Wednesday Morning Devotional

How Can I Know?

Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. — 1 John 2:4-6

I remember as a very young Christian that every once in a while an evangelist would come in the area. They would preach Bible verses that the regular ministers stayed away from for the most part. They would absolutely scare me to death. I don’t care how many times I had gotten “saved”, I got saved again . . . Just to be sure!

Recently, I heard another one of those messages. I sat there and listened, but this time there was no fear. I didn’t feel the desperate urge to call upon The Lord once more to be saved. What was the difference?

When I first heard the gospel, I viewed the “prayer of salvation” as an insurance policy. Because I had “done” Romans 10:9, God was now obligated to “save” me. It didn’t matter that I had never read the next verse. Verse 10 says “for with the heart one believes unto righteousness.” I never wanted to actually become righteous. I just wanted to be saved so I could go to Heaven. I loved the part about getting to go to Heaven, just not the part about actually obeying His commands. I wanted Him as Savior, in fact, I loved Him as Savior. I just didn’t really like Him as Lord of my life.

I guess here is the question that everyone wants to know: Does a prayer that I said years ago get me into Heaven regardless of the fact that I live like I don’t know Him?

Read at the top what John says again. A person who says “I’m a Christian,” but does not keep God’s commands is a liar. If there is absolutely no attempt to obey God’s Word, there is absolutely no assurance of salvation.

Looking back, assurance is what I lacked. Why else would I have gotten saved, again and again? Without obedience, there is no assurance.

Do you have assurance of your salvation? Do you know without a doubt that you are ready to stand before a Holy God right now? If the answer is “yes,” how do you know for sure? Let’s examine a few questions:

Do I say I know Him, yet have no problem hopping in bed with someone who is not my husband or wife?

Do I say I know Him, yet have no problem whatsoever looking at pornography?

Do I say I know Him, yet have no problem taking stuff that doesn’t belong to me? (Let’s even include test answers you didn‘t come up with, copying homework you didn‘t do, and music you put on your phone that you didn’t pay for)

Do I say I know Him, yet add cuss words to my vocabulary when I’m around a certain crowd?

Do I say I know Him, yet never get alone with Him and pray?

Do I say I know Him, yet have no desire to read and learn His Word?

Do I say I know Him, yet have no desire to deny myself, take up my cross, and walk as Jesus walked?

I have done all of these at some point in my life while claiming to be a Christian, and I wondered why I had no confidence in my salvation? The truth is, I was a liar and I did not love Him. John says it best: Love for God will only be made complete in us when we obey His commands. We must at least obey the stuff we know He wants us to do!

Examine your life for the rest of the day, pay attention to what you do, what you say, and what you think. Are you even trying to walk as Jesus walked? I realize that I will fail in that attempt every single time. But, I hope to God that I am showing the world that I am making the attempt with every fiber of my being.

Just to be clear, I am NOT saying that if you do any of this stuff that you are necessarily going to Hell. However, I am saying this: If you can flat out sin and not be bothered by it, then you just don’t know for sure. There is no confidence in your Salvation. The good news is that you can know for sure! Today, you can repent. You can actually turn and walk away from the sin in your life that you know about. As a young college kid, it was the hardest thing I think I have ever done. But, to this day, it is the best thing I have ever done. I know He lives in me.

Do you?

Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.

Later

Adam

Up Until Now

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. — Philippians 1:6

I want to take the time to write my story up until this point in my life. I know a lot of people read WMD and lately I’ve been asked a lot about where I go to church and stuff like that. I realized that I have never actually written out my story. It is quite a story. It is a story that is still being written. I can only write about it “up until now.”

I found a cassette tape from 2003. I preached a sermon called “resurrections” at Salem United Methodist Church. I listened to it and just cringed . . . It was awful. But, I had just a few years before really dedicated myself to the reading and studying of God’s Word. I had told Him that I would use my math teaching skills to teach the Word if He felt like I was a vessel He could use. It took almost no time for Him to answer my prayer. In just a few weeks, He opened the door for me to preach once a month at SUMC. Hence, the tape from 2003.

