Wednesday Morning Devotional

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

A Second Touch

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”  — Mark 8:23-24

So, some people bring a blind guy to Jesus.  Jesus spits on the guy’s eyes (good thing he was blind), and puts his hands on him.  Then, Jesus asks “Do you see anything?”  These questions always mess with me.  When Jesus does this, you know that He is trying to teach us something.  You know and I know that He knows the answer.  It’s kind of like those goofy math teachers that ask if a problem is correct…oh…that would be me.

Well, the guy was NOT like one of the other blind men healed by Jesus that just jump up and down, hoot and holler, and run off telling everyone what Jesus had done for him.  He simply says “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”  What in the world just happened?

Here’s the deal.  The guy knew that something had happened to him.  He was glad to be touched.  However, he was not completely delivered.  He only got half-healed.  His sight was not clear…yet!

I believe this is a picture of where so many Christians are right now.  Sure, you know you’ve been saved, you can even pin-point the moment that Jesus touched your life in an awesome way.  Something definitely happened to you.  However, you just still feel a little bit defeated.  You aren’t like the other people that God touched who seem to be thriving, making a difference, and seem to have this all-the-time joy that you don’t have.  Let me go ahead and tell you, it’s because you need a second touch!

Check out verse 25: Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes.  Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly!

Today, will you dare to tell Jesus that you believe you’ve only been half healed?  Ask Him to give you a second touch from His mighty hand.  Tell Him you are willing to give up whatever it is that you are doing that displeases Him.  Tell Him there is nothing more important in your life than Him and His presence.  Receive His forgiveness for your complacency.

It may be that He opened  your eyes the exact same amount that you were willing to surrender.  For example, if you asked Him to forgive you but you knew there was junk in your life that you were going to hold on to, then you were holding back on Him.  Now, He saved you, I don’t want to make this sound like a light thing.  But, if you only half-committed to Him, your eyes may be only half-opened.  Just maybe you are not experiencing total sight.

To this day, I am being convicted of “little” stuff in my life that I have justified as okay.   Some stuff I can’t find in the Bible as being wrong, so it must be okay, right?  WRONG!  I realized pretty quickly that I have got to stop this “find a verse” mentality.  If I am looking for a verse, or the absence of one, to justify my behavior, well it’s probably just plain wrong.  Here’s the cool part though:  Do you know what happens every single time I choose to lay another sin down at His feet?  He opens my eyes even more.  He fills my heart even more with His Spirit.  He gives me cooler stuff to write and preach.

Listen, all I’m saying to do today is examine how much of your life you have surrendered to Him.  On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 is no surrender, 10 is totally surrendered.  Where are you?  What is the number?

If it’s 1 through 9, consider the fact that you might see men as trees walking around.   What is keeping you from seeing clearly?  You know you’ve been touched, but man, you don’t want to live the rest of your life not completely being able to see.

Today and the rest of your tomorrows, give Him your 10 and see!

Later

Adam

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?  — 2 Corinthians 6:14

Spring is finally in the air.  The last nine weeks of school is finally upon us.  Over the years I have discovered a strange thing that happens when Springtime comes…boys and girls start boyfriend/girlfriend relationships like crazy.  Sure, some have been together all along, but many will get these new relationships started in the next month or so.  I remember “back in the day” that I was no different.  Along with Spring seems to come, well, love…or at least what our culture tells us is love.

Over the decades, many have used our main verse for today to teach horrible things.  It has been used as a manipulative tool to promote racism.  Today, I want to suggest a little different take on the words “unequally yoked.”  I don’t really think it has anything to do with the types of animals being yoked, but the pace at which they work.  If one pulls at a faster pace than the other, the plow will simply go in circles.

Now, you know as well as I do that just because someone says they are a Christian does not mean that they are.  Even the Bible says there are wolves in sheep’s clothing.  I don’t mean that to bash anyone in particular, but I see relationships all the time that people think are okay because their partner claims to be a Christian.   In some wrong relationships, parents see that the other person is wrong for them, teachers see it, other family members see it, even friends see it, but the person in the relationship just does not want to see it.  They are blinded by what they believe is love.  Years, months, weeks, and sometimes just days later the blinded person does not even need an “I told you so“ because their crushed heart reminds them constantly.

