever. We really rough it. We sit around the campfire in the morning and cook breakfast. We fish all morning. We nap after lunch. We fish until supper. We sit around the campfire all evening and wonder when the bears will arrive to check out our food.

But this fishing trip is also one of the scariest and most tiring things I do. No, not because of the bears, but because of the strength of the river. Depending on the amount of rain that has been falling the river can be rushing rapidly. Two years ago it was almost impossible to fish. Even when the river is low and the flow is slow, there are slippery rocks below so you have to watch where you go.

To catch the fish, we wade through the river. Every step has to be carefully planned to avoid falling in and being washed away in the current. The best way I’ve found to remain upright and have the best opportunity to catch fish is to walk upstream, against the flow. This takes great strength and alertness. Firm footing is hard to find. Every step is a step of faith. The water is dark and in most places the bottom can’t be seen. But we know the bottom is there. We know the rocks are there. We know the footing can be firm if the placement of the foot is correct. It takes strength and resolve to go against the flow, but the exhaustion we feel is quickly dispelled by the sound and smell of trout in the frying pan.

I have never seen a successful trout fisherman who sits complacently. Those who would sit in the river will be at the mercy of the current. They will quickly be swept away. It is less dangerous to stand than to sit.

Unfortunately, in the spiritual world today, far too many Christians have decided to sit complacently in the rushing current of culture. They are being swept away by the flow of faithless philosophy and floundering folks. Far too few Christians are standing firm in the river of the world and going upstream against the flow. It seems most think it’s not worth the fight.

We cannot follow Jesus and go with the flow. Standing firm in the faith and resisting the devil requires great strength and resolve. It takes training and discipline, but Jesus has called ALL of His followers to stand. Sitting complacently and enjoying the free ride down the river is not an option, and it’s not free. Those who do not stand will be bruised on the rocks. They will be swept under in the rapids. They will go over the falls and plunge to their deaths. Only those who stand and go against the flow will survive. But it will be a fight.

• Those who have stood firm in the past have called it a fight. Fight the good fight of the faith (1 Timothy 6:12).
• They have fought the fight and will receive the reward. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.   Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
• They have been obedient to the teaching they received. Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction…so that by following them you may fight the good fight,   holding on to faith and a good conscience. (1 Timothy 1:18-19)
• They have drawn a distinct line between the spiritual and the worldly. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.   The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.   We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
• They have equipped themselves with everything they need to win the fight and stand firm in their faith. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10-13)

So get up from your spiritual lazy-boy which is being swept away by the current of culture. Put your feet firmly on the Rock. Resist the devil. Go against the flow. Stand firm in your faith. Whatever strength it takes to stand will be supplied by the One who stood for you and died. He did it for the joy that was set before Him. He didn’t sit down until the fight was over (Hebrews 12:2). Get up. Your fight is not done.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Monday, November 16, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic:  Seeking to Save

Scripture Reading:  1Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 

There is quite a contrast between the declared mission of the devil and that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is seeking anyone so that he can devour and destroy them. Jesus is seeking anyone so that He can save them. As Christians, we claim to be partners in Christ’s mission. I propose to you today that we like the saving part of the mission and get excited when it happens, but we have neglected the seeking part of the mission.

Jesus has called us and equipped us with His Holy Spirit to carry out His mission. He told us His mission on several occasions. At the very beginning of His public ministry, in a synagogue in His home town of Nazareth, He declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  After meeting a man named Zacchaeus, Jesus stated, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” And while speaking to some Pharisees about who He was and his ministry to the world, Jesus proclaimed, “I have come that they might have life, and that it might be abundant.”

Satan, the enemy of Jesus and His followers, does not have life in mind in anything he does. He only and always seeks death. Unfortunately, many people fall for the disguises the devil designs so that death appears as life.  Even Christians succumb to the devouring disguises of materialism, acceptance, and self-worth. As a result, many Christians are satisfied to put on the appearance of rejoicing when someone is saved from their sin, yet they themselves rarely participate in actively seeking the lost sinner to bring them to Jesus. Christianity has become for many the means of achieving personal security and comfort. The church has moved from being a lifesaving station that seeks the lost to an elite clubhouse with sufficient protections in place to keep dangerous people out.

I first read the following story years ago. I was reminded of it by a friend recently in an email. I used it yesterday in church to illustrate the point that we have in many ways stopped fulfilling the “seeking” portion of Christ’s mission. I share it with you today and trust that the Lord will convict your heart as He has mine. It was written by Theodore Wedel.

