Wednesday Morning Devotional

Is anything too hard for the Lord?  I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.  – Genesis 18:14

When God asked Abraham this question, it would have been difficult to answer.  You and I can draw upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Lazarus, the crossing of the Red Sea, Daniel in the lion’s den, and many, many other killer awesome stories in the Bible.  Abraham and Sarah didn’t have the luxury of knowing these stories because they haven’t happened yet.  When confronted with the question, “Is it too hard for God to give a couple with a combined age of almost 200 a son?” they laughed, they questioned, and honestly, they just didn’t know.

God has done so much over the course of history.  He has even done so much in my own heart, mind, and life.  I’m thinking back to a time when I was having to learn to trust Him.  I’ve never really had a problem believing that God can and will come through for you and for others.  I’ve had a tremendously hard time believing that God will come through for me.  In my heart, I know that He will forgive you for anything.  Yet, when I do the slightest thing wrong or I miss the mark, I wonder if He could possibly forgive me.  It does not really matter how much God has done and accomplished in His Word.  It doesn’t matter how many people tell you amazing stories of what God has done in their lives.  Until God comes through for you on a personal level, it is so hard to believe that God loves you, will come through for you in His time, and that absolutely nothing is too hard for Him.

I remember watching my friends get married in my early 20’s.  I remember being alone and wondering if I was destined to stay that way.  Years later, I remember wondering why God would not allow me and my wife to have children.  Years later, I remember praying for my dangerously sick child and wondering if God would heal her?  In one hundred percent of these cases, God came through in a way that I will never forget.  I’m so thankful for the days where I began to learn that absolutely nothing is too hard for the Lord.  He has come through for me so many times now that it would be difficult to not trust Him.

Last week, I posted a WMD that I wish I had just kept to myself.  In fact, I’ve been airing for a while now that I’ve been hurt.  I was honestly beginning to wonder if I’d carry that hurt for the rest of my life.  I had a friend tell me that I simply needed to pray for the people that hurt me.  I thought about it for a while, and then I knelt down to spend some serious time with my heavenly Father.  God showed me a picture of fallow ground.  I honestly didn’t know what I was looking at.  I researched a bit and found out that He was showing me a picture of ground that had been plowed up and prepared for planting, but the seeds were withheld this season so that fertility could be restored.  He showed me that this was my heart.  I saw that I was in a season of rest so that I could be restored.  I saw that no one person hurt me.  The ones that I thought did hurt me, God allowed me to see into their hearts.  What I saw made my heart break and drove me to pray for them.  I saw that all that I’m going through right now was and is ordained by God Himself.  One more time, He has come through for me.  One more time, I can say, “Nothing is too hard for the Lord!”

Having said all that, I want you guys to say a prayer for one of my friends.  He is right now at the point where he believes in God, trusts in God, knows God can, but he is wondering if God really cares.  He is wondering if God will come through for Him.  I can tell my friend all day to trust in God and that, in His time, He will come through, but saying those kinds of things just doesn’t help him right now.  Right now, my friend needs to experience God.  He needs to feel that peace where you just feel so wrapped up in Him that you know, no matter what, that you are in His hands and that this is the safest place you will ever be.

Lord, make Yourself real to my friend.  Start those one by one miracles where his trust in You begins to grow so much.  You did it for me. You did it for Abraham and Sarah.  You’ve done it for so many people, Lord.   I know You can and will do it for my friend.  I pray that you will do it for any reader today who wonders if it is too difficult for You to come through for them in their situation.  Pour out miracles, signs, and wonders upon us, Lord, so that a new generation of believers will emerge who just know that You are the God who can do anything.  Let us all begin to learn that there is absolutely no one like You, for You are the living God.

Amen

Judged More Strictly

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. – James 3:1

For the longest time I believed that if I became a teacher of the Word, then when I stood before God at the end of my life, I would be judged more strictly.  I thought that if I sinned as a preacher, it would be worse in God’s eyes than if I was just a regular dude claiming to be a Christian.  Though there may be an element of that to it, I now believe that the “judged more strictly” part comes not from God, but from other believers.

The worst things that I have endured spiritually since becoming a follower of Christ have come at the hands of other Christians.  If you think about it, Jesus endured crucifixion at the hands of other people who claimed to know and follow God.  Christ endured all kinds of crap for some really dumb reasons.  Religious people jumped on His followers for not washing their hands (Matthew 15:2).  I guess you can still get into trouble for that one . . . especially today.  Jesus was trashed for healing on Saturday instead of one of the other six days of the week (Mark 3:1-6).  There were just all these trivial traditions that the super religious expected everyone who claimed to know God to follow.  If you didn’t follow these rules on top of the rules, then you were deemed unworthy of God’s acceptance.  How idiotic is it to think that you or I would be allowed to make such calls?  Since Jesus claimed He was God’s Son, He was judged very harshly.  Interestingly enough, sinners thought He was a lifeline, while Pharisees thought He was a hindrance.  Jesus claimed to be the ultimate teacher, which He was, and He was judged more strictly for it.

