Wednesday Morning Devotional

Selfie Mode

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves.  – 2 Timothy 3:1-2

I just googled that 93 million selfies are taken each day.  Thus, if each snap of a selfie represented one mile, we would make it to the Sun every day (Of course, this is according to round-earth theory). I’ve never really thought about, nor cared how many selfies people take of themselves.  I watched a bus load of students walk out of a gas station recently and one by one take a selfie.  For the first time in my life, I thought it was strange.  I immediately thought of 2 Timothy 3.

The internet has changed so many things.  Social media has made it possible to make this little shrine to ourselves.  We air our own opinions and show the world the world through our eyes.  When someone doesn’t agree with us, we often “unfriend” them.  I’ve been unfriended for simply asking questions and having a different opinion.  I have certainly done some unfriending myself, but hopefully not simply because someone thinks differently than myself. 

We also have dating apps.  On these apps, people try to find someone exactly like themselves.  If someone has the same interests, likes to go to the same places, and likes to do pretty much the same things, then they’ve possibly found “the one.”  I’m not even saying this is a bad thing, but it certainly can be.  The Bible says a Christian should not be “unequally yoked with an unbeliever” (2 Corinthians 6:14).  Though I don’t think that verse is for marriage exclusively, it is certainly included.  I just think most people are looking to fulfil their own wants, needs, and desires instead of looking to really pour into someone else’s life.  “You complete me” is the worst line that has ever come out of Hollywood.   That is an awful lot of pressure to put on someone. 

What is the point?  I have really been trying lately to pour into people’s lives.  It has been messy, it has been costly, and it really is draining mentally, spiritually, and physically.  But you know what?  I also find that I’m just as drained when I’m only focused on me and mine.  In fact, I’d say that the draining I feel when focused on others is a lot better than the draining I feel from being focused on myself.  When focused on myself, I try to solve so many of my own problems.  When focused on others, I generally have no idea how to help, so I take it to the Lord.  I’ve been in more prayer for others this last month than I probably have the other months of 2023 combined.  I say this to my shame, but I also say this because it is really nice to be out of selfie mode.

Think about this, when Eve is tempted by Satan in the garden (Genesis 3:5), he does not ask her to focus on the worship of himself.  He simply asks her to worship herself.  “You will be like God,” “Your eyes will be open.”  Friend, we are already like God, for we were created in His image (Genesis 1:27).  It is just so easy to forget, and maybe even easier to simply not believe, for we live in a world that constantly wants to criticize and tear down.  

What is the answer?  The answer is to look at something greater than ourselves.  First, we stare at God.  Read Revelation 5.  Why does absolutely every single being in heaven constantly lavish praise on God?  They can’t tell Him enough how holy He is.  They are in awe!  Yet, here on Earth there are so few who even think about Him.  Even among church people, they don’t give Him much consideration outside their own church services.  

I’m not saying I’m good at this myself . . . but I want to be.

Lord, there is no one like You!  I love staring at You this morning.  I love being out of selfie mode.  Yet, I know that within a couple of hours, I’ll be about the normal routine of life.  I hate how quickly I can let you slip from my mind.  I hate how quickly I can go into selfie mode.  Help me to stay focused on You.  Let my eyes be Your eyes, my hands be Your hands, and my feet be Your feet.  Help me remain focused on the needs of others and not just my own needs.  I’ve felt so much better considering the needs of others greater than my own.  I’ve even felt closer to You.  I’m more aware than ever just how little time I have left on this planet.  Months seem to go by so quickly.  Fill me Lord with the Holy Spirit that I might honor You for the rest of my life.  Amen!

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. – Matthew 20:26

Our little church in Salem has taught me so much since our first service on January 1.  Notice that word . . . service.  When we go to restaurants, we want good service.  When the pastor preaches well and the worship team plays well, we say, “That was a great service!”  I’ve noticed that sometimes I leave church on a seriously spiritual high and feel so good about it.

