Wednesday Morning Devotional

The Pursuit of Happiness

You will seek me and find me when you seek
me with all of your heart.  — Jeremiah 29:13

On a scale from 1 to 10,  what would you rate your level of happiness?  By this, I simply mean that you really enjoy your life on a day to day basis.  Right now, I would give myself
about a 9.  I can’t really think of a reason to not give myself the extra point.  I guess there is just something in all of us that thinks that there is another level.  “If I could just have________, then I would be happy.”  It seems there is always something.

As I type this, I am in between games on a Sunday at a Scrabble tournament.  (I’m in 3rd place with a 6-3 record if you care about that sort of thing)  If I win, it would make me pretty happy.  But, honestly, I’d rather be at church with my family.  I’m just sitting here
thinking…when have I been the happiest in my life?

On the surface, I think of several things that made me happy for a while.  For example, I was REALLY happy the day I married my wife.  Unfortunately, I had so much
selfishness in me that we had a couple of rocky years.  Even during those years,
we kept dating,  had some hard conversations, and kept pursuing The Lord.  I
don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but He blessed our marriage like crazy.
I absolutely love being married to my wife!  But, that happiness wasn’t just
handed to us…it took some effort.  Everything good takes effort.

Now that I think about it, I am the most happy when I am making the effort to really
pursue God.  I have without a doubt tasted His goodness.  I know what it is like
to have to pull over on the side of the road because I am snotty and crying
because He is all over me.  The first few times it happened, I asked Him to
stop…it was just too overwhelming.  Now, I try to maintain it as long as
possible.  There is nothing else like it.  It is amazing how my life is so
shaped by it.  I mean, I am working at a school that just about everybody,
including the students, have said “you are crazy for choosing to come here.”  I
went simply because I felt like He was saying “go”. And let me tell you, so far
I have not had one day yet where on my way to work I have not encountered the
presence of The Lord.  I hope that never goes away!  When my classroom is empty,
I read aloud Ezekiel 37:5-10.  I  feel Him there as well.  It is
amazing!

I guess I say all that to say this:  If you seek God with all of
your heart, you will find Him.  You won’t find all of Him, but He will reveal
Himself piece by piece.  To me, He is like a puzzle with an infinite number of
pieces.  I hope I maintain this hunger for the Word.  I hope I keep on
worshipping Him with everything that I have and everything I am.  I hope I keep
pursuing that feeling of having Him engulf me with His presence.  I hope I never
return to feeling like I HAVE to serve Him…I hope I WANT to!

Taste and see that The Lord is good; blessed is the one who finds refuge in Him. — Psalm
34:8

Later

Adam

Behold, the Bridegroom Cometh

“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived.” Matthew 25:10

I remember the days when I would go to church, maybe one of those old school Churches of God, and feel like God was going to come back before the end of the service. I remember how much panic it created within my heart because I knew I wasn’t ready. So, I would do all the “quick fixes” I knew to do. I would go down to the altar and start afresh. I always left feeling better, but usually the feeling would only last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Deep down, I was always hoping He wouldn’t come, because I knew I was foolish. I wanted the world AND I wanted to be right with God, and even then I knew that you couldn’t serve two masters.

I realize now that God usually doesn’t do anything quickly. Lest we forget, He has been “coming quickly” for about 1,943 years (if Revelation was written in the year 70). Every generation has had believers who thought He would come in their own lifetime. I am no exception…I believe He will come in mine. A relationship with Him is a slow, on-going process. This life that I have is all about becoming more and more like Him until the day that I either draw my last breath here on Earth, or He comes back for me…just as He promises.

Now, I really believe I have a message today for believers who have called themselves Christians for a long time. I have called myself a Christian for 20 years now.  I have come so far on my Christian journey, but I realize that I have a lot further to go.  I have been married to my wife for 11 years.  I was watching our wedding video just the other day and I could not help but notice the absolute beauty of my bride.  I’m not talking about just physical beauty, though she certainly had that going on.  I’m talking about spiritual beauty.  It was like I could see into her heart and as we went through our ceremony, she was soaking in not just our wedding, but God.  She was experiencing Him on a different level than I was.  I was still immature spiritually, though I didn‘t know it at the time.  One day, we will renew our vows and I will get to experience what she did because I will be properly prepared.

