Wednesday Morning Devotional

An Offensive Approach to the New Year

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. – Ephesians 6:17

Just before David went to fight Goliath, Saul tried to fit David with his own armor.  It restricted his movements and very much weighed him down.  So, he took them off.  David didn’t plan on taking a beating from the giant . . . he planned on giving the beating.

This New Year, I would like to see Christians do something similar.  This is definitely what I feel the Lord is saying to my Spirit as far as leading Lifeline Community Church in 2016.  It is time to quit playing defense and switch to offense.

The majority of Christians do not have a daily walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Most Christians want to simply show up on Sunday morning and be “covered” for the rest of the week.  That “covering” simply acts as Saul’s armor.  When the battle throughout the week occurs, you are very much limited in what you can do and you just simply get pounded by the giant called life.

What if we took the heavy, physical armor of the world off?  No more of this going to church and hoping things work out for us the rest of the week.  What if we replaced this way of thinking with the Spiritual armor God has given us in Ephesians 6?  Verse 17 gives us the two primary things we need to attack evil.

First, there is the helmet of salvation.  When I first surrendered my life to Jesus, I had the hardest time believing I was saved.  I wavered back and forth constantly between faith and doubt.  If I could go back now, I would simply envision this verse every morning.  In my mind’s eye, I would simply put on this helmet of salvation, which is simply remembering the day I gave my life to Him.  I am His and He is mine.  The matter is settled.

Next, there is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  The sword is the only offensive weapon listed in Ephesians 6.  Jesus defeated Satan in Matthew 4 swiftly and decisively by simply quoting Scriptures.  We can do the same.

So, the plan is simple.  Put on the helmet of salvation, which is simply recognizing that you are saved.  Tell someone the story of the day you put your faith in Christ.  The more you tell it, the more you will believe it.  Then, take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  David ended up taking 5 smooth stones to battle.   He only needed one.

Do you have 5 verses memorized?  Can you quote Romans 8:28 when you don’t seem to understand why junk is happening in your life?  Can you quote Colossians 3:23 when you really don’t want to go to work or to school?  Does Romans 6:23 pop into your head when sin presents itself so pleasurably?  Does Revelation 21:8 come to mind when you are tempted to tell a lie?  Does Jeremiah 29:11 give you comfort when you have no idea the direction your life is headed?

I just gave you the first five verses that I could think of that have directly helped me out over the past few years.  Had I not known them and more importantly, obeyed when I thought of them, certain situations in my life could have turned out horribly.   This, to me, is what it looks like to live victoriously by the Word of God.

This year, memorize scripture and refuse to get beat up.  Remind Satan regularly that he can’t touch you, your family, or any that you love.  Of course, don’t do something that foolish if you have no intention of actually studying the Bible and living by its standards.  The dumbest thing you could do is pick a fight with him and have no weapon.

The Word of God is our only offensive weapon!

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For Thine is the Kingdom

The Power and Glory Forever

Amen.

Adam

P.S.  If you can think of a time that the Word of God came to your mind and gave you victory, tell me about it.  I would like to use it either in my sermon or on a future WMD.

The First Christmas Carol

Glory to God in the highest

And on Earth peace,

Goodwill towards men! — Luke 2:14

We do not lack for Christmas songs. I love so many of them. However, I can’t stand when some musicians absolutely butcher my favorites. They use the correct words, but the original tune itself is unrecognizable. My favorite Christmas song is probably O Holy Night when it is sung beautifully and reverently. However, this morning I am reading the Christmas story from Luke 2 and I see that the Angels of Heaven should be given credit for the very first Christmas song. Let’s study the lyrics.

Glory to God in the highest.

The Angels up to this point have been with God for thousands and thousands of years. They have seen His throne as well as the splendor of Heaven. They constantly sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty who was and is and is to come.”   They have seen and heard what our “eyes have not seen nor ears heard the things the Father has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) We tend to think; at least I do, that we won’t really see the glory of God until we get to Heaven. Yet, the angels reveal to us that when Christ was born, higher in glory God could not go. Peer into the manger and behold God’s highest Glory!

And on Earth peace.