Someone told me once, “If I ever sin and really need someone to care and simply talk to, send me to a bar . . . not a church.”  How condemning is this?  We really are the only group of people that kill our wounded.  If you’ve had an abortion, struggle with homosexuality, struggle with pornography, or struggle with a myriad of other what we would call “obvious” sins, then may you find grace and mercy at the foot of the cross because God knows it is rarely found amongst His followers.  I see so many posts that imply that salvation is dependent on behavior.  Many Christians claim that if you don’t stop this very moment and turn from all of your sins, then you are still lost in them.  Does the person who has the guts to say this type of thing honestly struggle with nothing?  Have they honestly stopped all sinning?  Who reading this has not sinned since asking Christ into their lives?  Who reading hasn’t sinned this week so far?  Are we really better off asking Jesus to remember us when He comes into His kingdom, and then dying like the thief beside Him on the cross did?  I don’t know about you, but there are sins that took decades for me to conquer.  At the end of it all, I can honestly say that I didn’t even conquer them, Christ literally changed my heart and mind in His own time and made it so that I didn’t care about them anymore.  Up until that point, all I could do was agree with Him that I was sinning, ask for His forgiveness over and over, and beg Him to help me stop.  He gets all the praise, honor and glory!  Thy will be done!  I did nothing but place my trust in Him and His finished work on the cross.  If you want a sin to condemn me for, I’ll be straight up and tell you one.  I’m struggling with unforgiveness in my heart right now.  I’m struggling with the only sin that Jesus Himself says, “If you don’t forgive them, then I won’t forgive you! (Matthew 6:15). Honestly, no matter how hard I try, how many times I say it, or how badly I want to not even think or care about it, I just can’t make the feelings go away.  It is like a recurring weed in the flower bed of my heart.  I pull it and think I got the root and all, but then it pops right back up.  Therefore, I do the only thing I know to do.  I say, “Jesus, help me to forgive.”  When I finally do forgive and forget, and I eventually will, who will get the credit?  You guessed it!  Him, not me.

In Matthew 3:17 God speaks down from heaven these words about Jesus: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I’m well pleased?”  Do you know what is so cool about this?  Up until this point, Jesus hasn’t preached a sermon, He hasn’t done a miracle, and hasn’t even gone public in any kind of ministry.  His Father being pleased with Him had absolutely nothing to do with His performance.  He loved Him even before He did any type of ministering.

Doesn’t God love me the same?  Is He not pleased with me right now regardless of whether or not I have performed well?  I believe He is.  I am incredibly aware that I get things wrong more than I get them right.  I’m aware of just how unworthy I am to be called His.  I am also incredibly aware that I love Him and need Him desperately to work in my heart, mind, and life if I am going to be used to make a difference in anyone’s life at all.  I’m thankful that salvation is a free gift.  Who would want to be a part of a religious system where the best performers could brag?

Surely not I.

Pray for me.

I need it.

If we are thrown into the furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.  – Daniel 3:17-18

My initial favorite story in the Bible was the story of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  I know that most people know them by their Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  I think it is worth the time to memorize their God given names and using them when referring to these guys.  Hananiah means “Beloved of the Lord.”  His Babylonian name, Shadrach, means “Illuminated by the Sun.”  Mishael means “Who is as God?”  Meshach means “who is like Shach?” which was comparable to the goddess Venus or Aphrodite.  Azariah means “The Lord is my help.”  Abednego means “Servant of the god Nego.”  Which name would you prefer future generations to remember you by?

These guys had their freedoms completely taken away.  Their parents were more than likely killed by the Babylonians and the only reason they were alive is because someone saw them as potentially beneficial to Babylon.  Before they would decimate a country, the Babylonians had learned the art of extracting the best people a nation had to offer, giving them new names, treating them well, and basically turning them into their own citizens.  The plan worked flawlessly until these three guys, along with Daniel, purposed in their hearts that they would not be defiled by their new normal.

It all comes to a head one day when the king builds an enormous gold statue of himself.  He commands that the entire region bow when he gives the signal.  Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah refuse to bow down.  The king calls them forward, gives them another chance, and all his threat produces is one of the best God-honoring speeches found in the Bible.  The king just knew he was going to get the final word when he had them thrown into the fire.  What happened next would have been one heck of a sight to see.  How many people got introduced that day to the God who delivers from the fire?  What an introduction!

