Wednesday Morning Devotional

The Spirit of the Lord came upon him.  – Judges 3:10

So I got up this morning without a Wednesday Morning Devotional ready to go.  I thought about posting an old one, but didn’t really feel like God was in that.  I asked Him to help me crank one out . . . nothing.

In this verse, Othniel, the younger brother of Caleb became Israel’s Judge.  Israel had forsaken God to serve other gods, and the nation was in turmoil.  When they finally cried out to the Lord for deliverance, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel.  Through him, the nation was saved.

This morning, when I couldn’t write a WMD, I just decided to go to Total Fitness to work out.  I got on the treadmill, hit “Worship Playlist” or something like that, and started running my mile before I started lifting. This is the first thing I heard:

By Your Spirit I will rise

From the ashes of defeat

The resurrected King is resurrecting me

In Your Name I come alive

To declare Your victory

The resurrected King is resurrecting me

I had heard this song before, but for some reason, right there on the treadmill, the Spirit of the Lord came upon me.  Fortunately, the crowd was small and they were focused on doing their own thing, because I was streaming tears and weeping like crazy.  Normally this happens when I am alone, but this is the second time in a row it has happened in public.  I asked God, “Not that I’m complaining, because this is awesome! But, why do this right here?”

I felt like He said, “Look around, Adam.”  So, I started looking around.  I saw very fit people staying in their own little world doing their own thing.  I saw obvious beginners struggling like crazy. Then, I saw a very fit person helping an unfit person.  God said, “Here is a picture of the church in America.”  I think I know what He was saying.  We have churches full of spiritually “fit” people continuing to keep to themselves.  There are very few laborers in the field helping with the great harvest of souls. It is time for the spiritually fit to rise up and help disciple the ones who aren’t prepared for the battle that is to come.  This is how we will win the next generation.  Remember, it was Caleb’s younger brother that ended up receiving God’s Spirit and fighting victoriously.  It very well could be our younger brothers and sisters in Christ that lead our country back to victory in Jesus.  What are you doing to prepare them?

Lord, may every person reading this find a spiritually unfit person and begin talking about the things of God.  May you use us to equip others and may your Spirit fall upon us that we might deliver our fellow Americans from this sin-cursed world.  We love you, Lord.  By your Spirit we will rise to declare the victory.

The end of all things is near, therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. – 1 Peter 4:7

When Peter wrote this, I believe he was thinking back all those years to when he denied his Lord three times.  In Matthew 26:40, Jesus had specifically asked Peter, “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?”  Even though Jesus tried to tell him, Peter didn’t realize it was the last night on Earth he would physically be with Jesus.  Had he really known . . . he certainly would have done things differently.

The end of all things is near

No matter what age you are as you read this, you will be out of here before you realize it.  It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).  This is happening much, much sooner than we think.  Our lives are vapors that appear just for a moment, and then vanish (James 4:14).  John says in 1 John 1:14 that the world and all its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.  Isn’t it amazing how little we think of the will of God?  Just yesterday, I spent so much time doing the things of this world. I’m not even talking of what most people would call sinful stuff.  I’m just talking of television, social media, sports, games, music, and countless other worldly activities that fill our minds constantly on a day-to-day basis.  The Neilson Company reported three years ago that adults in the United States spend an average of 10 hours and 39 minutes each day staring at a screen of some sort.  I’m not saying screens are bad any more than Peter going to sleep was bad. But, sleepiness cost Peter his last night with Jesus.  Even in his old age, Peter remembered this and issued a warning to us.

Therefore be alert and of sober mind

I know it sounds like, “Big deal if I engage in a little of the world’s entertainment!”  Well, it is a big deal.  Peter is telling us that we must be alert and of sober mind at all times. I used to think this verse only applied to alcohol, drugs, or other substances that messed with our minds, but it can be so much simpler than that.  All Peter and the other disciples did on that last night with Jesus was be really sleepy. They missed their last prayer session with Him present.  I’ve found that after I have sat through some movie or television show, God does not come back to my mind very quickly.  I don’t think that I could immediately go and pray in His presence for any substantial amount of time.  Why? My mind has been going nuts processing all those pictures that have been rapidly firing through my brain.  It is just in no condition to hear Him and His still, small voice.