This has to have a dual meaning. At the macro level, there is certainly not peace. Nation is rising against nation, there are wars and rumors of wars, and news stories constantly consist of terrorist attacks, drug dealers, homicides, and just about every other atrocity imaginable. Yet, here these Angels come and pronounce “peace on Earth.” This could certainly be taken as purely prophetic since things are definitely not this way today. Yet one day, all who have put their hope in the Lord, trusted in Him, and have had their minds transformed by the renewing of their minds by the Gospel of Jesus Christ will live together in Glory. How I long for the day to live for Eternity with God’s people who truly love Him and truly love each other. One day, there will be peace on Earth.

So why would they say, “Peace on Earth,” when there obviously was no peace? Well, at the micro level, peace had instantly arrived. Because of the arrival of Jesus Christ, “whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life!” (John 3:16) Individuals can now have peace. Mary was carrying Jesus out of wedlock, a stone-able offense in her day. Joseph was hurt and wanted to leave her because as far as he was concerned, she cheated on him. Yet, the Angels convinced them both that this child was God’s child. It didn’t matter anymore what others thought, they now had peace in their hearts. Before Jesus spoke a word, He brought peace to His earthly parents.

I sit here today with total peace in my heart that I am His. He has made so many changes in my heart and life over these past 24 years. All of these changes have done nothing but add to the security and peace that I have in Him. How has He brought about peace in your life?

Goodwill towards men.

What a glorious day when a man or a woman figures out that God is good! I know we say it all the time, but do we believe it? It took me years to undo the notion that God was up there waiting for me to sin so He could send me to Hell. I can’t tell you the sleepless nights I had because I had sinned and thought, “If I should die before I wake, the journey to Hell my soul will make.” I had no clue that God changes people over time as they learn more and more about Him and His Word. I had no idea it would ultimately be His “Goodwill” and kindness that would break me and lead me to repentance.

You see, for several years I lived in the fear of the Lord. It is the fear of the Lord that starts it all and leads us towards repentance. I remember being constantly immoral and repeatedly asking for Him to forgive me. I could only hope like crazy that He would forgive me knowing that I would repeat my sin. I just didn’t know how to stop. Willpower just wasn’t getting it done.

Then, one day I decided that I would stop trying to quit sinning. I would take a year to simply focus on Him and read His Word. I had never read the whole Bible before. Somewhere in the middle of those 15 months of reading the Bible cover to cover, I was transformed. So many of the sins I was repenting of I couldn’t remember the last time I committed them. I didn’t even want to commit them. He had taken them away! I had transformed my mind by filling it with Him and His Word. It was amazing. I felt what true repentance was. I had used to repent and feel fear. Now I repented and felt gratitude. I realized for the first time God was good. He never gave me what I deserved. He gave me mercy and grace. From that day on, I served Him because I wanted to, not because I felt like I had to.

Well, I guess this has been a little longer than I usually write as Microsoft Word is telling me that it is quickly approaching a thousand words. I can’t believe I’ve been writing these things for over 6 years. I really can’t believe how many people read them. I just want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. Contemplate this first Christmas Carol in your heart. Think about Jesus and “Glory to God in the Highest.” Think about the peace you can have on this Earth because of Him. Think about how good he has been despite the fact that you haven’t always been good to Him.

He is Amazing!

He is Christ the Lord!

Merry Christmas!

Adam

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, –Luke 2:11a

Now that I am 40 years old, I am finally beginning to understand what the older folks were talking about when I was a kid.  They would say things like, “It’s hard to believe Christmas is already here again.”  I was thinking, “What??? It took forever . . . and there’s still like a WEEK left!”  Now, I get it.  Various days may drag from time to time, but years sure do fly by.

This morning, I have chosen to divide Luke 2:11 up into 2 parts.  Absolutely no person who calls himself or herself a Christian has a problem with the first part.  Without exception, Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World.  We believe that He came to live a sinless life, be the ultimate and final sacrifice for the sin that plagues every human being born into this world, and cleanse everyone who would ask by faith and receive this great and wonderful gift of mercy, grace, forgiveness, and eternal life.  We love stables, mangers, farm animals, wise men, shepherds, stars, and of course we love the baby lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling cloths.  Christians love this time of year.  I still love this time of year.  It is when we celebrate the fact that Jesus came into the world.

He is Christ the Lord.  – Luke 2:11b

Here is where Christians seem to stumble in droves.  I would know because I stumbled here for years.  Yes, the Great God of Heaven left splendor to come here to Earth, but His purpose was not simply to give us a manger scene.  His purpose also included teaching us how to live and giving us the ultimate example of a life humbly, and completely submitted to God.  Every Christian wants Him as Savior.  But very few of them seem to want Him as Lord.