I’m sure the Jews living in Babylon loved the freedom that they had known as a nation/state.  I would bet that none of them thought they could lose it in their lifetime.  It must have absolutely sucked knowing what you had and what you now have.  You can read in 2 Kings 25 how the last king of Israel, King Zedekiah tried to fight and keep their freedom.  Nobody would listen to Jeremiah when he preached and flat out told them, “This captivity is from God, and this is going to happen.”  Most of the Israelites refused to believe that God would really allow them to be taken into captivity.  King Zedekiah’s weak attempt at fighting Babylon ended with his sons being killed right before his very eyes.  Those same eyes were gouged out so that the last thing he ever saw was his sons being killed.  Babylon was merciless!

Right in the midst of this Babylonian captivity, three young men being willing to go through the fire produced a God-exalting story that we tell in the year 2020.  Do you find that absolutely astonishing?

Our world is changing right before our eyes.  I love American freedom.  But what if American freedom is coming to an end?  I don’t know if it is or it isn’t, at least any time soon.  But what if God has already appointed the time?  Will anything you or I do stop it?  I’m not trying to be a prophetic Jeremiah here at all, I’m just a guy on the internet.  With all my heart, I hope American freedom lives on for me and my children.  However, I know for a fact that eventually American freedom is coming to an end.  Why should it not happen in my lifetime?  Read Revelation 13.  There is a “beast” that is going to have power over the entire world.  We know that all earthly power is given by God.  He has forewarned us in His book that it is coming.  Believe it or not, there isn’t a Facebook petition, meme, gif, comment, or post in existence that you or I can make that will stop it.  The real question is: Are you prepared either way?

There are 328 million Americans out of 7 billion 8 hundred million people on the planet.  This means that we are 4.2% of the population.  Yet, you would think from our overall behavior that we are the center of the universe.  Forget persecution, just simply inconvenience an American, even an American who says they are Christian, and watch them respond.  I’m not saying that I’m any different . . . I’m not.  However, with all my heart, I want to be.  I pray that my heart remains undefiled.  I pray that no matter what happens I can say, “The God I serve can deliver me and even my whole country, but even if He does not, I still love Him, and I still follow Him . . . no matter what.”

Here is what I know for a fact:  even if the worst comes out of all of this mess, God will be exalted.  Opportunities to exalt Him will be abundant.  Eventually, the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and his reign will be for ever and ever (Revelation 11:15).  Until that time comes, may you and I not be found sleeping.

Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.  For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.  – Matthew 26:41

Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  – Matthew 11:28-29

Right at about a year ago, I was given a prophecy.  As I was reading the story of the creation, I saw where each year that I had been a pastor correlated almost perfectly with each day God created.  I understood that 2020 was going to be a year of rest, though I didn’t really know what that meant.  I thought that it meant that I would lead a group of people into rest for 2020.  Turns out, it was for me alone to learn how to enter rest personally.  Even though 2020 isn’t even half over, I thought I’d write out what I’ve learned so far.

I’m always amazed at how many verses I can bring to my mind, but I can’t think of any context surrounding those verses.  It is very important that we know the surroundings of a verse.  If we don’t understand the context, we will end up thinking that Biblical rest is some sort of state of retirement or perpetual laziness.  We like to justify our actions and think that God wants us to get a new job, a new church, a new preacher, a new spouse, or a new whatever we think will make us happy.

In Matthew 11, we must catch a couple of things.  For one, John the Baptist is doubting that Jesus is who He says He is.  John is in prison and sends someone to flat out ask Jesus, “Are you the one, or should we look for another?”  John’s life sucked at that moment.  He had preached for God, prepared the way for Jesus, spoken the truth to Herod and his new wife, and it landed him in prison.  He was wondering in his heart if it was all worth it.  He probably even thought that in some way he had at least “earned” the right to be kept out of prison.  In a moment of despair, he asks Jesus if He is even the Messiah they’ve been waiting for.  I think everyone who follows Christ has to go through a “prisoner in the cell” moment.  It is a moment of brutal honesty where you flat out ask God, “Do you do any good?  Are you going to help me?  Have I been following you for nothing?”

