Wednesday Morning Devotional

The Reluctant Man

He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

Jesus said to him “let the dead bury their own dead, but you go proclaim the kingdom of God.  — Luke 9:59-60

Unlike the impulsive man who went to Jesus, Jesus came to the reluctant man.  This man received an amazing invitation from Jesus Himself to follow Him.  However, there was something about his dad that made him hesitate.  Perhaps dad was a Pharisee who didn’t agree with the teachings of Jesus.  Maybe the man stood to lose an inheritance if he accepted the invitation of Jesus.  Whatever the case, I don’t believe the guy’s dad was actually dead.  Jesus was not being insensitive here.  If it had been a simple funeral to go to in a day or two, or even a week, then of course he could have gone.  Dad was living.  Something about dad was an idol in this reluctant man’s life.  He felt he could not follow Jesus.

I was impulsive when I got saved.  I said I would follow, but then did not.  The reluctant man does not follow, but at least is man enough to admit it.  In my opinion, it is much better to say “no” to Jesus, and then not follow Him, than it is to say “yes”, and then not follow Him.  People who say “yes“, like I did, and then say “no” with the way that they live do much more harm to the kingdom of God than good.  Ask any non-believer that you know why they don’t buy in to Christianity.   More than half the time, the response will have something to do with those “hypocritical” Christians…people who said “yes”, then didn’t follow.  The bad thing is that there is little defense…they are right.  There simply are a lot of people who say they are Christians who don’t even make an attempt to live like it.  I’m not saying you have to be perfect, you can’t be perfect, but you do have to be all in.  You do have to make the effort to spend time with Him…it is the only way your heart will actually transform into His.

I can think of several other people that fall into the “reluctant” category, but for different reasons.  The reluctant teenagers that I know are simply putting Jesus off for now.  They believe, but they want to be able to do the things they know Jesus would not approve of before they give their lives to Him.  Basically, they are saying “let me live in sin like I want to right now, when things settle down, I’ll start giving Him some consideration.”  This is like having a gift for someone you know, then using that gift for yourself until it is wrecked and pitiful looking, and then still offering it as a gift.  The good news is that Jesus will still accept the broken, battered gift, but you certainly wouldn’t want someone to do that to you.  We are all broken in different ways when we come to Him, but there is no sense in completely destroying yourself.  Give Him your life NOW.  Today is always the day of salvation.

The other reluctant men I know simply believe they have to give things up before they can come to Jesus.  They can’t stop cussing on their own, they can’t stop drinking, and basically have things in their lives that they know are wrong.  They feel they can’t stop, and honestly believe they have to say “no” to the invitation of Jesus.  I can only tell you this…there is absolutely no person in the last 2,000 years that didn’t bring sin to the cross in order to say “yes.”  Part of receiving Jesus is handing him your sin.  You can’t get rid of it.  Where are you going to hide it?  It does not just disappear.  If sin is to be atoned for, it must be brought to the cross.  Give it to Him.  Then, follow Him.  If you could get rid of your sin on your own, there would have been no reason for Jesus to come and do what He did.

If you are reluctant, Jesus says “give all that stuff to me, I already took care of it…you have one assignment, and one assignment only…

“Go proclaim the kingdom of God.”

A man who is immersed in proclaiming does not stay immersed in sin.

Later

Adam

The Impulsive Man

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head.”  — Luke 9:57-58

In the context of these 2 verses, Jesus has fed thousands, healed people, and driven out evil spirits.  The man in this verse sees all of these good things and wants in on it.  So he sees Jesus and makes an impulsive decision.  He says “I will follow you wherever you go.”  We know this decision is impulsive because of the response of Jesus, who could see inside the man’s heart.  I have heard preachers make the response of Jesus sound pitiful, but I believe Jesus was simply saying “following me is not what you think it is.  I don’t give a flip about the worldly stuff everyone else seems to care about, I am here to serve my Father and please Him.”

Looking back, I was very much like this impulsive man.  My friends were saying they were “getting saved.”  I was listening to some pretty powerful preachers that were drawing crowds.  The church seemed to literally feed me just about every time I walked through the doors.  But most of all, they said that there was this place called Hell where souls were destroyed, but not to fear because a man named Jesus made everything alright for those who “receive” Him.  I took it all in and made the decision to be “saved.”  Every Christian I knew simply acted like it was all over and done with and simply said “good job.”  Unlike them, Jesus didn‘t have this response.  In fact, it looks to me like He was talking the guy out of it…making sure that the guy was making an informed decision.  I know if Jesus had been there in person with me, He would have said “this isn‘t the end…it’s only beginning.”