So, what is the point of all this?  My bride was absolutely prepared for me.  The church is the bride of Christ.  If you actually take the time to read these WMDs you are more than likely a part of the bride.  More than likely, you have had that moment when you asked the Lord into your heart, received His forgiveness for your sin and began to walk with Him.  But, here is the question of all questions:  If He were to return at this very moment…are you ready?  I don’t just mean “have you said the prayer?“  A bride doesn’t just go into a wedding with her hair fixed just any old way, or wearing just any old clothes, she goes in gloriously prepared.  In the same way, you and I need to be “dolled up” spiritually.  I want to be as clean as I possibly can when my Lord comes to take me as His bride.  Let’s you and I clothe ourselves in the righteousness that can only be given by Christ Himself.  Let’s be faithful in filling our lamps with oil by studying the Word, hanging out with other believers, and honoring Him with our everyday lives so that non-believers may see and believe.  May our hearts be on fire for Him on that glorious day when He appears.  May we be found beautiful.

When He arrives, let’s be ready!

Later

Adam

Putting Your Faith Where it Belongs

One who was  there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “do you want to get well?”  “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.  While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”  John 5:5-7

This is an interesting story.  Apparently there was some legend or wives tale that every year if some pool got stirred up, the first person in that needed healing would be healed.  The paralyzed guy in this story had bought in to it big time.  This guy had Jesus, the one who made his legs, asking him if he wanted to be healed.  Jesus was right there with him, but instead of looking to Jesus, he looked to the place.  A place that needed two things:  A stirring of the water, and a person to put him in.

I remember when I first got saved that I was an “anointing chaser.”  I wanted to go to the churches that were “on fire.”    I went to a bunch of them.  If I didn’t “feel” something, I just wrote it off as some “traditional” church that wasn’t “with it.”  I realize now that I only wanted to be at places where the water was stirred up.  I believe a lot of people are doing this today and have been doing this a long time.  There are so many people leaving this church to go to that church.  Somebody did something that someone didn’t like so now it’s time to join a new church or start their own church.  Just like the story, Jesus is there the whole time, but people aren’t looking to Him, they are looking for the next “stirring of the waters.”

One of the first religious memories burned into my mind is Jimmy Swaggart crying on television because “I have sinned.”  I also remember him calling Jim Baker* a “cancer to the body of Christ.”  After everything got settled down, Jimmy had lost about 80% of his followers.  Many of these just wrote Christians off as a bunch of “hypocrites” and stopped attending church altogether.  What was the problem?  Just like in John 5, Jesus was there the whole time, but people were looking for the man who could place them in those stirred up waters.  Nobody could stir them quite like Jimmy Swaggart.  Even watching him today…he’s really good.

So what is the point of all this?  You do need to find a church where you genuinely like the people.  The people at your church should absolutely strive to live a clean life that points to the Lord Jesus Christ.  If the preacher is great, that’s nice, but he won’t always be the preacher.  What are you going to do when he is no longer in the pulpit?  If the music is jam up and totally stirs those waters, that’s nice, but that should be secondary to your relationship with Jesus.  We must be looking to Him first, then look at the physical place that we attend church.  If you want to find something bad about your church, it doesn’t take long at all to find it.  If you can’t find anything bad, just give it time…you will.  I’ve already had plenty of people “un-friend’ me, and all I do is write a one-page devotional every week.  The only reason I can think of is that they must disagree with something I believe, say, or do.  It doesn’t really matter, imperfect people will always eventually disappoint.

However, there is one relationship that you can develop that will never disappoint.  Jesus is more than willing to provide everything you need Himself.  No need to find a place with a dynamic speaker who can stir those waters to make you feel better.  Jesus Himself is more than willing to do it.

