Wednesday Morning Devotional

First Love

Revelation 2:1-7

Do you think the majority of Christians are like the ones in Ephesus? I mean, they are doing all the stuff right. They have the deeds, they are working hard and persevering, they don’t tolerate wickedness, and they are even enduring hardships and not growing weary. Yet, there’s one thing wrong: they have forsaken their first love. Is it possible that the majority of Christians are not really in love with Jesus? Is it possible that they are just doing all the stuff that they feel like Christians are supposed to do? How can a person know that he or she really loves Jesus? Answer this question before you read on: Are you in love with Jesus?

I think it’s interesting that the Bible says in verse 4 that “you have forsaken your FIRST love.” Do you remember what it was like when you first fell in love? I do. I became like the biggest moron ever. I would talk about NOTHING all night on the telephone and then do the “no, you hang up“ thing. I would watch the dumbest chick flicks just to sit on the couch with her. I actually hand wrote letters. I didn’t mind spending the majority of my paychecks on dates with her. I used to make fun of people in love until I actually fell in love.

I didn’t love Jesus when I first got saved. I only wanted to NOT go to Hell. In fact, I now realize that I wanted to be able to do everything that the world did…you know…fornicate, drink, cuss, etc. However, just in case I died, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t go to Hell. Think about this…what if Hell wasn’t a part of the equation? Would you still serve Him? If you knew there was no such place as Hell, would you ever read your Bible? Would you ever go to church? If I had honestly believed that when I was sixteen…I probably wouldn’t have even gotten “saved.”

Sometime in my early 20’s God started pursuing me. Think about that…the God of the universe started pursuing ME! When I was just totally using him for my “get our of Hell free card,” He came after ME! All it took was a revival at an old school Church of God. I went, and I truly felt God’s presence. I thought “why in the world would He want anything to do with me?” However, I LIKED His Presence! I liked it a LOT! I liked it enough that I fell in love with Him. I went to church anywhere and everywhere the church doors were opened. I watched preachers on TV. I listened to them on the radio. I read my entire Bible over the next 15 months. I prayed. I took notebooks full of notes. I was in love.

I wish I could say that I kept that fire. I didn’t. Somewhere over the next few years my love for Him faded. Sure, I was still going to church, still reading my Bible, and by all appearances every person who saw me would have said that I was a “good Christian.” I didn’t realize it…but I had lost my FIRST love.

Tonya and I are six months away from being married 10 years. She still makes my heart race. When I know the kids are about to stay at their Nina and Papa’s and Tonya and I have a date planned, I look just as forward to it as I did when we first dated. I still learn new things about her and I love every minute of being married to her. The only way we will stay happily married is if we keep dating, keep learning about each other, and keep doing the things we did when we first fell in love.

The same is true with Jesus. Even though I lost my love for Him and was going through the motions, it was with Tonya that He drew me back to Him again. We went on a “date” to a church service 2 hours away. It was there that God’s Presence was manifested to me again. All I could do was just stand in awe with tears running down my cheeks. I loved it! I loved Him! I fell in love again. I can honestly say, after that experience I never looked back again. He is the first thing I think about in the mornings. I think about Him all day long. If it is possible, I want all of my conversations to be about Him. I used to love to talk about sports, because I loved sports. I used to want to talk about guitars, because I loved guitars. I used to want to talk about video games, because I loved video games. Now, I just want to talk about Him…because I love Him.

Do you?

Later

Adam

Graduation

I just completed my fourteenth year as a teacher.  Tomorrow, I will attend the graduation ceremony of another group of kids I have seen come through our school.  I am always impressed with the “high honor” graduates.  There are a distinct few who take school so seriously, they keep a ridiculously high GPA and receive this honor.  In 1993, I missed being a high honor graduate.  Of course, the lame old line “if I knew then what I know now” certainly applies here.  Within every school year, there is a graduating class that contains great students, good students, poor students (who do meet minimum graduation requirements), and quitters.  Which one were you?  If you are still in school, which one are you on track to be? 

I can’t help but think about my own little girl.  She just finished up pre-school this year.  As one group is graduating this year, my little girl will be starting the entire process this August.  If the Lord is willing, in thirteen years, I will be attending my own daughter’s high school graduation.  This is pretty amazing when I think that she made it to 5 years old awfully fast. 

