Daily Devotions

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: We’re His Forever

Today’s Scripture:   John 14:18-19  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 

In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage.  About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. Here is the story they tell.

It was nearing the holiday season in 1994, and it was time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.

Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me.  No colored paper was available in the city.

Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown a lady had given us, were used for the baby’s blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States. The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help.

All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy’s manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately – until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger.

Then Misha started to ad-lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, “And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay.  I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn’t have a gift to give him like everybody else did.”

“But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, ‘If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?’ And Jesus told me, ‘If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.’ So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him—for always.”

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.  The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him – FOR ALWAYS. 

Jesus came so that we could be His children – for always. This Christmas, remember that it’s not what you get for gifts that matters, but Who you get as a gift, and Jesus is the indescribable Gift of God.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: It Takes Faith

Today’s Scripture:   Romans 4:18-21  Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 

A striking Christmas card was once published with the title “If Christ Had Not Come”. It was founded upon our Savior’s words “If I had not come”  in John 15:22. On the card is a picture of a pastor falling into a short sleep in his study on Christmas morning and dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come. In his dream he found himself looking through his home, but there were no little stockings in the chimney corner, no Christmas bells or wreaths of holly, and no Christ to comfort, gladden and save. He walked out to the street, but there was no church with its spire pointing to Heaven. He came back and sat down in his library, but every book about the Savior had disappeared. The doorbell rang and a young boy asked the preacher to visit his poor, dying mother. He hastened with the weeping child, and as he reached the home he sat down and said, “I have something here that will comfort you.”  He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, but it ended with Malachi. There was no Gospel and no promise of hope and salvation, and he could only bow his head and weep with her in bitter despair. Two days later he stood beside her coffin and conducted the funeral service. There was no message of consolation, no hope of heaven.

I can’t begin to image what life would be like without the reality of Jesus Christ and the hope of heaven. But wait. Didn’t all the saints of the Old Testament have to live that way? This story plays an emotional tune on our heart strings, but the truth is that it is in error. If the Pastor had the Old Testament message, but not the New Testament, he would still have the promises of God that the Messiah was coming. There would still be hope. There would still be a message of consolation. His faith could have been like the faith of Abraham, who against all hope, believed the promise of God. The pastor in story could not have been a true man of faith. He did not believe the prophecies of the Old Testament and use them to give hope to a dying woman. He did not give glory to God by being persuaded that what was promised would someday be fulfilled. He wavered through unbelief.

We tend to do the same thing with the promises of God. We set them aside in unbelief if they have not been fully delivered. We hopelessly take our lives into our own hands when our patience to wait on God runs out. We stop seeking His kingdom and righteousness because all the other things promised to us aren’t being added to us fast enough. Our prayers are more like wishes written to Santa rather than words of faith in the promises of God. We move from event to event and day to day with hardly a thought about the imminent return of Jesus Christ to take us to glory. Life tends to be all about us and our plans, when faith calls us to make life all about God and His glory.

What would our faith look like if we were living prior to the birth of Jesus? Ideally I would like to think that we have an advantage living now. But in reality, our faith is probably weaker. We may tend to take for granted what we know to be true. We may be like the husband who stops romancing the love of his life after the wedding. We tend to live primarily with the expectations of more and better for ourselves in this life, rather than in eternity. We focus on solutions to our own sad situations when we should be focused on the salvation of souls. We have subtly surrendered to sight while God is calling us to fearlessly follow by faith. The Bible is clear – without such faith it is impossible to please God.

The foundation of true faith is solely based on one’s proper understanding of God. Faith is only ever as valid as the object of the faith. If you want your faith to increase, learn more about the object of your faith. So the big question is this – “Who do you know God to be?” How you answer that question determines the level and maturity of your faith. In today’s Scripture, Abraham knew God to be the God of power – power to fulfill promises. At other times of his life He knew other characteristics of God. Somewhere in each of our lives right now there is a weakness in our faith because we don’t sufficiently know the nature and character of God. He has promised to reveal Himself to those who seek Him, and in that revelation our faith will be strengthened. Seek Him today. Inquire of His Word and His Spirit. Ask God to reveal something new about Himself to you, and you will see how your faith will grow, your fears will cease, and His promises will become reality.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: The Big News

Today’s Scripture:   John 1:1-4, 14  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In December 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He totally missed the big news–man had flown!