I am going to tell you how to invest in a rock solid marriage.  Yes, even if you are an unmarried teenager, you are investing in your marriage right now.  Just like a retirement account thrives on good financial decisions up until the point of retirement, a good marriage is based on solid moral decisions up until the day of your marriage.  You can’t live recklessly and expect that it all goes away once you say “I do.”

I believe there are only two things you need to do.  I did not do either during my teenage years, but I hope maybe one or two of you will do what I wish I would have done.  First, you have to learn to be completely content by yourself.  I feel so sorry for the girls and boys I see at school that need someone so desperately.  They constantly fill the void in their hearts with that “feeling” of love.  Unfortunately, it wears off really quickly, and they quickly look for the next guy or girl who will give them their next fix.  You must learn to be completely content without being connected to some boyfriend or girlfriend.  I would suggest taking the “one year challenge.”  If you are single, pick a date and agree to have absolutely no romantic relationships for one year.  You will be amazed at how this clears your mind and heart and frees you to think clearly.  I know…I’ve actually done this one.

During this time, you need to pursue God as hard as you possibly can.  Fill your mind with the Word of God.  This needs to be done through every resource possible:  A church (that you really enjoy), a small group, accountability partners, sermons on tape (if you remember those), sermons on TV, downloaded sermons, reading the Bible, listening to the Bible (You Version), praise and worship music, prayer, fasting…you name it.  Pull out all the stops and hold nothing back.

After one year of this, you will have completely cleared your heart and mind,  You have laid your foundation to truly build your house on the Rock.  Now, you won’t be looking for a partner to fill the void within your heart, God has already filled it.  Now, you will be ready to give to another person and add to the quality of their life as opposed to subtracting what you want from them to get your temporary fix.

If you take these steps, you will be ready for God to bring you the person He has in mind for you.  The process is simple from here.  Simply look around you and find the person who is pursuing God at the same pace.  Refuse to be unequally yoked.

I do understand that almost nobody does it this way.  But, maybe that’s why the Bible calls it “the narrow path.”

Later

Adam

Purification

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.  — 2 Corinthians 7:1

To me, this verse says very simply “you are clean…now get clean.”  How in the world do we do that?

The first part says “since we have these promises…”  What promises?  Well, the verse right before chapter 7 says “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.”  That’s pretty cool!  We are His children!  I would say that other promises are eternal life, forgiveness for sins, a clean heart and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit  Basically, He has handed us perfection, He has given us forgiveness, and He has given us extravagant, undeserved mercy.  We did absolutely nothing on our own to purchase, buy, or earn His forgiveness, it was freely given to us simply because we chose to believe in Jesus and receive His forgiveness.  How cool is that?

Now, since we have these promises, what should we do?  Well, finish the verse:  “let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”  To me, the first part of the verse involves what only God can do, the second part is a little more tricky.  Basically, because God did what He did, we are now capable of purifying ourselves.  If you truly understand what Christ did for you when you asked Him for mercy, you will not only be able to do this…you will want to do this!

Understand that I have no idea what this looks like for you.  Every person’s story is different.  However, I know what it looks like for me.  In no way am I saying I am done with the purification process.  I just want to let you in on my process of purification up to this point in my life in the hope that it will somehow help you with yours.

The first 5 years I was saved there was absolutely no spiritual growth.  In fact, I did the opposite of this verse.  I did things to contaminate my body as well as things that contaminate my spirit.  You would think that after being saved that I just wouldn’t have gone there.  I did know better.  In fact, I didn’t have to be purified from a whole lot of bad things because I had never done them.  Well, I would spend the first 5 years of being saved making sure I had things from which I needed to be purified.

Now that I look back, I think it all stemmed from one simple, but MAJOR misconception.  I thought that I was only saved from Hell.  I didn’t realize that God wanted to save me from sexual immorality.  It never occurred to me that He didn’t want me to bring a whole bunch of filth into my marriage…NEVER once did I even consider that.  I didn’t realize that the video games and music that I fed my mind with actually built this barrier between me and God.  I honestly didn’t think singing about being on a “Highway to Hell” was a conflict of interest to my spirit.  The more religious people told me I couldn’t listen to it…the more I wanted to, and the more I did.  To this day, I have never seen a religious person’s list of manmade rules change one heart…not one.