In James 4:14 it says “what is your life?  It is a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.”  The Bible flat out tells us that life is short.  I am about to be 36 years old in a few weeks.  I actually remember being in the third grade watching the clock and saying to myself “I am NEVER going to get out of school!”  School days seemed so long.  The next 9 years seemed like they would never end.  But, they did end.  I try my best to teach students about the brevity of life and teach them to enjoy every stage and never wish their lives away.  Here is how I break down the stages for them:

0-4 Pre-School
5-10 Primary (Elementary) School
11-13 Middle School
14-17 High School
18-21 College
22 – 52  Work
53 –  ??  Retirement

I know this sounds morbid, but in doing this I teach them Psalm 90:12: Teach me to number my days that I might gain a heart of wisdom.  Once they realize they’ve already gone through stages of life that they’ll never get back, many of them take their current stage more seriously.  I am actually half-way through my “work” stage as of right now.  I have completed 14 of the 28 required years in the South Carolina Education system.  Once again, if the Lord is willing, I will graduate work.  Then, I will retire.  Then, if my dream comes true, I’ll preach the Word during my “retirement” years with my wife.  However, here is the part so few people think about; after I retire…I will expire.  I will graduate life as I know it on this planet.

When I graduate life, I want to be a high honor graduate.  I want to have served the Lord with my whole heart.  I want to have forsaken the pleasures of this world for the presence of God on my life.  I want to have learned to stand in this sinful world where 99% of the population simply bows down to the gods of laziness, rage, money, lust, and drunkenness.  I want to have led hundreds, maybe thousands to Christ.  I want to have been a bright light in this dark, wicked world.  I want my life to have meant something.  I don’t want to be a quitter.  In fact, I want to have confidence when I stand before Him that I know Him, that I love Him, and know that I never forsook Him.  Recently, I saw a verse that tells me that this can happen.  Check it out:

And now dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.  If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.  — 1 John 2:28-29

If you were to graduate life right now, would you have confidence? 

If the answer is no, repent and start all over today…do what you know is right, no matter what the cost is to you.  Then, simply continue IN HIM!  Then, long after we have expired, we will together and for all eternity rejoice and exalt the one who completed the great work He started in us.

Later

Adam

Exponential Growth

One shall put a thousand to flight, two shall put ten-thousand to flight. — Deuteronomy 32:30

I know this title sounds mathematical and nerdy. I guess in a sense…it is! Exponential growth is an awesome thing. Here is how it works: say you had a job offer. You were only going to work for 21 days. The boss offers you $200 per day as option 1. For option 2, he offers you 1 penny the first day, 2 pennies the second day, 4 pennies the third day, 8 pennies the fourth day…and so forth. Which offer would you take? Well, when I first heard this problem, I was like…duh, I’d take the $200 per day and get paid a cool $4,200 for 21 days. Sweet, right? WRONG! If you take the pennies, you make over $10,000 on the 21^st day alone! You would actually make a grand total of $20,971.51 for that 21 days of work. Exponential growth is powerful.

Consider 2 raised to the n power. This means 2 to the first is 2, 2 to the 2^nd is 4, 2 to third is 8, 2 to the fourth is 16, and so forth. Think about starting with any number, then doubling that, then doubling that, then doubling that…etc. The numbers get big quickly! That is exponential growth.

So, why the math lesson? Well, the best I can figure, WMD goes out to about 2,500 people. That is just from my distribution lists alone. I know of people who forward it on to 100 or more people. For this illustration, I want to just use my 2,500. Let’s say that 1,000 of these are really in love with Jesus and have Him on their lives like crazy. If each one of those 1,000 people invested in 1 person that was not a Christian for the rest of 2011, not just told them about God, but really became friends with them and showed them what God is like, I guarantee you they would want the same Jesus that you had living inside of you…it is just that contagious. If you won them, that would make 2,000 real deal believers. Now, if you, and your new convert spent 2012 doing the same thing, that would make 4,000. If the 4,000 of you spend 2013 making 4,000 more, we are up to 8,000 believers. I will finish it out in chart form.