I wasn’t just impulsive about receiving Jesus.  I was impulsive about nearly everything: the music I listened to, the movies I watched, and the activities I did.  If crowds were heading in one direction, I just kind of took my place in line to see where they ended up.  I found out that impulsivity simply led to this lonely, meaningless place.  Sure, I could go to the football game and have a blast, but the game eventually ended…then what?  I could go to the bar and have a great time, but “last call for alcohol” eventually came…then what?  I could be completely entertained by the movie or the concert…but eventually the lights came on and eventually the credits rolled.  There had to be more to life than these temporary “highs.”

I guess I say all that to say this: when I felt the initial call of Jesus, I didn’t think of it as an invitation to a completely new way of live.  I didn’t realize that He wanted to transform my life so much that all of my thoughts, all of the time would simply be to bring honor to His name.  I’m not sure as an immature 16 year old that I was capable of completely understanding this, but I could have understood a big pause.  One simple pause to say “are you sure you are ready to take on this kind of commitment?”

So, I simply ask you today:  Have you really surrendered your life to the Lord?  Have you really counted the cost?  Does He so influence your decision making that you would let the boyfriend break up with you before you would have sex with him outside of marriage?  Does He so influence your decision making that you would rather stay in the marriage and work things out simply because it would bring the most honor to His name?  Does He so influence your decision making that you would rather take the F on the test you didn’t study for rather than cheat and make a passing grade?   Does He so influence your decision making that you would completely forgive the one person you can’t stand?

This kind of Christianity is hard.  It is also the kind that He calls all people who choose to take on the name “Christian”  As soon as anyone today says “I will follow Jesus,” most preachers simply say “Heaven is rejoicing” then quickly add the hands so they can boast about the numbers next week.  I’m not saying that is necessarily a bad thing.  We can’t look into the hearts of men like Jesus could.  All I am saying is that I was impulsive about my initial decision to follow Him and I represented Him poorly for quite a while.  I didn’t deserve to be counted amongst the hands that went up because I had no intention of doing anything differently.

If you were impulsive about this decision like I was…take the time to really consider what it would look like if you really started to follow Him today.  Don’t do this halfway thing like I did for years trying to have the best of both worlds…that place is the most miserable place on the planet.

“If any man would come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” —  Mark 8:34

What has it cost you to serve the Lord?

Later

Adam

Sowing and Reaping

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. – Galatians 6:7

I remember when I used to think that I could live any way that I wanted and still have God on my side.  I acted as though I had found a loophole in the Bible.  I thought I could sin willfully, ask the Lord to forgive me, and all was just fine.  I got what I wanted, God was happy to forgive me, and if my life had ended…I would be with Him in Heaven because I had “asked for forgiveness.”  This is the way the majority of Christians choose to live in this day and time.  The devil does a good job at deceiving us. In fact, read the verse for today’s WMD one more time.

God put into place a law.  Like the law of gravity, this law works whether you are a Christian or not.   It is the law of sowing and reaping.   About a month ago, I put some watermelon seeds in the ground.  I don’t expect to reap corn from those seeds.  Why in the world would I expect anything other than watermelons at harvest time?  Of course, that example sounds ridiculously obvious.  However, there are people that do this with their lives all the time.  I know because I used to do this with my own life.  I see kids in school that never do their work, never pay attention in class, and could not care less about their education.  At the same time, those same kids expect for life to magically work out for them.  They expect that they will still have a high paying job and a high quality of life.  I have been a teacher long enough to see that there is a direct correlation to a kid’s quality of schoolwork and eventual quality of life.  You reap what you sow.  I love to see the students on Senior Awards day light up when they receive thousands of dollars in college scholarship money.  It is the reward they reap for sowing discipline in the classroom.