Afterwards, in the same chapter we find Jesus describing the generation.  It certainly describes the majority of Christians today as well.  He says they are like children sitting at a marketplace calling out to each other.  He goes on to say that when music is being played, they won’t dance.  He says when mourning is taking place, they won’t lament.  In other words, they never catch on to what God is trying to do in their lives.  It’s like they are chasing the wind and just can’t be happy and content.  They think salvation is a magic wand waved over them.  Jesus is present, but people are off to find the next dynamic preacher.  Jesus is present, but people want to see Him do another trick, another miracle.  Praise is being offered up, but people won’t join in.  When it is time to repent and spend some time at the altar, people won’t go.  Jesus goes on to lament the fact that, had the same miracles taken place elsewhere, they would have repented.  It is hard to believe that I have questioned God after all that I have seen and heard, and after all He has done for me.

At that time, Jesus answered and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.”  — Matthew 11:25

Look at that last word, “babes.”  Jesus calls those closest to Him children.  I am learning that I don’t mind at all being considered a child.  In the same way that I’m trying to train up my own children, I can see God trying to train me up.  In the same way they need to be disciplined by me, I need to be disciplined by Him.  I may think like John the Baptist every once in a while, and say, “What are you doing?  Why did you allow this awful hurt in my life?”  I may get off track thinking that there is some sort of labor that I have to do to earn God’s favor.  I may even think that I’ve sinned so greatly that God is angry with me and no longer sees me fit for salvation.  But, ultimately, when I begin to feel like this, I have the greatest gift this world has to offer.  I can do just like my children used to do when they were little.  I can pull myself up near God’s lap and ask Him to hold me.  No matter what you’ve done and no matter how bad you feel you have been performing, He will pick you up every single time and hold you, love you, and let you know that everything is ultimately going to be just fine.  You will find perfect rest.

Lord, I come to you this morning in just about the most perfect state of rest I’ve ever felt.  I thank you that I don’t have to perform for you.  The truth is, I’m just not that good at performing.  I thank you that I can just be me.  With all my imperfections, I can just be me.  Thank you for holding me this morning.  I pray for everyone who reads this that, just for a moment, they will close their eyes, let you pick them up, and just be held for a little while by their good, good Father in heaven.  I look so forward to the day when my faith becomes sight and I will be with you forever and ever.  Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King! 

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. – Isaiah 64:6

What makes you righteous before God?  I’m going to write this sentence just to help ensure that you answer the question.  It is very important that you know the correct answer.  If someone were to ask you that question right now, what would you tell them?  I have had this conversation with more than one person these past few weeks.  The people I’ve talked to all believe the same thing . . . that their behavior has been so bad that God does not and cannot accept them anymore.  How would you answer them?

I want to submit a thought to you:  Suppose you lived what you believed was an absolute perfect day.  You read the Bible and prayed for two hours to start the day.  Then, you went and helped with tornado cleanup in Seneca.  You bought lunch for the car behind you at chick-fil-A.  You didn’t cuss, you didn’t lie, you didn’t cheat, you didn’t listen to secular rock music, and at the end of it all, you prayed for another hour thanking God for all that He did for you and through you that day.  At the end of that day, would God be prouder of you than say another believer who just binge-watched Netflix, played on social media, and ate junk food all day?   Does the first Christian have any right at all to say bad things to others about that lazy second Christian?  Would God be more likely to receive the first into His kingdom rather than the second if they both died that same night?

The answer is a resounding “no.”  Righteousness is not earned at all.  Just in case you don’t believe me, the Bible says, “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”  – (Ephesians 2:9) As believers, we never get to play the comparison game.  I’m going to submit to you that if you play this game, you are in a dangerous spot.  In fact, you are an absolute stench in God’s nostrils because the righteous acts you believe make you better than others are nothing more than filthy rags.  Righteousness comes from God and God alone.  Righteousness is a gift.

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that through Him we might become the righteousness of God.  – 2 Corinthians 5:21

We become righteous by one thing and one thing only . . . remaining in Him.  He is the vine and we are the branches.  All we must do to remain righteous is simply remain in Him and never ever let go of our faith and our trust in Him.  If you remain in Him, He will eventually prompt you to do good things.  Sometimes you will do them, sometimes you will not.  Either way, you will learn from your decisions and you will wind up glorifying God because of them.  Ultimately, you will realize every good thing, especially the good things that you do, comes from Him and Him alone.  He gets all the credit while you get none.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  – Matthew 5:3