2014 16,000

2015 32,000

2016 64,000

2017 128,000

2018 256,000

2019 512,000

2020 1,024,000

2021 2,048,000

2022 4,096,000

2023 8,192,000

2024 16,384,000

2025 32,758,000

2026 65,536,000

2027 131,072,000

2028 262,144,000

This means that in the next 18 years, if the Lord tarries that long, the entire United States could be evangelized by every person telling one person a YEAR! You know that 18 years ago there were 1,000 real deal Christians…the real question is: Why hasn’t every person in America become a Christian by now? Because too many Christians NEVER talk about this stuff outside of church. Because too many Christians haven’t come out of the closet. Most only have “religion” so they only go to church on Sunday…maybe Wednesday, and never really give God another thought on the other days of the week. We live in a time where gay rights groups feel free to let everybody know what they want and how they feel about us “intolerant“ Christians. Atheist groups are becoming more and more blatant in their attacks against Christianity. Groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation and ACLU are on the prowl stomping out every Christian spark they can find. I think it is time that Christians come out of the closet as well. It is no longer up to the preachers and the churches to evangelize. It is up to US! How hard would it really be to invest in one person’s life this year and tell them the Good News about Jesus? You could show them kindness like they’ve never seen…especially to the people who aren’t kind to you. You could show them a work ethic done “as unto the Lord.“ You could show them what it looks like to be quick to forgive. You could show them how you don’t participate in the dirty jokes and the trash mouth language the others use. You could show them Jesus and how He lives in you! Then, when you win them, spend time equipping them with the Gospel and the “how to” of going out and telling others. Then, start the whole process over again with someone else. Wouldn’t it be great to see America become a Christian nation again?

Go, and make disciples! — Matthew 28:19

Later

Adam

Where is This “Coming” He Promised?

2 Peter 3:4

So, I get up at 5:34 am on Sunday May 22, and…I’m still here. Judgment Day once again has been postponed. I am one of the ones that does believe there will be a rapture of the church before the official “Second Coming.” However, before I even attempt to get into this, I want you to know, this is not vital to your salvation. Salvation comes by receiving Christ, and that is that. I sometimes feel like the ONLY person that is totally cool with Him doing whatever He wants in these last days however He wants to do it. If He wants to take me, fine, if He wants to leave me, fine. Either way, He has promised to never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). You can find some of the best preachers on the planet to support literally anything you want to believe about the unfolding of end time events. Whatever you believe, just make sure you know why you believe it and aren’t just taking some other “smart” preacher’s word for it. Read the scriptures for yourself, then decide. Here is why I believe there will be a rapture of the church.

First, I believe in the rapture because of Enoch. I know that when most people get to Genesis chapter 5, they start skimming. However, if you will read it closely, you will read about a bunch of people that lived a bunch of years…then died. However, in verse 21 the words are different. There is a dude named Enoch that didn’t “die,” but all of a sudden “was not, for God took him.” All of this is apparently because “Enoch walked with God.” Simply put, Enoch daily walked in obedience to God. Hebrew 11:5 expands on it a little more: “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death. He could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.” Now, this is just me personally, but if we did not have a chance for the same thing to happen to us…I don’t think God would have put that in the Bible.

Secondly, I’m going to use the ever so now famous Matthew 24:36…”But of that day and hour, no man knows.” A few verses later in verse 42, we have a warning about that day and hour: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Then, in verse 44 it says to “be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour that you do not expect Him.” The Bible is clear that there is a suddenness and unexpectedness that surrounds His coming. I hope everyone can at least agree on that! Here is where the problem lies (with me anyway), if “no man knows,” and it is “sudden and unexpected,” how come John in the book of Revelation gave us a way to count it down? If people are able to see that the Antichrist is setting himself up in the holy temple and making himself God, the countdown is on. Revelation 12:6 just goes ahead and gives you the number of days…1,260 (which is 3 ½ years) I just think that is weird that God would tell us that it is unexpected and sudden, then turn around and give us a way to count it so that anybody could if they wanted to. I think God clearly differentiates between a Rapture of the church and His official Second Coming. Once again…that’s just me and what I get from reading the Word for myself.