I see this in other areas of life as well.  I hate to see marriages disintegrate.  Every marriage had to start out fairly solid.  I mean, the two people dated, won each other’s heart, and decided that their next step was to spend the rest of their lives together.  So before God and family, they make a lifelong commitment to each other.  Yet, half of these marriages end in divorce.  What happens?  I don’t know the details of every divorce, but God does, and I would almost guarantee that it has to do with this concept of sowing and reaping.  A man gets a job that requires 80 hours a week of his time.  He never spends any time with his wife and she gets lonely.  They begin to “grow” apart.  Another man is addicted to pornography.  He is always critical of the way his wife looks because she can’t live up to the computer images he looks at every day.  He doesn’t see his wife as beautiful anymore and certainly doesn’t pursue her.  What good could possibly come out of this situation other than a few minutes of temporary pleasure?  People continue to find out the hard way that these seeds produce pain, hurt, and eventually divorce.  It NEVER says that on the package.  Other seeds of destruction include lying, cheating, laziness, illegal activity, addiction, gossip, hatred, and being unable to forgive as Christ forgave you.  If you have been sowing these seeds for a while…destruction is coming!  Being a Christian does not make you immune to the law of sowing and reaping any more than it makes you immune to the law of gravity.

What if a person chose to live a different way?  What if a person started off every day by reading the Word of God?  What if they prayed?  What if they sowed good seeds by simply asking their Heavenly Father to help them honor Him in absolutely everything they were about to do that day?  I believe God would honor that request.  I believe you would flee sexual immorality.  I believe you just might be inclined to work at your school work or your job like you are working for the Lord Himself.  I believe you just might leave work to go on a date with your wife.  I believe you just might start sowing good seeds that produce abundant life instead of the seeds of destruction.

Here is the deal:  Good seeds and bad seeds are eventually going to produce a crop.  Neither good seeds nor bad seeds immediately produce crops.  But, harvest time does eventually come.  Everyone will see exactly what you have been planting.

Today, examine the seeds that you are sowing in your own life.  What will they eventually produce?

God is not mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.

Later

Adam

Consume It All

Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water.  The whole animal — including the head, legs, and internal organs — must be roasted over a fire.  Do not leave any of it until the next morning.  Burn whatever is not eaten before morning.  — Exodus 12:9-10

Just before the Passover, the Lord gave Israel some specific instructions.  The instructions were to kill a lamb, put some of the blood over the door post, and cook and eat the lamb…ALL of the lamb.  They were to eat ALL of it!  That’s kind of gross.  At least if some of it was too gross…they had the option to burn it.

Now, I don’t read that ANYBODY said “I don’t feel like putting the blood on my door post.”  Nobody said “I’m going to boil the meat anyway…I like it that way.”  Nobody complained about having to eat certain parts.  It is pretty clear that everyone obeyed the Lord‘s commands to the best of their ability.  Being saved was obviously more important than their comfort.

Today, I don’t see a whole lot of Christians taking ALL of God’s Word seriously.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it takes some time to develop a reverence for God’s Holy Book.  I left mine sitting on my dresser brand new for years before I started to consume it.  Even then, I only read the parts I could halfway understand.  I read the parts I liked.  In no way did I attempt to consume the whole thing.

That is, until I just didn’t enjoy life.  I was all too aware that I was doing this halfway thing.  I fit in with the guys on the weekend when that was convenient.  I fit in with the church group when that was convenient.  I was trying to have the best of both worlds.  I was taking the parts of the Bible that talked about how good He was and hoping like crazy He was just winking at my sin…I know now that He wasn’t.

I hear quite often about God’s grace.  Most of the time it is misused by people who want to justify their immoral actions.  Most people want to be sexually immoral.  They want to be able to watch anything and listen to everything in the name of entertainment.   They want to be able to talk any way they want and do anything they want to do.  But most importantly, they want God to be okay with it.  Maybe this isn’t true with you…but it was true with me.  I made sure back then that I only listened to people who would make my sin sound justifiable, and most of all would say things like “God is okay with it…He knows we’re human and that we make mistakes.”  Mistakes are one thing…willful disobedience is entirely another.