None of this turned around for me until I actually started to read my Bible.  Approximately 5 years after being saved, I decided to pick it up and actually read it.  I took me 15 months to read the whole thing.  Honestly, I understood probably 1 percent of it.  But, I could not deny that something had happened inside me.  I had this new connection with God.  I began to fight sexual immorality, stuff I used to listen to started to grieve my spirit, certain words just wouldn’t come out of my mouth…things just changed.  I can honestly say I didn’t willfully on my own change a thing…Jesus changed me.

So, what is the best way to purify ourselves?  Well, you have to identify the contaminants first.  It’s two simple questions.  Does this contaminate my body?  And, does this contaminate my spirit?  My latest body contaminant was food.  I went on a nice eating spree that packed on about 15 pounds in a few short months.  I have since lost it.  But, it did reveal how I was on a serious road to contaminating my body.  My latest spiritual contaminant was movies.  Understand that I am not saying “I’m holier than you so you need to do as I do.”  I am simply saying this:  My wife and I used to be movie buffs.  We watched anything and everything that looked entertaining.  Well, I was reading my Bible, continuing to grow in His Word, and we went to see what ended up being a very vulgar movie. For the first time, every time I heard the Lord’s name taken in vain, and every time they boasted of their sexual immorality, I felt contaminated.  On the way home, Tonya and I talked about how we can’t let that stuff filter through us any more.  Nobody made us, it was just a change of heart.

Please understand this:  I am not saying “don’t watch bad movies” and “don’t listen to AC/DC.”  If I did say that, I would be just like the religious people I couldn’t stand who gave me my long lists of “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not.”  I know their intentions were probably good, it just didn’t help.  Instead of giving me the lists, I wish they had told me this: “Adam, spend as much time with the Lord as possible.”  I wish they had told me something simple like “read 1 chapter of the Bible a day.  If you skip a day or two, or even a week or a month, don‘t worry about it…God’s NOT mad at you, just start back.”  Maybe they could have said “take 3 to 5 minutes of every day and make sure there is total silence…simply focus on God and talk to Him.”  These are totally reasonable and totally doable requests.  I realize now that these things were like pure, clean water running through my spirit.  The more this clean water continues to run through my spirit, the easier it is for me to recognize what is unclean.  Now, I don’t have to have some religious person telling me to “stop this” and “stop that.”  When God reveals my sin, I absolutely want to stop.  Sometimes it takes longer than even I think it should, but with His help…sin always gets defeated, victory is won, and there winds up being more room for His Presence in my heart and life.  What a wonderful trade!

I say all that to say this:  In order to purify yourself, don’t focus on behavior modification…just focus on Him.

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

Later

Adam

“God saw all that He made, and it was very good.”  — Genesis 1:31

“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” — Genesis 3:22

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world.  Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” — Romans 5:12

“Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.”  — Romans 5:18

I like the flow of these four verses.  They are the foundational worldview of true Christians.  Man was made good.  Man chose to disobey God.  Sin entered our DNA.  Christ redeemed us from sin.

This Easter, I want to share my little girl’s testimony with you.  I know she is only six years old and you might be thinking “what in the world could be her testimony?”  Well, I’m glad you asked.

It all started one day after Good News Club which takes place after school on Tuesdays.  She brought home these little cards that showed a black heart, which meant full of sin, and a white heart, which meant clean and forgiven.  She looked at me and asked me “Daddy, what color is my heart?”

Now, I am no different than most people.  I wanted to believe at birth that my baby was perfect.  I wanted to believe that there were no flaws in her.  I’m sure I even called her “beautiful and perfect.”  At that moment, everything in me wanted to tell her “baby, your heart is white because you are mine!”  But, that is not what the Bible teaches.  The Bible teaches that she, along with me and everyone else is sinful at birth.  Just check out Psalm 51:5.  So, I told her the truth.  “Baby, your heart…is black.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and she started crying.  It broke my heart.  “Daddy, what do I have to do to make my heart white?”  I couldn’t help but think of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:30, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  And, of course, I couldn’t help but think of the answer in the next verse, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

So, I just went for it.  I told her she had to ask for forgiveness.  She had to ask Jesus into her heart so He could make it white.  I asked her if she wanted to make it white.  She said yes.  So she prayed to God the words I gave her.

“Jesus, I’m sorry for my sinful heart.  Will you make it white?  Come into my heart.  Help me live for you for the rest of my life.  Amen.”

