Wednesday Morning Devotional

My friend Scott McGaha wrote today’s WMD.

Set An Example
We live in a world that seems to be lacking leadership. At least that’s what I hear people constantly complain about. Why is that? Honestly, there’s a wide collection of reasons that when combined would probably be more complex than anything I ever failed to understand in Calculus. So, rather than attempt a complex explanation, let me try a simple one: it’s my fault.

No, I’m not to blame for all the problems in the world, but, if I want to find a solution, the best place to start is with me. Now, this doesn’t have to be a Christian or religious lesson, this applies to every single one of us, but I’m gonna show you something in scripture to help explain my point.

In case you aren’t familiar with the story, there’s 2 main Josephs in the Bible. One is the husband of Mary, the earthly father of Jesus. The other, which I’m going to talk about, was the son of Jacob and his wife Rachel. Many of you have heard mention of the coat of many colors. That was Joseph’s coat. He was eventually sold out by his half brothers into slavery. He rose to a position of authority in Potiphar’s house, only to be betrayed again by Potiphar’s wife this time. In time, he would again rise to a position of authority, this time with the Pharaoh. There, he would once again encounter his brothers, and his actions have been the source of countless sermons and discussions.

But what I want you to see, something that I’ve never heard talked about, is what happened when he was just a small boy. Joseph’s father, Jacob, had a twin brother, Esau. Esau was the first child to be born, so in that culture he was the heir. Jacob wanted the birthright, so one day he took advantage of the situation and got Esau to sell him his birthright. Now, I’ve never heard this said either, but to me, Esau tried to change his mind and steal back the birthright as their father was dying, but his attempt failed and Jacob received the blessing from his dying father. Esau would become furious, Jacob and his family fled, and for some time they were separated.

Eventually, the 2 brothers would meet again, and this is my main point. In Genesis 33, Jacob and his family are going to meet Esau, who now has an army of 400 men. Jacob is helpless. He steps away from his family, walks out alone to meet his brother and what I’m sure he believed was the end of his life. As he approaches his brother, he bows seven times. But Genesis 33:4 says this: “But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.”

That verse should hang in our churches and homes and be engraved on our hearts. Family. Brothers. Twins at that. As close as any two people could be. But eventually divided. Angry. Bitter. Betrayed. Vengeful. And perhaps even justified. But Esau took the path less traveled by, at least today: he chose forgiveness. And as Matthew West sings, there were two prisoners freed: his brother, but also himself. We ALL could learn from Esau’s example.

Someone did. A little boy, standing behind his mother, Rachel, in the rear: Joseph. Little Joseph I’m sure knew something was not right between his father and uncle. He probably didn’t understand everything, but children have a way of sensing conflict. We don’t like it either, we just ignore our feelings, but to children it’s toxic. I suspect his heart pounded as he watched his dad walk out to meet Esau. Tears of fear probably stained his dusty cheeks. And just as it looked like the worst might happen, he saw something that probably wasn’t often talked about either: forgiveness and reconciliation. 2 major characteristics of love. You wanna check yourself, see how loving you are? How forgiving are you?

Oftentimes we tell ourselves “so what, it’s my life” and we ignore the truth that our decisions have consequences that usually extend beyond the borders of our individual life. Esau’s did. His touched the heart of his nephew. And I believe it was a lesson Joseph never forgot. How could you forget watching your dad be forgiven?

Many years later, Joseph is now in a position of authority under the Egyptian Pharaoh when he meets his brothers, who had sold him into slavery. In Genesis 45, as he is revealing himself to his brothers who don’t recognize him, it says he wept so loudly that the Egyptians outside heard him. I wonder how loud Esau and Jacob had wept many years earlier?

Then, in Genesis 50:19-20, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Joseph tells his brothers, who are fearful of him after their father dies, “Don’t be afraid. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”

My point to all this is, the example we set is important on so many levels. Our actions and attitudes have far reaching, generational impact. Joseph watched his family forgive as a child and he followed that example as an adult. That’s what character and a legacy are all about. What sort of legacy are you imprinting on those in your life? You wanna make a difference in the world and see it change for the better? Then start with yourself and those around you. You can begin by forgiving me if I’ve ever wronged you in any way. I’m sorry. God bless

Scott

When God’s People Go Silent

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. — 1 Kings 18:21

Baal was a foreign god. The Canaanites believed Baal was responsible for the weather. It was believed that sexual rituals in Baal’s temples “aroused” Baal and made him want to produce ideal conditions for agriculture. When the weather produced good crops, prosperity for the people was also produced. Therefore, when the Israelites were introduced to Baal, he was quite attractive. Baal allowed his followers to have sex in his temples and he produced wealth.