I say all that to say this:  I don’t want God’s grace to mean that I can willfully sin and have Him overlook it and be okay with it.  I want God’s grace to be this ridiculous, massive amount of power that gives me strength to overcome the sin that is so prevalent in the majority of men today.  God delivered me from sexual immorality, so why would I want to go back to filth just “because I can still go to Heaven if I do” or “He will forgive me.”  I don’t want to sit around and watch movies that take His name in vain and say “well…He’s okay with it…everybody else watches this.”  I want to get this sick feeling inside my stomach when I hear His name being misused.  I want to want to turn it off.  I want to want to walk out of the theater.  I want to want to eat the whole lamb.  I want to eat the tasty parts that are easy to eat because I like them, and I want to eat the bitter parts that don’t go down so well.  If God wants me to do hard things…I want to want to do them.  If God wants me to forgive someone who has seriously wronged me…I want to want to forgive them.  In light of how He has so freely forgiven me…how can I not?

I know people get seriously turned off to this “holiness” stuff.  But, I have had many transitions in my walk with the Lord that I had to ask myself…am I going to do it my way?  A.k.a…the easy way that comes natural to me.  Or, am I going to do it God’s way?  A.k.a…the hard way.  In most of life‘s tough decisions that I have faced so far, I believe I have chosen God’s way.  Not one time…not ONE SINGLE TIME has it ever let me down.  Yes, I’ll admit that I complained about it in the short term…but in the long term it ALWAYS worked out for my good.  Anything God has asked me to do that was hard has only served to ultimately benefit me.

Today, simply evaluate your relationship with God.  Is there anything in your life that is keeping you from God’s best?   Are you feeling His Presence?  Are you being obedient to the best of your knowledge and ability?  Is there any area of your life that is not clean?  Do you honor the entire Word of God?  Or, do you pick and choose?

Only you and God know.

If you are going to consume God’s Word…

Consume it all.

Later

Adam

Be Still

Be still and know that I am God.  —  Psalm 46:10

Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything. — Psalm 46:10 (The message)

One of the advantages of being a teacher is the fact that it is basically a 10 month job.  June and July are just two of the many reasons that most of us became teachers.  I love the fact that every school year is different.  Yes, I will have different students, but most importantly, I will have a different me.  I always learn from the previous year and use that information to be even better next year.

Now, as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you would think that Summer would be a time of really spending time in the Word of God.  I plan every Summer on reading certain Christian books, memorizing scriptures, and just filling my mind and heart with God.  Unfortunately, it seems like these past few Summers I haven’t done it.  I end up staying up late, which makes me sleep late, and I wake up to the noise of my kids which means that my morning time with God has disappeared.  I may be somewhere for a weekend vacation and not take the time to find a place to hear the Word of the Lord on Sunday.  Before I know it, Summer has passed, and it turns out that I have given a very lukewarm effort in being still and knowing He is God.  I don’t really get to say “I didn’t have time,”  I had plenty…so what’s the problem?

Psalm 46:10 tells me the problem:  I am not being intentional about being still, or “stepping out of the traffic.”  Followers of Christ have an enemy with the sole purpose of making sure you spend time with the Lord as little as possible.  Being still is an intentional, deliberate act on the part of the Christian who claims to be His child…it will not come naturally.  Busyness will take over if you let it.  So, with that being said, I made myself a few suggestions, “be still” goals if you will, for this Summer.  I thought that they might help you as well.

1.  Be still finding time to read the Word.  This does not have to be a long drawn out process.  Find a minimum of 10 minutes during the day where you can read the Bible and talk to God.  Psalm 46 might be a good place to start.

2.  Be still keeping your mind pure.  I don’t know why I am tempted more in the Summer to watch the new blockbuster, R-rated movies that come out.  This is probably because I watch too much TV and see all of the previews on television.  I find myself watching these stupid movies that totally glorify the sin that my Savior delivered me from and died a brutal death on the cross to do so.  I have found myself sitting there and listening to those actors and actresses take my Lord’s name in vain over and over again.  This summer, I will be intentional about keeping my mind pure.

3.  Be still going to church.  Tonya and I just went to a random church when we were on vacation at the beach last year.  Turns out we heard a great quartet sing praises to the King and we met some really great people who have been serving God for a lot longer than we have.  If you are on vacation over the weekend, say a short prayer asking the Lord to lead you where He wants you to go, then just drive and see where you end up…it’s kind of fun.

Most of all, remember that being still is mostly for you.  Knowing that He is God means that you have incredible faith and want to live an obedient life that glorifies and honors Him.  It means that you trust Him with all that you are and all that He leads you to do.  It means that when the storms of life come, you will stand rock solid because you have built your house on the rock.  You won’t be returning to God because all of a sudden you need Him, you will be remaining with Him as you have all along.