Go to church.  Hang out with people who will challenge you constantly in your faith.  But, put your hope and trust in Jesus…only in Jesus.

Later

Adam

* Jim Baker’s book “I Was Wrong” is one of the best books I have ever read.  If you remember anything about the “scandalous” PTL days of the 80’s, you will enjoy it.

The Only Way to Know for Sure

By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. — John 13:35

How many people do you know that are Christians?  I know lots of people who say they are Christians.  I saw this cartoon once that had these wolves in sheep costumes.  Some of them had their sheep masks off asking the question “are there any real sheep around here?”  The Bible does talk about wolves who disguise themselves as sheep.  Matthew 7:15 says “watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious as wolves.”

I think it is interesting that the meanest people I know claim to be church people.  This is kind of an unfair statement since I only know mostly church people.  But, the people that I know that don’t claim to be a Christians have never shown me any sign that they treat people horribly.  On the other hand, I watch people on Facebook post Bible verses, prayer requests, and let us know exactly when and where they are going to church.  Then, when someone ticks them off, they unload a furious verbal tirade on their “haters.”  I have to ask inwardly,  “are they ferocious like a wolf? Or, are they harmless like a dove?” (Matthew 10:16)

Now, don’t get me wrong here, if you have only recently been saved, you probably aren’t anywhere near the “love your enemies’ stage yet.  However, as you mature and grow in the Lord, the Bible says that there is one sure-fire way to let everyone know that you are a true disciple of Jesus.  If someone watches how you treat the person you like the least, what does it look like?  If you do not show them love, I am not saying that you aren’t saved or not a Christian, but I am saying that you are confusing people on the outside looking in.  People watching you have every right to call you a hypocrite, because that is exactly what you are.  You can post all the Bible verses you want on the internet, but if you have hatred in your heart for anyone, and I mean anyone, you had better begin to ask the Lord to change your heart.  I don’t want to give you the impression that I have “arrived” here yet either.  I’m still working on this.  At the very least, I have simply learned to not “fire” back when I get angry.  I try to only respond when I’m calm and I’ve actually thought about the situation, and that is only if the situation requires a response at all.  There is definitely something to “if you can’t say something nice…”

I am not suggesting that you have to get “run over” by people and allow yourself to be used repeatedly.  Showing love does not necessarily mean you have to become a doormat.  I do not know your circumstances, they may be extreme.  However, I do know what the circumstances of Jesus were a couple thousand years ago.  He was being beaten, spit upon, taunted, mocked and nailed to a cross.  He had every right to be angry with these people doing this to Him.  He could have said words that would literally tear them down, instead He chose to say “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  I know for sure that Jesus is who He says He is because of the love He had for His betrayers, but most of all, I know because of the love He has for me.  He continuously shows me mercy and grace.  I am thankful that He doesn’t “put me in my place” or “give me what I deserve.”  The least I can do is make my best attempt to show others what I have been shown.

Examine your life very closely this week.  How do you treat people who don’t necessarily deserve to be treated well by you?  If you claim to be a Christian, there is only one way to know for sure…

By this, everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Later

Adam

A pleasing aroma

I have been trying to put together some thoughts that have been on my mind for a year now. Adam has prompted me several times that it is about time for me to do a “WMD”. I have tried and tried to tie all of these thoughts together and this morning it happened for me.  Adam had an appointment and I cleaned the refrigerator out while he was gone. He is very faithful about taking out the trash and pushing the cart to the street on Tuesdays. However, I wanted to get rid of this bag of trash before it started smelling up the house.  I pushed the cart out to the street and on my way back up the driveway, I was overwhelmed by the aroma of our crepe myrtle trees….it is intoxicating when they are all in bloom. I looked over to our pear tree and noticed a beautiful spot of yellow peeking out of the leaves….a ripened pear ready to be enjoyed.

When you read Leviticus, it repeatedly talks about burnt offerings being a sweet smelling fragrance to the Lord.