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little lifesaving station. The building was no more than a hut, and there was only one boat; but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out day and night, tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to be associated with the station and give their time, money, and effort to support the work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little lifesaving station grew.

Some of these new members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those who were saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as sort of a club. Fewer members were not interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in this club’s decoration, and there was a memorial lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held.

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them were foreigners. The beautiful new club was in chaos. Immediately, the property committee hired someone to rig up a shower house outside the club, where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s lifesaving activities because they felt they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. A small number of members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. The small group’s members were voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast.

They did.

As the years went by, however, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old station. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore.

Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the passengers drown. No one is seeking them anymore.

My friends, we need to recover our passion for lifesaving.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions
Monday, November 09, 2009
Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic: As a Deer

Scripture Reading: 1Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Before I begin, thanks to all of you who have suggested names for these devotionals. I have a list of about 50 possibilities, and my wife and I will be reviewing that list over the next week to choose the permanent name. Also, this will be my only devotional this week. I will be on vacation spending time trying to track down that huge buck I saw Saturday morning. I promise I will hunt safely.

I am amazed at how alert deer are in the woods. With the exception of the big bucks during the breeding season, they are finely tuned to their environment so they can avoid any and all potential danger. The bucks have something else more urgent than personal safety on their minds right now. Otherwise, every sense they have is used at peak performance.

Their eyes have incredible peripheral vision and their heads turn instantly when they detect motion of any kind.

Their ears are precise directional homing devices. They can pinpoint the exact location of a sound from amazing distances and come running right to it. I’ve watched bucks respond to the rattle of antlers from half-a-mile away and run to the exact location of my tree stand.

Their noses are incredible. They lift their head towards the sky and lick their nose so that the saliva captures any and all scent particles in the air. Bucks can tell the direction a doe in heat was walking on a trail after she had been there 12 hours earlier.

And then there’s that non-scientifically proven sixth sense that every hunter knows a deer has. I’ve watched deer just instinctively know something is different than the last time they past that location, and turn and run away. They saw nothing. They smelled nothing. They heard nothing. They just sensed something.

The skilled hunter must go to extreme measures to have a chance to get close to these incredible game animals. He must use camouflage to blend into the environment so the advantage of the deer’s vision is neutralized. The hunter must by quiet – absolutely quiet – making only noises that sound like other animals in the forest or like the deer itself. And he must smell right, or not smell at all. It is the nose of the deer that works the best, and any whiff of scent not natural to the woods will be judged as dangerous and the deer will flee.

We can learn a lot from deer about taking precautions in the forest of the world. We are being hunted. We must develop our senses so we can protect ourselves from our enemy the lion who is stalking us and seeks to devour us. We can ensure spiritual survival if we become like deer in the woods. We must be alert to the potential danger lurking behind every tree.

How tragic it would be to find our lives described by the words of the prophet Isaiah through whom the Lord God said, Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Our eyes can begin to see better in the darkness that surrounds us when they become illuminated by the light of God’s commands. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. (Psalm 19:8) The Lord knows the path that is safe to walk, and can release us from any trap into which we fall. We must keep our eyes on Him. My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. (Psalm 25:15) With our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), we are determined to not allow anything into our field of vision that will be of danger to us. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. (Psalm 101:3) Lord, turn my eyes away from worthless things. (Psalm 119:37)
Our ears must be tuned to the truths of God’s Word so that we can discern the noise of the enemy. Then we will know and experience the constant guidance of God. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21) But hearing without responding will give the enemy a chance to attack. Once we have heard the noise of danger from the world, we must flee immediately and follow the direction of the Lord. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)

Our enemy the devil has camouflaged himself into the spiritual realm of our lives. He has made himself look like an angel of light. He has disguised himself as one of us. With a lying tongue he makes the sounds of the saved, seeking to seduce us into his snare. He has covered the aroma of death emanating from his very being and lies in wait to devour us.

But praise God that even when our hearing is deafened by the noise of the world, and our eyes are dimmed by the darkness of sin, the Holy Spirit, our “sixth sense”, alerts us to danger and causes us to flee. Oh that we would become deer in the forest, and apply every sense God has given us to be alert to every deadly danger that the Devil has deliberately designed to destroy us.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic:  Self-Control

Scripture Reading:  1Peter 5:8  Be self-controlled and alert. 

I missed!

I missed writing my devotional yesterday.

Those of you that read these devotions every day that I actually write one probably thought I missed a deer because of what I wrote on Monday. You would also be correct.