For a Christian, the height of arrogance is believing that you had anything to do with your lot in life.  If you honestly believe your kids are better than mine because, as a parent, I’m not doing things like you are, do you see the danger and the pride in that?  You are puffed up in spirit.  If you honestly believe that you are where you are in life because you “worked hard,” then you are your own giver of good things.  Where is the honor due to God for giving you your mindset, health, and abilities?  The truth is, you could not possibly be in a better position with God than when you are poor in spirit.  Letting God know that there are sins in your life that you can’t stop and won’t stop if He doesn’t help or intervene does not and will not make Him angry.  In fact, the opposite is true, you actually gain access to His kingdom.  He will intervene to help you with any and every sin in His own good time, not yours.  In the meantime, remain in Him.  Hold on to Him and never let Him go.  Your righteousness comes from Him and Him alone . . . not your good behavior.  By all means, if it is in your power to do good, do it.  To him who knows to do good and doeth it not, it is sin (James 4:17).  At the same time, just because you aren’t doing good or don’t do good at a given moment in time does not mean He is finished with you.  Adam sinned, Abraham sinned, David sinned, Peter sinned, and Paul flat out admitted that what he wants to do he doesn’t do, and what he doesn’t want to do, he does (Romans 7:15).  He didn’t seem worried that God was done with him.  Paul made it clear that his faith wasn’t in himself and his own actions, it was in Christ alone.

I say all this because some awful stuff is being done by people who call themselves Christians.  The world is watching this behavior and thinking one thing:  If that is the way Christians are, I don’t want to be one.  I’ve seen Christ followers over the years call certain preachers “heretics.”  Read Philippians 1:15-18, Paul didn’t like the reasons why some people preached, but he still rejoiced that they taught the Name above all names.  We have Christians trashing politicians.  It does not matter if they are democrats or republicans, they are pretty much equally abused by people who say they are Christians.  Here is the thing:  God placed them all in power.  Read Romans 13:1 and try to convince me otherwise.  In 1 Samuel 26, Saul was a terrible king, but David would not kill him or slander him because, like it or not, God put him there.  Do we make no effort at all to follow our Biblical examples?  Should we vote?  Absolutely!  Ultimately, will God put who He wants in all places of authority?  Absolutely!  He owns and runs it all!

You and I, along with every other person on the planet, have hearts that naturally gravitate towards sin.  You and I will sin again before we draw our last breath.  God was so sure we would be sinning in 2020 that He went ahead and died for our sins 2000 years ago.  If you have placed your trust in and believe in Jesus Christ, then you are being transformed into His image.  He has given you His righteousness.  Never judge another because God hasn’t done in someone else what He has done in you.  Most importantly, never ever judge another because they sin differently than you.  If you realize you have done this, like I often have, then aren’t you glad that forgiveness and grace are always readily available through Christ, our king?  Aren’t you so thankful that He is slow to anger and abounding in mercy?  Where would you be today had He not been merciful to you?

Today, reflect on the things that ultimately won you over to God.

What about Him will ultimately win those who, at this very moment, do not know Him?

I am in the process of finishing the last chapter of my book. I don’t know why it is so hard, but it is. I used this devotion from 5 years ago in the last chapter as I was writing this week. I thought it was a great example of how God uses regular life to make necessary changes in us over time.

From Pharisee to Tax Collector

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ – Luke 18:11-12

Last week, my wife and I went on a date.  An extremely gracious couple offered to keep our young ones, buy us dinner, and enjoy an evening together.  So, we did.  We went to Outback.  Of course, the wait time was long when we arrived.  I was with my sweetheart, so no big deal.  We had been told we’d have to wait 25 minutes.  After 40 minutes, I asked what was up while trying my hardest not to come across like the aggravated customers who were demanding justice for their inconvenience.

That’s when “he” walked in.  Apparently, this dude had called in early and expected to go right in and sit down.  It didn’t work out for him.  I stood just a few feet from him.  When he didn’t get his way, he clamped his jaw, closed his eyes, clenched his fists . . . I thought he was going to erupt.  Instead, he stormed out of there with his girl and was taking his business elsewhere.

At that precise moment, I became a Pharisee.  Instinctively, in my heart, I offered up the absolute dumbest prayer I have ever prayed in my life.

“Thank you God that I don’t act like that!”

My wife and I went on to be seated, had a wonderful meal, wonderful conversation, went to Kohl’s where I got a couple of $80 sweaters for $16 each (yes, that is 80% off), went to Target, and then went to pick up my little ones who had a wonderful time.

I don’t know why it has taken a week to process, but as I spend time with the Lord this morning, I am so ashamed of my short prayer.  There is only one reason, and one reason only that I “don’t act like that.”  The reason is that the living Lord Jesus Christ chose to speak life into a selfish, sinful heart.  Had he not done so years ago, I would be no different than my angry, frustrated friend who was beneath waiting.