Lastly, and this is my favorite reason, real deal Christians are the “light of the world,” and “the salt of the Earth.” But, what if the Earth loses it’s saltiness? (Derived from Matthew 5:13-14) People don’t understand this, but it is Christians…real Christians, that preserve this Earth. Could you seriously imagine this World without true, Godly Christians? The world thinks that if they could just get rid of us “narrow minded,” “hypocritical,” “intolerant” Christians that the world would be a better place. Well, one day, I believe that God will give them exactly what they want. He will remove those that really love Him, and the world will find that unrestrained sin is not all that it is cracked up to be.

Now, if you made it this far in the devotional…once again, these are my opinions and my interpretations. I don’t have any formal schooling, don’t know Greek and Hebrew, I am just an ordinary dude serving an extraordinary God. I am totally cool with being wrong. People would do well to remember that the first time Jesus came, EVERYBODY thought He would come as a lion to rule the World…but He came as a sacrificial lamb. God gets to do what God wants to do!

I do want to throw one more thing at you. On Saturday, May 21^st, when the world was supposed to be ending, I got the privilege of being a “street corner” preacher. A group of churches go out into the street and give the homeless and much less fortunate people the Word of God, then something to eat. When I stepped up to preach, God was on me like never before…if I counted right 15 people got saved and made things right with Him. This tells me that there are still ridiculous amounts of people that simply need to be told that sin separates us from God, but He made a way through His Son that we might be saved.

Which should concern us more? The fact that He is coming again? Or, the fact that people aren’t ready if He does?

I choose to focus on the latter. I choose to be a living Bible that people can read. I choose to focus on other people knowing Him instead of myself being “saved from the coming destruction.“ If I am busy about the business of the King and bringing others to repentance and the saving knowledge of Him, the former will take care of itself in His time!

Charles Spurgeon said “if you do not care that there are lost people who need to be saved, you are NOT saved yourself!”

Later

Adam

Now I KNOW!!!

1 Kings 17: 8 – 24

On a scale from one to ten, how convinced are you that God REALLY does exist? I don’t think that it is possible for somebody to absolutely, 100%, without a shadow of a doubt, PROVE that He does exist. I read this book a while back called “The God Delusion” by THE most revered atheist, Richard Dawkins. Let me tell you, do NOT read this book unless you want to know what a blood transfusion from Hell feels like! When I finished, my spirit just had this sick feeling and it took a lot of WORD and a lot of PRAYER for it to go away. Richard did make this statement though “I can’t prove to you that there isn’t a God any more that you can prove to me there IS.” I think He’s right. He has chosen to live his life without God. I’ve chosen to go all in and follow Him and His Word. I feel like I know I’m right, but Richard also “knows” that he is right. We are equally convinced on opposite ends of the spectrum.

I love to hear people say “Is there anything God CAN’T do?” Most people say “God can do ANYTHING!” I understand the motivation behind this. However, just read Titus 1:2: God can not tell a lie! If anybody asks me this question, I say “of course, God can’t make a world where every person has free will and have every person CHOOSE to love and follow Him.” So, what does it take to be a 10?

The lady in the story met Elijah in a strange way. He just came waltzing up to her and said “hey, give me some water and bread.” She said “I’ve only got enough for me and my kid to have one more meal.” Elijah said “no problem, give me some, then make you and your kid some, then the flour and oil will not run out until rain falls again in the land.” Well, by faith, she did it! True to Elijah’s word, the flour and oil lasted for quite some time. Here is what is fascinating, even though she experienced this miracle, it didn’t make her faith a 10.

Some time later, her boy got sick and died. She was pulling all the “Why God’s” and “Why did you come?” and “What did I do to deserve this?” No different that you or I would do. However, Elijah took the boy, prayed for him three times, then the boy came back to LIFE! Notice verse 28: “Now I KNOW that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth.” NOW, she was a 10. She experienced God in a real and tangible way and she was sold out to God.

So, if you’re not a 10, what will it take? What would you need God to do? We see God at work all around us! We see trees growing, we see people being saved (hopefully you do), we see the Sun that HE placed 93 million miles away rising and setting. We see the beautiful moon He put up there a quarter of a million miles away. We see the stars that He made. Just check YOURSELF out, it is amazing the things going on in your body just to function. You really are fearfully and wonderfully MADE! (Psalm 139:14) The Bible says we were made from dirt. Well, when we die, we turn back to dirt. That should be enough to convince us right there. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to make every believer a 10. It wasn’t for me. I had to have God do something for ME personally. I had to experience Him and watch Him work on my behalf. Then, and only then, I became a 10.