So that you may pray

I watched television last night and went straight to bed without saying anything to God.  What if that had been my last chance on Earth to talk to Him?  People every day fall asleep for the last time and do not wake up.  The sin that lives in you and me assumes at all times that we will have another day to live.  How would I have lived yesterday if I had known it was my last day on this planet?

Let’s just say yesterday would have been a lot different.

Lord, one day my faith will become sight.  Right now, I have the opportunity to pray.  In heaven, prayer is unnecessary.  Right now, I have the opportunity to witness to others about the great salvation that you offer.  In heaven, there will be nobody to tell.  Help me take advantages of these opportunities while I am on Earth.  I don’t want to fill my mind with hours and hours of entertainment that has zero eternal value.  Help me, Lord to disconnect so much more than I do from this world and connect with you.  The time is so short.  Keep me sober minded so that I want to pray.

Amen

Heart, Soul, and Mind

Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” – Matthew 22:37

So I’ve always wondered if there was a distinction between the heart, soul, and mind.  I have asked God to show me the difference over the years. In the past year or so, I guess I have forgotten that I asked Him this question.  In true God fashion, I believe that He has resurrected the question, and decided to answer it for me this week in true, God fashion.

Before I continue, for years I think I believed that I had to love God to get to heaven.  Because I was aware that I didn’t love Him for many years, I thought I was always choosing worldly things over Him (which I was), and I deservedly was headed straight for hell.  This is just the way I thought of God.  I realize now that in the formative years of Christianity, the main objective is to hold onto that core belief in Jesus Christ as Savior. This belief becomes more and more solidified as you hear the Word of God.  This belief turns into faith.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).  The by-product of this combination of holding on to this belief in Jesus and hearing the Word of God is love.  In a similar way, I met Tonya, got to know her, and then fell in love with her.  The result has been this wonderful marriage of 17 and half years.  I met Jesus when I was 16.  I really learned about Him over the next decade or so by hearing solid preaching and reading His Word for myself.  At some point, I fell in love.  He went from being my Savior, to being my Lord.  He even went from being my Lord, to being my first love.

I say that to say this: I’m going through a really weird phase right now.  My religious routines are being wrecked.  God is not allowing me comfort or rest in my former methods of reading His Word, praying to Him, and even preparing sermons for Him.  He is placing me in these situations where I have to rely on what I’ve already learned.  I just thought of this, but it really is like taking a test in school.  You were supposed to learn the material, now it is time to prove that you learned it by taking the test.

Having said that, I really desire to find comfort in the reading of His Word and just that wonder of His quiet, still, small voice.  I long for it.  I find myself asking God, “Is there something wrong with me?”  I believe He has taken this time to show me the distinction between heart, soul, and mind.  I see heart, soul, and mind as a Venn diagram.  Heart is the left circle and encompasses my emotion and feelings. Mind is the right circle that encompasses my thinking and actually using my brain.  The middle part caused by the overlap is my soul . . . my entire inner being.   I feel like I’m “firing on all cylinders” when this middle overlapping part is lit up. When it is lit up, I’m getting the best of both worlds.

I have gone through so many seasons of life doing the Christian duty of reading and studying the Word, yet void of heart, void of emotion.  I wanted to experience God.  I wanted to weep in His overwhelming presence.  I wanted to feel Him.  Eventually, I got to the point where I’d pray to God and say something like this, “God, I don’t just want to dutifully read Your Word, I want to experience You!”  I would stop reading for a while and maybe just listen to my favorite preachers, or listen to powerful worship music.  Inevitably, I’d experience Him . . . love Him with my heart, if you will.  That would propel me to want to read His Word again and I’d feel for a while like I was back to loving Him with my soul . . . my entire being.  This sequence of events has happened so many times in my life.