This past week was just like that . . . I thought, “this was a really good service.”  Then, I talked to some of my flock.  They had really been going through a tough spell the past couple of weeks.  Sure, I messaged them, and even called once or twice . . . but I wasn’t there for them.  I certainly in no sense of the word served them.  For seven months now, I’ve been providing a service, but I haven’t been serving.

Even with these WMD’s . . . what am I doing?  I’m basically providing a service.  I like to think I’m doing it for others, but I feel like writing these things for the past decade or so has really helped keep me grounded.  It is like a weekly checkup on my soul where I just do an honest assessment of where I stack up as a follower of Jesus, who I say is my Savior and my Lord.  I tend to really enjoy that savior part, but not so much the Lord part.  For the most part, Adam does what Adam wants to do.  If I had to grade myself, I give myself a B for providing service, but I fail at being a servant.  It is so easy to look the part once a week for an hour or two at church, but am I being the church?

I’m not looking for comments that tell me I’m being too hard on myself.  I’m just saying that we all need to give a long think session into what it looks like to serve others.  According to the verse I used, it is the ticket to becoming great.  I want to get this right starting now.  I love providing service for the Lord at work, “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord!” (Colossians 3:23).  I love providing church services, “Serve the Lord with gladness, come before His presence with singing.”  (Psalm 100:2).  

I’m just painfully aware that when I’m done providing service, I don’t really serve.

Lord, with how much ever time I’ve got left, I want to spend the rest of my days serving.  Instead of sending a quick text message, I want to go sit with them, read the word, and pray out loud.  I generally don’t do it.  The only excuse that I have is that I’m spending my time doing completely useless things with zero eternal value.  I love staying full of You!  I love spiritual highs when You are just all over me, but it is past time to change my focus and pour out some overflow into empty hearts . . . of which there is no shortage.  Help me get this right, Lord.  I love You!  Amen!

But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. – Matthew 24:13

Very recently, like within the last year, I’ve seen a lot of who I thought were Godly people reject the Lord.  If they don’t flat out reject Him, then they teach acceptance of sins that are clearly defined in scripture as sin.  Don’t get me wrong, there are scriptures that my flesh doesn’t like, but if I ever got on here and said a certain sin was ok to commit, God was okay with it, and you’ll ultimately be alright if you continue in it . . . you should stop listening to me.  Even when I struggle with a particular sin, I at the very least acknowledge it as sin.

There are three components that seem to be a common thread with those who fall away and do not endure to the end.  One, there is this inability to see this life as brief.  James 4:14 says our life is a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  Yet, many who claim to be Christians want their good things in life now.  There is not much thought of storing up our treasures in heaven where nothing can destroy them.  Two, there seems to be a genuine belief that God owes them something.  They “believed” in Him, their lives didn’t change for the better, someone still died anyway, the parents divorced anyway, the marriage was still terrible, and God basically didn’t come through for them like they thought He would.  Lastly, they put their faith in people who claimed to be of God instead of God Himself.  When the people let them down, they equated that with God letting them down.  Therefore, they fell away.

The opposite is true for those who endure to the end.

1.  This life is a vapor!  I’ve been alive for 48 years and they have felt like nothing.  I can’t believe August is about to wrap up and Fall is around the corner.  If I make it to average life expectancy, and there is no guarantee of this, then I have about 29 years, or 116 changes of season left to see in my lifetime.  I would be an absolute fool to spend the rest of my life making this life as comfortable as possible.

• God is sovereign, the supreme ruler of all.  He knows the end from the beginning.  He is the author and finisher of our salvation.  He knows all that we need to go through to be molded into His image.  He has taken me through some painful things that I thought were completely unfair at the time.  But looking back, ALL of it has worked for my good.  I can look back and be thankful for the worst stuff that has happened to me.  There is no way that I’m going to walk away from Him because He allows or doesn’t allow something I didn’t think He should.  He is God and I am not.  My complete trust is in Him.