How many people will miss the big news this year. They will focus on family coming home for the holidays, the meals they will share, and the gifts they will exchange. But they will miss the big news – God became man and dwelt among us, revealing the glory of God by bringing grace and truth to us. Jesus, the Word, who created all things, became flesh so that His life would be the light of men. But far too many don’t see Him. Far too many don’t understand that He is real, and that until they meet Him they are not. They may exist, but they do not really live. They are without hope in an increasingly hopeless world. They are without true light in a dark world, and every light they think will work doesn’t. The darkness has overwhelmed them.

Even their attempts to understand God and His Word are tainted by the premise of pride. You see, even when they try to see God they can’t, because their eyes have been blinded by their own will. If you want an example of this, check out this article from this week’s Newsweek Magazine. www.newsweek.com/id/172653/output/print. In an attempt to make news, they have missed the real news. Jesus, the perfect representation and manifestation of God, came to save us from our sin and give us the gift of eternal life. He stepped out of eternity and became real to us.

Little Jimmy is four. His dad is in Iraq. He hasn’t seen him for over a year. He’s forgotten what it’s like to be swooped up in his dad’s arms and embraced in a giant hug. All he sees is a picture on the table in the kitchen. One day he says to his mother, “If only dad could step out of that picture and be real….”

Christmas means that in a sad day of sin when man had almost forgotten God, He stepped into the world in the form of His Son. He became flesh to identify with us. He became our sin to make it possible for us to identify with Him. And to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

I know the season is busy. I understand the rush. But don’t miss the big news. And don’t miss the opportunity to share it. Some will not understand. But there will be those who are ready to listen. Just ask Angel, Dwayne, and Donna – three people who heard the message on Sunday and came forward to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. They didn’t miss the big news.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: The Ultimate Difference-Maker

Today’s Scripture:   Colossians 1:15-20  [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Two days ago I received an email from my friend Bruce. I thought at first it might be an invitation to go golfing, but I was soon to discover it was an invitation to something much more important. His timing was perfect. Here we are at the start of another Christmas season, and people are looking for something that will make a difference in their lives. The giving and receiving of gifts offers a respite from the normal drudgery and despondency of life. We seem to need a Santa-like affirmation that we’ve been nice and not naughty. Auto workers are looking for a congressional Christmas present. Retail store owners and operators are looking for customers. The citizens of our great country are looking for hope, placing it primarily in newly elected officials. The world in general is looking for financial stability. People are longing for peace and security.

All those who place their faith and hope in this world will be disappointed. But as my friend reminded me, all those who place their hope and faith in Jesus Christ will be transformed. I trust that the devotional that he shared with me will be a great start for you to this Christmas season, and will be the beginning of seeing Jesus Christ as the ultimate difference-maker in our lives. Here’s what Bruce said…

I was just reading in Dr. David Jeremiah’s Turning Points Magazine and Devotional and was really touched by part of an article. Dr. Jeremiah this month is using some of Dr. Suess’s characters for Christmas analogies, like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Horton Hears a Who. In describing the Who of Christmas that we need to listen for, he says, “the first syllable of Christ-mas gives us the Who, it is Christ. The babe enshrouded in swaddling clothes and lying quietly in the splintered hay was—and is—the Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the Light of the World and the Bread of Life. He is the King of Kings, the King of the Ages, and the King of the Jews. He is Emmanuel— God with us.”

“As he slumbered between ox and donkey, tended by Joseph and Mary, He was God in disguise, the Incarnate Deity, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

“The whole teaching of the Bible and of Christianity in all it’s major branches is that Jesus Christ was and is the infinite God Himself: pure, perfect, sinless, and holy. He is the Ancient of Days, the Everlasting Lord, the Ruler of Eternity, and the Maker of the Ends of the Earth. He’s the Second Person of the Triune God.”

“It was the Great I Am who created the nocturnal skies under which shepherd boys watched their lambs, who formed the glittering stars into which eastern Magi peered with interest, and who birthed the creation into which He descended in the fullness of time.”