This is the first time in my life that God has made it work in reverse.  I’m not studying like I should, or at least like I normally do. Yet, I’m experiencing Him on unprecedented levels.  The heart side of the Venn diagram is lit up, yet, I feel like something is missing.  I feel like my mind is starving.  I want that steady stream of His Word flowing through my mind.  I long for it.  That kind of longing only comes from Him.  I’m asking Him to give me a perfect love for Him and His Word.

My wife has repeatedly told me that I have an addictive personality resulting in an “all or nothing” mentality.  It has affected me in enough areas of my life now that I am seeing that she is right. This mentality serves me well in many areas.  This mentality is also detrimental in other areas.  What God is teaching me this morning is to enjoy Him in all seasons. There will be times of experiencing Him . . . my heart will burst with love for Him.  There will be times of study and prayer . . . I will set my mind upon Him.  These are not mutually exclusive.  They work harmoniously to feed my soul, my entire inner being, and sets it ablaze for my one, true love who will never leave me nor forsake me.

Lord, thank you for showing me the distinction between heart, soul, and mind.  Sometimes I think I get caught up in running with you and running for you.  I don’t think you are asking me to run sprints for you, but you are simply asking me to walk.  Help me get back to just taking it one day at a time.  I get so far ahead of myself sometimes that I forget to just enjoy the moment I’m in right now.  Help me forget what is behind and look straight ahead.  Right now, I have such peace in my heart.  Let me keep it today as long as possible.  I love you, Lord. 

Resting in God

There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that hath entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.  Let us labor therefore to enter into this rest.  – Hebrews 4:9-11

I have always been fascinated with the idea of resting in God.  When I normally think of rest, it requires lots of sleeping and lots of doing as little as possible.  The thing is, when I do these things, I don’t necessarily feel rested, at least in the sense of being recharged and ready to take on the world.  I believe there is something in these verses that the vast majority of Christians do not understand.  I believe I am just beginning to scratch the surface of what they mean.

Monday, I will be 44 years old.  As little as 10 years ago, I thought of the 40’s as old.  Well, now that I am here, I have these strange feelings for it.  On one hand, I don’t think I’m that old.  On the other, I feel like if these 44 years have flown by like they have, my life really is a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14).  I will be out of here before I know it.  All I want is to be prepared for the day I stand before Him.  There is a strange transition taking place in my life right now that I’m not sure if it is temporary or long lasting.  “Let us labor to enter into rest” is a paradox that is puzzling me, and yet, I’m experiencing it at the same time.

These last few months have been labor intensive for me.  I don’t just mean job related, I mean kingdom related.  I have poured myself out like never before.  It involved me using the knowledge of God and the Bible that I have developed over the years.  I didn’t spend a lot of time acquiring new knowledge, which I missed greatly.  It all came to a grand finale the last time I preached at Lifeline.  I didn’t labor for the sermon at all.  I just stepped up and poured myself out.  At the end of that sermon, I literally collapsed to the floor and wept like I don’t think I’ve ever wept before.  Never, not even one other time, has that ever happened to me.  It was so strange and so wonderful.  Two men of God came up, put their hands on me, prayed for me, and I was immediately restored.  It was the coolest, craziest thing I have ever experienced.

Having said that, I am still so out of my Bible reading/studying routines right now. Somehow, I think I put too much trust in my routines.  In fact, I know I do.  I feel like when I’m not studying and praying that I’m just a goner that deserves something bad to happen to me.  It’s like I wait for it.  That is not the God presented in the Bible.  There is a time for labor.  Yes, God’s Word must be read.  God’s Word must be understood.  God’s Word must be applied.  A prayer life must be developed.   One must know what God feels like and sounds like.  One must learn His ways.  Not that we can learn these completely, but we can labor for these things and get closer and closer.  Being saved is not the end of spiritual matters.  Being saved is analogous to simply signing up and paying your dues at the gym.  You’ve got to learn to use all that equipment if you want to benefit from it.  Within three to six months, it is so obvious if you use it or not.  In Christianity, people have been signed up at the gym for years, yet most are still spiritually weak.