As Savior, He alone bears the un-earnable free gift of eternal life.  He gives peace in your heart.  Through Him, all can have peace with Him, peace with themselves, and peace with other people.  These are all things that can be attained through faith in Him.  All Christians love Him as Savior.

However, as Lord, He said things like, “Love your enemy,” and “If you love me, you will obey my commands”, and “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”  Baby Jesus grew up and said plainly, “If you want to save your life, lay it down for others.” (Mark 8:34)

Everyone likes gifts, which is why so many have received Jesus as Savior.

Nobody likes being told what to do, which is why so many Christians reject Him as Lord.

The fullness of Christianity will only be received when you choose to lay down your life and follow Him as both Savior and Lord.  I realize that every Christian has his or her individual and personal walk with the Lord, but here is what it looked like for me to receive Him as Savior and Lord.  I wish I had done both in one shot.  It would have saved me quite a bit of heartache.

As a 16 year old, I received the gift.  I think of it now as I had a very nice present still wrapped in the box.  Now that I had it, I was going to get to go to Heaven.  All I had to do was show Him my present when I stood before Him on the Day of Judgment.  I had said the right words and I was now “in.”  I had received Him as Savior.

As a 21 year old, I opened the gift.  I began to read and study the Bible.  I found out that there were rules He wanted me to follow that I hadn’t been following.  He wanted me to tell the truth . . . I was a liar.  He wanted me to be pure . . . I was immoral.  He wanted me to be clean . . . I was dirty.  I prayed.  I told Him to the best of my ability, I would trust Him and obey Him.  This is what it looked like for me to receive Him as Lord.

As a 40 year old, I am in awe of the gift.   At some point, His presents became His Presence.  There is nothing like it in the World.  I realize that I need the rest of my life to study the truths contained in His Word.  I realize that I am in a growing relationship with Him that will last the rest of my Earthly life and continue on into Eternity.  There was no way I could have possibly understood this 24 years ago.

This Christmas, examine your relationship with Him.

Have you received Him as Savior?  It is pretty simple.  Ask Him into your heart.  Believe that Jesus gave His life to forgive your sins.  Confess with your mouth that you need Him and realize that there is no going to Heaven without Him.

Maybe you are reading this and you have been there and done that.  But you know that there is more.  You know you are holding back on Him and giving Him the leftovers of your life instead of the best of your life.  I would encourage you to receive Him today as Lord.  Pray to receive the Holy Spirit.  Then, open His Word and receive the many truths contained therein.  You will find that there is much, much more to this never-ending gift that we Christians celebrate at Christmas.

Later

Adam

Free From Envy

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. – Luke 2:8

A shepherd in Bible days seemed to be about as low of an occupation as one could have. In 1 Samuel 16, when Samuel went to the house of Jesse to anoint a new king, no person deemed David, the shepherd boy, worthy of consideration. When God rejected all of David’s older brothers, they finally went and got him. Upon his arrival, he was anointed the new King of Israel.

In the Christmas story, we find shepherds simply doing their job. They are keeping watch over their flock. In their minds, there is no way they are going to allow some wild animal to prey on even one of their sheep. As they were simply doing their job, the Angels of Heaven made History’s greatest announcement. This announcement wasn’t made to any of the kings of the Earth, but to these simple shepherds.

In Matthew 22:30, Jesus says that when we are resurrected, we will be “like the angels in Heaven.” I have often fantasized about what that will be like. I mean, forget light sabers, I want to wield a flaming sword like those in Genesis 3:24. I want to fly with two of my six wings as they do in Isaiah 6:2. In 1991, as a teenager just starting out in my walk with Jesus, these seemed mighty appealing.

Today, as a 40-year old adult and 24-year old Christian, I admire these angels for much different reasons. They are completely free from pride and envy. They were just as joyful and content in making their announcements to lowly shepherds with no audience, as they would have been if they had been in Caesar’s Palace with a grand audience. It mattered not to them who they made the announcement to, it only mattered whom they were making the announcement about. A Savior had been born! He is Christ the Lord!

