Wednesday Morning Devotional

Trash

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered! – Psalm 32:1

This year, I’m responsible for a service-learning element in my middle school teaching job.  Mainly, I take two middle school students and we take care of all the trash in the school.  It took a little while, but we have a pretty sharp routine now and know how to get it all done pretty quickly.

At first, I didn’t really like doing it.  It took some getting used to.  Now, I like it.  Last week, I had this really cool revelation from the Holy Spirit right in the middle of getting this job done.

Here’s the deal:  If there is only paper in the trash cans, we pretty much just push it down, no work really required.  If there is pretty much dry stuff, we just empty it into a bigger bag.  The slightly tougher job comes when we actually have to change the liners.  If there is food, liquids, or basically any nastiness in there, the whole bag comes out, and we replace it with a new one.

I thought of my own spiritual life and how long I allow “trash” to sit in my heart and my mind. Sometimes, there’s just paper in there. To me, this represents the stuff I worry about.  Worry seems to be one of those acceptable sins.  To God, I believe it is a great sin because it means we don’t think He can take care of us and we don’t trust him.  By the end of the week, you need to empty the paper.  Don’t carry that stuff around, as it will eventually spill over onto the floor of your heart.

Then there are other nastier things.  You can’t walk through life without hearing foul things.  Sometimes from time to time you see foul things.  Things that stick in your mind like pancake syrup sticks to the trashcan liner.  You have to take care of this immediately.  That stuff will dry and tear the liner quite easily if stress is put upon it.  Talk to God; empty it out on Him.  He will give you a new liner.  That is, He will clean you up so you can start afresh.

The most important stuff to empty is food.  If it sits there long enough, it will begin to rot and smell very bad.  To me, this is like the anger and resentment I can carry around.  You might have a couple of days, but soon after that, it had better be taken out. When I have these feelings toward people, I just try to empty it every day.  I tell God that I don’t want to feel this way.  Sometimes it is the same people over and over.  I must refuse to let that stuff sit there and rot.  I cannot let it spoil my soul.

When we are done, everything is clean and ready to receive more trash over the next 24 hours.  If I haven’t prayed and emptied my mind out to God, it sure is nice to have the reminder that I have my own trash to take care of.

Later

Adam

After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  – John 13.5

Back in Bible days, there were no Nike shoes.  They wore sandals.  There were no controversial ads, no sandal burnings, and the sandals that you wore represented no political affiliation . . . man, those must have been the days.

Anyway, feet would obviously get nasty . . . really nasty.  Between miles of dusty roads and hours of heat and sweat, feet got dirty. It was customary back then to have a servant or someone wash feet when they entered a house.  At the very least, a basin of water was provided so you could do it yourself. Can you hear the mamas back then? “You’ll not track dirt in my clean house!”

One day, the disciples had been walking and had dirty feet.  They obviously didn’t want to wash their own feet, nor did they want to wash each other’s feet.  When Jesus stood up to take on the job, one of the disciples got really defensive, “You’ll never wash my feet, Jesus!”  The Lord’s response is amazing to me, “If I don’t wash you, then you have no part with me.”

Maybe this is where people adopted the phrase “cleanliness is next to Godliness,” even though it isn’t found in the Bible.  I’ve often thought a lot about how this applies to me in my own life.  Here is my conclusion:

I walk in this world. It isn’t my feet that sweat and pick up dirt . . . it is my mind.  I hear things throughout the day that I wish I hadn’t heard.  I hear words I don’t say, and jokes that I should never tell. Sometimes they are from people, sometimes from television and movies, sometimes it is avoidable, and sometimes it isn’t.  Many times after walking in this world for a day or two and not being with God, I want so badly to just get around him.  Sometimes I find that I just can’t.  It’s like I know he will say, “Don’t track that dirt in my house!”

So what do I do?