“As the church father Aurelius Augustine, put it: He it is by whom all things were made, and who was made one of all things; who is the revealer of the Father, the creator of the mother; the Son of God by the Father without a mother; the Son of man by the mother without a father; the Word who is God before all time, the Word made Flesh at a fitting time… filling the world, lying in a manger.”

“He is both God and Man”.

How’s that for someone who made a difference in our lives?

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: Obedience

Today’s Scripture:   1 Samuel 15:20-22   But I did obey the LORD,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

King Saul is in trouble. After being told by the LORD to destroy all of the Amalekites and their possessions, he is now trying to justify his disobedience by saying that God should honor good intentions. After all, shouldn’t God be pleased that they had selected all the best of the cattle and sheep so they could be sacrificed to the LORD? If God had instructed them to do that, then yes, He would be pleased. But good intentions do not make up for disobedience. Besides, Saul only came up with the idea of sacrifice after he had been caught with the goods.

There is an old saying of disputable origin that says, “Hell is paved with good intentions.”  In our modern day it has been amended to state, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”  But it is action that proves the heart, not intentions. An ounce of accomplishment is worth a ton of good intention. But being the people we are, stuck in the rut of self-affirmation, we prefer to defend our actions with the justification of our intentions. Unfortunately, we don’t treat others the same. Ian Percy, a modern day motivational speaker and leadership guru, said it this way – “We judge others by their behavior. We judge ourselves by our intentions.”

This was true of Saul. He preferred, as I suspect we all do, to be judged by his intentions rather than his actions. But that is not God’s way. The truth is that actions are always the reflection of intentions. Like Saul, we have simply learned how to generate justifiable intentions after the fact of the action, thus attempting to defend our honor and image. This simply won’t cut it with God, and Samuel let’s Saul know it. He states very clearly to him and to us that the end never justifies the means, especially when the end is revised from the original intent. The only thing we are ultimately responsible for is obedience to the LORD. Explicit obedience. Unquestioning obedience. Trust-in-the-One-who-knows-the-end obedience. There is to be no self-justification. No mid-course compromise. Just obedience.  “In the fulfillment of your duties, let your intentions be so pure that you reject from your actions any other motive than the glory of God and the salvation of souls”  (Angela Merici, early16^th century).

We don’t honor the intentions of the priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side of the road when a man lay in the ditch fighting for life. We honor the Good Samaritan, who acted. God did not honor the intentions of Saul; He was looking for action. You see, what you do is what you really believe to be true. Want proof? Read carefully what Saul says to Samuel as he tries to defend his actions with imaginary intentions. “The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” Did you catch it? Saul referred to the LORD as Samuel’s God, but not his own. His actions were the product of what he believed to be true, or in this case didn’t believe to be true.

So the next time you do something spontaneous and then try to catch up to the consequences with imaginary intentions, remember this – your actions prove what you truly believe. Your intentions may indicate what you want to believe, but your actions prove what you really believe. Maybe your intentions simply prove who you want others to think you are. Either way, it’s pretty discouraging and downright dangerous to live such a double life. Make some changes. Start thinking about intentions before you act. Let the LORD be your God, and let His life be lived in and through you. It’s called sincerity, and the obedience it produces is what God delights in.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: Trusting God

Today’s Scripture:   Psalm 84:15-17   Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn.

Yesterday’s devotional stimulated several responses from readers, and I would like to share one of their stories. It comes from a former member of our church who now lives in the Twin Cities. She writes,

I’ve been asking God for more faith and to help me be more faithful. He brought that to mind today as I was unexpectedly lying in an MRI machine. He showed His faithfulness to me by getting me into an open-sided machine within 2 hours of ordering the test (I didn’t have the chance to get too worked up about it). It was for my right wrist and, no, they could not put only my arm in. I asked!  After 2 tries to get me in, (I’m BIG time claustrophobic!) I was finally in for 45 minutes. I started out so panicked that I couldn’t even remember Psalms 1, which I have had memorized for years. So I just talked to God, sang songs, and quoted what scripture I could remember. By the end of the 45 minutes my left arm, that had been holding on to the outside of the machine so that I would not be dragged further in, was almost resting by my head with just my fingertips holding on. I had remembered all of Psalms 1 including my new verse in 1 Cor 2:12. I was still a little stressed but no longer panicked. God just kept reminding me that He was still there and in control and as long as I stayed focused on Him, everything was going to be OK. And it was!