• Just because God’s people can be terrible, it does not mean He is terrible.  People that I came to know and love, who I thought had my back, who claimed to be followers of Jesus have left me absolutely decimated.  Not once did I think to reject God, nor do I think they aren’t Christians.  If you put your trust in me, then eventually I will let you down.  Your trust should never be in me to begin with.  Place your trust in Jesus . . . He will never let you down.  Even if you feel let down, He is working all things for the good.

All things don’t work out for the good for all people.  All things work for the good if and only if you love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)

Lord, it is so hard for people to see this life as short.  Help us to get it.  Help us who claim to be your followers to be the real deal.  Help us so shine our lights before men that our good deeds are seen, and You are glorified.  Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts, and let us never lift our souls to another.  You are the greatest thing life offers and I’m so sorry for ever treating You otherwise.  Send true revival to this land, Jesus!

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. – Acts 2:44-45

I have always wondered how cool it would be to see a truly united church.  I’ve seen a handful of united congregations do some pretty great things, but only within the context of their own church name.  I’ve never seen, at least with my own eyes, people in one church come together to help people in other churches.  If we all lived like these two verses, we would see it often, and the lost people on the outside looking in would be amazed.

Once, I “borrowed” a musician from another church.  He wasn’t playing that Sunday, so he was more than willing.  Everything worked out great . . . or so I thought.  I quickly got a call that evening letting me know that I needed to find my own musicians and leave theirs alone.  My only thought was that I wouldn’t mind if they used our church’s musicians . . . I didn’t think they’d mind if I used theirs.  I was wrong.

This week, I saw a newly transformed believer in great need.  It was a financial need that I couldn’t meet on my own, or I would have.  I made an inquiry on their behalf.  I saw people who represented several different church congregations come together and meet the need.  Immediately, I thought of Acts 2 when this used to happen often.  I’ve been injected with the thought that this could be the start of something amazing within the church as a whole.

What would it look like if all the church congregations in Oconee County were truly one?  No selfish motivations.  No building up of just our own church name.  I really want to see it before the Lord comes back.

I think He does too.

Lord, I’ve never been injected with more hope because of what I just saw.  Help us, Your people, to truly become united as one.  How can we treat others like we’d want to be treated if we can’t even do it cross denominationally?  My prayer is for an answer to Your prayer in John 17:21:  that they may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  Amen!

The Belt of Truth

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.  – Ephesians 6:14

I read this book by Rebecca Brown called, “He came to set the captives free.”  It is free on YouTube if you want to listen to it.  I would warn you though, it is quite difficult to listen to . . . the evil that her friend, Elaine, got into and came out of, runs deeper than any of us could imagine.  The Bible calls Satan the “prince of the power of the air,” (Ephesians 2:2) and the “god of this age.” (2 Corinthians 4:4).  

Now, I don’t like giving the devil too much credit because of his defeated status.  However, after reading the book, I don’t believe I’ve been giving him enough credit.  I believe the devil wants you to think he is either in everything, or he is in nothing . . . he doesn’t care either way.  Satan is not God’s opposite; at best he is an angel’s opposite like Gabriel or Michael.  Satan was a created being just like the rest of us.  He has zero power to create.  Unfortunately, he can take God’s creation and corrupt it . . . and he does.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been praying the armor of God on my life.  In the book, Elaine discovered this armor for the first time.  She asked God, “How often should I put this on?”  She felt the Spirit say, “Once every 24 hours should be sufficient.”  It got me seriously thinking about how many days I walk in this world without this spiritual armor.  No wonder I’ve come home so pummeled so often.  

The first thing I pray is, “Lord, I put on the belt of truth . . . Your Word is truth!”  At the foundation of it all, I believe that the Bible is the Word of the Lord.  It shows me how to live, not by feelings, but by what it says.  Christians are leaving the faith in droves because they don’t like what the Bible says.  I can at least respect that, but I can’t respect changing or ignoring what the Bible says and still calling yourself a Christian.