As usual, I have no idea why I’m writing this.  I am in such an unusual place right now.  I’m doing as little spiritual “working out” as I’ve ever done.  I do miss it like crazy and, after asking God to make me hunger and thirst for His Word and His righteousness, He is certainly responding. I just don’t want to ever forget these last few months where I studied very little, but reaped unbelievably great rewards by pouring myself out.  I don’t even know if that makes any sense.

It’s like a story I heard a long time ago.  God asked this new Christian to push a big rock every day with all of his strength. So, every morning the guy did.  He got totally ripped doing this over the years. His muscles were spectacular.  In time, Satan came along and discouraged the man, “Why keep doing this to yourself?  The rock isn’t moving and you are just wasting your energy.”  The guy listened and got weak.  When the day of battle came, he wasn’t ready.

It seems like American churches are like that.  We are really convinced that spiritual disciplines are useless.  Yet, those disciplines make us spiritually ripped to go out and fight and be victorious.  We have strength that He developed in us as well as His strength. We fight from victory, not for victory.

I remember telling a college friend about Jesus.  He straight up told me that I didn’t get to tell him about Jesus.  He basically called me spiritually weak.  He was right.  I hadn’t been pushing the rock at all.  I wasn’t prepared for that battle.  I always think about that when I don’t feel like pushing the rock.  I got to fight these last few months using the spiritual muscles that I have developed.  I went further in my own strength than I ever thought that I could. When I was spent, God stepped in and backed me up with His strength.  There was obviously no comparison, but I was sure thankful that He let me play as big of a part as He did.

Lord, teach me how to labor so that I may enter into your rest.

Go and make disciples. – Matthew 28:19

Disciples of Jesus Christ are made.  Somehow, especially in the American version of Christianity, we have come to believe that if a sinner prays a prayer to receive forgiveness, they will magically become disciples.  The parable of the sower plainly refutes this notion.  There was nothing wrong with the seed, it was perfect, but the ground that it fell on determined what happened to it.  The majority of Americans are so used to having everything handed to them that the notion of any effort being made on their part is foreign.  “Go and make disciples” requires effort.

Everyone reading this needs to think about this question: 

What is my process for making disciples?  Really think about it before you move on.  I would venture to say that inviting people to church is most people’s plan.  Back in 2001, the Sunday after the 9/11 attacks, the churches were filled.  I can’t prove it, but I think that Sunday had the highest American church attendance on record. More people came looking for hope and looking for answers than at any point in my lifetime.  It did not produce disciples.  After a couple of weeks, things just went right back to normal.

Normal in America is just not good.

I’m going to offer up a plan for you to try out.  It is certainly not the plan, but I believe it is a plan that works.  Before you even attempt this plan, you have to answer a very serious question of yourself:  Am I a disciple?  I did not ask if you go to church, call yourself a Christian, play on a church sports team, or anything else nominal American Christians do.  I am asking you if you follow Christ regardless of the cost to yourself?  When you fail to follow Him, does it absolutely eat you alive inside until you make it as right as possible?  If you answer yes to these questions, you are a good candidate to make other disciples, if you answer no, then you are pretty much useless in this endeavor.  You need to humble yourself, find a real deal follower of Christ, and ask them to disciple you.  Only disciples can make disciples.

Here is the plan:  find at least one other person willing to meet with you on a regular basis for a fixed number of days.  I like the number 60 for some reason.  I imagine that a seed planted in the ground where the ground is regularly being checked on, watered, fertilized, and weeded will have a good chance of making it after 60 days of growth.  The meetings don’t have to be long at all, 10-20 minutes works just fine.  Longer periods of time work well, too.  The main thing is that you make the meetings doable.

After the time has been set, be it before work, after work, during lunch break, morning, evening, whenever y’all decide, here is the grand plan . . . are you ready for this?  It is only three simple steps.