The moral of the story is: God will not let me be put into a situation above what, together, He and I can handle…and keep reviewing my Scripture verses.

Marian Green

Practical applications of trust. We all experience such opportunities daily. We choose to either prod through problems feeling deprived or pass through them focused on God’s promises. Every circumstance of life is an opportunity for the practical application of trust in God.

In just a few days, 13 to be exact, our church will lose a couple of valuable people. Dudley and Inge Donaldson will be leaving for a minimum of two years for the mission field in Swaziland. God has called them to this great adventure and miraculously provided almost all of their funding in less than 8 months! Hallelujah! But they will be greatly missed and hard to replace. Inge has been our office administrator for almost three years now. We thank God that He has provided a gifted and qualified replacement. Through this entire process we have all learned to trust God and stand on His promises. We are so blessed to be their sending church, but we will miss them so much.

Just the other day Inge was having a tough day, and experiencing one of those “issues” that drags us down. Then she remembered something she had been told by a former spiritual mentor – five steps to handling tough situations. She has printed these five steps out on little yellow cards and carries them with her as a reminder to trust God. Let me share them with you.

1. Give the situation to God – turn it all over to Him and trust Him with the outcome.
2. Do the right thing – no matter how you are tempted to manipulate the situation for your own benefit, always and only do the right thing.
3. Be honest with your feelings – tell God and tell others how you really feel. Don’t cover up.
4. Tell yourself the truth – focus on what you know to be true about the situation and the people involved, and let those truths control your emotions.
5. Exercise grace – always grant the benefit of the doubt.

What great advice. I’m going to carry one of those cards in my pocket. Make one up for yourself and laminate it. Then practice the steps. Then you will experience the promises of Psalm 84, which says, Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Monday, December 01, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: Trust God

Today’s Scripture:   Psalm 84:10-12  Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

What a week it was. I sure missed my time at the computer each morning. I thought I would be spending the days deer hunting and using up my vacation time. Instead I spent three days sick in bed. It was the worst gun deer season ever. But I really didn’t feel all that bad about it because I just kept thinking about the big buck I got during the archery season. He will be on my wall soon. Life is a lot more fulfilling when we are thankful for what we have instead of envious of what we don’t have.

There are blessings to be found in every circumstance of life. Sometimes we need to be reminded of simple lessons like that. We need our attitudes adjusted. I received a reminder like that yesterday in church. My attitude wasn’t bad, but my cold was really annoying me. I had made it through the first service with only two coughing spells, and they weren’t bad. Well, the first one was because I missed the mute button on my microphone and coughed right into it, bringing a collective gasp from the congregation. I think several of them were frustrated that I had awakened them from a nice dream. As I sat in the front row for the second service, a young man named Tom leaned forward during the offering and told me he had a story for me. It’s just what I needed to hear.

Tom is a new believer, and is serious about his faith. He told me that he had been having a bad day at work on Saturday. He works in a fast food restaurant, and the customers had been frustrating him all day. Imagine that – on the weekend after Thanksgiving customers being annoying. Anyway, several of his previous customers had paid for their food with quarters. He had grown tired of counting change. Why couldn’t someone just be normal and hand him paper money? He turned around from his station and confessed to the Lord that he was frustrated, and asked God to bless him. He turned back to his cash register to help the next customer. After taking the order, the customer handed him a five dollar bill. He looked at it as he placed it in the cash drawer, and there, written in hot pink ink on the bottom of the bill, were the words you are blessed.

As he told me the story, he showed me the bill. He had exchanged one of his own for it, and said he was going to carry it in his wallet as a reminder to trust God. I could see in his eyes that God had taught him an incredible lesson. I needed the reminder as well. You see, no matter how frustrated we may be at the circumstances of life, we are blessed when we trust in God. It’s so simple. So why is it so hard to practice every minute of every day? It’s because we are more envious of what we don’t have than we are thankful for what we do have. I didn’t get to shoot any deer. I didn’t get to hunt as much as I wanted to. I didn’t get to see my boys shoot any deer. I did get to see all of my grandchildren. I did get to spend three days watching sports center and football. I did get to spend extended time meditating on God’s word and preparing for Sunday’s sermon. I did get to see God use that to touch several lives and initiate change. It’s our choice what to dwell on. We get to choose what to think about. We get to choose our attitude. The great preacher Chuck Swindoll said it this way.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.