I had not been in my stand more than 10 minutes when a nice 8 point buck with the beginnings of points 9 and 10 responded to my doe bleat and buck grunt. He was making a bee-line right for me. I grabbed my bow, and when he stopped broadside at 25 yards I shot. I did not compensate for the severe downhill shot and the arrow slid harmlessly over his back.

As he approached, I was having a hard time controlling myself. My first glance at him across the swale made me shake because his antlers looked bigger than they actually were. The wide spread of them gave me a severe case of the jitters. As he drew closer, I debated whether or not to even attempt to shoot him as I saw the other signs of his age. He was probably only 2½ years old by the look of his face and straightness of his back. But at the last moment I decided to try to put meet in the freezer.

I couldn’t believe how nervous I got. I’ve done this so many times before, but every time I get ready to draw back my bow I have a hard time controlling my emotions. I still don’t have this whole self-control thing conquered. Those of you who know me well already knew that without me telling a deer story.

The Greek word for self-controlled used by Peter here is rich in meaning. There are five characteristics of a self-controlled person that are built into the definition. It is not the same word used in Galatians 5:23 when Paul tells us that one of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. That word is much broader, and speaks specifically of the conquering of the passions of life. It’s as if Paul tells us the general principle, and then Peter tells us the specifics. To experience the fullness of this fruit of the Spirit, we must break it down into its individual parts and make sure we are excelling in each of them.

So, here they are, with a short challenge for each. May the Word of the Lord enrich you as you make your own personal applications to life.

Self-Control means…

• to be sober – specifically, to abstain from coming under the influence of alcohol. In today’s culture, let’s add drugs to that as well. Any mind-altering influence that dulls our senses, eases our pain, or changes our behavior is a sin. Why? Because it proves a lack of faith in the peace-providing presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.
• to be calm and collected in spirit – I was not calm and collected in the tree stand yesterday. I allowed the circumstance of a deer to influence my thinking. If I had been calm and collected, I would have thought clearly about over-compensating for the downward angle of the shot and I would be cleaning a deer today. In the same way we are to be sober from chemical influence, we must also not let the circumstances of life produce anxiety that alters our thinking.
• to be temperate – to be consistently moderate, mild, and pleasant. We all want to know what the temperature is going to be each day so we can adjust to it. How many people are privileged to be able to use you as their spiritual thermometer and adjust their lives to you because you are so consistent, or temperate? A temperate person is not ruled by their emotions.
• to be dispassionate – to be impartial, unbiased, and fair-minded. We far too often jump on bandwagons. We take sides. We passionately take stands that alienate others. We must separate our emotions from our positions so that the love of God is not overwhelmed by our passion.
• to be circumspect – I love this word. It means to live in such a way that you are constantly watching what’s around you and you are alert to any potential danger. In Ephesians 5:15 the King James Version says, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Fools run around doing whatever they want whenever they want to, totally ignoring the consequences. Wise people are self-controlled, walking through life alert to what might negatively influence them and how their own choices and actions might negatively influence others. More on that tomorrow.

So, be self-controlled. I’m going to specifically apply several of those principles to my life tomorrow when I’ll be back on the tree stand. And again, for those who know me well, that’s not the only place I’ll apply them.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Monday, November 02, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic:  In the Rut

Scripture Reading:  1 Corinthians 9:23 (NLT)  I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. 

It’s my favorite time of the year. I love the smell of fallen leaves. I love the crisp, clean, cool air. I like the heat. No, that’s not a contradiction. I like the type of heat of this season a lot more than the heat of summer. But then, that’s a different kind of heat. This is my favorite time of the year because the deer are in heat. We call it the rut.

That’s an interesting term. For me being in a rut is not a good thing. But I love it when those male deer called bucks get in their rut. They have absolute tunnel vision. They have their minds set on only one thing, and that means they don’t care to know that I’m in the woods with them. They can be tricked and trapped into coming within range of my arrow by the simple imitation of a female mating bleat. There is nothing more exciting than to watch it happen and see that deer walking straight towards the sound I made. He walks right in believing that He is going to fulfill the natural instinct that God created into him for the prolonging of the species. His whole life at this time of the year is about reproduction.

Every day the lost people of our world are making sounds that should attract us to where they are so we can give them the seed of truth from the Word of God. They are bleating out cries of hopelessness and fear, just waiting for someone to come along and give them the faith they need to go on. That someone is me…and you. This is our opportunity to fulfill the supernatural instinct God’s Holy Spirit has created in us to pronounce the saving power of Jesus. Our whole lives all year long should be about reproduction.