Don’t get me wrong, I sin more often than I’d like to admit.  When I do, I don’t simply think, “Well God just needs to forgive this sin for the rest of my life because He made me, and therefore made me to enjoy this sin, it is really His fault for making me this way.”  I hated giving up my lying . . . for the longest time, I didn’t have anything to add to a conversation.  I hated giving up my sexual immorality, my girlfriend at the time dumped me for bringing up the conversation that God wasn’t pleased with our behavior.  I hated giving up pornographic materials . . . I got rid of them all.  But even now, do you think that stuff doesn’t show up in unsuspecting (and not so unsuspecting) places and try to lure me back?  The belt of truth shows me the hook that is attached. 

When I have the belt of truth around the core of my body, I recognize sin for what it is and I flee, or at the very least ask God to help me stand my ground for Him.  Even though I hated giving up my sin at the time, I could not be more grateful to God as I sit here this morning.  He loved me too much to let sin devour me.

Lord, it is so easy to get comfortable in this life.  There is so much sin willing to occupy our time and numb our spirits.  If we don’t know Your Word, we can’t rightly divide right and wrong.  Thank You for helping me read through Your Word many times.  Thank You for leading me, guiding me, and protecting me like You have.  Please help me stay on the narrow path.  May I not turn to the left or to the right.  Amen.

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. – Romans 6:23

Once again, Summer for this teacher has gone by quickly.  As I type this, I’m just a few hours from heading back to work to begin my 27^th year.  I have enjoyed my time over these past couple of months greatly.  I’ve been cruising to Key West and Cozumel with my family, met lots of new people playing music, and even been used of the Lord by preaching His Word.

If I’m honest, I’ve probably spent the least amount of one-on-one time with the Lord this Summer when compared with other Summers.  I always think on that last day of school that I will spend all this time with Him . . . but then I just start doing other things.  I end up going through the motions and end up feeling far away from the Lord that I claim to love and serve.

But then . . . God just shows up!  He shows me that comfort and ease are very dangerous.  He helps me realize that I don’t want to begin a school year without His mercy, His grace, His power, and His hand on my life.  I read Ephesians 6, dust off my armor, and I put it on.  

To this day, an amazing thing about God is how He does not live in time.  He is never in a hurry like I am.  He literally has all the time in the world.  He allows me to choose a path, not like where it leads, and then pick me up and place me immediately back on the right path.  It makes me love and appreciate Him so much.  It makes me know that He has got me!  He is the author and finisher of my salvation!  I belong to Him!

I was really thinking about the cost of sin recently.  We American Christians tend to think of sin as being murderous, rebellious, and slanderous.  These are merely symptoms, not the source.  If the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God, then the greatest sin is simply to not love Him.  How easy it is to drift away from the very first commandment!

There are two types of people on this planet:  The ones who have their sins covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, and those who do not.  If you are one of the ones who have it covered, then Calvary’s cross shows you the astronomical price that was paid for that sin to be forgiven.  I look to that cross this morning and am so thankful . . . so appreciative.

If your sin is not covered by His blood, then you will pay for your sin.  The price is separation from God in hell.  You will not argue your way out and there are no technicalities.  Sin is a big deal and the world we live in does not treat it as one.  If you do not know Him, ask God today to show you what it is doing to you.

Lord, thank You for salvation!  Thank You for the simplicity of it all.  You paid the price so that all may come freely and have their sins washed away.  What a gift!  Help me to live in the light of that forgiveness.  Help me to live by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Use me this school year to be a light that so shines before men.  There is and never will be another like You, Lord.  I look so forward to the day when my faith becomes sight.  Help someone who reads this to draw a little bit closer to You.  Amen.

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

If I ever doubt God’s love for me, I simply go to Calvary in my mind.  There I find Jesus giving His life for me.  There I realize all that He did to make my salvation possible.  Jesus left Heaven to come here and voluntarily be treated the way He was treated.  He could have lived in such extravagance and opulence, but He had nothing to do with any of that.  He chose to surrender to the will of the Father.  