Well, that lasted a few years and fizzled out. I had various churches find out that I could be a “fill-in” and would have up to 5 or 6 speaking engagements a year. In 2007, things really took on a new beginning. I was teaching at Tamassee-Salem High School and began to absolutely hate it. I had wondered why I had ever gone into teaching. While reading my Bible, I came across 2 Chronicles 7:14: If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land. This burned in my spirit.

Somehow, I knew that if I could just get the three or four teachers in our school that claimed to be Christians to actually do this verse with me that things would change. I sent out an e-mail and sure enough 4 other people showed up to our first little prayer meeting before school even started on a Wednesday morning. We talked about 2 Chronicles 7:14, prayed, and went to work with a new attitude and a new resolve. We didn’t have to fix the whole school. We simply had to do our part and trust that God would do the rest.

We kept these little meetings on Wednesdays going for a while. When people didn’t quite make it on time, I would type up what was said and e-mail them. When we stopped meeting altogether, I kept writing e-mails on Wednesday mornings to encourage our teachers. They began to be forwarded to other teachers at other schools. Then, they began to be forwarded to non-teachers. The e-mail chain grew very fast.

In the meantime, I was a member at Golden Corner Church in Walhalla, SC. The pastors there saw something in me and began to have me preach somewhat regularly, like quarterly, on Sunday mornings. To this day, I am amazed at the risk they took by putting a nobody math teacher out front. I owe a TON of my development to those guys. And yes, I realize that I am still not even CLOSE to being developed.

Now, here is where the story simply amazes me. Because I had been writing WMDs for several years, there was a member of Lifeline Community Church in Fair Play, SC who read them regularly and contacted me. All he told me was that their pastor was resigning and he wanted to know if I would be interested in pastoring a church. I asked Tonya if we would be interested in pastoring a church. Of course I asked God, but He was like “who do you think opened the door?”

So, here I am. A math teacher teaching his 18^th year in the public school system. A preacher for 8 months at a wonderful church full of wonderful people who have the gift of being extremely patient with me while God works on me in this new role. On September 28^th, I will be ordained into the ministry. In the meantime, I will do what I know to do. I will stay in the Word. I will continue to write these WMDs and post them on Wednesday mornings. I will bring the Word as boldly, as clearly, and with as much passion as I possibly can on Sunday mornings. I will be the best math teacher I can be. I will work at all of it with all of my heart like God Himself is my supervisor.

That is my story . . .

Up until now

Later

Adam

A Hatred for Sin

For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. — 1 Corinthians 11:31

So I’m planning for a communion service at my church. I read in 1 Corinthians 11:28 that I am supposed to examine myself. I am to judge myself to see if there is any evidence that I am truly in Christ. Most days, there isn’t a doubt in my mind. Others, I spend a lot of time praying and even crying out to God because I hate how sin rears its ugly head in my life, heart, and mind.

I am evaluating my salvation experience. I have written in WMD several times that I asked Jesus into my heart as a sixteen year old teenager. People watching me for five years after that would have seen a change of absolutely zero percent. If there is one thing that I do know from reading the Bible, it is the fact that when men have an encounter with Jesus, they do not remain the same. Even if someone rejected Him, they left with the matter even more solidified in their hearts that they did not need Him or want Him. Some even left with the desire in their hearts to murder Him.

I “received” Jesus 23 years ago. I thought that was all there was to it. I thought “saved” meant simply that I now got to go to Heaven. I had no clue that “saved” meant from lust, rage, greed, lying, laziness, foul language, lack of discipline, discontentment and many other things living inside of my heart. I have always wondered why I got worse instead of better after that wonderful day that I was so convicted that I had to call my youth pastor to come and pick me up and pray with me.

I think I now know.

I had a hatred for the fact that I was not going to Heaven. However, I did NOT have a hatred for the sin that lived within me. Therefore, my loving Heavenly Father let me wallow with the pigs for a while. I only see God in my life back then in the fact that there was a conviction, an alarm if you will, that would trigger every time I made a willful decision to sin. At first it was a scream . . . “NO! Adam, do not go there!” Later, it became a voice . . . “You really should stop doing this.” Finally, it became a faint whisper . . . “You know this isn’t MY way.” God allowed me to sin down my own path, but not for one moment did He ever leave me. He was always there.