As for me, I will choose to remember that I am blessed, because I trust in the LORD. How about you?

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: Humility and Obedience

Today’s Scripture:   1 Samuel 15:17-19  Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?”

Let’s continue our thoughts from yesterday. The secular philosophy of humanism declares that all people are good. As a result, every person can look at themselves with pride. Our self-esteem should be nurtured until we become great in our own eyes. Such humanistic thought is the antithesis of spiritual truth.

In today’s Scripture passage, Samuel commends King Saul for the humility he had in his early years. In fact, Samuel says it was that humility that God recognized and rewarded by anointing him King of Israel. But his humble spirit was gone. Pride had now taken over, and God was about to take away his position.

Samuel saw Saul’s pride. I believe that the  questions Samuel asks of Saul were rhetorical. Samuel already knew the answer. The questions were for Saul’s benefit to see if he would admit to the truth. Samuel knew why Saul did not obey the Lord. It was because Saul was now motivated by pride rather than trust in God.

There are two truths I want to share from this story today. First, God honors a humble spirit. God chooses to work in and through the lives of people who are small in their own eyes. God is seen best in the lives of people who understand how undeserving they are for God to even be in their lives. That thought came to my heart in a very real way this morning. Let me tell you a quick story.

I was in the car this morning at 5:50 a.m. heading for an Amish farm outside of Augusta, Wisconsin. A dear friend of mine from South Dakota needed me to check on the availability of lumber from the sawmill operated by Daniel, an Amish farmer. Daniel and I have gotten to know each other over the past 5 years, and he has started to open up to me. Today, through a series of God-ordained and appointed circumstances, Daniel opened up his heart to talk about his life. For over an hour I was able to share the Gospel with him, and discover that he has no assurance of a place in heaven. At one point of the conversation, while referring to the recent improvements to his barn, Daniel said these words – I don’t deserve what I have. Immediately the LORD nudged me and I told Daniel that’s exactly how I feel about my salvation – I don’t deserve it. After several moments, Daniel, in tears, came almost to the point of accepting Jesus as his Savior. But his cultural teaching got in the way. Pray for Daniel. He is so close. He considers me a friend. By his own admission this morning, I may be the only friend he can talk to about his life. Pray that God would draw him to salvation.

My point is that it was at the moment of seeing myself as small that God did His most powerful work. It is in humility that God is exalted. It is in our weakness that His strength is made available and visible. As the Apostle Paul said, If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. Then, after asking God to remove his weaknesses, and hearing God say, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness, Paul said, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. When we are small in our own eyes, our eyes will see the Majesty of God. So will the eyes of others.

Secondly, notice how Samuel addresses the sin of Saul. He says that Saul’s disobedience was evil in the eyes of the LORD. Here are some penetrating questions that will be points to ponder.

• Are we minimizing our sins because culture minimizes them?
• Are we looking at our sins through the eyes of culture or the eyes of God?
• Do we justify sin in our lives because of it’s immediate benefit to us?
• Do we classify sin into categories of “acceptable” and “confessable”?
• Do we assign blame for our sin to others?

If any of our answers to the above questions are influenced by our culture or our pride, then we have chosen to deny the reign of the LORD in our lives. Saul’s disobedience was the result of pride. All sin is the result of pride. All pride rejects God as Sovereign LORD. This is serious. Don’t gloss over this. Don’t think I am being radical. This is the truth. Pride caused Saul to pounce on the plunder that was to be destroyed. Pride will cause us to pounce on the sin that is to be destroyed in our lives. Humble yourself before the LORD today, and let Him be exalted in your life.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: Personal Responsibility

Today’s Scripture:   1 Samuel 15:10-11   Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.