In our sex-crazed, money hungry society, we may not call him Baal, but he is still worshipped today.  God’s people didn’t replace God completely with Baal. They simply added Baal worship to their God worship. Hence, Elijah’s question: “How long will you waver between two opinions?” In other words “How long will you try to keep your sexual immorality and be pure and consecrated before God?” “How long will you try to serve the almighty dollar and make sure there are no idols being worshipped in your life?” The simple answer, of course, is “you can’t!”

God will not share my affection. I cannot love Him and love money at the same time. I cannot be sexually immoral and pure before a Holy God at the same time. God detests the very idea that one of His children would say they love Him and want Him, but by their actions give themselves to other gods. Of course it detests Him. I wouldn‘t receive my wife‘s affection if she were giving it to another. It reminds me of the movie “Indecent Proposal.” Robert Redford gave Woody Harrelson one million dollars for one night with his wife. Though they tried to work through the infidelity, Woody was crushed. He could no longer receive affection from his wife because she had shared it. Why would God not feel the same way when people who say that they love Him do the same thing?

Think of that one thing that seems to come between you and God. I remember when I wanted my sexual immorality when I was out on dates and then turned around and wanted to be right with God on Sunday. I remember thanking God that I was making more and more money, but never returning a cent. God repeatedly asked: “Adam, when are you going to serve me and me only? Do you trust me? Do you believe I can supply all of your needs according to my riches in Glory?” I was bombarded with questions like these, and what was my response?

Silence.  Just like the people in my main verse for today.

I just kept on doing what I wanted to do through the week, all the while thinking that my church attendance on Sunday erased it all. It didn’t. In fact, I got so tired of being convicted that I was forced to make a decision. I talked to my girlfriend at the time and told her we had to stop some things, she broke up with me. I didn’t know it then, but an altar to Baal had just been torn down. I talked with my rock and roll band and let them know I could no longer play with them. I didn’t know it then, but an altar was destroyed. The destruction of these altars freed me to serve God, only God.

So, I guess it all comes down to this: Who or what are you serving? Is it God? Is it some worldly way? Are you trying to have both?  Are you separate from the world? Or, do you fit right in? If the answer is not “I serve God, and Him only,” you have a decision to make.

How long will you waver between two opinions? If God is God, serve Him. If money is God, go make a ton of it! If sex is God, make that the central focus of your life. If food, entertainment, drugs, gossip, revenge, fame, or whatever else I am leaving out is God, then get on with serving them, quit playing around.  But, by all means stop trying to serve both God and your favorite sin.  God does not and will never allow His children to divide their affection between Himself and another. You cannot have Him and your pet sin.

You must choose.

Silence changes nothing.

Later

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Adam

My friend, Scott, wrote today’s WMD.

Like Him

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26)

Please allow me to begin by asking you a question: how often, when you think about your life, do you consider that you are made in the image or likeness of God? Truth be told, I rarely do. I’ve grown fairly content in who I am but in all honesty I don’t think I’ve ever looked in the mirror at myself and felt like I was looking at the face of God. Now, let me ask you another question: when you look at your life and how you live, do you ever think about it being like God? I think anyone who believes in God at all probably has at least once. Most people probably try to act the way they think God wants them to act. Today, I’d like to give you a little different perspective to consider.

Growing up in Salem, SC, I spent a large amount of time outside. As a kid, my two brothers, cousins and many friends and I spent countless hours exploring, fishing, hunting, playing sports, swimming and just about any other activity we could come up with in our young minds. So it’s not like I didn’t already have a love for the outdoors. But almost 3 years ago now, I found a new passion, and along with it I finally found myself as well as inner peace, in hiking. More specifically, in hiking to and seeing waterfalls.