This morning, I believe God is revealing to me that I can be as those angels in Heaven. I don’t have to wait until I draw my last breath to be like them. As a teacher, I can go and teach my students at the alternative school. Maybe I’m not at the nicest school with the highest achieving students, but I can give Glory to God in the Highest! I can teach with all my heart while being joyful and content. My life can proclaim His Great Name! It matters not to whom.

As a pastor, I don’t have to have the nicest building, the wealthiest people, or those who would be considered the “higher-ups” in society. I can be content to shepherd the sheep God has given me and help them overcome this dark world. The angels didn’t need a large audience nor did they need anyone to know whom they were in order to give “Glory to God in the Highest!”

The world has defined greatness and success. As a Christian, I must redefine it.

If you claim to be a Christian, ponder what it would look like to do life today free from pride and envy. For me, I wouldn’t need anybody to tell me how great I am or what a great job I’m doing. I would have absolutely no desire whatsoever of being the best, doing the best, or achieving the highest. I would need only to do my best while being mindful that God is with me. I would desire no man’s praise, nor would I need my name to be known by men. My eyes would not be turned by any promotion, raise, or lottery jackpot.   I would have no desire to climb this world’s ladder of success, for my heart would find no contentment or satisfaction in any position this world offers.

True contentment and satisfaction can only be found in the one whose Name those Angels came to proclaim. He is the only one who brings true life and true peace. He is the greatest gift life has to offer . . .

He is Christ the Lord.

Later

Adam

Rainbow

It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the Earth, that the bow will be seen in the clouds. – Genesis 9:14

This past Sunday was a pretty special day for me. I knew I was about to preach a message that I didn’t really want to preach. It was a message I could pretty much preach from my heart so I had no need to go over my notes that morning. So, I took a walk around our neighborhood that morning. It always clears my mind and I always seem to get a real sense of His Presence. This time, He had something special in mind. As I turned a corner, I saw a complete rainbow. It was amazing. So many of God’s promises just flooded my mind. I knew that He was with me and He more than took care of me by showing up in our church service.

I want to tell you about one other rainbow that I have seen that was even more majestic than this one. Tonya and I had only recently been married and were going to the Biltmore House.   The temperature was hovering around freezing and it was constantly drizzling rain. We were concerned, but obviously not enough to keep from going.

As we neared Asheville on the Interstate, the temperature dropped into the 20’s. We were both worried, so I grabbed her hand and prayed out loud in the car for what I believe was the first time as a married couple. “Lord, will you please take care of us? Our lives are in your hands. Amen.”

30 seconds later, just over a hill, we saw it. The most beautiful rainbow I’ve ever seen. I was so awestruck that I had slowed down all the way to about 35 mph in a 70 mph zone. We saw several cars immediately slide right off the road. Because we were driving so slowly, we were fine.

I’ll always remember that day. I just knew that I could trust Him. Time and time again He seems to reveal to me those words, “Adam, you can trust me.”

If you don’t know Him, place your life in His hands today. Receive Him by faith. He will hear from Heaven, forgive your sins, give you new life, and begin to reveal Himself to you.

Later

Adam

Happy Thanksgiving

He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him – and he was a Samaritan. – Luke 17:16.

I just want to take this time to say, “Thank you.”

Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me 24 years ago to begin my walk with you. You cleaned my sin filled heart and made it brand new. Only you can do that. I had no idea that following you would lead me to the places I have gone or would have me doing the things that I am currently doing. I had no idea that you really do make yourself known. There really is none like you!

Thank you, readers of WMD. God has used this weekly writing of devotionals to grow me probably more than anything else.   Seven years ago, I wrote my first one to a group of 5 teachers. It is safe to say that this ministry has grown quite a bit since then. I just want to say thanks for all of the encouragement and for confirming often that God does use these things to edify the body of Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Later

Adam

Limitations

“I baptize you with water for repentance.  But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  — Matthew 3:11

John the Baptist more than likely had the first mega-church.  Even though he preached in the wilderness, the Bible says in Mark 1:5 that “all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem.”  You would think with this kind of success in ministry that John would have done whatever he had to do to maintain it.  I guess if the technology had existed back then, we would read in the Bible about his “satellite campuses.”

As a beginning minister, John is really teaching me a lesson this morning.  I am all too aware of what the world has called success in ministry.  I have seen wonderful small churches close their doors because the leaders focused on mega status.  Had these churches been content with leading 50 to 150 people, they would have flourished.  But, in America, the Kool-Aid has made us believe that bigger is better.  John the Baptist absolutely kills his future numbers right here in this verse by saying, “If you think I’m something . . . wait until you see Him!”

