Wednesday Morning Devotional

Cleaning House

When Jesus came into Peter’s house . . . — Matthew 8:14

Every time we have company coming over to our house, we clean. I don’t know about your children, but mine can clutter up a house very quickly. Therefore, when the time comes, all of us pitch it and begin to put things in their proper place. In fact, some things get put up, some things get tossed. After a few hours of work, everything looks great and we all vow to keep it that way. Then, the whole process eventually begins again.

Peter had Jesus coming to his house. Now, it is one thing to follow Jesus “out there.” It is entirely another to allow Him into your home. Up until this point, Peter had been more like a guy who listened to Jesus while he was at work and simply went to prayer meetings and church services. Everything Peter did for the Lord and everything he saw the Lord do was outside of his home. Keep in mind, Peter had probably been a follower of Jesus for a year or less by this point.

Now, if Jesus were coming to your house, what would you do? I remember when I let Jesus into my house. I didn’t know Matthew 8:14, but I just knew in my heart that I had to clean out some things. I saw quickly that certain books I had on my shelves had to go. I looked through my DVD collection and tossed some movies that would never be watched again. I went through my CD’s and tossed a ton of the very music I used to defend when someone told me it was poison to a Godly mind. I got rid of Hell’s Box Office, I mean HBO and several of those “premium” channels that leave nothing to the imagination. I placed a Bible on my computer and prayed over it. I told God that if I ever looked at pornography again, I would rip it out of the wall, slam it on my concrete walkway several times, and toss it in the trash.

Why so extreme? (Read Matthew 5:29-30 and then tell me I’m being extreme)

Because for the first time in my life, I was going to let Jesus in my house.

It is one thing to go to church on Sunday, put “Christian” as your “Religious Views” on Facebook, attend all the potluck dinners (known as a “carry in” at Lifeline Community Church FYI), and play “church.” It is entirely another to let God determine what you watch, who you hang out with, what you read, what you listen to, what you spend your money on . . . This list goes on for a while.

Believe me, I understand the immediate pushback, because I’ve been there. “It is my life!” Right?

Well, that is up to you. If God really is God, serve Him! If you want your life to be your own, be bold enough to tell God the areas He can have and the areas He can’t have. Tell Him He can have 11:00 – 12:00 on Sundays as long as you get to the buffet first. Tell Him His Word can have a little space on your coffee table, but not to expect you to actually read it, and definitely don’t expect you to do anything that is written in it. After all, it is hard to read and understand and even harder to actually live out.

Now, I know that sounds harsh . . . It is harsh. But, even though I would have NEVER told God those words, that is exactly the way I treated Him with my actions. I was a clock watcher on Sunday who wanted to get to The Steak House (Only Oconee County people know what a temptation that actually is). I was a hypocrite who acted like I had it all together yet never read His Word unless I was opening my Bible to where the preacher was preaching on Sunday. I had no plans of ever giving Him more than a few dollars in the offering plate, forgiving my enemies, or loving my neighbor.

That is, until I found out He wanted to live in my house.

Now, there is nothing I’d rather do than get up early, listen to the rain, type this WMD, and give Him thanks for completely changing my life.

Has He completely and dramatically changed your life?

Take a walk through your house today and decide if it needs a good “cleaning.”

Later

Adam

Fighting the Good Fight

Fight the good fight of faith.  — 1 Timothy 6:12

Are you currently fighting for your faith?  Are you fighting for those things that you know are true, but cannot see?  Are you still pursuing God with all your heart, mind and soul?  This is the fight.  He is the prize.  You and I are supposed to be fighting for our hearts to remain pure.  We are supposed to fight for His presence in and on our lives.  When we feel it slipping away…we must fight.

The reason I write about this today is because lately it has been an all out war for me to fight the good fight of faith.  I have been getting up early in the morning and pursuing God, but it has been a fight.  As soon as I get started, my mind wanders.  My mind fills up with all the stuff I have to do that day and just worrying about the junk of this world.  As soon as I realize what is happening, I stop, I pray, I read the Word . . . all to have the process repeat itself.  I leave somewhat dejected because I know what it is like to leave on fire.  However, I vow to keep fighting.

I have to.