In June of 2013, I went waterfall chasing for the first time. Sure, I’d seen and visited waterfalls before, but it was almost always while fishing. Never had I gone just to witness the beauty of these amazing creations, to hear the sound of the crashing water and feel the cool spray on my skin. After that first time though, I was hooked. Since then, it’s become almost an addiction, and in that time span I’ve visited several hundred. I’ve bought books, searched websites and asked anyone I could think of, searching for the next one I haven’t yet visited. And along the way, I’ve developed a much deeper relationship with God.

I’ve come to see the similarities between the trail in the woods and the path of our lives. How easy it is to get off trail and get lost. How important it is to keep my eyes focused on my destination. I could go on and on, but let’s just say it has become my classroom for God to speak to me and to teach me. This past weekend, class was in session again.

One of the things I’ve come to recognize about myself is a love for finding beauty in the things others often don’t see. I was passing by a barn last fall out in the middle of somewhere I’d never been and it caught my eye in such a way that I had to go back and ask to snap a few pictures. My mother and my sister in law loved it so much that each had to have a framed print for Christmas. Cars drive right by it everyday and probably are in such a hurry that they miss out on something beautiful. I often find myself doing the same with people. I try to find the best in others. To see what others miss. And the same can be said now of waterfalls.

My passion began with a thirst to see every one listed on a site, in a book, etc. And in the beginning, I wanted to see the biggest and most powerful ones. The taller the better. The more water that pounded off it the more I loved it. But over time, my tastes have changed. Yes, I still like to see the large ones, but I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re my favorites. Now, I tend to want to go searching for the less seen ones or even the undocumented or undiscovered ones. If I can’t go where no one has ever been, I at least want to go where no one has been in some time. And that’s what happened last weekend.

Hurricane falls is, as the crow flies, less than 3 miles from the Walhalla city limits. The last time anyone was there that I can find was in December of 2006, almost 10 years ago. And judging by the condition of the terrain and the complete lack of any trail, I’d say that was probably right. I had to bushwhack and mountain goat my way in. On my first attempt, I actually didn’t find it but found another small falls instead. On my way back out, Irealized the error I made in my search and so the next day I went back. This time, I found it. But still, it took quite a bit of effort. I had to trim back rhododendron, saw off broken logs, cut away briars and vines, and at times get down on my hands and knees and belly crawl. Other times I was forced to hang on to roots and limbs to keep from sliding off the bank and in one spot to climb up along the side of a smaller falls about 30 feet high. But, in the end, I found it, and it was spectacular.

When I got home, I went out to my laundry room to take off my wet, muddy clothes, and goodness was I filthy. I had dirt and sticks and leaves in places that I’m not sure how they ever got there. It looked like a bird nest had been torn apart on my floor. And as I was washing off all the mess of the day, God spoke to my heart what I’m about to share.

He said that my love for finding beauty in the hidden or forgotten places came from His heart, because that’s how He feels about each and every single one of us. To Him, we aren’t forgotten, even though we may often feel that way. Just like the waterfall had, in a sense, become lost because of all the overgrowth and downfall, our life does as well, overgrown and covered in the downfall of sin. And just as I was covered in all the filth of the day’s journey, Jesus was covered in all our filth of sin. He willingly took it all upon Himself, in a spiritual search for the beauty that is each and every single one of our souls. He loves you, and me, that much. And His final lesson was this: it’s not my job to clean up the beautiful thing I see, even though I’d love to go in and cut up the trees that have fallen and make it look perfect. Nor is it my job to do that with someone. God will handle the cleanup, all He asks is that we see the beauty that is there.

Social search your heart, and figure out what it is that you are deeply passionate about. Remember, God is holy, so don’t try to justify sin by saying it must be what God wants you to do. But if you are a child of God, and you find that your passions are good and pure, there’s a good chance that it comes from His heart. Allow Him to use it to help you grow closer in your walk with Him and to lead others to Him. I hope you’ve gotten something out of all of this and it helps you on your way. Hopefully we’ll have the pleasure of meeting along the trail of life some day. May God bless you all on your journey.

Scott

The Presumptuous Sinner

But the soul that sins presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproaches the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. – Numbers 15:30

Presumptuous: Too confident, especially in a way that is rude. Intentionally overstepping bounds. Taking liberties.

Last week, I talked about the kindness of God leading to repentance. Today, I want to address the flip side. What happens when we mistake God’s goodness for passivity and permissiveness? What happens when we totally dismiss His holiness and righteousness?

