Wednesday Morning Devotional

“Why have you come down here, and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?” – 1 Samuel 17:28

“You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him, you are only a young man, and he a warrior from his youth.”  — 1 Samuel 17:33

“Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks? Come here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.”  — 1 Samuel 17:43-44

There are so many voices that tell us what we can and can’t do.  The story of David and Goliath teaches us that the more things change, the more they say the same.  If you ever decide to step out on faith and trust God completely with your life, you will not lack for voices of opposition.  In the first verse I used, the voice was David’s own older brother, so he had opposition from his family.  The second voice was king Saul, so the government discouraged David from stepping out in faith.  The last one was from Goliath, his enemy . . . no surprise there.  There were literally no human voices encouraging David.

Yet, he believed God did and still could do the types of miracles He had done in the past.  He knew the story of Gideon.  He knew the story of Samson.  He knew that God was with those who dared to place their lives in His hands.  Armed with only a sling and 5 stones, God used David to triumph over the Philistine.

It is interesting how before I preach or write one of these WMD’s how I get bombarded with voices. “Nobody reads these things anyway.” “You didn’t prepare enough to preach.” “You’re not smart enough to preach.” “God is not with you.”  “These kids aren’t going to listen to you.”  It is all so crazy.  Fortunately, I have done it enough now that I have been given a great weapon of my own.

Right before I preach, I listen to those same voices.  Here lately they have become a lot less intimidating, because I know I’m about to use my weapon.  Right before I preach, I like to find me a little corner in the church, kneel down, and completely agree with a lot of what those voices say.  “Lord, I’m not smart enough, I don’t know that I have prepared like I should, I can’t make anybody listen . . . but I do trust you, and I love you.  Will you fill me with your Holy Spirit and use me?  Speak through me, Lord.”

Thank God my trust is not in myself . . . my trust is in Him.

Trust in Him today.

Later

Adam

For you have ben called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.  But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.  Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.  – Galatians 5:13

I’m sorry I skipped posting last week’s devotional.  I did have a good reason.  I went to Kentucky and preached to 78 middle-school students.  The stuff we’ve grown extremely accustomed to like the Internet, television, and cell phones are all pretty much cut off for the week. In the two years that I’ve gone there, I’ve realized just how important it is for me to be there.  It is like this giant spiritual reset that you didn’t even know that you needed.  It is kind of wonderful.

I’ve learned something about Christian kids.  Many of them feel like they have disappointed God.  They seem to think that they have done something that has damaged the relationship and God is mad at them, or at least is withholding Himself from them as a result.  I don’t know when it actually hit me, but I was changed fundamentally as the week went on because I felt this way as a Christian too, especially in my younger days.

I preached over and over that our sin should drive us to God, not away from Him.  I tried to change the mindset that God is quick to punish when we do wrong.  There are certainly examples in the Bible where we could make the argument that He is this way, but we are also clearly taught that God is compassionate, gracious, and slow to anger (Psalm 103:8).  Why do we all go through spells of not believing this?  Even when I sin now as an adult, I immediately begin to think that God isn’t going to speak through me when I preach.  Something in me screams that God can’t work through me anymore.

The verse I’ve chosen for today says we are free.  I believe it means that we are free to not have to be the morality police all the time. We don’t have to sit around and let everyone know what they are doing wrong.  By the same token, we don’t have to sit around and evaluate our own performance and think that God has abandoned us because we are performing poorly.  I will make this easy . . . we are going to sin. God is constantly perfecting us and making us brand new by this crazy awesome restoration process called sanctification.  If you recognize that you are using your freedom to indulge in too much worldly things, then you simply stop feeding that nature.  Hence, Paul says, “don’t use your freedom to satisfy the sinful nature.”