When God Created us He wanted a relationship with us.  But when sin entered the world we became a trash smell in His nostrils.  He loved His creation but couldn’t be near us.  So He gave Moses the Law and that is wehn sacrifices were offered in payment for the sin of His people.  These sacrifices were descibed as”an aroma pleasing to the Lord”. He no longer requires a need for continual sin offerings, because Jesus was the ultimate and final sacrifice for sins. Because of Jesus, we who are believers are living sacrifices to God. My question though, is do I smell pleasing to Him? Romans 12:1 tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. The next verse tells us to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed through the renewing of our minds.

About a year ago, one of my dearest friends and I decided to do a Bible study together. She and I both have dealt with issues of anxiety and we chose a book called Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. It helped both of us transform our minds. I have watched her transform throughout the year, but it is harder to see the transformation of your own mind. The problem with me was that I used to complain about most everything. And when a problem arose, I immediately tried to fix it myself instead of giving it to the Lord. And when I started to write a WMD, I compared myself to Adam and felt like I wouldn‘t do as good of a job as him. And I worried a lot about things that were coming up that I was not in control of. This created anxiety in my heart and mind. I was not presenting myself as a sacrifice because I wasn’t allowing God to be the Blessed Controller of my life….I wanted that control and that stinks.  Proverbs 23:7 says “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” A passage from the book we read says “Looking back, I realize I did desire to trust God, but sometimes He was very slow. When He was moving at what I thought was a snail’s pace, I unconsciously decided He needed my help….When we take over and try to control what happens, we take our focus off of the One who is control and put our eyes on our circumstances.”  Contentment only comes when we accept from God what He sends us because we know that He is Good and therefore anything He gives us will be good.

I learned the lesson of being content with my life a long time ago and am so thankful for that. I watch too many people in my life that constantly compare themselves with others, either to make themselves feel better or to try to be more accepted. It hurts me to watch this. I see mothers trying to out do each other trying to be super moms. I see men working way too many hours and missing out with their families in order to provide them with “better” things. Too many marriages that crumble because they depend on each other to provide their happiness instead of relying on their relationship with God to bring joy into their lives. This quote by Rev. James Hufstetler resonated with me when I read it and I hope that if you live a life of trying to be someone other than what God created you for, that you will receive this nugget of truth. “You will never really enjoy other people, you will never have stable emotions, you will never lead a life of Godly contentment, you will never conquer jealousy, and love others as you should until you thank God for making you the way He did.” Learning to be content is a huge step toward loving others the way God loves them.

I want my life to be a sweet smelling fragrance to Him. So I am learning to pray and give my anxieties to God. I am learning to pray specifically. I am trying to be thankful in all things, and to stay positive. I want my life to be to Him as my driveway was to me today. Bearing fruit and a sweet aroma. If we make the choice to pray instead of worry, we will experience God’s peace. Dwell on these verses when you start to compare, or worry, or handle things on your own. Phillipians 4:4-8. “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Pressing on,

Tonya

The Neighbor’s Dog

He who knew no sin became sin for us, that I through Him might become the righteousness of God.  — 2 Corinthians 5:21

The neighbors and I have worked out a deal.  When I am away, they will feed my cats.  When they are away, I will feed their dog and cat.  The day that I am writing this happens to be one of those days that I fed their animals.  I have learned that their dog gets extremely excited when he sees me.  He basically runs circles around me, jumps on me, licks me, play bites me, the whole nine yards.  Sometimes I am about to go somewhere so I know how to maneuver around him so that I don’t get slobber or dirt on me.  However, this morning, I chose to do something different.  I got up, put on some already dirty clothes and headed on over.  I let the dog smear dirt on me, slobber on me, get fur all over me, we just had a great time for about 30 minutes.  As I left him, I could tell that he was just so thankful and content.