I look back on those years as the most wasted years of my life. I caused so much heartache and destruction. God gave me an ultimatum: “Live for me, or live for yourself. If you choose to live for yourself, I am done convicting you of sin.” For the second time in my life, I feared God. But, for the first time in my life, I counted the cost of living for Him. I took an honest look at what it looked like to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him.

I chose Him. I chose His Ways. I realized really quickly that His ways were quite contrary to my own ways. His ways were much, much higher than mine.

When I finally got it . . . I mean really got it . . . I mean when He opened up the floodgates and filled my heart and soul with a Holy Presence that I had never felt before, I hated sin. I had allowed it for five years to separate me from this unfailing, unbelievable, matchless love that now flooded my heart and mind. I realized what a horrible trade I had made. To this day I still ask for forgiveness for those wasted years, and yes, I know I need to stop that. I know God is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins if we repent. It is just that I hate what sin stole from me. I hate how even today that I can’t recognize it many times until it has already produced some of its destructive fruit. I hate watching it keep others blind. I hate how destructive it is in my own life and the lives of others. I hate to watch it rob the students I teach of their education. I hate how it takes, takes, and takes everything of real and eternal value only to give a return of fleeting moments, and I mean moments of temporary pleasure.

Yes, I am developing quite a hatred for sin.

Are you?

How has God worked a hatred for sin in your own life?

Later

Adam

Performing for God

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” — Matthew 7:21 – 23

To me, these are the scariest words that came out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. I absolutely cannot read these words without doing an evaluation of my heart. I have read this passage many times. I used to focus on how cool those miracles were that were performed. I mean, driving out demons and performing miracles sounds pretty awesome. If I saw someone do that, I would definitely think they had it going on. However, as I read it today, one word sticks out … perform. Even for the hard core King James person, the word is “done.” Let’s simplify the passage to this: Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not perform well enough for you? Did we not ‘do’ enough? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.”

I don’t know how many years I spent trying to perform for God. I would have told Him something like this: “God, didn’t I go to church every week? Didn’t I play on the worship team? Wasn’t I on the leadership team at my church? Didn’t I read through the Bible? Didn’t I put money in the offering plate? Didn’t I preach enough times in the pulpit? Didn’t I write devotionals on Wednesday mornings for people to read and hopefully learn more about you?” Even reading this list now, it seems to me that I would have “done” enough to be fairly confident on the day that I stand before Him. However, God isn’t into performances…He’s into “knowing.”

The reason for sending the people away was not that they didn’t “do” enough, it was simply that Jesus did not know them. He had no relationship with them. They obviously loved what the name of Jesus could “do” for them, but did not love the person who owned the name. This forces me to change my line of questioning. I must ask this question and this question only: What evidence do I have that I know Jesus? I don’t get to use ANY of the stuff I mentioned in the above paragraph. It has nothing to do with what I do for Him, it has everything to do with ‘knowing’ and being intimate with Him.

I often hear people tell me that they need to get back to “doing” things for God. I used to agree with them, but now I don’t. Think about this: If you did everything you thought you should do for God, would He really be impressed? Would the God of Heaven really clap His hands for you? I doubt it. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I mean, Jesus left Heaven in Daniel chapter 3 for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s “stand” for the Lord. Jesus stood up for Stephen in Acts 7:54-55. But the thing is…these guys weren’t performing for God, they were simply in love with Him and His ways. To them, dying was great gain. All that stuff that I mentioned, and all that stuff the people mentioned in Matthew 7 can be glorified by people. People come up to me and tell me sometimes after I play or preach ”Adam…YOU did great!” If I could add a little “prophesying in His Name, driving out demons, and performing miracles,” I might just be able to get me a Television ministry and raise millions and millions of dollars…all in His Name! The thing is…Jesus could not care less about any of that stuff. He wants to know the answer to one question and one question only…Do you know Me? You don’t get back to ‘doing’ things for God, you simply spend time with Him because you want to be in His Presence.   You spend time with Him because you want more of Him.

I say all of that to ask this question: If you claim to be a Christian, what evidence do you have that you really know Him? Are you performing for Him? Or, are you in love with Him?