1. Read the Bible
2. Talk about it
3. Pray

Might I suggest a starting point?  Romans 3:23.  Talk to the person about how “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Put yourself in the same boat as the person or people you are trying to disciple.  Let them know that unless your name is Jesus Christ, you need Jesus Christ. Tell them that you are not even close to where you need to be yourself, but God has changed you, is changing you, and you want them to really know the same God you know.  Make it clear that you don’t want anything from them, but simply want something for them.  Pray for God to make your time together fruitful.

After that, it is up to you and God.  Pray for the person or group of people daily.  Ask God what verses you should read.  Ask the Holy Spirit to take over your words as you talk about the scriptures.  Bind the powers of evil.  Believe it or not, you are capable of doing this stuff if you are in Christ.  How do I know?  Because of the last verse of the Great Commission:

Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. – Matthew 28:20

He’s with us.  He’s with you.  There is no excuse.  Go make a disciple.

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did you come to destroy us?  I know who You are – the Holy One of God!” – Mark 1:23-24

I would imagine that many of you reading this are like me and you deal with some evil, unclean spirits. Notice where this particular unclean spirit lived:  it was a man who went to the synagogue.  When that spirit got around Jesus, it had to cry out.  Now, notice what it cried out:  “Let us alone!”

“Leave me alone,” I believe is the major cry of the demons.  When you try to intervene with your son or daughter, a coworker, a friend, or another family member, the first thing they may say is, “I don’t want to hear about Jesus.”  Of course they don’t, the unclean spirits have a vice grip on their hearts, their minds, and their lives.  They wormed their way in; of course they want to be left alone.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. – Mark 1:25-26

I know this stinks, this is hard, and this is scary, but evil and unclean spirits are not just naturally going to disappear.  They have found their home and they don’t leave just because you tack an eviction notice to the door.  You have to cast them out with an audible voice of authority.  Before you attempt anything like this, you pray until you feel like Jesus Himself is praying inside of you.  Then, and only then, do you have His authority to speak to the unclean spirit.  Read Acts 19:11-20 if you want to see how badly and embarrassing this can turn out.

I have no idea why I am writing something so hardcore this morning.  I’m going to assume that someone needs to hear it.  If you believe in God, have trusted in Jesus for salvation, and have the Holy Spirit flowing through you at this very moment, you have the Holy trifecta.  You have power beyond measure.  Use it to set people free.  There are a lot of demons crying, “Leave me alone.”  There are a lot of people who want nothing to do with the Holy Son of God. I don’t believe it is those actual people thinking this.  It is an unclean spirit who has found a home.

Pray, power up, and invade that home in the Name above all Names.

But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. – Galatians 2:11

I sometimes wonder if I didn’t know a thing about religion right now and I spent a few months just studying them, which one I would choose?  All seem to offer some sort of promising afterlife for obedience and some sort of diminished existence for disobedience.  Most people believe that our lives go on past this existence in some form or fashion.  The most convenient thing to believe is that I will simply cease to exist once I draw my last breath, for then it doesn’t really matter how I live my life . . . I can do what I want without any eternal accountability.  I don’t really have enough faith to believe that.  So which god, gods, or philosophy is right?

There is this scene in Steve Groll’s book, “Beyond the Dead Forest,” where a witch forces two children to pick from a thousand different gods.  The “gods” are really scarecrows with different names.  All the kids have to do is take a knife, cut themselves, and offer a few drops of blood on the ground of the one they choose.  Had they chosen, it was really a trick so the witch’s wolves could easily track down the children later on.  Fortunately, they didn’t choose any of the gods and ended up setting them on fire and destroying them all.  They knew that those scarecrows weren’t real gods.  They weren’t even good scarecrows because thousands of crows rested upon them.  All of them were false gods.

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

When Jesus came on the scene, there were plenty of religions.  Scarecrows abounded, if you will.  The Romans considered Caesar God.  Even the Jewish people had begun to worship a set of manmade rules in place of the true God that they claimed to know.  Everyone on the planet, just like today, had a belief in either something or nothing.