I wish more Christians were in the rut. I long to see God’s people passionately pursuing the people of the world who are primed because of their circumstances to receive the Good News of Jesus. I pray that more followers of Jesus would understand that they have been fully equipped by the Holy Spirit to reproduce their faith in the life of another person. I pray that our ears would be open to their cries; that our hearts would open to their hurts; that our arms would be extended in love towards them; and that our mouths would be open to speak the truth to them.

When I go into the woods this time of the year I have to change my perspective on how I think. I have to start thinking like a deer. I have to understand his patterns and walk along his paths. I have to set myself up in an area where he will be, not where I want him to be. Even though I am a man and have been given dominion over creation, I would be a fool to try to go into the world of the deer as a man. I have to become like a deer so that I may shoot one.

That reminds me of something the Apostle Paul said.

Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.  When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23  New Living Translation)

Some of us are in the wrong rut. Some are in the rut of tradition. Some are in the rut of separation. Others are in the rut of legalism. Few are in the right rut of reproduction. Let’s change that. We must stop thinking about how we can walk through the world untouched by it, and start thinking about how we can walk into the world and win it. One by one let’s start reproducing our faith.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic:  God’s Love

Scripture Reading:   Deuteronomy 7:7-8  The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 

God does not love us because of who we are; He loves us because of who He is!

What a mountain of truth. What a stumbling block to the natural mind of man. We think we must earn love. We think love must be reciprocated. We think love is an emotional response. The truth is that love is a Person, and all that emanates from Him is motivated by His eternal nature of love.

Let the words of love God spoke in the Bible touch your heart today, and let all your cares be cast upon the One who loves you with an everlasting love. Please don’t just skim over these verses. They are the Word of God spoken to the longing heart of man. Let them sink in and transform you. They will meet the most fundamental and essential need you have – to be loved.

Psalm 36:5  Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,  your faithfulness to the skies.

Psalm 36:7  How priceless is your unfailing love!

Psalm 59:16-17  But I will sing of your strength,  in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.

Psalm 63:3  Because your love is better than life,  my lips will glorify you.

Jeremiah 31:3  “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”

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

John 15:13  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  

Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:4-5  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. 

Ephesians 3:17-19  I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 5:2  …Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17  May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Titus 3:4-5  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

1 John 3:1  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:16  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 

1 John 4:7-11  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

1 John 4:19  We love because he first loved us.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Current Study: 1 Peter

Today’s Topic:  God’s Love

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

Are you sure? That seemingly simple question began the downfall of mankind. The sneaky snake in the Garden of Eden asked that question to Eve. Knowing he would have only one chance to destroy the perfection of God’s creation, he carefully determined the weakest link in a human’s free will. With one question he cast doubt into the mind of the woman. He didn’t blurt it right out. He was subtle. But when he was done, the bottom line was this – Are you really sure that God really loves you?

Think about it. Every doubt we deliberate; every deed we dignify; every dysfunction we develop; they all stem from the evil root of lost love. When we do not know that we know that we know that we are loved, we will do anything to earn it. The certainty of the love of God is the passionate pursuit of the heart of man.

Whether you are one or one hundred, the love of God is the simplest yet most profound truth you will ever discover. Helen Smith of Wheaton, Illinois, writes in Christian Reader,

My 3-year-old granddaughter, Helen, and her parents were dining at a Chinese restaurant. At the end of the meal her parents broke open their fortune cookies and read their fortunes aloud. Helen wanted to “read” her fortune, too. “It says,” she announced proudly, “Jesus loves me!”

The simple truth explodes on the heart of a child. On the other end of the spectrum, Karl Barth was invited to deliver one of the distinguished lectureships at a theological seminary in the East, and while he was there a group of ministers and theologians and dignitaries of one kind or another sat down with him in a kind of question-and-answer period. Someone asked the question, “What is the most profound thought that you know, Dr. Barth?” This is what he said: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

Four-year-old Ashton Clarke loves the movie Toy Story 2, particularly the space ranger hero Buzz Lightyear. Recently in Sunday school his teacher was explaining that God’s love has no limits. At the end of class, the teacher, reviewing the lesson, asked, “So, how much does God love us?” Quoting Buzz’s big line in the film, Ashton replied, “To infinity and beyond!”

There is no problem that you will experience today that is greater than God’s love. There is no tragedy in the world that can put to death the love of God. There is nothing in the life of His child that can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus. You are loved! God loves you!

I close today with the words to a wonderful old song. I can still see and hear my friend Kathy in Minnesota singing this. Let the words touch deeply into your heart.

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

 When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

 Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song. 

Pastor John