Later

Adam

Using God’s Stuff

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. — Luke 15:12

Until a couple of weeks ago, the thought had never occurred to me that the prodigal son had to use daddy’s stuff in order to live how he wanted to live. In the same way, people who reject God have to use the gifts that He gave them in order to live the way they want. Let me explain.

If I could only take one thing back from my past, it would be my decision to be sexually immoral in my teens and early twenties. I have no excuse. I knew exactly what the Father expected of me. God gave me a gift . . . Purity. That purity was designed for me to give my wife after we took our marriage vows. Instead, I demanded my share of the property now. I took my Father’s gift and squandered it in wasteful living. Just like the father in the story, God forgave me. But, just like the father in the story, God didn’t give me back what I had squandered. Fortunately, He did replace all that with something better . . . Himself. He welcomed me home even though I wasted what He gave me.

In 2011, a study determined that 22 million people, or about 9% of the American population use illegal drugs. In order to use illegal drugs, a person has to use the breath that God gave them. They must use the veins that were created on the day He breathed life into man. They must use stomach He created or the lungs that were formed. All to fill a void that He gave His life to fill.

If you are reading this, God gave you a mind that can think, learn and discern. The majority are simply wasting their God given intelligence. This year, I will watch student after student waste their educational opportunity. After they barely graduate and can’t find a job, they will wish they had done more with their time. I will watch people cling to their cell phones rather than cling to God’s Word. I will watch people get boyfriends or girlfriends and forget all about the things of God. They will use the desires God has given them and move far away from Him.

Lest you think I am bashing people, I am mostly bashing myself . . . For I have done the majority of these things.

But, like the prodigal son, I didn’t like where all this wasteful living led me. I didn’t like the pigpen. Therefore, with the smell of sin all over me, I went back to my Father begging to be His servant.

He restored me as His son.

Lord, may I never take what you have given me and do anything but honor You for the rest of my days.

Later

Adam

My friend, Scott, wrote today’s WMD.

Outnumbered and Overwhelmed

I feel like God is speaking a very specific message to me for my life right now, but it’s also one I think He wants me to share, to send a word of hope to someone. Are you hurting? Do you feel lost? Confused? In all that’s going on, does it seem like nothing makes any sense? Trust me, you’re not alone.

Now let me ask you a very personal, deep question, one of those you don’t really like to even think about answering. Be honest, do you feel like God has left you, like He’s not even there? Truthfully, I have at times. And He has always shown Himself, in little ways that I clearly saw.

Today, He has shown Himself to me through His Word. In Judges 6-7, we read the story of Gideon. We first find him basically hiding out from his enemies, when an angel appears to him. After a bit of delaying by Gideon, God begins to work and He tells Gideon He is going to use him to lead the army to a victory over their enemy. An enemy that already outnumbers them, and currently they have 32,000 men in their army.

Ever feel outnumbered and overwhelmed? I bet Gideon did. And that’s when God begins to work. By sending more soldiers? Or maybe some powerful allies? Nope. God says they have too many, and He trims Gideon’s army to 10,000. Does that make any sense to you? It didn’t to me either, but God works in mysterious ways. In this case, mysterious soon became insane or crazy, because He then trims the army down to 300. Totally illogical, wouldn’t you agree? And with only these 300, God gave them victory. In what made no sense, God produced a miracle.

Does your life make sense right now? Have you considered your miracle may be about to come? I hadn’t. But God has reminded me today, and encouraged me, and I want to do the same for you. Hope. Trust. Obey. Take it from me, God knows what He’s doing. Good luck, and God bless!!

Scott

Swapping Appetites

Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. — Ezekiel 3:3

Give us this day our daily bread. — Matthew 6:11

I’ve been trying to get back into really good shape. I’ve been working out six days a week with some pretty good results. However, the one thing I cannot seem to do that hinders my progress, is eat right. If cake wasn’t wonderful . . . I’d be fine.

The other thing I’ve been doing is praying through the Lord’s Prayer. Not just reciting it over and over, but spending some time on each point. After saying “Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name” I camp out there and just breathe that fact in for a while. I contemplate and tell Him just how awesome He is. The other day, when I got to “give us this day our daily bread”, I thought about how I have not for one single day ever lacked for physical bread. I have never lacked for any amount of food whatsoever. In fact, I have always had access to many times more than my share of “daily bread.” I have also eaten way more than my share of daily bread.