Well, I allow him to do what he did for his disciples that day.  I allow him to take the time to pour water on my mind with his word.  I allow him to take my sin and my filth and place it upon himself.  Basically, I let him clean me up.  The question is, will I let Him?  There are really only two responses to this.  I could be like Peter and say, “Oh no, you’ll not clean me up.”  Or, I could just allow him.  I could sit; let him wash me, clean me up, and just cry over the fact that he has to do it so often.  I could be so thankful in my heart and be reminded all over again that salvation comes from God and God alone.  I could be thankful that righteousness comes from him and him alone.  I could be so thankful that He made a way for me, not just to go to Heaven, but also to be clean right here and right now.  He made a way for me to enjoy him right here and right now.

It is kind of funny to me that many call Christians weak people in need of a crutch who have been brainwashed.  It many ways, it is true.  He can wash my brain anytime.  I love it when he makes me clean.

There is no one like our God.

Later

Adam

The Thing About Forgiveness

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. – Matthew 6:12

Years ago when I was coaching girls basketball, I was listening to them say the Lord’s Prayer together.  Out of nowhere one word stuck out like crazy and I’ve never forgotten it . . . the word was “as.”  It hit me that when someone says this prayer to God, they are asking to be forgiven by God with the same mercy and grace that they show to other people.  I thought that was scary.

As I walk through this life, I see people who have been done wrong.  I see people who have been hurt and wounded badly by the words and actions of others.  So many have every right to be angry with this world and some of the people in it. But, if someone calls himself or herself a Christian, a forgiving attitude towards others is a must.  If a person refuses to forgive, the Bible is clear that God will refuse to forgive them.  Only God can give you a forgiving heart, you can never earn one by trying harder. The more you realize that you are loved by God, are forgiven by God, and the more you grow in God, forgiving others becomes quite natural and comes much easier.

Here is what brought this all back up:  I can be brought to tears laughing at inappropriate stuff.  Mike Tyson memes, Titanic jokes, and even jokes that make fun of famous people that really got hurt in the past can make me laugh so hard my side begins to hurt.  So the other day, someone pointed out, “Adam, you are going to have to ask God to forgive you for laughing at that.”  So, obviously, that was enough to send me soul searching and asking God what I needed to do about this.

I have looked at being forgiven by God in two ways.  I pretty much lived the first half of my Christian life asking for forgiveness for everything.  I was constantly going to the throne of grace and asking to be forgiven for lust, foul language, and lets just leave it at plenty of sinful behavior.  At the same time, if people did me wrong, I expected them to apologize to me.  I knew I’d have to forgive them if they asked, but they had sure better ask.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but I forgave “as” I was forgiven.  I had to ask God to forgive me all the time, so you had better ask me to forgive you.

A great shift happened after I had my own children.  My kids do me wrong from time to time.  I do them wrong and have often had to ask them to forgive me.  One of them is very quick to forgive, the other not so much. Regardless of which one it is, when they ask me to forgive them, I always reply with “I’ll always forgive you,” or “you are always forgiven.”  So when I brought this matter of my laughing at stuff to God, I felt like He said the same words to me that I say to my own children.  I realized that He forgives me now the same way I forgive others.  God is simply applying the Golden Rule with me.

I guess there is a time and place for the Christian to constantly be bringing sins to God and asking for forgiveness, but if we have placed our lives in His hands and are His children, is it so hard to believe that He is more forgiving with His children than I am with mine.  No Christian that has lived for any amount of time after conversion has lived sinless. I certainly haven’t.  That begs the question: does my heavenly Father want me asking Him for forgiveness constantly for everything?  As long as my children love me, and even if they say they don’t, I don’t care if they ask for forgiveness.  When they do, it just shows that they want to make sure our relationship is completely restored, is solid, and there is nothing between us that can separate us.

There was one particular sin that I asked Him to forgive me for years.  YEARS!  Now, I imagine that one of my own children sinned against me.  What if they said to me, “Daddy, I’m sorry I did that, will you forgive me?”  Now think if they did this every day for a year.  I would constantly be saying, “Look, I forgave you the first time you asked, I forgave you before you asked, you are mine, you are always forgiven, I love you!”