Walking back home, the Lord just filled my heart with His Presence.  He didn’t actually say words to me, but He spoke to me.  I realized that for a while, in the Old Testament, God attempted to feed people without getting dirty.  He basically gave His People the essentials only.  But, in the New Testament, God didn’t just feed His people, He put on a his “dirty clothes”, a human body, and came down here to love on me.  Not only that, He lets me jump on Him when I am angry and need to vent, He lets me slobber on Him when I get all crying and snotty because of the thickness of His Presence, He lets me wipe all of my sinful dirt on Him, and here’s the cool part…we both enjoy it like crazy.

There is nothing like having a relationship with God.  I can honestly say, He is the best friend I have.  There is nobody that could possibly love me more extravagantly or give to me more extravagantly.  Sin sought to destroy my life, for that is what sin does.  I forget how awful and vile sin actually is.  Sin makes God so small, and me so big.  It is so vile, that sin has to be punished.  It will not be allowed in God’s Holy presence.  To think that God took my sin, smeared it all over Himself, and allowed that sin to be killed along with His sinless, perfect body makes me want to serve Him and give Him the best that I have for the rest of my days.  There really is no one like Him.  There is no other story that has ever been told with this kind of power.

Have you been made righteous through the Lord Jesus Christ?  If not, confess your sin to Him, receive Him, and place your trust in Him.

Later

Adam

Rest

He makes me lie down in green pastures . — Psalm 23:2

I hate it when I can’t sleep.  I never feel the need to post the fact that I can’t sleep on Facebook, but it bothers me nonetheless.  I have learned to evaluate the factors while I am not sleeping at 3 A.M.  Sometimes the reason in simple.  Maybe I went to Walhalla Steak House and downed 5 cups of tea.  I might go to sleep, but when I wake up in the middle of the night, I am not dozing back off.  Sometimes the reason is work related, I may be having to deal with “that” parent.  I try to push work stuff out of my mind and deal with it only at work, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

I remember reading Phillip Keller’s “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.”  He talked about how proximity to the Shepherd is so important.  At the time, I remember feeling so far away from Jesus.  I imagined that I was a sheep among many sheep.   There was a shepherd along with a wolf in the distance waiting to pounce on one of the sheep.  Which one will he get?  The answer is kind of obvious…the wolf will get the one that is furthest away from the shepherd.  No wonder I was a defeated, fearful Christian.  I was trying to live in this place where Jesus was simply “in sight.“  My goal was to do the “worldly” things I wanted to do, but always be able to nod my head at the Shepherd and think we were “cool“ with one another.  I had no idea that this was the place of unrest, not to mention the place where you get eaten.  The sheep that stay the closest to him are perfectly comfortable lying down in the pasture the shepherd led them to and sleeping peacefully without fear.  In fact, while the sheep are sleeping, they are completely unaware that the shepherd is keeping the predators away.

Money can buy sleep, but it cannot buy rest.  I’ve taken pills that “knock me out.”  I always feel horrible when I wake up from “pill sleep.”  The best, most consistent sleep comes from a consistent, trusting relationship with the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  So, why did I get up at 3:30 this morning and write this WMD?  Well, I am anxious about a few things.  The new school year is right around the corner.  I am preaching this Sunday at Golden Corner Church (there is ALWAYS an increase in spiritual battle a week or two before I preach.)  I have one last week of on-line schooling to complete the last of 3 graduate level classes that I have taken since January (and hated all along the way).  When my mind starts thinking about all this stuff in the middle of the night, it is just impossible to sleep.

True rest comes from being at total peace with God.  He MAKES me lie down in green pastures.  I can honestly say, if not for the Lord Jesus Christ, I hate to think about the junk I would dwell on  and I know I would never truly be at rest.  If I ever can’t sleep, at least now I know where to go.  Now that I know the Good Shepherd, I may lay there for 30 minutes or so and let my mind go a thousand different directions, but I’m not going to let this continue the rest of the night.  I will get up, grab my Bible, and go to a quiet place (which happens to be everywhere at 3:30).  In doing so, I am not only moving away from the wolves seeking to devour my mind, but I am moving toward the safety of the Good Shepherd who wants nothing more than for me to trust in the fact that He meets every single one of my needs.