Satan would like nothing more than for me to give up.  If I stop fighting, my family no longer sees Christ in me.  If I stop fighting, my students no longer see something different about me.  If I stop fighting, the congregation of my church sees a public speaker, not a man warring for the prize that is Christ Jesus.  If I stop fighting, I am simply saying “to Hell with those who are lost and don‘t know God.”  I am saying “who cares if that brother or sister is hurting, let someone else pray for them.”  I am basically saying “let someone else fight.”

This can not and will not happen on my watch!

Paul exhorts a young Timothy to fight the good fight of faith.  As I read his words this morning, he is exhorting me, too.  He just may be exhorting you as well.  Maybe you have been like me and don’t “feel” like praying, studying the Word, or even going to the house of God . . . Do it anyway.

Just a few verses later in verse 14 Paul charges Timothy (and us) “to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  It is so easy to forget that He is coming back.  One day the trumpet will sound and He will return.  Even if He does not in our lifetime, one day we will draw our last breath.  We will stand before Him. For it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.

Fight the good fight of faith.

Later

Adam

Imitation

And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.  — 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NLT)

Paul said to imitate him.  How many times have I read this verse and waltzed right over it?  I have never heard another Christian say “be like me.”  Until now, I would have never thought to say such a thing.  The more I think about it, if I live every single day that I might imitate Christ and bring glory and honor to His Name, what is wrong with saying such a thing?

Someone once told me that Christianity is more “caught” than taught.  There are people sitting in church every Sunday that know a lot about Christianity.  They know lots of scriptures and could even present the Gospel to anyone that cared to hear.  Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of people actually living out what they know.  The people who were the most influential to my spiritual life didn’t just know a bunch of stuff, they DID the stuff and applied what they knew to everyday life.  They were different.  When I saw them, I wanted to be like them.  I wanted to imitate them.  Imitating them helped me learn to imitate Christ.

I was once told that I could live however I wanted as long as I “believed” in Jesus.  This person believed that salvation came in the simple knowledge of the fact that Jesus did in fact exist and did in fact die on a cross.  Now, let’s set aside the fact that the Bible says that even demons believe this and it does them no good.  I equate this with working out and being in shape.  I have gotten out of shape pretty bad.  Now, I knew the whole time that I needed to be exercising, burning more calories than I consume, and making better choices when I eat.  Knowing that did not help my gut shrink one bit.  The fact is, if I don’t actually do the things I know to do, I could very easily “let myself go” and be very unhealthy.  Christianity is similar.  If we don’t actually do the stuff we know to do, what good is it doing?

I love to see my little boy come into the room when I am working out and start imitating me.  When I hit golf balls in my yard, sometimes he will grab a club and imitate me.  Sometimes he will get up early in the morning and come into the living room where I am praying and studying the Bible.  He will say “Dad, let’s read a Bible story.”  I usually ask him which one he’d like to read and he says “Sampson carrying the gate” or “Daniel and the Lions.”  We will just sit there together for a little while, talk about the story and end in prayer.  Days like that make me want to keep imitating Christ to the best of my ability.  I want to be more like Jesus because my little boy wants to be like me.  I want to live a life worth imitating.

Now that I am the pastor of a church, I want to live a life that the men of my church want to imitate.  They need to see that my heart is ablaze for God and want the fire for themselves.  They need to see me humble myself at the altar.  They need to see that I am absolutely in love with God and that He is my one true source of life.  They need to see that when I start drifting back towards the world and its ways that I fight with everything that I have to regain that intimacy with God that I once knew.  They need to see that there is nothing more important to me than loving The Lord.

I am also a math teacher in the school system.  I want to live a life that my students want to imitate.  They need to hear that I am excited about going on a date with my wife of 12 years.  They need to hear that I am looking forward to just hanging out with my children on the weekend.  They need to hear that I enjoy coming into the school and trying my best to help them get where they want to be in the future.  They need to know that I genuinely care about them and want the best for them.  They need to know that the abundant, drama-free life is possible.  They don’t need me talking down to them and condemning them.  They need to see me actually do the things I say I will do and also see me ask for forgiveness when I don’t.  They need to see me being the best Christ follower I can be.

Lord, help me imitate you.  Place in the heart of others who are far from you the desire to imitate me.