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ – Luke 18:13

God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I’m sorry for my prayer a week ago.  Help all of us never forget where the blood that purifies and sanctifies us comes from.  It is only by your mercy and your grace that we are saved.  I offer up a prayer for Outback guy.  Please do for him what you did for me.

And afterward, I will pour out my spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophecy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  – Joel 2:28

I don’t know if it is because I am actually well rested with this whole quarantine going on, or if it is because I am entering the beginning stages of being “old” as described in Joel 2:28, but my dream world has been activated big time.  Before these past couple of weeks, I might have had a few dreams per year that I could actually remember.  Now, I’m having them quite often.  I want to tell you about one in particular in which the Lord spoke to me.

I was in an unfamiliar house.  The house was crazy big because it seemed like I walked into a hundred different rooms and down a ton of different hallways.  I kept running into and talking to lots of people from many of the different churches I’ve attended in the past.  Most of the visits were just small talk.  Then, my eye caught these kids playing in front of an open door.  I could see that a set of very old, worn-out steps was right behind them.  I so badly wanted to go and close that door, but as I tried to not startle the kids and slowly moved toward them, this little girl stood up, looked at me, and fell backwards down the stairs.  I ran towards her, barely missed her, and watched the most horrific fall I’ve ever seen.  I ran down the steps, picked her up off the concrete floor, placed her on my shoulder, and put my hand on the back of her head.  She was not moving at all and blood began to run down my hand and arm.  I began to pray, “Lord, please don’t let this fall end in death, please heal this little girl.”  The blood immediately began to run back up my arm, back up my hand, and back into the girl’s head.  She opened her eyes, looked at me, and said “thank you.”  At that moment, her mother came rushing down the stairs.  I handed her daughter to her and was just about to explain what had happened.  The mother just screamed, “Get away from my child! Don’t touch my child!” and stormed back up the stairs.  Then, I woke up.

The contrast between how cool it was to see the little girl healed after taking that fall and how awful it was to be treated like I was some pedophile holding this woman’s child was just crazy.  I’ve been thinking a lot about what it could all mean.

God has allowed me to preach and teach in a lot of places.  As I’ve talked to the youth of today and have gotten to know them, they have fallen into some pretty dark places.  I remember one particular youth camp where kids just started confessing stuff like crazy at the end of the service.  I remember trying not to act shocked at some of the stuff that I was being told.  I also remember that, as we prayed, it was like so many of these kids were being set free.  They were finally able to unload their darkest sins and were able to move forward.  It is the first and only time I’ve had in my life where I went to bed absolutely exhausted from praying with and for people for hours.

The kids that prayed were from all walks of life.  Some were church kids, and some were not.  However, all of them had fallen into the darkness.  I think because the house was so huge in my dream, and the fact that everyone I met was from past churches, that the house represented the church.  I also think that it means that church people refuse to believe just how bad falls can be.  They don’t realize how much darkness there is to fall into and just how important it is to use every resource possible to help our kids get to a place where they are confident in who Jesus is, understand what He is like, and are confident in their salvation.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve fallen into darkness more times than I can count.  I’ve been bleeding and almost dead on the concrete many times.  Yet, 100% of the time the Lord sends just the right person to heal me up and place my feet back on solid ground.  Every time it happens, I want to preach harder, pray with more people, and keep going forward in His Name.  There has to be many out there just like me.  I want to be one of the ones who finds those people and helps them get up.  There just isn’t time to be defeated all the time.  Our time on this planet is short and the evil one knows this.  All he can really do is render us ineffective for as long as possible by keeping us wallowing in doubt.

I still think about that woman who acted like I was infecting her child by holding her.  She wasn’t even aware of the fall her child had taken.  Kids today are surrounded by and have unprecedented access to darkness.  It is crazy that most parents who were raised in church and are raising their own children in church don’t believe their children are being affected by it.  Yet, if those kids get into a really Spirit-filled environment, they confess, they pray, and they worship.  Let me tell you, there is no worship like a group of kids who feel clean and have been set free.

I just Googled “average life expectancy.”  It said 78 years old.  This means that if you are more than 39 years old, you’re in the last half of your life on average.  What will be your impact on the kingdom?  There are too many people content with keeping themselves free from this old, sinful world, going to church, waiting for the rapture, and basically saying “I’m good to go . . . to hell with everyone else.”  I’m telling you, there are fallen children of God out there.  They may appear fine on the outside, but they are dead on the inside.  There are others who don’t look fine on the outside.  They are messed up and have gotten themselves wrapped up in all kinds of sin.  They need help, too!  Be willing to go to the dark places, find them, and help them up.  Yes, you will make some church people wonder what the heck you are doing.  Yes, you will probably be judged by some Pharisees.  Go after them anyway.  You were worth going after.  They are too.