We live in a day of “The Sinner’s Prayer.” Many preachers today love to have people make “decisions for Christ.” I’m not saying this is entirely bad, but it has produced countless “Christians” who honestly believe they are “good to go” when they die because they “said the prayer.” I can’t find an example of this in the Bible. Nobody came to faith by someone saying, “repeat this prayer after me . . . “

At least three times the scriptures say, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” We now have many in this generation who weren’t taught to fear the Lord. They were never convicted of their sin, and consequently have never repented of the sin that lives inside them. In place of this conviction, the simple comfort of a prayer has been offered. “Lord Jesus, come into my heart and life, and make me a Christian.” It sounds like a wonderful thing to celebrate (and I’ve done it plenty of times), until you read in Matthew 13 that not everyone who “receives” the seed of the Word actually grows into a mature tree that produces fruit. This means that many, many people are counting on the fact that they have planted a seed to get into Heaven. It doesn’t matter that birds ate the scattered seed immediately, or the plant that started growing died within a few weeks. In many cases, the seed they are counting on has been dead for years.

So, how do you know if you are saved or not? Well, do you sin presumptuously? Do you call yourself a Christian and still treat certain people you don’t necessarily care for like garbage? Do you call yourself a Christian and still plan on sinning sexually? Do you call yourself a Christian and still lie, steal, hate, and curse? If anyone addresses these sins with you, do you turn it around on them and say, “Judge not”? Is your attitude about these sins, “God will just have to get over it and forgive me! I said the prayer . . . I’m good to go! He will let me into Heaven.”

That, my friend, is the very definition of presumptuous sin.

You can read the main verse again and decide what you think happens to the presumptuous sinner.

Sin nailed our Lord and Savior to the cross. Why would anyone who says they love Him desire to live in it? In Acts 2, verse 30, Peter gives the real recipe for turning to Christ. He did not have 3,000 people repeat a prayer after him. This was what he told them:

1. Repent – Pray and tell God you are sorry for your sins. Beg and plead for Him to help you turn from them.

2. Be baptized – Let the world know publicly that the old you has been buried, you have emerged clean and forgiven, and are about to start a new life in the name of Jesus.

3. Be filled with the Holy Spirit – Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. He is all you need to slowly and surely conform to the image of God. He is what separates the authentic from the counterfeit.

Later

Adam

Kindness that Leads to Repentance

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?  — Romans 2:4

Yesterday, I heard a story about a 15-year old girl who got into an abusive relationship.  The guy was basically a control freak who ordered her around and forcibly told her what she could and could not do.  Somehow, over the course of a few years, this girl was convinced that the guy actually loved her.  She wouldn’t listen to family members, friends, or anyone else who told her the truth.  It wasn’t until she was 19, when he cheated on her, that she became free of this tyrant. 

I tell that story because I believe there are many Christians who feel the same way about God.  I also believe there are many non-Christians who won’t come to Him because they believe He is more of a controller who loves ordering them around, than a genuine lover of their soul. 

If I’m honest, I only initially got saved because of fear.  I had no idea that God was kind, though one would think that the cross would have been a clue.  Nevertheless, I thought of Him as a control freak telling me what I can and cannot do, forcing me to follow His rules, and waiting for me to mess up so He could eternally punish me.  So, I prayed to Him, hoping He would turn me right side up, let go of my leg, and quit dangling me over Hell. 

Many years have passed since then, 24 to be exact, and I am amazed at the difference in what I thought of Him then, and what I think of Him now.  Somewhere in the middle of those years, it all changed.  Every single time, without fail, that I have stepped up to the plate and tried for God, without exception, whether I failed or succeeded, He has worked it out for my good.  He has never “cheated on me.”  He has never let me down.  I no longer see Him as mean and controlling.  To me, He is a good, good Father with only my best in mind.

This morning, I am amazed at His kindness.  Despite all the things I have thought about Him, He has never abused me.  Despite all the times I have rejected Him and disobeyed, He has never given up on me.  I can’t even begin to tell you what this has done for me over the course of time.  It has done for me what I hope that every single one of you that read this understand one day real soon . . .

God is kind. 

When you realize this, you will want to serve Him.  It will become your heart’s greatest desire.  You will no longer have to stay with Him out of fear.  You will stay with Him because you know that He is the purest form of love and there is none like Him.  You will stay with Him because you want to.

Later

Adam