One more thing, I started this post out by saying “I hate when I can’t sleep.”  I was about to go up there and delete that sentence, but I don‘t want to miss the lesson here.  Be careful what you think and say about the frustrating moments in your life.  More than likely, these events are simply the Lord drawing you closer to Himself.  You get to choose how you respond to these moments.  I don’t always choose correctly, but as it turns out, I haven’t hated these past couple of hours at all.

If you are not resting lately, how close are you to the Shepherd?

Later

Adam

It’s Time for True Conversion

“Who are you, Lord?”  Saul asked.  — Acts 9:5

Occasionally, I get asked if murderers go to Heaven.  I always lay out the fact that according to the Bible, I am a murderer, yet I am going to Heaven.  1 John 3:15 says “anyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”  Yes, I have hated people before.  I have certainly thought about killing certain people.  I have learned to take those thoughts captive and give them to the Lord (or at least give them to my wife).  Thank God I have learned to do this!  I feel so sorry for the folks on Facebook that post everything that comes into their minds.  It reveals so much about their character…or lack of it.  Had Facebook been around 15 years ago, I know I would have been a drama king.

Here is the problem with sins such as gossip, greed, and hatred:  If these are your sins, you don’t realize it.  If someone points them out to you, you can easily rationalize it.  A gossiper never thinks they are a gossiper, they’re just “telling it like it is.“  I’ve never heard a greedy person admit they are greedy, and haters don’t get mad, they get even, right?  I don’t know about you, but I’m glad Jesus didn’t “get even” with me.  He took my punishment and simply said “you are free from the punishment and bondage of sin.”  Remember?  Christ demonstrated His love for me in this…while I was a sinner, Christ died for me (Romans 5:8)  I understood the punishment part, but I didn’t have a clue about the bondage part.  There are many, many Christian still living in bondage.

After I got saved, I thought I could just clean right up.  On my own, I thought I could clean up my mouth, stop going places I shouldn’t, stop hanging out with people I shouldn’t, and stop looking at things that I shouldn’t.  I also did not even have a clue that I had idols in my life.   I can see clearly now that I had God replacements:  golf, guitars, and girls.  Here is the major problem with all of this:  I had people point all of this out to me, but I rationalized every bit of it.  I was in bondage, but didn’t know I was in bondage.  How does one get out of bondage that he or she doesn’t even know they are in?  How does one get truly converted?

It all comes down to what you choose to focus on after salvation.  Saul was a Christian murderer before Acts chapter 9.  When he encountered Jesus, the first thing that He asked was “Who are you, Lord?”  I wish this had been my first desire after receiving Him.  I wish I had asked this question over and over.  I wish I had read the gospels immediately and figured out who this man was that gave His life for me on that cross.  I wish I had taken the time to get to know my Lord and my Savior.  Saul had a desire to get to know this man who just knocked him off of his high horse.  

Here is the deal:  If you have no desire to spend time with the Lord Jesus Christ, you might be saved, but you have not been converted.  I lived “saved” for about 5 years.  But, after realizing I couldn’t change on my own, I wanted to be converted.  Therefore, I made it my goal to read through the entire Bible in a year.  I did it in 15 months.  I can’t explain it, but somehow during those 15 months, things changed, I changed.  My mouth cleaned up and I didn’t even try to clean it up.  I didn’t have to go to church anymore, I wanted to go.  I had this really intense sick feeling in my spirit when I was somewhere I didn’t need to be or doing something I didn’t need to be doing.  I looked back over the last 15 months of my life and even though I wasn’t’ even close to where I needed to be, it was clear that I was heading in that direction and I was different.  I now felt like I “knew” Jesus!  I understood that it wasn’t a religion, it really was a relationship.  I now had confidence in my salvation that I didn’t have before.   