Lord, please help this make sense to someone.  Thank you for picking me up so many times.  Thank you for the people who don’t care what others think and will go into the dark places, get messy, and help others find their way.  Where would I be without them?  Give us a spirit of boldness.  Grant us a spirit of urgency.  It feels as if darkness has descended upon our land these past few weeks.  We know that light shines brightest in the darkness.  May the light of the church to shine ever so brightly.  Amen.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses. – Exodus 9:12

Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”  — 2 Samuel 24:1

“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said.  “Don’t you realize I have power to either free you or crucify you?”  Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”  — John 19:10-11

In the first verse I used this morning, God was in the process of dishing out the 10 plagues.  Six of the plagues had come to pass already:  The water had become blood, frogs covered the land, lice got all in their hair, flies took over, their livestock was struck dead, and boils covered them.  Anyone in their right mind living at that time would have said, “What in the world is Pharaoh thinking?  Why doesn’t he just let the Israelites go already?  Can’t he see that the very hand of God is against him?”  As readers of the Bible, we get to see in hindsight that God intervened and made Pharaoh’s heart hard so He could complete the plagues that He had predetermined to send before releasing His people.

In the second verse I used, we are talking about the mighty King David!  This is the man after God’s own heart.  So many of the people had to have been complaining, “What in the world is the king thinking?  Why is he using our tax-payer money and wasting nine months counting everybody?”  Well, we know why, “God moved David against them.”  Ultimately, this caused a plague to come upon the people which killed 70,000 people.

In the third verse we have Pontius Pilate honestly believing he has power over our Lord and Savior.  Jesus quickly lets him know otherwise.  Pilate tried to save Jesus by having Him scourged.  He had hoped that this lesser punishment would satisfy the people who wanted Him dead.  It did not work.  “Crucify Him” they shouted; and crucify Him they did.  God caused Pilate to care more about his position and what the people thought than what was right.  When Jesus said, “It is finished” and drew His last breath, I can only imagine the hopelessness and darkness that descended over the land.  I’m so glad we know the rest of the story.

In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed twenty men in an area of about half an acre.  Then panic struck the whole army – those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties – and the ground shook.  It was a panic sent by God. – 1 Samuel 14:14-15

How crazy is this one?  Two men go up and kill twenty men out of thousands.  The rest of them panic.  This panic causes them to get routed by the Israelite army.

You and I are living in a time of uncertainty right now.  I’ve had so many people contact me and have conversations with me.  For the most part, people can’t believe how people are.  They can’t believe people would hoard toilet paper.  They can’t believe people would be so insensitive and just go on about their lives like nothing is happening with blatant disregard for others.  They can’t believe these young people’s behavior.  They can’t believe the president is responding the way he is responding.  There is just always this “Look how others are behaving” attitude going on in the background.  As if the complainer knows and has all the answers.

In all of the verses I chose, the common theme was that God was behind them all.  At the very least, we must believe that He allowed all of them to happen.  As believers in this same God, are we really surprised at all of this happening today?  Were we all secretly hoping that we would get to just live a pain-free, suffer-free life of ease until we were raptured away from this increasingly evil world on its way to hell in a handbasket?  Are we all really surprised that the world is acting like, well, the world?

Here is the thing:  If you call yourself a Christian right now, then you have this awesome opportunity.  You have the opportunity to pray out loud with people who are afraid.  You have the opportunity to counsel fearful Christians who are unsure of their salvation and really wondering if this is the beginning of the end.  Let them know that our faith and our hope is in God and God alone.  Most of all, you have the opportunity to just be the light that shines in the darkness.  People should be attracted to your light.  Are people who are afraid coming to you for answers?  Do you honestly have the peace that passes all understanding in your heart right now?  If you really have it, get ready to pass that peace on to others because people will be coming to you for answers.

In times like this, 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells all true believers exactly what to do:

1. Humble yourself:  In the grand scheme of things, you and I are vapors that appear for a little while and then vanish away.  Stop thinking that your opinion, what you think about all of this, and what you would do really matters.

2. Pray: When is the last time you’ve really taken the time to talk with God?  I’m not talking quick, one-liner prayers.  I’m talking about pouring your heart out and telling him absolutely everything.

3. Seek His face: This is different than prayer.  This is just wanting to be with Him.  Nothing really needs to be said.  You just enjoy knowing that He is ever so present and ever so near.  When is the last time you just wanted to hang out with Him and just be with Him?  How can fear, worry, anxiety, or depression possibly overtake me when He is right here with me?