This makes me wonder . . . How does a Christian demonstrate his or her faith today?  I find Romans 7:15-20 so prevalent in my own life.  The things I want to do, I just don’t seem to do.  The things I don’t want to do, I find myself doing.  I can’t imagine someone out there beats themselves up more than I do when I recognize it.  I tell some evil people that their sins can be forgiven, but then am disappointed in myself when I stray from the path because I “knew better.”  This is nothing more than the sin of pride.  For me to think such a way, it simply means that I don’t think I’m as evil as the person I’m witnessing to.  All of us, me included, must come to God from a place of complete depravity.  If God Himself doesn’t work in our hearts, minds, and wills . . . it just won’t happen.  It is still the greatest miracle He performs today . . . He changes us.  He really changes us and makes us desire to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

I find a great many people calling themselves Christians today but displaying little to no obedience to God.  I’ve served on church committees where the men admittedly didn’t regularly read the Bible.  If you don’t know the Word and have a basic grasp of the stories and commandments, how can you obey God?  If many church leaders aren’t reading it, then what does that say about the regular attenders?

Our American “give me something for doing nothing” society is not helping right now.  There are literally kids right now who no longer say they want to be a fireman, doctor, or an astronaut when they grow up because they believe checks will magically come in the mail like they do for mom or dad who does nothing for a living.  I always think of Paul in 2 Thessalonians 3:10. He and his workers took on the attitude that “If I don’t work, then I don’t eat.”  They’d rather starve than have others think that ministering was an easy route to a paycheck.  

It all comes down, I think, to wanting to be a disciple of Jesus.  There is always, and I mean always, a step to take in His direction.  The sons of Zebedee had to leave their nets.  Matthew had to leave his tax collecting booth.  The woman “caught in the act of adultery” had to stop sleeping around.  Adam Hopkins had to quit lying, stop being sexually immoral, cease the partying lifestyle, stop using foul language, stop reading and watching foul-mouthed, sexually charged trash, and do his work for the Lord, not for men.  Why did I have to change?  Because I read that all these things are what God requires in the Bible.  After I read it, I would inevitably find myself doing that particular wrong.  After doing it, I found myself convicted when I got alone with God.  At this point it becomes a simple matter of obedience . . . am I going to do what God wants?  Or am I going to keep doing what my sinful flesh wants?  If I find that I can’t obey, I simply cry to Him for help.  He always gives me what I need.

Think about it, when the rich, young, ruler realized he’d have to part with his money, he walked away from Jesus.  I hope to God that he went on to do like I do more often than I’d like to admit . . . he thought about it, cried out for help, and ended up obeying later.  But, if he did not, then his journey was over.  There is no discipleship without obedience.  In John 6:66, many disciples turned and followed Jesus no more simply because they realized He wasn’t going to perform the “feed the five thousand” trick again for them.  Yet, somehow, despite all the evidence to the contrary, many, if not most Americans believe they can have their sin, and God too.

Lord, make me holy.  You say to be holy like You are holy . . . You wouldn’t say it if it weren’t possible.  Lord, help all of us Americans who take on the name “Christian” not take that Name in vain.  Help us to be true followers of You.  Help us to truly humble ourselves, pray, seek Your face, and turn from our wicked ways.  For then, and only then, will You hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land.  I love You, Lord.  Search my heart today!

I forgot to remind you guys that I’m kind of hit or miss in posting WMD’s in the Summer.  I’m pretty sporadic.  Soon enough I’ll be back into my school routine, and I’ll be posting regularly.  I sure do appreciate you guys reading and all the encouragement and feedback y’all send back my way.