We say it’s a new phenomenon. It’s not. We say it’s a new philosophy. In reality it’s as old as the human race. We think we are the first generation to have to deal with the problem to this degree. We are not. Humanism has been around for as long as their have been humans living with a sin nature, and that started with the first humans. Over the next several devotionals I want to address several humanistic issues that arise in the life of King Saul that are indicative of our current personal status and the status of the Christian church – a status that may not be worthy of praise.

In review, Saul was told to completely destroy the Amalekites and their possessions. He did not obey. He kept the King alive and then approved of his soldiers keeping the best of the flocks for themselves. That’s when God came to Samuel and said, “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.”  Have you ever considered the implications of what God said? God is grieved by our choices and activities when they don’t conform to His standards. When we choose to pursue personal benefit and accomplish our own agenda the heart of God is grieved. Why should we expect that it isn’t? We are created in His image, and since we have emotions and feelings that can be hurt and grieved, then He must also. He does. But that only matters to those who truly love the Lord more than they love themselves. Let’s see which type of person Saul was.

The next morning after God had spoken to him, Samuel went to find King Saul. He was told that Saul had gone to Mount Carmel to set up a monument to himself. I’m sure we can all see the slippery slope of self-centeredness upon which Saul is sliding. After having received the Lord’s instructions, and gaining the Lord’s victory, Saul not only made an intentional choice to disobey God, but then set up a monument in his own honor, as if he had been responsible for the victory. Saul is choosing to glorify himself rather than God.

When Samuel finally finds Saul, the king makes a bold statement. It is the statement of a person trying to hide something. My dad always taught me that whenever I would arrive in a new town to become the pastor of a new church I should beware of those who initiate the first contact. The reason is that they usually have an agenda. That has been more true than I wish it were. Saul initiates conversation with Samuel and says, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. Samuel points out the lie by saying, “So what is this I hear? I hear sheep bleating and cattle lowing. Where did they come from?”  Now, here it comes, the transfer of blame that has been around ever since sin entered the world. Saul says, “The soldiers brought them.”  Saul took no personal responsibility for the actions he had approved, let alone for being king. He tried to blame someone else for what he had done.

You remember the first time that happened. It was in the Garden of Eden when God asked Adam what had happened, and he said, “It was the woman you gave me.” He blamed not only his wife, but bottom line he blamed God for giving him that wife. He actually thought that he could preserve some positive self image if he could convince God that his sin was God’s fault. Saul didn’t go quite that far, but he did try to pull another fast one on Samuel and God by suddenly deciding that the reason they had kept all of the livestock was so that they could be sacrificed to God. But notice something very important in the story. Saul says that they would sacrifice the animals to the Lord YOUR God (my emphasis). No longer did Saul consider God to be his God. God was Samuel’s God. You see, Saul had decided that he was the god of his own life, not the LORD God.

Well, before we get any further into the story, let me make two points. First, the humanistic philosophy of the world declares that the human race is basically good, and that evil comes from the pressures and failures of society. Time does not permit a full explanation, but trust me when I tell you that secular teaching contradicts the sacred. The ramifications of humanistic teaching are diverse, but in the case of Saul, and us, we are forced to place the blame for sin on someone else. The admission of personal responsibility for evil would mean that evil is generated from our own heart, which contradicts what secular people want to believe. This philosophy is the great deception of Satan, and has been around since Adam blamed Eve and God for his own sin.  We cannot be forgiven for what we do not admit, so it is impossible to be saved unless we admit we have sinned. But secular thought teaches us there is no need to be forgiven because we are not responsible for evil. Any such thought would destroy self-esteem, and concept that is in direct contradiction to the teaching of Scripture. My friends, be very careful. This philosophy will infiltrate your life and your church and destroy them if you do not recognize it.

Second, and finally, our life’s throne has only one seat. It is not possible to share the reign of our lives. As soon as Saul made the choice to serve his own interests and follow his own desires, he became his own god, and the LORD God was removed from his throne. This is serious. We must stop believing that we and God have a time share on the throne. God does not share His reign or His glory with anyone. When we choose to disobey God, we choose to be our own god. Every choice that we make and every action we perform that is contradictory to God’s character and will is a choice to remove Him from the throne of our lives. For each such action we must repent. Saul made up excuses. He rationalized. He attempted to justify his actions. He did not repent, and God removed His blessing from his life. The same will happen to us if we persist in sin.