Take time to be still today…know that He is God.

Later

Adam

When Bad Things Happen

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  — Matthew 28:20

If there is one FAQ that I am asked, it is this one:  Why does God allow terrible things to happen?  We have certainly not lacked for terrible and tragic news this past year.  When those kids got shot at Sandy Hook Elementary, the internet lit up with accusations toward God.  Where was He?  Why didn’t He prevent it?  I have received some e-mails asking me to write on the subject, but honestly, I just didn’t know what to write.  There are many people who are witnessing to their friends and co-workers who tell me that their friends and co-workers just can’t serve a God who allows tragedies to happen.

Well, I don’t have all the answers, but I do believe God has given me some revelation on the matter and wants me to write this WMD.  First of all, the god who does not allow bad things to happen to good people does not exist.  I know many of you think he does, I thought he did too for a long time.  That is until my wife miscarried our second baby.  When that happened, I was confronted by the true God of my Bible that does allow bad things to happen.  Not only that, I had to face the reality that He allows really good things to happen to wicked people.  He does good to people who mock Him and want nothing to do with Him.  When we miscarried our babies, I didn’t like Him very much.  I liked Him even less when the news gave a report of a woman throwing her baby in the trash.  My favorite sarcastic remark to Him was “Seriously?”

Looking back, I love the fact that God was with me.  I wasn’t mature enough in the Lord at the time to appreciate that fact.  Yes, I was complaining and moaning and pointing out little obvious facts like He didn’t already know, but He remained with me.  I stayed in His word looking for answers.  All I could seem to find in the Bible was time after time where all these bad things happened to these people who were trying to serve Him.  Joseph got thrown in prison.  Daniel got thrown in the lion’s den.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got thrown in the fire.  David’s first baby with Bathsheba died.  Peter got crucified…upside down.  John got exiled to the island of Patmos.  Could God not have stopped all of these events from happening?  Of course He could have.  But nowhere does He ever promise in the Bible that He will.

So, where does that leave today’s true followers of Christ?  Well, it leaves us in a world of uncertainty.  It has always been a world of uncertainty.  It leaves us in a world where God has given every single person free will.  You, me, and every other person can choose to do what we want.  Unfortunately, if that means someone wants to shoot up a school with a gun…they can, provided that their plan is well thought out.  If someone wants to blow people up at the conclusion of the Boston Marathon…they can, provided their plan is executed well enough.  On the day before I wrote this WMD, I was driving home from the lake.  A truck going well over 100 mph got right on my bumper and then tried to pass in a no passing zone really close to a curve up ahead.  As soon as he made that decision, a car came around the curve.  If I had not pulled off the road and come to a stop I would have witnessed the worst head on collision I have ever seen.  The driver of that truck was completely free to do that.   You are free to make any decision you want, but unfortunately, so is everybody else.

I realize that the comfort you take in this next paragraph is going to depend on your maturity in Christ.  I was a Christian for over 15 years before these next words began to make any difference in my heart and life.  Here are the words:  “And surely I am with you always.”  The more I think about it, the more wonderful these words get.  I have seen true men and women of God go through the worst tragedies.  I have also seen them go through with unbelievable poise.  They talk about how good God still is, they talk about how His presence is more real to them that it has ever been before.  This, to me, is proof that Matthew 28:20 is true.  Even though I was hurt and angry after our miscarriages, God never left me.  He even used it to draw me closer to Him and place more of His Presence on my life.  To this day He has not removed any of it…His presence has remained with me.    I can cry and weep at the drop of a hat when He cranks it up.  It is by far the greatest feeling that can be experienced on this Earth.  I can’t imagine how awesome it will be in Heaven.

I used to so often pray “the prayer of protection” over my family.  It was very trite and very ritualistic.  “Lord, please protect my family…DON’T let anything bad happen to them.”  After a few years of this God simply asked me “Do you trust me?”  I wondered why He asked me this right after I prayed the prayer of protection.  I thought about it for a while.  I realized that I was once again making Him that god who does not exist.  I was making Him the god who was there simply to do my will.  I was still making those deals we so often make:  “If you will (keep my family safe, get me the job, let me win the lottery, blah, blah, blah) I will (read the Bible, go to church, live right, do better, blah, blah, blah)”  Once again, my immaturity was obvious.