Later

Adam

The Thing About the Abundant Life

…but I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.  —  John 10:10

I was talking to someone this past week who was making his return back to the Lord.  He told me the story of his salvation, his baptism, and how just a year ago he felt like a clean, brand new man.  Then, he proceeded to tell me how immorality grabbed a hold of his life.  He told me how the offering plate passed a few weeks ago and he didn’t put anything in it, yet he didn’t mind spending all of his money on anything and everything he could possibly buy for his girlfriend.  He told me how he realized at that moment that God was no longer in His rightful place.  An idol in the form of his girlfriend had taken God’s place and this man told me that he wanted God to be first in his heart and life.

Of course I was excited for this man.  At the same time, I realized something that I have never thought of before.  God loves us unconditionally.  Now, I know that isn’t some big revelation to most of the people who will read this, but I’m not finished.  Even though the love God has for us is unconditional, the abundant life that God offers us is absolutely, 100% conditional.

God miraculously saved me through faith in Jesus Christ.  I felt everything this man felt after being saved and baptized.  I was clean and I was brand new.  So, why was my story eerily similar to his?  I did the same things this man did after I got saved.  Money, girls, guitars, and golf clubs all at some point in my life were placed in God’s rightful place.  I didn’t mind spending a few thousand dollars on temporary, stupid stuff, but would complain about giving God a few hundred dollars.  My heart wasn’t right and I felt far away from God.  There is no way God wants me, you or anybody else to feel defeated and separated from Him, so what must we do?

Well, I don’t have a “quick fix“ answer, but what I do know is that when we come to faith in Him, He saves us from two things.  The first thing is eternal and nothing can separate us from that eternal gift.  We are and will be saved from the eternal consequences of our sin.  The second thing He saves us from is the sin that lives inside of us.  Unfortunately, this sin does not immediately go away.  Even Paul struggled with this and said that the things he wants to do he doesn’t do, and the things he doesn’t want to do, he does  (Romans 7:15).  You and I still have to make choices.  God gave us minds to continue to make choices.  If you consistently make good ones, then and only then will you begin to experience the abundant life.  If you make bad ones, you will be telling your pastor stories like this man was telling me.  You will be telling stories like I told the men of God I looked up to when I didn’t like where my bad choices led and how they made me feel.

Bad choices that go against what we know to be the known will of God will always lead to a defeated spirit within us.  The first part of John 10:10 says “the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.”  Are you letting him?  Satan’s primary way of stealing from you is to offer you an alternative decision to the one that God wants you to make.  Remember the garden of Eden?  God said “don’t eat from the fruit, or you will die.”  Satan said “go ahead, eat it, it will make you wise . . . like God.”

They made a choice.  They chose to reject the known will of God.  That choice did not separate them from God’s love, but I guarantee you they felt like it did.  Adam and Eve made an awful trade that day.  They knew what was right, but chose the alternative.  Once again, it did not change God’s love for them . . .

But, it did keep them from experiencing God’s best.  It kept them from the abundant life.

What choices will you make today?

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.  — 1 John 2:28

Later

Adam

The Problem with a Staircase

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves;  — Genesis 11:9

Of all the stories in the Bible, the story of the Tower of Babel seems on the surface like the least big of a deal.  What I mean is that it doesn’t seem like God would care if the people wanted to build a huge tower that went way up in the sky.  Surely that tower didn’t even touch the heights of some of the buildings that have been built in the last century.  God didn’t stop us.  Why did He stop them?

The more I think about it, I think I’m beginning to understand.  The people wanted to “reach the heavens” without God.  They wanted to get there on their own terms and by the work of their own hands . . . No God necessary.

So it continues today.  People want to make it to Heaven, but only on their own terms.  We continue to say we are Christians, but hardly ever get alone with God to read His Word and pray to Him.  We continue to claim that we love Him, but refuse to actually obey His commands.  If the truth were known, God gets very little of our attention, much less our affection during our week.  We have somehow invented a brand new god who believes and acts an awful lot like we do.  A God who simply winks at our sinful behavior.  We have re-invented the one true God of the Bible.  We have turned Him into a golden calf, a brand new god that does not demand surrender, consecration or holiness and allows us to worship the way we want to on our own terms.  Unfortunately for many, this brand new god does not exist and has no power to help us reach Heaven.  I know because I served this god for far too long.  This god left me empty, wanting, and never gave me an ounce of peace or assurance.