4. Turn from your wicked ways: What are you doing that you know God doesn’t like?  What sin are you allowing to creep in?  Are you fully trusting in God?  Or, do you secretly trust in self?

Lord, I confess that I’m not where I need to be.  I confess that I can be fearful.  I confess that that as I began to cough from allergies that my mind went to the worst-case scenario.  Where is my faith?  Why am I afraid when I have You?  I’m so sorry, Lord.  You are the greatest thing this planet offers, and I use my access to You so infrequently and so inconsistently.  Forgive me, Lord.  Help me, Lord.  I want to draw nearer to You than I’ve ever been before.  Help all of us Christians to do the four things which cause you to hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. 

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  – Psalm 40:2

My daughter and I decided to go hiking this past Sunday.  Ever since I lost my pastor’s position, I’ve been letting my kids determine where we go to church every week.  I’ve never really cared for the mega-churches, but of course, my kids love them.  They were pretty much all shut down Sunday, so I asked Caroline to think of somewhere we could go.  Even though I meant church-wise, she immediately said, “Can we go and hike Table Rock?”  I said, “Let’s go for it.”

Early into our trek, Caroline found a small snail.  Snail hunting is kind of her thing on every hike we go on.  She carried it all the way to the half-way point shelter.  We took some pictures there of her with the snail at that incredible overlook.  We debated going back home from there.  We were both already pretty wiped out.  As we talked it out, we both agreed that we’d never be as close to the top as we were right now and shouldn’t turn back.  We knew we would regret it when we got back to the car.  I prayed for us, “Lord, help us get to the top.”  We went back at it for the second half of the journey.  Even though we stopped frequently to eat granola bars and drink Gatorade, we made it to the top.  I love what my daughter said, “Daddy, our strength didn’t come from those mountains, it came from the Lord.”

Ever since the hike, I haven’t stopped thinking about that snail.  There is no way it could have made it as far up that mountain on its own as Caroline took it.  I thought of how many times God has literally picked me up and moved me forward spiritually because I was stuck and going nowhere.  How many times I’ve needed God to do for me exactly what Caroline did for the snail?

The situation even represented her life so well.  She has fallen quite a few times under the weight and pressure of being a pastor’s daughter.  A lot of Christians haven’t been very merciful to her.  This has caused her to climb into her shell many times and stop moving forward.  Every time she gets stuck and is not moving spiritually, I do my best to pick her up, tell her how much I love her, tell her how God loves her even more, I carry her, I pray for her, and I ask God to somehow let it get ingrained into her soul that this is the only way He treats those whom He loves.  I want so badly for her to know that He is so slow to anger, He is so full of kindness, He is so merciful, and He is so willing to carry us when our strength is exhausted.

There is no one like our God.

Who knew that carrying a snail up a mountain carried so many implications?

Looks like we had church Sunday after all.

The wages of sin is death.  – Romans 6:23

This past Friday I woke up really tired and really not feeling the whole getting out of bed and heading to work thing.  I kept going back to sleep.  When I finally actually got up, I had to rush.  Honestly, I haven’t had to do that in a while.  I hurried through my Bible reading.  I haven’t done that in a while either.  It was so hurried that I really didn’t remember a thing I had read.  Afterwards, I didn’t think about what I had read, nor did I pray.

On the way to work, I was driving pretty fast.  In a single moment, I don’t know if it was God or just my sense of knowing better, but I took a deep breath and slowed everything down.  I prayed.  Since I basically blew off that morning’s reading, I started going through all the scriptures that I have memorized.  I was saying Psalm 119:11, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”  As I thought of that, I thought of how I had just rushed past God this morning.  I thought of the opportunity I had missed.  I simply said, “I’m sorry, Lord, would you forgive . . .”  BAM!  This bird flew out of nowhere, slammed into my windshield, and scared me half to death.  I looked in the rearview mirror and it seemed to hit the ground so softly.  I hated the fact that I had just killed that bird.

“Lord, what was that?  That bird literally hit me on the word forgive?”

“Adam, don’t ever forget what it takes to be forgiven.”

I just drove on to work in stunned silence.

As the day went on, I thought of that bird.  Its life had just ended.  I felt sorry for the bird.  Then, I thought of how awesome that bird’s life was.  That bird directly pointed to Jesus on the cross giving His life for all who would come to Him and receive eternal life.  Oh, how I want my life to do the same!  For the rest of the day, I thought about what it really takes to be forgiven.  I saw my Lord on the cross so many times in my mind that day.

It may be hard to believe and hard to understand, but that is what it takes.  The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I guess sin just makes us forget.