Here is the deal:  He has promised to be with me.  I am going to hold Him to that promise.  No matter what happens to me or my family, He has promised to be with me.  I have read Foxe’s book of Martyrs, those people died boldly and with complete confidence in Christ…He was with them, just like He promised.  I have talked with people who have lost children, lost spouses, lost parents, lost people that they truly and deeply cared about.  The ones who don’t know Christ seem to “go off the deep end.”  They try to use alcohol, drugs, work, or whatever they can to just “get their minds off it.”  The ones who do know Christ use it for His Glory.  They talk of how He has been with them every step of the way.  They make other people want this peace and faith that they have.  God is with them.

Bad things happen.  Eventually they are going to happen to you, and eventually they are going to happen to me.  You will go through these tragedies one of two ways:  with Him, or without Him.

I choose with Him.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  — Matthew 28:20

Later

Adam

Leading Me

Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God;

may your good Spirit

lead me on level ground  — Psalm 143:8

Today, I don’t really have what I would call one of my “normal” WMD’s.  I just want to tell you all what is going on with my life.  Those of you who read this from afar that don’t know me personally will probably find this as boring as can be.  However, those of you who know me well might be a bit surprised.

I am a person that does not do change very well.  I am very much a creature of habit.  When changes in my life occur, they are usually very drastic and require a lot of intentional effort on my part.  It’s hard for me to understand people who move from house to house constantly, switch jobs every few years, and trade spouses several times.  I’m not judging any of these people…I just don’t like change.  In fact, Tonya knows that if she ever leaves me, I’m packing up and going with her!

I have had two jobs in my lifetime.  I worked at a golf course as a cart boy for 7 years.  I started when I was 15 and stopped when I was 22.  In August of 1997 I got a call from the Principal at T-S asking me to come in for an interview even though school started in two days.  I had no idea that when I left work that day that I would never park another golf cart “on the clock.”  Since then, I have worked at T-S for 16 years.  If you count the 13 years I attended school there, I have been walking in that school for 29 of the 37 years that I have lived.  Like I said…I just don’t do change.

Today, I signed a contract to work at a different school.  For 4 years I believe the Lord has been dealing with me about going this particular school.  I told Him that if He wanted me there, He would have to open all of the doors and make the transition as smooth as possible.  I asked Him to make it very clear that it was what He wanted.  During those 4 years I made it very clear to the administration that if the opportunity should arise, I wanted to be at this certain school.  It honestly looked like the door would never open, which was fine with me because I liked (and still like) my current position.  Plus, that was fine with me because I don’t do change.

Well, to make a long story short, the doors opened really fast within this last month.  It had to be the smoothest transition ever…just like I asked the Lord to make it.

That being said, I will be teaching at our county’s alternative school next year.  It is mostly filled with students who for whatever reason have trouble succeeding in the “normal” school environment…whatever that means.  I believe my task is clear:  “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  — Colossians 3:23-24

All I ask is that you pray for me as I prepare for this new position.  Pray for the students who will be attending my classes.   Pray that the lives of many students will be changed.  Pray that He will make my efforts successful.  Also, pray for the school that I’m leaving behind…it is a special place.   Pray that T-S finds an even better teacher and coach to replace me.  I know this all seems a bit selfish on my part, but I want my new beginning to start with as much prayer as possible.

Lord, teach me to do your will, for you are my God;  may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Later

Adam

Hot Topic

Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  — Matthew 7:13

Most of the websites I look at say that one out of every three people consider themselves Christians.  On October 17 of 2011 it was estimated that the seven billionth person was born.  By this estimate, there are approximately 2.3 billion people that if they died right now, would go to Heaven.  Of course, that means 4.7 billion people would go to hell.  I guess this makes sense to me, since this verse in the Salem Standard Version says “most people are on their way to Hell.”  So, just how wide is that gate?

To the best of my researched knowledge, 100 people are born into this world every minute.  In that same minute, 60 people die.  Now, I don’t feel right using the 1 in 3 are saved statistic.  The Bible flat out says just a few verses later in verse 21 that not everybody who says “I’m a Christian” actually IS a Christian.  So, when the Bible says “few there be that find it,” that is, the narrow road that leads to life, I’m going to take it as currently meaning that 1 out of every 10 people are truly saved, born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  You’ll have to decide for yourself if I’m being too generous or too judgmental.