Caroline looks at me and says “Is my heart white now daddy?”

“Yes, baby!  Why do you think it is white?”

“Because Jesus forgives me?”

“Yes.”

To this day, I remind her over and over of that moment.  The day her heart was made white.  When she does wrong, she sometimes wonders if her heart is still black.  I just remind her that her heart is not white because of what she does, but because of what Jesus did for her.  One of the coolest things that came out of this was her great concern for her little brother.  She begged me to “make Jameson pray the prayer of forgiveness.”  I tried to tell her for weeks that God would convict him of his black heart just like He did her.  That wasn’t good enough, so a few months later, I had Jameson repeat the words of her prayer.

“Does Jameson have a white heart now?”

“Yes, baby, he does.”

“Good.”

Happy Easter

Adam

Rise Up (Part 3)

And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear. — 1 Chronicles 11:23

Benaiah killed a huge Egyptian.  This is listed as his last great exploit for which he had become famous.  It also gives us some insight as to how he did it.  Benaiah purposefully went out to fight him with an inferior weapon, a staff.  NIV says “a club.”  The Egyptian had a mighty spear.  Anybody watching would have realized that Benaiah was smaller and fighting with an inferior weapon.  I could go into why Benaiah did this, but by now you’ve probably figured it out.  Benaiah  was simply continuing to pattern his life after David.  He remembered that David fought Goliath with a sling and a stone…a much inferior weapon (or so everyone thought) to Goliath’s sword, which was probably as big as David.  Anyone betting on the fight would have put their money on Goliath.

Today, the world would look at me and laugh…in fact, I have a few that do.  I have learned in 21 years as a Christian to fight with the Word of God.  Incidentally, the Bible calls the Word of God the “Sword of the Spirit.”  (Ephesians 6:17)  This is my weapon of choice.  The Devil is much bigger than me.  He is more powerful than me.  Before I picked my Sword up, he brutalized me.  He constantly brought up my past.  He used hatred, alcohol, pre-marital sex, pornography, discontent and greed to constantly beat me down.  Anybody watching the fight would have put their money on the devil.

Then, one day, I don’t really when it was, I picked up my Sword with the intent of actually using it.  I think I heard the Devil laugh at me in pretty much the same way that Goliath laughed at David.  I read that “He who is in me is greater than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)  It told me that I was God’s child and I could be one who overcomes this world.    Evil, along with the worldly ways that told me I had to have the best of everything and have it right now slowly but surely began to lose out to God’s word.  I began to follow Jesus.  I began to actually do what the Bible teaches.  The more I read, the more I loved Him.  The more I loved Him, the more I wanted to do what was right.  The more I did what was right, the more the devil ran out of fuel to tell me how much I had failed God and let me know how angry God was at me.

I think that was the best part.  I no longer had to do what was right to keep a judgmental, angry God from being mad at me.  I began to want to serve a God who was quick to show mercy to us extremely vulnerable and frail human beings.  I wanted to serve Him.  I saw Jesus as He really was, not filtered through the words of Satan.

So what does all this mean for me and you today?  It means there are battles to be fought.  It means that there is sin to overcome.  It means there are demonic powers that would love to make us a casualty of war.  Sounds kind of scary doesn’t it?  Fortunately, I still have my weapon of choice.  People may call me “simple minded” and say that I‘m “unable to think for myself,” but so far, the Word of God has stood the test of time.  There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing that I have applied to my life that I got from reading the Bible that has not worked!  I see no reason to think it is going to stop working any time soon.

Pick up your sword…read it…live it!

Rise up ye mighty men and women of God!

Later

Adam

Rise up (Part 2)

He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. —  1 Chronicles 11:22

After killing two of Moab’s best men, the Bible records that Benaiah went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.  Why?  Well, remember that Benaiah was using David’s life as a pattern for his own life.  Even though he had probably witnessed the slaying of Goliath with his own eyes, he also heard the stories.  Someone told Benaiah that they heard as a young shepherd, David killed a lion while protecting his flock.  Well, Benaiah wasn’t a shepherd, so he got this idea:  I will go find me a lion and kill it.  This brings about 3 points that I would like to share with you.