I didn’t realize this until I downloaded this app called “My Fitness Pal.” Upon entering all my information, I found out that I need 2,250 daily calories. I quickly found out, I was getting that amount way too often at single meals. I made some fairly difficult adjustments, and within a couple of weeks, I was on track and melting away.

Ezekiel said that he ate the scrolls . . . they were sweet and satisfying. I do not lack for spiritual bread either. I have Bibles galore. I have more than my share of books that honor Him. My spiritual pantry is loaded. Why don’t I gravitate toward them like I do the food in my kitchen cabinets? I am praying for an appetite swap! I want His Word to become ridiculously sweet to me. I want to devour it and just keep on eating. If I‘m honest, I’ve been giving Him a minimal amount of time lately. Yes, I was making it a point to pray and read a little of His Word every day, but it wasn’t tasting to me the same as it was to Ezekiel. I was spiritually eating just barely enough to keep me alive. Zeke and I were definitely not experiencing the same thing.

Lord, I pray for your power and wisdom. Help me begin a new habit and break an old one. Help me desire prayer and your Word more than I desire food, for such a desire can only come from You. Help me gravitate toward my Bible, prayer, and the things of You in the same way I gravitate towards my refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. Grant me the experience of Ezekiel in this verse I am contemplating. May your Word be the sweetest thing I’ve ever known. May everything else pale in comparison. Help me get to the place where I can’t get enough of your sweet, sweet presence.

There is none like you, Lord!

Later

Adam

Back to Work

“Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” She said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.”” — Gen. 24:17-19

Abraham’s servant had just prayed for a woman who was willing to work to come forth as the bride for Isaac. When Rebekah came forth and was willing to water 10 camels, he was simply astounded. Here is a woman that could have just gotten by with offering him a drink of water. It would have taken her all of a couple of minutes to complete this task. Instead, she signs up for hours of work by offering to draw for his camels “until they have finished drinking.”

Had Rebekah not been willing to go above and beyond, we would not even know who she is. She would have been forgotten. As it stands, when the camels had finished drinking, he gave her “a nose ring weighing a beka, and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.” (Genesis 24:22). To the best of my math abilities, this was right at about 4.2 ounces of gold. As of right now, gold is $1,290.99 per ounce. Rebekah unknowingly earned herself $5,422.16. Most importantly, she set herself up to be the wife of Abraham’s son, Isaac.

What does this have to do with us?

If we are a people who claim to follow Christ, shouldn’t we have this same attitude towards work? I mean, we seem to be a people who are just as lazy, if not lazier than the world. It’s like we expect God to bless us for doing absolutely nothing. When He does not bless our laziness, we complain. Americans, who still for the most part claim to be Christians, are quite possibly the biggest “give me something for doing absolutely nothing” group of people that exist. We, just like the world, take shortcuts and refuse to pursue excellence.

As the new work season approaches for teachers and students, let’s pray for an attitude like Rebekah. Let’s not let a single day pass where we do not put on an attitude of excellence. Let’s never complain that it is Monday while wishing for Friday . . . Life is short enough without wishing it away. Instead, go to work willing to go astoundingly above and beyond the call of duty. Why? Let’s do it for a few reasons:

1. People who are far from God are watching. When others ask you “Why are you like this?” You get to tell them that you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ. He is worthy of excellence! He gave His best . . . I’m simply giving Him my best.

2. It sets you up for blessing. Imagine you are a student. You learn to treat school like an 8:00 – 4:00 job. During those hours you set your mind to work relentlessly, going well above and beyond the minimum of what is required. By the time you graduate, you will have created a work ethic that is extremely desirable to colleges and future employers. Like Rebekah, you will be paid well. This stands in stark contrast to the attitude of the majority: “I’m here, I showed up . . . Pay me. Give me maximum reward for minimum effort. I know I never did homework, never paid attention in class, and rarely tried, but give me an A anyway or my mom will attempt to have you fired.” (Not that I’m bitter and actually had this happen to me or anything)

3. There is an eternal award that most Christians are forfeiting. I can’t say it any better than the Bible does: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

This Monday, the countdown is on.