It turns out, the attempt to build a tower was and still is a very big deal, that is why God will always put the brakes on it.  God would not allow me to make up my own rules, or treat Him like some idol to be prayed to when I needed or wanted something.  He refused to be my genie in a lamp.  There was no right way to rub Him or manipulate Him that would force Him to do my bidding.  It has always been His rules, His terms.

So how do I get to Heaven?

Jesus answered, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  — John 14:6

It’s not about making a name for myself and getting to do things my way.  It is about honoring His Name and trusting Him enough to do things His way regardless of the consequences to me.  I don’t have to look good in this process.  I just have to be obedient.

Lord, there is nothing I want more right now than to live my life Your Way on Your terms.  Help me to use my life to make Your Name great.  Kill any desire in my heart to make a name for myself, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, but Yours . . . The name of Jesus.  The name above all names. 

The only way to Heaven.

Later

Adam

Lord, I sit here amazed at what you can do to a life. Here I am. I was just a really immature sixteen year old kid when I asked you to come in to my heart and life. You knew my heart. You knew that I was merely afraid of the place called Hell. You knew I didn’t really have any intentions of turning my life over to you and actually obeying your commands. You knew that fear would start it all for me, for Your a Word says repeatedly that the fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Ah, but you also knew your plan for me. You knew that you were going to continuously and relentlessly be kind to me even though I wouldn’t be so kind to You. I would ignore you simply so I could chase the pleasures of this life, and You would constantly beckon me to come home. You would constantly say “I have something better if you will just trust Me and follow Me.” It was your kindness that led me to actually repent and follow You.

My prayer today is for the readers of WMD. I pray that all of them will seriously think about what You have done for them and how You saved them. Not simply saved from the fires of Hell, but saved from a life of sin and saved from the destruction that sin produces. There are so many of us that don’t even want to think about where we would be had it not been for the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

There are so many stories that have yet to be written. Help us to tell someone today about You and what You have done for us. May someone’s story begin today. Help us to encourage other believers. May someone stay on track with enthusiasm because we chose to take the time to encourage them and pray for them.

Open our eyes that we may see You for who You really are. Help us to see others as You see them.

Open our ears so we may hear from You today. There is nothing like having you speak to our hearts. May Your words produce that undeniable presence that only You can produce.

Open up our minds that we may fill them with You today. May we read your Word, listen to songs that glorify You and lift up Your name. May we think only on those things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.

Open up our hearts that we may fall this day even more in love with You.

In the name of The Father who loves me,
The Son, who gave his life for me, and
The Spirit who now lives inside of me.

Amen

A Dream

And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  — Joel 2:28

I don’t dream a lot.  I used to dream all the time.  When Tonya and I watched about 3 seasons of “24” in about a month, I had some crazy ones.  I believe that whatever we saturate our minds with produces dreams.  Ever since I have become a pastor, I have probably tripled my study time with the Lord.  The cool thing is that it hasn’t been burdensome.  I find that hours kind of zip by and I wonder where the time went.  The even cooler thing is that it is 2:56 am on Saturday and I just had a dream and God said “go write your dream.” So, here goes…

I had just driven a team to a game.  I have my CDL license that allows me to drive a bus.  I haven’t driven one since I’ve started working my new job.  I don’t know what the sport was, but when it came time to go home, I found myself riding the bus and wondering who was driving.  I was talking with my friend named Andrew.  We drove by a mountain.  I immediately noticed that it looked exactly like the mountain in all of the “Paramount” movies.  When I told Andrew this, he looked, but it was like the mountain got so big and so close that we could only see mountain and we just stared until it disappeared.  Honestly, I just thought that was kind of weird.  But, I just typed in “paramount” in Miriam-Webster and paramount means “coming before all others in importance,” as well as “of the greatest or highest degree or quantity.”  Other dictionaries say “of chief concern or importance,” and “supreme in rank, power or authority.”  Now I am beginning to understand.

As soon as we passed by the mountain, I wondered who was driving the bus…it was supposed to be me.  Andrew called somebody and told me that it was being taken care of, so don’t worry about it.  All of a sudden, the driver pulled in to this narrow road.  It was so narrow that it scraped the sides of the bus, but it did barely make it through.  We immediately parked at some restaurant that was near a park where there were lots and lots of people.  The driver got up out of his seat and said “I’ll be right back, I have to go get my friend, Adam, he is ready to meet the Lord.”  He went in, we all got off the bus, and the driver soon came out with someone I didn’t recognize.  For that matter, I didn’t recognize the driver either…I was supposed to be driving the bus.