First, it was in a pit.  This is a very inconvenient place.  Not only is it dark, it is the enemy’s territory.  It will absolutely never be convenient for us to serve the Lord.  This world is enemy territory.  The devil is still the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) and he utilizes that power against us mightily.  Some say “when I get out of school, I’ll serve him.”  Others say “If I can just get this new job, it will be easier to serve Him.”  Others might even say “If I can just marry this man, I will be able to honor the Lord.”  Some might even say “If I can just divorce this woman, it will be easier to honor God.”  Whatever the excuse…it is never going to be easy to serve God.  Never.

Second, it was on a snowy day.  Visibility was  bad, and it would have been a million times easier to stay inside where it was more comfortable.  Visibility here on Earth is bad.  All we can see is today.  We can reflect on what happened yesterday, but we honestly have no clue what tomorrow, or even the rest of this day is going to bring.  Perhaps this is why James says “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’  As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.”  (James 4:13-16)  Today is the day of salvation.  No more excuses.  If you don’t serve the Lord on purpose each and every day, it’s never going to get more convenient than today.

Last, and this is the best part, he hunted and killed the lion.  Nobody goes looking for a lion, especially in that day where high powered rifles were non-existent.  The Bible says “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8)  What if we turned it around today?  What if instead of living our lives out of control and being completely oblivious to an enemy that is waiting to prey on our weakness, we went on a hunt?  What if we hunted the lion instead of waiting on him to devour us?

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of the devil bringing me down.  I get tired of him pushing me and my family around.  Through Christ…I have the power.  Remember the words?

Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13)

It’s not that I’m that strong, but He who is in me is!  He has overcome this world. (John 16:33)

If you seek to honestly live for Him every day that you exist, I think Benaiah teaches us that it‘s time to go hunting!

Lord, thank you for the cross that gives me access to Your mighty power.  I cancel the devil’s assignment on me, my family, my school, and my friends!  I pray everywhere that I walk today that demonic powers have to dive under my feet as I crush them with every step I take.  Help me stay self-controlled and alert for the rest of my days.  Thank you with all my heart.

Later

Adam

Rise Up You Mighty Man!

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men.  — 1 Chronicles 11:22

Here I come, I’m bout to rise up — Disciple

Benaiah, to me, is the baddest dude (other than Jesus) in the Bible.  The first great exploit that King David gave him credit for was striking down two of Moab’s best men.  Undoubtedly, when Benaiah was younger, he saw a young David rise up and slay Goliath in the name of God.  I can only imagine how this stirred his soul.  If there was a God that would do that kind of thing for people who would truly make a stand in His name, Benaiah was all in.

Benaiah didn’t want to simply go out and slay a mighty warrior as David did.  He wanted more.  When it comes time to fight the Moabites, Benaiah said “Don’t just send one, send two!  In the name of the God of Israel, I will fight your two best men and God will give me the victory!”

This brings about two questions.  Who are the mighty men that you pattern your life after?  Also, what are the giants you need to go after and slay?

One of the first mighty men in my life was a man named Jimmy Boggs.  He was a pastor at Open Door Baptist church.  He had to be the busiest dude on the planet.  Yet, he still took a college student who was all over the place spiritually, sat him down, and taught him how to read and interpret the Word of God.  He taught me that real men love God.  Mighty men do His will.  Mighty men love one woman in marriage as Christ loves the Church.  Real men hunger and thirst for righteousness and forsake the things of this world.  I will forever be grateful for this man of God who is still making disciples today.  I’ll never forget kneeling by my bed and telling God that I’m sorry for being a hypocrite.  I finally put on the armor of God and told Him I was ready to fight for what is right.

Lately, I have been weighed down.  This semester, I have to take 3 graduate level courses and take a Praxis test (the test that you have to pass to be a teacher) even though I’ve been a teacher for 15 years.  I get to do this on top of all of my teaching, coaching, and family responsibilities.  I have to admit, up until today, all of this has defeated me.  It has deflated me spiritually.  I absolutely hate having all 168 hours of the week filled with something to do or somewhere to be.  This is kind of ironic, because up until a few years ago, this was all I knew.  Yes, I have giants in my own life.  But Benaiah teaches me that I can rise up.  I just need to pattern my life after people who have the victory, not losers who bow down to the ways of this world.  I am a mighty man of God!  I can let the world defeat me, or I can overcome the world.  Philippians 4:13 is still in the Word of God…

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!

Later

Adam