I say all that to say this:  There are a lot of people who have been saved, but have not been converted.  I believe saved people are going to Heaven, but they don’t help others get there.  I believe saved people do more harm to the kingdom of God than good, at least I did when I was “saved only.”  If you believe that you are in this group, it is time for true conversion.  If you don’t know if you are in this group, consider these questions:  Do you spend time with the Lord?  Is it ever just you and Him?  Do you take a minimum of a few minutes everyday to simply thank Him, talk to Him, or just get to know Him more?  Are you completely honest with Him?  Are you any different as a result of His forgiveness?  If not, let Saul’s question guide you for the rest of the year…

Who are you, Lord? 

Later

Adam 

The Heart of the Lord

Jesus replied “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood….”  — John 6:26

So, it is Tuesday and I’m wondering what to write about for WMD tomorrow.  I have plenty of ideas, but I’m just not sure if it is from the heart of God.  I decide to take a long walk and talk with the Lord.  As I start my prayer, I start it in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever done before.  I simply say “Lord, how are you doing?”  Instantaneously, for just a second, I think I felt a fraction of the heart of God.  There were so many thoughts.  I want to try to write one of them down for you today.

A few weeks ago, Caroline asked me a hard question out of the blue.  She said “Daddy, who do you love more?  Me or Jesus?”  Hmmm…are we really about to go here?  I tell her that I love Jesus more.  I could tell this was a shot to her little heart.  I quickly sent a prayer up to Heaven begging for a simple explanation.  So, I said “baby, what is something you would really like to have?”  She spouted off a ton of items:  A new American Girl, an iPad, a laptop computer…you know, all these inexpensive items (all I wanted was He-Man action figures when I was 6).  So, I said “what if I bought you a new iPad, and then you spent all your time with it and never talked to me anymore like we are talking right now?  How would that make Daddy feel?”  She said “like I loved the iPad more than I love you?”  I said “exactly.” “Baby, you are a gift from God.  He gave you to me.  I can’t love any gift more than the giver.”  Praise God she understood.

That conversation is the best I can do to help you understand the heart of God.  I believe that He revealed to me that He feels His people, especially Americans who carry the name “Christian,” they love His gifts more than they love Him.   Today, I am much better at giving Him immediate thanks for the good things in my life.  I am much quicker to recognize that all good gifts come directly from Him.  This has not always been the case.  I remember asking Him for a particular girl to be my girlfriend.  When He granted my wish, I don’t think I gave Him a second thought for at least a year.  I’d sure like to go back and have a talk with that ungrateful young man.  I remember asking Him to help me save for a guitar.  When I finally got a brand new 1993 Gibson Les Paul Standard that was onyx black, I thought I had already made it to Heaven.  For 3 solid years, playing that thing was the number one priority in my life.  Did I ever tell God “thank you?”  Not one time.  I also remember getting rejected by that girlfriend (possibly because she felt replaced by a guitar).  She went with another guy and didn’t even bother to break up with me first.  I hated seeing them together.  I wanted to be the one she spent her time with.  I realize now that I have the power to make God feel the same way by choosing stuff over Him.  No, He doesn’t NEED Adam Hopkins for anything…no more than I NEEDED that girlfriend.  But, the God of the Universe wants me and is constantly choosing me.  The only thing He wants is for me to love Him back.

I guess I say all that to ask you this:  are there things that you love more than God?  I mean, this can be anything.  You could love something good like playing music on the worship team more than you love God.  You could love your spouse more than you love God.  It is very easy to love your kids more than you love God.  It is very easy to love money, sex, and power more than you love God.  You could love revenge and “paying people back” who have wounded you more than you love God.  You could love food more than you love God (I think I did this yesterday).  You could love the many forms of technology that we use for entertainment more than you love God.  Am I saying  never go to the movies or out to feast?  Not at all.  But, I am asking you to think about what you frequently and naturally gravitate towards.  God is asking “who do you love more?”  The answer is not given with words from your mouth.  It is given by the choices you make in your life.