Adam and the driver knelt down in front of me and Andrew.  We just looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, gave each other a “this is cool” look, and put our hands on them and prayed while the driver led Adam to Jesus.  “Lord, I know I’m a sinner.  I need you to save me.  Come in to my heart and make me brand new.”  As he was praying, I felt everyone gathering round…I mean tons of people.  I looked up and my wife was there, her sister was there, my dad was there, then I just looked out at all the masses.  Adam, who had been holding his hat over his heart leaped up, threw his hand in the air with his hat in it.  He didn’t say anything, but people just started clapping.  I was weeping like crazy.  My wife was all tore up.  She kept saying “I wish I had my phone to record this.”  I said “me too.”  It just kept getting louder and louder.  There were so many people.  It was thunderous…

And then I woke up.

And then I typed this up.

As I was typing, I think I received the interpretation.

God is the mountain.  He is paramount.  He is righteous.  Without righteousness, how could someone possibly get to Him?  “Your righteousness is like the highest mountain.” (Psalm 36:6)

The Holy Spirit is the driver of the bus.  We may not recognize Him, but He is there.  He lives inside many.

The Holy Spirit will lead you to a Narrow Road…a VERY narrow road.  If you are saved, you were led to a place where you had to surrender to a man named Jesus.  You had to make a decision to receive Jesus Christ, or reject Him.  I saw a picture that someone had posted on Facebook of Stamp Creek Landing, it was the very spot that I made my decision 22 years ago.  My heart leapt.  Even though it was just me, my Sunday school teacher, God, and those quiet, still waters, I know now that Heaven rejoiced that day.  I wonder just how thunderous and majestic it was in Heaven.

Make sure you have bowed before the King of Kings and that you still call Him Lord of Lords.  Make sure you have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  If you say you are a Christian, where did you meet Him and invite Him into your heart and life?  Make sure that you are pointing people towards Him by the way you talk, the way you work, the way you love, the way you forgive, and the way you just simply exist.

“I tell you in the same way there will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”  — Luke 15:7

I am thankful that someone showed this Adam the narrow road.  There are a lot of other Adams out there who need you to show them the narrow road that leads to life.

Later

Adam

Fighting From Victory

So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. — Isaiah 28:16

Seven Hundred years before Jesus even got here, Isaiah was saying that He would come. That is amazing! One of the reasons it is easy for me to believe the Bible is its predictions. God said that a redeemer would come…a lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world. He came. His name is Jesus Christ. When I was 16 years old, I received Him into my heart and life. Ever since then, He has led me to places that I never dreamed possible.

One of those places is Lifeline Community Church in Westminster, SC. This past week, I was officially made the interim spiritual leader and teaching pastor. Most people upon hearing the news simply said “praying for you”, or “congratulations.” However, there were a few people who told me something to the tune of “be careful, now Satan is coming after you!” My first reaction to this…was fear. Fortunately, when I feel fear, I think of some other words that Isaiah wrote, I like the way the King James Version says it (I hear Russell Crowe in Gladiator reading this): Fear thou not; for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10)

When I think of the worst happening to me, my mind goes to Job. The Bible says right off the bat that he was a man who was upright and shunned evil. Satan wanted to attack Job. However, Job was so well protected by God that Satan literally went to God to complain about it. Satan admitted to God “Have you not put a hedge around his household and everything he has?” (Job 1:10) This gives me unbelievable hope. If I am an upright man who shuns evil on a daily basis, will God not put His hedge of protection around me? Why should I expect that God will not do for me what He did for Job?

Now, the rest of Job is kind of scary. To think about losing all of your children, all of your possessions, and all but about 1% of your health is scary. But, in all of this Job was never stricken with panic. Even though it caused Him to question God, it never caused Job to leave God or ever think that God was not in control.

So, I sit here thinking: “What if the worst did happen to me?” On the surface, I consider the worst to be losing my family, my home, my job, basically all the stuff that I enjoy in this life. Don’t get me wrong…that would be awful. But, the worst would be for the presence of God to not be with me regardless of my circumstances. If I am walking daily with my Lord, will I not trust that my life, along with my family and possessions are in His hands? Job wasn’t a pastor, but he still had that proverbial bulls eye on his back. The truth is, no matter if I am a pastor or just a plain ole math teacher, I should be living in a way that points people to The Lord and I should draw Satan’s attention anyway.