The last line is what I’ve never thought of until recently.  Over the past 27 years of being a Christian, I thought when I sinned that I was supposed to just feel awful for it and be sorry.  I think God has called us to freedom from that as well. Yes, we are to repent and let God know that we agree with Him that we have been overindulging and it has kept us from Him.  Afterwards though, we are not to beat ourselves up over and over again and think that God is done with us and can’t wait to get even with us.  We are to actually receive the forgiveness and restoration that He offers.  Paul tells us the opposite of indulging our flesh . . . serving one another in love.

I spent a lot of this summer doing very little.  Indulging my flesh by watching movies, playing games on the Internet, sleeping too much, and just time-killing.  Nothing that anyone would look at and say, “Sinful!!”  I just used my freedom to satisfy my sinful nature and let it keep me from God’s presence.  At camp, I met some kids who have done the same thing.  What was the answer?  We were to spend a week together serving one another.  I might have thought that I was there for them, but it turns out I was there for me.

If you are like me and tend to judge others based on their behavior, or maybe you judge yourself based on your own behavior and decide that it is lacking, then Paul tells us the perfect solution:  Get out there and serve one another.  If we stay busy serving, then we aren’t busy indulging our flesh.

Later

Adam

And he went outside and wept bitterly. – Luke 22:62

I would think that Peter would say the worst thing he ever did was deny Jesus three times.  When a grown man as tough as him is weeping bitterly, that says a lot.  We know from reading on that he thought his relationship with Jesus was over.  When the three ladies went to visit the tomb of Jesus and found it empty, the angel said, “Go tell the disciples, and Peter.” The angel knew that Peter thought it was over for Him.  It had to ignite a small spark in Peter’s heart to know that he was mentioned specifically by name.

Here is what I’ve been pondering with all this:  If you could erase the most hurtful things you’ve ever done, or even the most painful things you’ve ever experienced, would you do it?  Looking back, I’ve done terrible things that I assumed would separate me from God.  The demons jump in so quickly with their voices, “It’s over for you . . . you’ve gone too far.”  Yet, on the other side of these poor choices is grace, forgiveness, and love that is absolutely impossible to experience outside of a relationship with God Himself.

I have been in a really dark fog for the past several months.  I really don’t know when or how it started, but I know that I allowed the darkness to descend upon me.  It seemed to strip all desire to do the things that I do for Jesus.  I didn’t want to write, didn’t want to preach, didn’t want to study, and didn’t even want to pray.  The only saving grace was that I didn’t want to let go of Him.  I would take long walks and just imagine being in His presence.  It was actually nice to just be with Him and not really have to say anything.

To make a really long story short, a couple of weeks ago, the dark fog just lifted.  It is amazing the level of darkness we will allow as long as it slowly gets darker and darker.  When it lifted, I could see myself holding on to Jesus for dear life. For maybe the first time in my life, I was holding on to Him and only Him.  I had no trust whatsoever in my own goodness or my own religious activities.

Peter had to feel a bit like I did.  When the performance aspect of his religion was taken away from him, he thought it was over.  I can’t imagine the darkness and despair that he was in.  I feel so sorry for him because he honestly thought his savior was dead and couldn’t speak to him anymore.  I have the privilege of knowing Jesus came back to life and restored Peter fully.  I know that Jesus never once said a single negative word about what he did.  He never made him feel the least bit guilty. He simply asked, “Do you love me?”

Why should I think that He would treat me differently?

Lord, you know that I love you.  Thank you for every trial and temptation that we go through that forces us to hold on to you and only you for dear life.  The light on the other side of the darkness is so bright and so wonderful. Help me never take my eyes off of you and help me never let go of your hand.  Most of all help me never be convinced that you have taken your eyes off of me and have stopped reaching out for me.  You are amazing, God.

Later

Adam

You study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.  These are the very scriptures that testify about me. – John 5:39

I have been completely obsessed with this verse for over a month now.  Jesus, once again, is getting on to the religious people.  It is amazing how much He jumps on these guys. These guys are probably equally amazed. I mean they have to be saying in their hearts, “We know and study scriptures, we pray, we give, we are in church every week, why is Jesus not ok with us?”  All of those things are not bad things, unless you think they make you a good person and therefore worthy of eternal life.