I have now been a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for two years.  I’m still coming to grips with the fact that God has chosen me to do this.  I have found it difficult enough to simply learn the Bible and keep myself from being polluted by the world, so it is almost unfathomable that I would be placed in a position to teach others how to do the same.  But, this morning John’s words comfort me greatly in what I’m called to do.

“I baptize you with water for repentance.”  John recognized his limitations.  He could preach.  He could lead a person to see their need for God and show them how to repent of their sins.  He could even baptize people afterwards if they chose to do so.  I can do all of these things as well.  I may not do them nearly as well . . . but I can do them.

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  John could NOT do this . . . neither can I.  Only Jesus can baptize with the Holy Spirit.  Only Jesus can place a fire inside of you that burns out sin and makes you want to do right.  Only He can truly make you clean on the inside.  There is no feeling like it in the world.

I’m glad that people like to read my WMD’s.  I’m glad that a few people like to hear me preach on Sundays.  I pray that the Lord uses me to bring many to repentance.  I also pray that as soon as possible these same people really get a hold of Him whose sandals I am not worthy to carry . . . then they won’t need me, or any other preacher, for they have obtained the greatest prize this world offers.

I say all of this because I have worshiped preachers.  I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I’m aware of it now.  I would travel long distances to see my favorites and would be so disappointed if they didn’t preach.  God was there!  So how could I have possibly been disappointed?  I was disappointed because my focus had been on the preacher . . . not the One he was preaching about.

Fix your eyes on Jesus.  If you spend more time listening to your preacher talk about Him than you do searching, seeking, and hearing from Him yourself, you really need to change your focus.

There is and never will be anyone like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Later

Adam

I decided for WMD today to share a post from one of my friends, Amy Lusk, who really captures the heart of the Father with her words.

Wednesday, we said goodbye to our Sweet Sunshine, the dark eyed, curly haired, mischievous thirteen month old who taught us how to love like a Mom and a Dad the past nine months. We rejoice in the fact that she has a Mama who put forth a lot of effort and fought hard to be reunited with her – because Baby M is a special girl, and she deserves nothing less than to be loved and fought for. We are proud of her Mama for the determination she has shown and are happy that a mother and daughter were reunited. And, we are truly grateful she offered us the opportunity to continue to be a part of their lives. But, at the same time, our hearts are grieving. Our hearts have never known a loss this great.

We’ll miss waking up every day to Miss Sunshine’s wild, tangled bed hair and sweet, gummy-toothed grin, all her hugs and kisses, the playtime squeals and giggles, her stubborn sassiness and hilariously expressive eyebrows, the nap time songs and prayers, the wildly enthusiastic bath time splashing, and the bedtime stories and snuggles. We never expected to fall so hard for this little girl, but she had our hearts before we knew it. We held nothing back. We poured every ounce of love we had into her…because she deserved nothing less than a love like that.

Children in foster care cannot flourish and thrive under a half-hearted, self-preserving, distant love. They deserve our all and nothing less. They deserve a love that sacrifices, a love willing to suffer and risk the reality of a broken heart, a love that lays down its life for the sake of another…because Christ offers us a love like that, and we are called to be like Him. We are called to be a reflection of Jesus in a lost and broken world. Our Heavenly Father’s heart breaks for these children and these broken families. If His heart breaks, why should we seek to protect and guard ours?

When Baby M left our home, we faced a heart-rending emptiness. But, God is faithful, and He is holding us together. Even now, He is filling us back up so that we can do it all over again. In His perfect timing, He made sure that even though our hearts may feel empty for the moment, our arms won’t be (with the arrival of Baby “Isaac” a few weeks ago). Even in the middle of all our pain, and brokenness, and emptiness, the Lord is present. And, He is enough.

Please keep our sweet baby and her Mama in your prayers. Please pray for their protection and safety and that they will know and understand how very much God loves them. Please pray for an easy transition for Baby M, that she will adjust to her new environment, that she will be able to sleep well, and that she will not feel confused and her little heart will be at peace. And, please keep our families in your prayers as well. She was a huge part of our lives, and we all miss her and love her so very much. She is a joy and a blessing, and we are grateful we were given the opportunity to love and care for her.

Amy