Yet, here comes Jesus on the scene giving His life as a ransom for many.  Here’s the thing:  If every religion is right and everyone is going to be okay in the end, why in the world would He do this?  Is He basically saying, “There were a thousand ways to a better afterlife, now I have made it one thousand and one”?  In John 14:6, Jesus doesn’t claim to be a way, but claims to be the way.  He is either right or wrong.  He is either lying to us, or He is telling us the truth. I don’t think there is any middle ground, and there certainly isn’t room to believe that salvation can come through any other means.  At least, not if you believe His words.

Paul and Peter were possibly the two greatest preachers at the same time in the early church.  They both spread the gospel that salvation came to all people only through Jesus.  Yet, Peter got sidetracked a little bit when a group of people who followed Jesus also wanted to add some of the old rules back into the mix.  Peter didn’t confront or condemn these additions; therefore Paul confronted Peter “to his face. Because clearly he was wrong.”

Now, if Peter was wrong . . . he was wrong.  If Peter can be wrong in his beliefs, then we certainly can, too.  I believe there is nothing more important on this planet than what we believe.  It is appointed unto man once to die, and afterwards to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).  Are you ready?  How confident are you in what you believe?

Praise God my salvation is not based on my performance.  My performance absolutely stinks sometimes.  In fact, I would hardly give myself a passing grade as I type this.  I don’t even live up to my own standards, much less God’s.  Therefore, I will place my trust in Christ alone.  Salvation is free and cannot be earned.  The only rule with God is don’t make it about rules.  Make it about knowing Jesus.  If you know Him, you will fall in love with Him.  If you fall in love with Him, you will want to keep His commands.

Do not be wrong about this! Salvation comes by putting your faith in Christ alone.  Nobody will talk his or her way into heaven.  Salvation will never be earned through good deeds.  It can only be received by faith.

Don’t waste another moment. This life is a vapor that appears for a moment and then vanishes away.  Pray!  Make sure your life is in His hands.  There is nothing on earth more important.  He doesn’t say at the end of our lives, “Depart from me, you didn’t behave!”  He says, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”  Please, please, please get to know Him.  Introduce yourself today.

Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

So here lately, it is like I have been just this beginner Christian.  God is humbling me greatly right now.  I know God’s Word says that we should humble ourselves . . . I guess when we don’t do what is asked of us; He steps in and does the job for us.  For some reason, I am predisposed to think that if God intervenes and has to do something for me, it is always going to be painful and difficult . . . the “hard way” if you will.  I guess these misconceptions just got planted in me when I was younger.  God is using this season to teach me just how kind, loving, and merciful He is.  I think it is slowly circling me back around to childlike faith.

Anyway, I was watching this preacher teach a group of about 10 kids this week.  He did the simplest message that spoke to my own heart. First, he went through 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  Then, he said God is love.  Since that is true, we can put God’s name in there:  God is patient, God is kind, God does not envy, etc.  It is crazy how quickly I can see God as none of those things. Even in this season of feeling like I’m not finishing the school year strong, or just feeling like I am not doing Christianity well, I feel like God stands ready to punish me.  I feel like I deserve to be punished.  Yet, God in His great mercy is teaching me the opposite. He is teaching me that He really is all that 1 Corinthians 13 says He is.  He is protecting me, still trusting me, still persevering with me, still not easily angered with me, still loving me, and still pouring His truth into me. What a great God!!!

Then, the preacher put my name in there and asked some questions.  Is Adam patient?  Is Adam kind? Does Adam envy?  He went through the whole list.  I want you to read the verses at the top of this devotional and put your name in the place of love.  I found out really quickly that I am not consistently any of those things. Even when I thought of the times I felt like I got one or two of them right, it was still God who prompted me to do right.  Left on my own, I am none of them.

Herein lies the simplicity of Christianity.  Since I cannot be any of these things on my own, I need God.  He sent His Son to die for me so that I could be forgiven. After I asked Him to forgive me, He placed His Holy Spirit inside of me so that He could begin to teach me how to love, be kind, be patient, etc.  On this side of eternity, I don’t think I will ever get these virtues down pat, but I do feel like I am growing in the right direction.