If I’m just a regular old Joe and can learn to live, love, and forgive like this, why can we not look at the cross and be even more convinced of His love and His forgiveness towards His children? Live today like you are forgiven. If you are His, you are.

Later

Adam

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?  — Psalm 27:1

So I’ve been watching a lot of golf since Tiger Woods has returned. I never really liked him that much to begin with, but I find myself pulling for him now.  I guess since he is my age, I feel sorry for him or something . . . who knows?

Anyway, I’ve noticed something pretty significant.  He is now playing against the kids that grew up watching him dominate.  They wanted to be like him, and they are.  No longer when Tiger’s name gets on the leaderboard do you see people have meltdowns.  You only see these 20-somethings rise up and take pleasure in finishing the job . . . just like he used to do.  They play golf fearlessly.

In the church world, there are very few people who live the Christian life fearlessly.  As a whole, I see the majority of people who call themselves Christians focused on the wrong things.  I see them being the morality police, thinking so highly of their own opinions and the way they do things, and being extremely critical to others.  American Christians today are so focused on being comfortable that they no longer need The Comforter.  The church is dying in the United States, and it is largely because the young generation from 20 years ago didn’t see Christianity as valuable to them at all.  There was no “Tiger” in their lives to show them they could live differently and fearlessly.

Thank God I saw a handful of men really live for Jesus Christ.  They were the real deal and when I really thought about what it looked like and what it cost to live for Him, seeing them made me want to do it.  Just like Tiger inspired an entire generation of golfers, a few Christians inspired me.

Here is the thing:  If the Lord is my light, my salvation, and the stronghold of my life . . . the Lord of all . . . the God of the Universe, why should I ever be afraid?  How could I not go out today and live fearlessly?  If He is with me and He has ordered my steps, then I have nothing to be afraid of.  I can live focused on the right things.  I can live a life that will make the next generation of Christians see Jesus as a “want to,” certainly not a “have to.”

Lord, help us stop caring so much about policing morality and help us just learn to simply walk with You, for You are the greatest thing this life offers.  What is wrong with the American church?  Nobody wants to be a Christian because so few people see real Christians.  Stir up the body of Christ, Lord.  Mobilize us. Help us to understand that you really are with us.  Whom shall we fear if we have you?

Later

Adam

But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.’ – Luke 15:29a

Here is how you know if you are a religious, older brother:  It is absolutely no fun being a Christian.  Notice that the older brother has looked at some number of years as being a slave to his father.  One of the greatest checks I frequently make when it comes to following Christ is asking myself, “Do I enjoy being a Christian?”  If the answer is “no,” I kind of shut it all down.  I don’t read my Bible and I only say one prayer, “Lord, give me a love for You again, give me a desire to read Your Word, please let my Christianity be a want to and not a have to.”  It does not usually take long at all until I just miss Him and want to be with Him.

‘Yet you never even gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him.’ – Luke 15:29b-30

I will never forget after being a Christian for probably 10 years that I felt totally ripped off by God. I didn’t think that after 10 years of “service” that I had received my proper reward.  Much like the older brother in the story, I didn’t like seeing people who were doing less than me seeming to be rewarded more than me.  I felt like I had kept my end of the deal. Why wasn’t God keeping His?

‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” – Luke 15:31

I remember finding out that my favorite preacher to watch on television was only an hour and a half away. Tonya and I drove there one Sunday. From the moment I walked in the door, I felt God’s presence.  It was all I could do to not just cry.  I thought how ridiculous that would look if I just let it out right then and there in the lobby.  I held it together until they sang a song called “When I Think About the Lord” by Christ for the Nations:

When I think about the Lord

How He saved me

How He raised me

How He filled me with the Holy Ghost

How He healed me to the uttermost

When I think about the Lord

How He picked me up and turned me around

How He placed my feet on solid ground

It makes me want to shout

Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus

Lord You’re worthy of all the glory and all the honor and all the praise

My Heavenly Father came to visit me that day.  He told me the same thing the father said in Luke 15, “You are always with me.”  I don’t know how it happens, but sin has a way of convincing me that God isn’t enough.  Think about that, the God of the Universe is with me.  When I am thinking properly, that is absolutely astounding to me. When I’m thinking only of myself and have that “What’s in it for me?” attitude, I look up at a holy, mighty, magnificent Heavenly Father and basically say, “You aren’t doing enough for me.”

Unbelievable!

I guess the question all of us have to answer is this:  Is God enough for you?  If He never granted a single want or wish, could you still love Him?  If all He does is give you Himself, is that enough for you?  Would you honestly prefer gifts from the Giver over the Giver of the gifts?

Lord, just give me you!  May your presence alone be more than enough for me.  Help me always be amazed that you are with me.  Help me always rejoice with you when those messy, younger, immature sons come home.  Help me never forget that I used to be one.

Later

Adam

Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? – Matthew 3:7

I have seen a lot of turtles in my day.  When I was a kid, I remember catching an absolute monster while fishing with my Papa. I thought I could play with it just like a small one.  My Pop proceeded to teach me just how hard the big ones can bite.  Turns out, when he cleaned it, she was loaded with eggs. I took those eggs down near a stream and buried them in the sand.  I checked them every day that I could.  Weeks later, a ton of them had hatched and there were baby turtles everywhere.  I thought that was so cool.

Earlier today, I saw what I believe was the fastest tortoise I had ever seen.  He was crossing the road really fast for his kind.  My wife loves the little guys.  If safe to do so, she is one of the great turtle rescuers of our day.  I’ve been known to rescue a few as well in her honor.  I didn’t need to rescue this particular one; he was across that road in record time.  It was like he understood how dangerous his situation was.  I’ve seen cars crush them accidentally, and I’ve seen them crush them on purpose.  The most dangerous place to be as a turtle has to be our roads.

For just a moment as I kept driving, I remembered a time that I was on the wide road that leads to destruction as mentioned in Matthew 7:13.  For too many years I was way too comfortable on that road.  I was like the majority of the turtles I’ve seen just thinking I could take my time without a care in the world and everything would be just fine. When God really convicted me in that little Church of God, I ran to God like my life depended on it.  I imagine that I looked to God like that turtle looked to me.

In an instant, I realized that I haven’t been running the Hebrews 12:1 race very well lately.  I’ve been wondering why evil has been catching up with me these past few months and it’s because I’ve been like the majority of turtles trying to get across the highway.  I need to be like this last one that I saw.

And what about the other turtles?  I like to think this guy right now is letting the others know, “Look, that place right there is dangerous, be careful and get the heck across that road!”

As a preacher of the word who has made it across the road, am I letting others know how dangerous this world is?  Am I preaching with fervency this Gospel that can save?  There is nothing more important than telling people about the Name of Jesus, for there is no other name given among men by which we all must be saved (Acts 4:2).

Who knew that God could use one exceptional turtle to wake up the spirit of one of His followers?  It’s amazing all the things He says in one single snapshot of time when He chooses to do so.  Meandering is not the same as walking with a purpose.

I’m reminded of the scene in Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian slept at the arbor while climbing the hill of difficulty.  The arbor was intended for a quick rest, not a place to sleep.

For the first time in my life, I’m thanking God that he made turtles.

Lord, wake me up!  It is so easy to get complacent on this planet, especially in America.  It is so easy to care about anything and everything but you! Help me to spiritually be like that turtle and walk towards you with a purpose.  This world is dangerous.  Comfort is dangerous.  It is so easy to get comfortable here and not even think about you!  I love you, Lord.  Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Help me.  Fill me.  Our time here is so short.

Amen

Adam