I have been on a mission lately to verify that my trust is in Christ alone.  My Bible study began to make me a bit arrogant and started to feel more like I was doing it more and more to come up with something cool than just spending time with My Lord and hanging out with Him.  That is the very thing I think He is saying to me right now, “Adam, I’m glad you like My Book, but it is supposed to lead you to Me.”

How many religious duties do I perform with no regard as to whom I’m doing them for?  I’ve had this thing for the past couple of years where I do not eat before I preach.  I declare a fast basically from supper the night before until after the sermon.  At first, that drew me so close to Him and I felt such power.  As time went on, I just trusted in the fast and the fast didn’t lead me to Him.  It still worked.  I believe He used me just as much, but He is letting me know today that I completely began to miss the point.  I will fast on these days again, but I’m going to drop that for a while.  I remember the first Sunday that I ate on Sunday morning.  I was like, “I can’t break my streak!”  That has to be the garbage thinking Jesus was condemning in this verse.  I want my trust to be in Him.  I want to know Him.  I want to be led by Him and to Him.

I really think Christians need to beware.  Ask yourself if in any way your eternal hope is placed in your service to God.  There are people that believe that because they attend church regularly that they are good to go.  There are people that believe that because they play on the worship team, teach Sunday School, greet, preach, read the Bible, study the Bible, give to church, give to charities, and perform many, many other religious duties that this proves that they are a good person worthy of everlasting life.

Be absolutely sure that when you draw your last breath here on Earth that you are clinging on to Jesus for dear life . . . not “well, I’m a good person.”

Lord, help me to know You, like really know You.  Draw me as close to You as You ever have in my life. Let me not put my trust in anything that I do, but only in what You have done.  There is and never will be another like You.

Later

Adam

The Way

I am the way . . . – John 14:6

In 2015, 72% of Americans believed there was a heaven.  Unfortunately, their definition of heaven was, “a place where good people who have led good lives get to go.”  The Bible is clear, “All have sinned,” (Romans 3:23), and “there is no one good.” (Mark 10:18)  It is also clear on the fact that if you are to inherit (not earn) eternal life, Jesus is the only way.

I don’t really know why this is such a problem for so many.  Most people don’t have a problem with Jesus being away, they just don’t want Him to be theway.  Theway implies that there is no other way.  Away suggests that Jesus may be right for you, but I can choose another path to get to the same destination.

I guess it all goes back to being able to do what we want to do.  The Bible says that we love darkness (John 3:19).  It is true that we gravitate toward the darkness with no effort at all.  Recently, I have been going through this awful kind of spiritual depression.  I’m used to spiritual attacks, but this one feels like a new tactic of the darkness.  The worst part of it has been my lack of desire for God, His Word, and other spiritual things.  At first, I tried to muscle through it, almost like saying “By God, if I don’t feel like it, I’m just going to make myself do it anyway.”

That didn’t help.

So, I did something that I’m not sure I’ve done, especially since becoming a preacher.  I just told God exactly how I felt.  I told Him I didn’t desire Him.  I told Him that the Word wasn’t alive to me.  I told Him that I was tired and didn’t even feel like He could use me anymore.  Then, I asked Him to please draw me back to Him.

There was no magic wand waved.  For weeks, I just did whatever.  I went to more movies in a week than I probably went to all of the previous year. I started studying the stock market, reading article after article of this one particular stock.  I started listening to my old favorite non-Christian songs.  I started getting really serious about playing golf.  I just started doing stuff that I absolutely knew had zero eternal value. Days and days passed and my mind was just numb to spiritual things.