It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars

The Sun and the Earth and Jupiter and Mars

How loving and patient He must be

He’s still working on me.

That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses.  – 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NLT)

This past Sunday, this past week, really, I had a unique experience. When it comes to preaching, I take it super seriously.  There is something in me that thinks if I take it lightly, or if I even try to speak on God’s behalf without being clean, I will be killed.  I know that sounds extreme, but Exodus 19:12 talks about God’s holy mountain, and how any person or any thing will die if it gets too close. Every time, right before I step in the pulpit, my mind pictures this mountain.  Just for a moment, I wonder if this will be the last time.

Now, this past Sunday, I didn’t take it seriously.  All last week, it was like my mind was just numb.  My regular job just drained me.  I was sleeping in a lot, and not getting up and studying.  Even when I did, it was like I was getting nothing out of reading the Word, so instead of persevering, I just set an alarm on my phone and slept some more.

When the weekend rolled around, it didn’t get any better.  I knew Sunday was coming, but I didn’t amp up my efforts.  Normally, I open the “Word of Promise” Bible app and let it read aloud to me while I physically read the Bible I use to preach.  Instead, I was opening Facebook, studying crypto currency, and dissecting my golf swing.  This went on all weekend.  By the time Sunday morning rolled around, I was so ill prepared.

When I got to church, the youth band did praise and worship.  We had so many visitors.  I was so afraid because I just didn’t feel right with Him . . . I felt so unclean.  Then, we sang:

I’m still in your hands

This is my confidence,

You’ve never failed me yet.

I knew what was going on.  God, in His sovereignty, was humbling me.  I began to think of the times I walked up confidently, not because of God, but because I had studied and practiced so much.  I saw that this was just as vile as what I had done this week. In fact, I saw my overall self as vile, but supernaturally cleaned up and empowered by a great, mighty, and living God.

I went to the altar as the youth band sang:

Oh the overwhelming

Never ending reckless love of God

It chases me down

Fights till I’m found

Leaves the 99

I couldn’t earn it

I don’t deserve it

Still you give yourself away.

As I prayed, I didn’t know what to say, so I prayed in tongues.  I have no idea what I was saying, but did it ever feel wonderful.  I walked to the pulpit, and once again, just like He has done for me hundreds of times now, He came through for me.  He helped me. He empowered me.  He spoke through me.

I don’t know why I’m typing this out as a Wednesday Morning Devotional. All of this has just increased my love for Him.  It had absolutely nothing to do with my own efforts.  It was all Him.  The love I have for Him was given to me.  He gave it to me.  I hope and pray that someone opens his or her heart and mind and understands just how great and wonderful He is.  There is and never will be anyone like Him.

And we get to continue this relationship forever!

The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. – Acts 11:26

Today, people refer to themselves as Christians.  It is a term that we use to explain what we believe. Unfortunately, to the unbelieving world around us, it has come to mean hypocrisy, bigotry, hatred, intolerance, and a lot of other negative words.  I can’t say that I completely disagree with the world’s perspective because an awful lot of the meanest people I know actually call themselves Christians.

Originally, it was not like this.  When Paul started making disciples at Antioch, they changed, just like Christians are supposed to.  They changed so much that the unbelieving world around them said, “These people are like little Jesus’s running around here.”  They became so much like Him that others associated them with Him.

Isn’t that the goal?  Shouldn’t we be so much like Him that the world at the very least recognizes Him inside of us?  Nobody ever looked at Jesus and said that He didn’t love people.  In fact, He got in most of His trouble by helping people that most religious people thought shouldn’t be helped to begin with, or, if He did help, shouldn’t have been helped when they were helped.

Today, let’s you and I walk as He walked.  What if we tried to simply treat people like He treated people?  How long would it take for the unbelieving world to say, “It is like having a miniature version of Jesus walking around here!”

Would to God that this could happen again.

Lord, make me like you. 

Make me a little version of you.

Make me a Christian as it was defined in the first century.