If you are a teacher reading this, let’s give 190 days of flat out excellence. Let’s work, not for our Principal, but for the Lord Jesus Christ. Show the world the joy that comes only through Him.

If you are a student, for 180 days simply amaze your teacher with your effort. Make other students wonder what has happened to you. Make them ask “why are you trying so hard?“ It may just open the door for you to tell them about Jesus.

Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year!

Later

Adam

Do You Love Me?

I will go ahead and preface this writing by saying this: It is just crazy how some of these WMD’s come about.

Do you love me? — John 21:16

I used to love the rock band KISS back in the day. I did what just about every other aspiring guitar player in the world used to do . . . I pretended to be Ace Frehley, like daily. I recently ran across my dad’s old “Destroyer” album. I pretty much wore that thing out as a teenager. Of course, I was a whopping one year old when that album actually came out. Anyway, there is a song on there called “Do you love me?” The song basically says “you like all of my money, fame, places I can take you, and things I can do for you . . . But . . . Do you love me?” The writer is wrestling with a rich man’s problem: Does this person love me for who I am? Or is this person only hanging around

because of my money and my status?

After being a twelve year old for a few minutes, my mind drifted to Jesus when he said these words to Peter in John 21. Three times Jesus asked Peter “do you love me?” Why?

Well, Peter had given up his walk with Jesus. He picked the fishing nets back up and simply went back to his old life. Remember that Jesus had said to Peter “follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.“ Peter gladly walked away from his current life. But here in John 21, he had quit. Peter had gone back to his old life. I wonder if Jesus felt like the writer of the KISS song. Peter loved seeing the miracles, loved hearing Jesus teach, loved seeing Jesus interact with people, and basically loved seeing Him be the Almighty Son of God. Peter loved everything that Jesus did for him. But, did Peter love Jesus? Or, did Peter simply love the things that Jesus could do for him?

That is the question He is asking me today.

That is the question He is asking you.

The truth is, I love what He has done for me. I wanted to be a rock-n-roll star . . . He made me a teacher and a preacher. I prayed that he would make my elementary school girlfriend my wife . . . He gave me Tonya when I was 24 (and actually had a job). I prayed that people

would want to listen to my wonderfully written songs and guitar solos . . . He made it so that people listen to me teach His Holy Word. I asked for money and fame . . . He gave me peace and contentment. In no way, and I mean in absolutely no way, has He ripped me off. All of these things required a period months or years where I laid down what I wanted while waiting patiently to receive what He wanted for me. This is never an easy thing to do. I may have felt ripped off in the short term, but in the long run, He has done nothing but make my life better. Following Him and His ways have benefited me.

But, do I love Him?

I’m wrestling with that question. I want to love Him with all of my heart. I want to serve Him with everything that I am. I want my life to point others to Him and honor Him in all of my ways. I want my heart to be pure. I want to want Him more than anything. I want do what He wants me to do and not do the things He doesn’t want me to do. I want to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him.

But, sometimes I don’t. I get it wrong more than I get it right. What does this mean?

I knew I wasn’t preaching this past Sunday. I tried and tried to come up with a Sermon for the next Sunday in which I would be preaching. I wanted God to go ahead and give it to me. He didn’t. He basically told me “I’ll give you the sermon when I want you to have it . . .

Never too soon, and never too late.” I realized right then and there, I was serving for the wrong reasons. I had spent a whole week wanting God to do something for me. I wanted Him to give me something. I focused on the Bible and I focused on preaching, but I missed out on the most important thing . . . Him. I never focused on Him.

The only reason I write this tonight is pretty simple. I stepped outside, looked up in the clear night sky at the beautiful stars and felt Him. No words. No effort. It was just a moment where I remembered how great and awesome and powerful He is. I remembered just how small and frail I am in comparison. I remembered just how awesome it is that He even takes a man like me into consideration.

One more time He wrapped His loving arms around me. I remembered what it was all about in the first place.

His love for me.

His love for you.

I do love You, Lord. There is none like You!

Later

Adam