I know this got long today, but it is so important. Please go back a read this again, and read deeply if you just skimmed it. Satan has mounted an attack against true faith, and the result is going to be a great falling away from faith in these last days. Guard your heart, and do not start sliding down the slippery slope of disobedience. Recognize the symptom of sliding – it is blaming others for what you yourself are responsible. Take responsibility for your life, and surrender it to God. He alone is LORD, and we are not gods.

Pastor John

Daily Devotions

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Current Study: People Who Made a Difference         

Today’s Topic: Who Is God?

Today’s Scripture:   1 Samuel 15:1-2   Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.’” 

If you could ask one question to God right now with the assurance that He would answer it, what would it be? I could not begin to list all of the things I’ve said I wanted to ask Him when I see Him someday. At the time they seemed super important, but now not so much. But if I could ask one question today, knowing He would fully answer it, I would boil all of the other questions down to this – “Who are you?”  I know, that sounds like I don’t know Him at all. That’s not the case. But I think we have all been far too satisfied with a small understanding of a great God. I believe that the more we know Him, the fewer questions we will have to ask.

For example, Samuel comes to King Saul to fill him in on God’s plans. God is going to bring justice to Israel by punishing those who stood in their way during God’s deliverance of them from Egypt. In the process of punishing the Amalekites, God instructs Saul to totally annihilate those people and all of their possessions. That sounds harsh. That looks like injustice. That makes me want to ask God some questions. But all of those questions would be motivated by a need to humanize God rather than exalt Him.

You see, many of the questions we want to ask God are based on our need to contextualize Him. As finite beings, we are incapable of fully comprehending the infinite. But our fleshly pride demands that we understand. The only way we can try to resolve this paradox is to humanize God – to bring Him into the context of human reason. We must be able to figure out why God does what He does and explain it so that it not only makes sense but provides a benefit to us.

Probably the biggest way we humanize God is by choosing to believe that God is for our benefit. When God’s will is to enforce perfect justice, as in the case of the Amalekites, our emotions aren’t prepared to deal with the killing of women and children. So to ease our pain we would rather see His love and mercy. When God chooses grace and mercy, and let’s someone off the hook who has hurt us, we want justice. It becomes very obvious in the questions we ask that we want God to serve our best interests. Not only that, but then we reserve the right to define what’s best for us. That way everything can fit into the neat and explainable box we call life.

That’s what King Saul did. Rather than destroy everyone and everything as God had commanded, he decided he would choose what was best and good. Here’s how the story reads – But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. Saul reserved the right to decide for himself what was good. He chose to have a small view of God that fit into his neat and explainable box. He believed that God was for his benefit.

This is a perfect picture of what God wants each of us to do with any sin in our lives. Sin waylays us from serving God, and must be completely eliminated. Our emotions will tell us that there are elements of the sin that are not so bad. Some may even benefit us for the moment. But to believe such a lie is to have a false view of God. He is perfectly sinless, and perfectly just in destroying it all. He has asked us to do the same. The writer of Hebrews challenges us this way. Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

God chose to punish the people who hindered His plan for His people. They were to be totally eliminated. God’s will is for us to do the same with every sin in our lives, because every sin hinders us from becoming and accomplishing all that God has planned for us. But that is only possible if we choose to fix our eyes on Him. God is not for our benefit – we are for His. Not that God needs us to exist – He doesn’t. He is self-existent. But He created us for His own glory, not for ours. His glory is accomplished when suffering sinful people become surrendered sacrificial people who serve Him not themselves. His glory is exalted above the earth when His good is poured out into the lives of people who let Him define good. His glory is more clearly seen in the lives of people who are being transformed into His likeness, not the likeness of the world.  The Apostle Paul said, “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Our goal in life is not to use God to make our lives better. Our purpose in living, since coming to Christ for salvation, is to surrender to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we reflect the likeness of Jesus Christ in ever-increasing glory. That process starts by asking the right question. “God, who are you?” Then, as God begins to answer that question, all the other questions will disappear.

Pastor John