I say all that to say this: I have the victory! I have read the end of the book. Satan, evil, and sin get destroyed in the end. There is no stopping God and His plans. Therefore, I don’t have to fight for victory. Sure, I have to fight sin and temptation, all of which could give the devil a foothold to damage me and my home should I allow. But, if I am walking daily with my Lord, whom shall I fear? God is with me! I am more aware of that right now than I have been at any other point in my life. Whatever happens to me, if it is from Satan, that fool has to go to God and get permission to touch me, my family, and even my stuff. If God allows him to harm me, it will only result in bringing me to a better place in the end. God only has my ultimate best interest in mind…

Just as He did with Job. Here is (cue my best Paul Harvey voice) the rest of the story.

After Job had prayed for His friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as He had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah (I wonder if she invented the pancake), the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years. (Job 42: 10-16)

By placing his life in God’s hands, Job was never fighting for victory. He was fighting from it…

May you and I do the same

Later

Adam

The Hidden Things

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil. — Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

I have this saying that I use in “counseling” people who feel like others “get away” with doing wrong things while they get “called out” for what seems like every little thing. Proverbs 24:1 tells us not to “envy wicked men.” Unfortunately, it is easy to envy those who are taking the easy way and seem to have it all…it certainly seems they have much more than you. My saying is this: “Nobody gets away with anything!”

When I got my first job at a golf course as a cart attendant, I remember my very first day. There was only one other person that was working that evening and it was our job to close up. Well, the kid I was working with found out that if you put money in the drink machine, then pressed the money return button and held it down, it just kept on spitting out quarters. By the time he was done, over 400 quarters came out of the machine. Every fiber of my being was screaming that it was wrong. He must have sensed my uneasiness because he “made” me (quotations because it was ultimately my choice) take half of the money. That “blood” money bothered me for about a week or so, but I didn’t know what to do…I was too scared to turn the guy in and I kept thinking I’d get fired from a really cool job if I did. Nobody called us out. In fact, we never heard a word about it. There wasn’t anything ever spoken about money being stolen from the machine. So, we got away with it…right?

People are “hiding” things like this every day. I mean, if I hadn’t told you that story, you would have never known. There are men that look at pornography after their wives go to bed, and their wives never know. There are hidden alcohol and drug addictions. There are people that are gaining money in dishonest ways. Maybe they’re stealing from their employer. Maybe they’re stealing credit card numbers. Maybe they’re hacking into computers to steal identities. Who knows? They think nobody knows, but God knows! He sees what we are hiding, and nobody gets away with anything. For God will bring every deed into judgment.

These verses say “whether it is good or evil” We can do hidden things that are good and be judged for them as well. If you seek to conquer sin in your life, you’ll be rewarded! (Check out Revelation 2:26…and there are lots of these in Revelation.) If you read the Word and pray in complete privacy, I mean nobody knows but you and God…you’ll be rewarded! (Check out Matthew 6:5-13.) If you are seeking Him, and going after Him with all your heart, you’ll be rewarded! God knows the motivation of your heart!

He knows if I’m playing the guitar or doing my job for Him, or simply doing it for myself! He knows if the reason I preach the Word is to make myself look good, or if I’m really trying to advance His kingdom. He knows if I am a fake. Since I started WMD, I’ve been called a “false prophet” by a few people. Some people think I’m spreading “lies.“ I’m okay with that…let’s face it, God knows everything and nothing is hidden. He knows my heart I beg Him every day to make my heart pure and clean! I absolutely hate what I find in my own heart sometimes. But, God is faithful and He gives me grace and mercy. Every time I repent of a “cancer” in my heart…He fills it up with more of Himself. He’s making me more and more like Himself every single day. Have I arrived? Nope, never will…at least until the day He calls me Home.

If there are hidden things that you don‘t want God to judge you for…repent now while you still have time! If you still do those kind of things, stop immediately…or at least begin to pray for Him to help you stop. If you don’t have the hidden discipline of studying God’s Word, praying, giving, and fasting in your life, there‘s no better day to start than today. Instead of asking God all the time for forgiveness because of hidden things that you’ve done that are wrong, start doing the hidden things that are right. He will change your heart, and you’ll never regret the time you spend with Him.

Later

Adam