Then, all of a sudden, I found myself alone.  My mind wasn’t thinking about doing anything really.  I just missed God so much.  I missed being alone with Him.  I missed His Word.  I wondered how in the world He does what He does to men’s hearts to just flip that switch in me like that.  I just hung out with Him.  Two hours went by and it felt like just a few minutes.  I could not stop thanking Him for really being the author and finisher of my faith.  (Hebrews 12:2)

I guess I say all that to say this:  I’m so glad He is the way.  I’m so glad that my wishy-washy behavior, and maybe more importantly, my wishy-washy performance as a Christian is not what is going to grant me entrance into the kingdom. All I need to do is grab a hold of Him and absolutely never let go.

Have you grabbed a hold of Him?

He is the only way.

Later

Adam

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

Neither are your ways my ways,”

Declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth

So are my ways higher than your ways

And my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9

I’ve been able to have a lot of conversations with non-believers.  I’m always amazed that most of them actually know quite a bit about the Bible.  It is usually the knowledge that they have about God and the Bible that actually makes them reject Him.  I’ll give you a few examples:

“Why does God send people to hell for not loving Him?  He seems egotistical to me.”

“God regretted that He made us (Genesis 6:7).  If He knew He was going make us to turn around and kill us, why did He make us? He drowned all but 8 people in the flood, even little children and animals.  Not a God I want to serve.”

I will just post this verse as is:  “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy them.  Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camel and donkeys.”  — 1 Samuel 15:3.   Once again, not a God I want to serve.

Probably the most common one:  “God allowed someone to hurt me, didn’t save my loved one, or allowed a loved one to suffer immensely, He could have stopped it, He must not be as powerful as He says He is, or He just doesn’t care.” (John 11:21)

I could go on and on, but I think you get my drift.

There are actually plenty of verses that I don’t like in the Bible myself.  Here are two:

1. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you. – Matthew 5:4
2. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. – Colossians 3:23

Now, the first one is obvious, my initial reaction is to hate people who hate me.  However, the second one, Colossians 3:23, is probably my most life changing verse.  When I work like I’m working for Him, I am happy, fulfilled, and usually have energy to spare.  Yet, there are times when my flesh just wants to have the bad attitude, I don’t go to war with it and I just barely make it through the day doing as little as possible. There are times when I just veg out on media all day because I don’t want to think at all.  God doesn’t really give me that option . . . not if I want to follow Him.  That is so hard to accept sometimes, especially when I’m exhausted.

So what do we do when we don’t like what God says?  God answers all of these questions with an analogy:  Space : earth :: My ways : your ways.

If this is true, think about what an insignificant dot our planet is compared to outer space with its billions and billions of galaxies.  By comparison, the knowledge that I’ve amassed in my measly 41 years of existence is not even a grain of sand on the seashore.  Who am I to make a judgment about life and death?  Who am I to judge the God of this Universe who encompasses all of eternity and knows the end from the beginning?  What is my 70-80 years on this planet (hopefully) compared to eternity?  Who am I compared to Him?

God has a plan for us as individuals (Jeremiah 29:11), and a plan for all of us as a whole.  It is a wonderful and mighty plan to restore everything and make it brand new again.  It is a plan where sin will never affect us again.  There will be no more sickness and no more death.   I’m not going to type it all out, but read the first seven verses of Revelation chapter 21. Don’t you want in on that?  I sure do.  Then why in the world do I spend so much time worrying or being mad about things on this planet that are going to pass away anyway?

I guess I write all that to say this: as for me, God can do with me what He wants.  I’m not there yet, but imagine being able to say like Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”  (Job 13:15)  Even with the worst stuff happening to him that could happen to anybody, Job never let go of that faith in God.  Let us not look around us and say, “Why doesn’t God do something?”  Let’s look around us and say, “God is at work.  He knows what He is doing.  His ways are so much higher than mine.  What can I do to make a difference?”

Use me, Lord, and help me fulfill my part of your plan.  Oh how I long to hear those sweet words:  “Well done my good and faithful servant:  you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things:  enter into the joy of the Lord.”(Matthew 25:21)

Later

Adam