What if you had a Job-like experience?  What if today you lost it all?  You lost your stuff, your family, and then finally your health.  Believe it or not, this is all going to happen to us eventually.  Your stuff won’t always be your stuff, family members die eventually, and even at 38, I see that my body doesn’t heal nearly as quickly as it used to heal.  Job just happened to lose it all very quickly.  When this happens, there are only two responses.  The first type of response is very common:  “Where are you God?”  “You could have prevented this!”  “I just don’t know what You are doing!”  “Are you even real?”

Or, you could have the response of Job.

“I came naked into this world from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave.  The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away.  May the name of the Lord continue to be praised in my life.”  — Job 1:21

God loves you.  You don’t earn His favor by keeping a set of rules.  He is unimpressed with your religious rituals.  The Bible even says that the righteous acts we do that we think are so wonderful and impressive are nothing more than filthy rags in His sight (see Isaiah 64:6).  He wants you to love Him back…not because of what He can do for you or what He can give you, but because of who He is.

Do you love Him?

Later

Adam

The Indecisive Man

Still another said, “I will follow you Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”  Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:61-62

I will follow you Lord, but…

This story could certainly be used to make Jesus sound insensitive.  Once again, He knows hearts…we don’t.  Something about his family made him waver back and forth between serving God and serving his family.  Maybe they were involved in some sort of dishonest activity…I don’t know.  Whatever the case, the response of Jesus tells us what we need to know.  The guy was willing to work for the kingdom, but then his old life was constantly calling him back to his old ways.  He was indecisive.

I can’t help but remember my “looking back” days.  I was in college and had just begun to really make the attempt to give my life to Jesus.  I had left my old party crowd and stopped pretty much all of my bad habits I had been developing.  Here was the problem:   I would go to church and totally enjoy it.  But, my old crowd constantly beckoned me back.  I would say no to them most of the time, but I wanted to say yes.  I would find myself “just hanging out with them.”  I figured I could still go…just not drink.  I could still go; maybe I could be a “good influence.”  I had an epic battle going on in my heart.  I knew what serving God looked like.  I knew what being worldly looked like.  The constant question was:  which am I going to choose?  Most of the time, I chose Him.  But, sometimes I chose the world.  Sometimes I looked back.

I just want to point out the difference between what the world says and what Jesus says.  Most people would look at my life when I was in college and say “everybody makes mistakes,” or “everybody goes through that.”   Jesus, in the Bible, says “no man who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  If nothing else, we should learn from these 3 men that though Jesus does not demand perfection, but He does demand the total and complete surrendering of our lives to Him.

Today’s version of Americanized Christianity says it is completely fine to be worldly and be a Christian at the same time.  We like to dismiss sin as “mistakes.”  We like to engage in sinful behavior and say “God understands.” In many ways He does understand, but He obviously wants us to understand that there is a clear choice to be made.  It is a conscious decision.  You and I are to put our hand on that plow, go to work, and never look back.  I like the fact that he uses the analogy of work.  Following God takes time and effort, two things most Christians in America don’t want to give.  If you are a fairly young Christian, you are going to struggle with this.  Do you really think that the devil will give you up without a fight?

Today, I just want to tell you that the reward for following God is tremendous.  I’m not saying that I do everything right…I don’t.  But, when it comes to major decisions in my life that boil down to being “my way” or “His way,” I have been choosing His way for quite a few years now.  At first, it was hard to choose His way.  But, the more I choose His way, the more blessed I become.

I just want you to consider one question:  Are you currently receiving God’s best in all areas of your life?  If the answer is no, could it be that you are looking back?  Could it be that you are wavering between putting your hand on that plow and taking it off?  If you are wavering, what makes you look back?

I found a verse that I want to memorize and completely hide in my heart over the next few weeks.  I thought you might like to do so as well.  It is the second half of Psalm 84:11

“No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”

Lord, I want all of the good things you offer in life.  Help me to walk blamelessly for the rest of my days so I might know what those good things are and receive them with joy.  Help me put my hand to the plow and never look back.  Help me to walk away from anything or anyone that would ever tempt me to take my hands off.  Help all who read this to make a clear decision either for you or against you.  As for me…I choose You!

Later

Adam