Forty-Eight

How great is the Lord, how deserving of praise.  – Psalm 48:1

So here I am having just completed my 48^th trip around the sun (Unless you’re a flat-earther . . . then I don’t know how it works).  I love to look at Bible verses and chapters that correspond with my age or my birthday.  For example, my birthday is 6/24 and Numbers 6:24 says, “The Lord bless you and keep you.”  I’ve taken that as my life’s verse.  Looking at Psalm 48 this morning, to me, it is the result of Him blessing me and keeping me since 1991 when I first got saved.  In my 48 years of living, the Lord has been incredibly good to me.

These past couple of weeks I have just been out of my normal routine.  I haven’t been in the Word like normal and I’ve just felt kind of lost lately.  Then, reading this verse . . . I can’t believe how His presence still shows up!  He has shown up when I preach, when I talk to people about Him, even when I’m playing a worship song in a bar.  Earlier this week, a friend sent me a page out a devotional that was so right on time.  In no way can I boast about how well I’ve done for Him, but I can boast about how well He has done for me.  How great is the Lord!  How deserving of praise.

Lord, thank You for being the God that You are!  There is none like You!  I love that I’ve been Yours for 32 years now.  You have picked me up, turned me around, and placed my feet on solid ground.  It makes me want to shout . . . Hallelujah!  Thank You, Jesus!  Lord You’re worthy of all the honor, and all the honor, and all the praise!  Continue to bless me, and keep me, and make Your face shine upon me!  Amen.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared, “Go and sin no more.”  — John 8:11

So here we are right dead smack in the middle of what the world calls “Pride Month.”  An entire month where we are all supposed to celebrate “diversity.”  In Merriam Webster’s dictionary, diversity is simply defined as, “being composed of different elements or qualities.”  However, if you Google “diversity,” the definition includes an “involving of different genders and sexual orientations.”  The best I can tell, “diversity” was a word that was hardly even used until the sexual revolution of the 60’s.  At that time, a psychologist named John Money coined the term “gender role” which morphed into “gender identity.”  I didn’t mean to write that much about it, but you can Google that stuff for yourself.

First, I’m going to let you know what DOES NOT work if you sincerely desire for a member of the LGBT community to come to faith in Christ.   You can not simply quote Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Deuteronomy 22:5, Romans 1:28, Jude 1:7, or simply tell the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis 19.    One of two things happens if you do this.  One, some family member has already beaten you to the punch.  A grandma, aunt, or uncle has told them that they are on their way to hell for being gay or trans.  This constant beatdown has pretty much taken all hope away and they give up on any notion of following God.  Two, they’ve read more of the Bible that you think.  They counter with “the shirt you are wearing has two fabrics woven together so you are directly violating Deuteronomy 22:11.”  They might even go, “Do you eat shrimp?  Yes?  Then I will see you in hell because you are violating Leviticus 11:10.”  Now, at this point, you could argue about moral laws and ceremonial laws, but it is highly doubtful anyone is taking a single step towards the Lord, much less getting saved. 

Second, sexual sin is sexual sin.  In 1 Corinthians 5 there was a guy going to church regularly that everyone knew was having sexual relations with his stepmother.  Paul was incredulous, you can read his response in verses 3-5.  Strangely enough, I remember seeing a pornographic film where stepmom fulfilled the “needs” of her stepson while dad was away.  This brings me to the talking point that will get you somewhere with the LGBT community.  I openly talk about my own heterosexual sin that I’ve had to struggle with and still struggle with.  Many people, not just in the LGB community, find it astonishing that sex between a male and a female outside of marriage is straight up sin.  Supposed Christians love to post on Facebook that homosexuality is an abomination, but do they post Hebrews 13:4 for the men and women who sit in church every Sunday but are being unfaithful to their spouses?  The same verse could be applied to the unmarried couple living together.  I wonder if most homosexual bashing Christians bash heterosexual sins with the same fervor.  I always say, “sexual sin is sexual sin, and I am affected too.”  Once this is established, the person and I are in this thing together.  We both need Christ!  Once this is established, you can begin to talk about how Christ has saved you, is currently saving you, and will continue to save you until you are ultimately saved when you die.  Then, you can open the door for Christ to begin His work in the person you are sharing with.  If you act in any way like you have arrived and they need to catch up with you . . . you just need to keep your mouth closed.