So, if 1 in 10 are saved, here’s what’s going on:  60 seconds from now, 6 people will enter into Heaven’s Gates!  In that same minute, the other 54 people will begin their eternity in Hell.  One hour from now, 360 people will experience the wonders and joys of Heaven!  Unfortunately, 3,240 people will enter into the eternal flames of Hell.  By this time tomorrow, 8,640 people will wrap their arms around the one who gave His life so they could be SAVED!  77,760 people will have entered through the wide gate that leads to eternal destruction!  That’s enough people to fill most professional football stadiums every single day!!!  One year from now, just over 3 million people will be with Jesus just over in the Glory Land.  Over 28 million will be wishing they had just one more chance in this life.  One more chance to simply ask for Jesus Christ to forgive them of their sins…but that chance will never ever come.

What’s the point of all this?  There’s a lot of people out there that simply need to be told.  The Bible says a couple of chapters later in Matt 9:37 that “the harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few.”  To me, this means there are a whole bunch (and I mean a whole bunch) of people that simply need to be told YOUR story!  They simply need to know that God gave His Son so they don’t have to die and spend eternity separated from Him.  They need you to tell them how lost YOU WERE, but found love, mercy, grace and forgiveness in the arms of a risen Savior!  They need you to tell them how your life has never been the same since He came into your heart!

The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few.  Are you laboring?  If not, that gate to Hell isn’t getting any more narrow.  You know somebody that will walk through it if they die right now.  By all means…don’t let that happen!  Tell ‘em!

Later

Adam

Thankfulness and Praise

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.  — Psalm 100:4

Every time I go to the dentist, I see a Precious Moments picture of a little girl with her head bandaged from her chin to the top of her head and she has a single tear in her eye.  It says “Praise the Lord anyhow.”

Every time I watch award shows, especially “country” music awards, there are artists thanking God like crazy.  “First of all, I’d like to thank God…” you might hear several times.

What is the difference in thankfulness and praise?  You may know already.  You may have just figured it out from my two little examples.  Then again, you may be like me…I was in my 30’s before I figured out that there was a difference.  A BIG difference!

Anybody can be thankful.  Most people can even be thankful to God.  We thank God for all of the things that benefit us.  It is very easy for me to thank Him for my family, my job, my home, my vehicles, my health…all of those things benefit me.  When things are going my way, thankfulness is a piece of cake.

On the other hand, praise is hard.  Praise is similar to thankfulness, but praise can only be given when life is difficult.  If you have a painful toothache with a bandage on your head and a tear in your eye…God is still worthy of praise.

Take the time to read Genesis 29:31-35.  It says that the Lord saw that a woman named Leah was not loved.  Of course she wasn’t.  Her dad had to trick Jacob into marrying her.  She knew that her husband was really in love with her sister.  Her whole life she had been the girl with the “hot” sister.  Her whole life she watched her sister receive all of the attention while she was overlooked repeatedly.  God saw this and apparently didn’t like it.  So he opened Leah’s womb and closed the womb of her sister.  Leah, for a while, was the only one who could make babies for her husband.  Therefore, she did what many young girls and many women do today, she gave herself repeatedly to a man trying to win his affection.

As  you read the names of the children, the names indicate that Leah is caught up in this desperate attempt to fill a need that only God can fill.  She literally gives her children names that mean things like “the Lord has seen my misery”, and “my husband will become attached to me now.”  So far, she has spent at least 3 years carrying heavy loads in an attempt to win her husband who only has eyes for her sister.  That is, until she has her fourth child.  She names him Judah.  Judah means “praise.”  Leah says “now, I will praise the Lord.“  When this child is named, there is no desperate mention that maybe her husband will now love her.  Something has happened.  She has become content in the Lord.  No longer is she willing to carry those loads simply to please a man.  Despite the fact that she is hurting, despite the fact that her circumstances haven’t changed, despite the fact that things aren’t going her way, Leah realizes that she has a God in Heaven who loves her.  She does the only thing any of us can do when nothing seems to be going right in our lives…

Praise the Lord anyhow.

Today, if I have the best day ever…I will give Him thanks.

Today, if nothing goes my way…I will give Him praise.

Will you?

Later

Adam