I had a kid specifically seek me out recently.  He said, “You’re a man of God and you know the Bible, tell (so and so) that it is okay if I have more than one wife!  The Bible says so, doesn’t it?”  I went on a bit about how God allowed it for the Kings, but it wasn’t in His original plan.  The kid didn’t care about any of that, he just wanted to be okay with having two different women.  I left the subject all together and simply said, “The real question is this:  Do you want God?  Do you love Him and desire to follow Him?  Given that He is willing to save You from your sin and from an eternity in hell . . . will you choose Him daily?  God is going to ask you to love your enemy, work a job with complete integrity, stop cussing, not cheat on tests, deny pleasuring yourself with pornography and sex before you get married to one woman . . . He’s going to ask you do to some hard things.  Are you willing to follow Him?  If you are, go for it with all your heart, and I mean go to war . . . it is more than worth it!  If not, deny Him altogether and live how you want, but you can’t have both.”  This pretty much ended our conversation, and he never asked me any more Bible questions.  I still think to pray for him quite often though.  

In the verse I’ve chosen to use for this WMD, the woman was caught in the act of adultery.  If she was caught in the act, there must have been a man involved as well.  Where was he?  Why wasn’t he dragged out for public humiliation?  I don’t know the answer, but I do know that the people who knew scripture the best picked and chose who it applied to.  You and I are doing no good to anyone if we do the same.  

The goal is to win the lost . . . not beat them into submission.  

Lord, please use my little post here.  I don’t know everything, nor do I want to know everything.  I just know You are the best thing ever happen to me.  You are the best thing that could happen to anybody.  With all my heart, I want You to use me to bring others, all others, to You.  Sweep through our nation and send the greatest revival the United States has ever seen.  Let it start with me.  Amen.

And I will profess to them, I never knew you:  Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. – Matthew 7:23

There is probably no verse that I think about more than this one.  I think it is because the people Jesus mentions in the previous two verses really think they are good to go.  They honestly think that because they did stuff for Him that they are fully worthy of heaven.  I’ve often wondered what I would say if I were given the chance.  If I know beforehand that my preaching, teaching, Bible reading, witnessing, and church attendance is of no value when it comes to my entrance into heaven . . . what would I say?  What could I say?

I think one of the main points of the story is that it doesn’t matter if we know Him when it comes to going into heaven.  That sounds bad, I know, but He doesn’t say, “I will profess to them, you didn’t know me.”  He says, “I didn’t know you.”  I can say all I want, “I know the President of the United States,” I could even study and learn all kinds of facts about him, but if I show up to the White House expecting to go see him in the Oval Office, I’m not getting in unless the president knows me.  

With that being said, I think I’d go to every moment in my life where God reached down and touched my life.  I might start by saying, “Lord, when I was sixteen, I know You forgave me of my sins and planted new life into my spirit right there at that lake landing that I still love to visit.”  Then, I might add, “And Lord, years later when I almost quit serving You because I thought You were ripping me off and I was missing out on “fun” that I really should have called “sin,” You led me to that church service and filled me up with the Holy Spirit . . . I’ve never been the same since.  So many times, when I would have fallen, You picked me up, dusted me off, and encouraged me to keep walking.  On my own I would have fallen away a thousand times never to return, but You . . . You never gave up on me.  You know me, Lord.”

Lord, thank You so much for the 31-year relationship that we have developed.  I have wronged You more times than I can count, yet You are always there teaching me in all of it.  Where would I be without You?  The fact that the God of the Universe knows me is nothing short of amazing.  The fact that You will make Yourself known to any and every humble and willing heart is a miracle.  May all who read this today be known by You.  Help us to be the light that so shines before men.  Make us different.  Make us holy.  Make us like You.  Amen!