God KNOWS what you need! God knows the desires of your Heart! The big question is: Are you SEEKING Him? And, if the answer is yes, are you seeking Him with ALL your heart? Jeremiah 29:13 says “You will seek me, AND FIND ME, when you seek me with all your heart.”

God is not afraid of your questions. Ask Him whatever you like. Ask Him to show Himself real to YOU! If you aren’t a 10, ask Him to make you a 10. The answers come when you are consistently reading the Word, consistently talking to Him, consistently filling your head with the things of Him, and, here’s the clincher, FOLLOWING Him! This includes DOING the things He asks you to do, and NOT DOING the things He asks you NOT to do!

Here is what I know: His ways are DEFINITELY not our ways! When I was dating lots of different girls, He asked me to stop and follow Him for one year! I did, and I met the woman who would be my wife one year later! When He asked me to do my best at a job I didn’t really like, I did, a few years later He made me District Teacher of the Year! When we were trying to get pregnant for a third time after two miscarriages, we were questioning Him like crazy, much like the widow in the story. When we said “we’ll serve you if you NEVER give us children”….He gave us two!

Those are just a few of the things have made MY faith a 10! I can tell you the stories, but they won’t help YOU be a 10.

Go after Him with all your heart, seek Him and never look back. Give Him your entire life, not just the parts that come easy. You’ll find out, He is real, He does care, and He loves you more than you’ll ever know! It won’t be long at all………..

You’ll be a 10!

Later

Adam

Forgiven Much

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven–for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” — Luke 7:47

When I got saved as a 16 year old kid at Calvary Baptist Church in Salem, SC…I wasn’t really that bad of a kid. I had always gone to church. I had always pretty much done what was right in school. I had always pretty much honored my parents. I just didn’t do a lot of stuff wrong. Even though it felt great to ask for forgiveness and be clean, looking back, I didn’t think I was that dirty to begin with. Everybody told me how good of a kid I was, and by the world’s standards, I was. I guess it just wasn’t that hard to believe those people. I was a good kid who had asked for God to forgive me. Therefore, I deserved to go to Heaven. God, if He made me, at least owed me a way into Heaven. Writing this now, I cringe, but back then as a teenager, this is what I thought.

Reading this story in Luke 7, I can now see myself on both sides of the table. For several years I was the Pharisee who just had Jesus in my house. He was near, and He was available for me when I needed Him. I would look at other people crying and weeping at His feet and think they were just weird. They should have been like me…gone to church, stayed out of trouble, and they would have been fine…like me.

So, here I was, a forgiven, born-again Christian. I had asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and come into my life and make me a Christian. Within a few months of making the best decision of my life, I started making the dumbest decisions of my life. Over the next five to six years, if I didn’t think I was in need of any kind of serious forgiveness, I’d make up for it. All of a sudden, it was important for me to be “cool.” Following God just wasn’t “cool.” To hang out with the “cool” crowd you had to cuss. To fit in with the “cool” crowd you had to have a girlfriend. Of course, if you were 16 years old and hadn’t had sex yet, you were a loser. If you didn’t do some underage drinking, being cool was impossible. Every single time these “opportunities” were presented to me, the Spirit inside me told me not to go there. I can still remember the conviction and how God asked me, but did not force me, to do the right thing. After years of rejecting the leading of the Holy Spirit repeatedly, I felt so empty and lost. I certainly didn’t feel “cool.”

At this point, I was in no man’s land. I definitely moved out of the Pharisee’s seat. I was in no position to look down on the people weeping and crying at the feet of Jesus. In fact, I began to wonder if He could ever accept me like that. When I didn’t think I was that bad, I could see Him forgiving me. However, I didn’t know what He did to people who willfully reject Him. All of a sudden, I was one of the people that deserved Hell. I absolutely knew not to do the things I had done, and I did them anyway. Was there really mercy and forgiveness for me?

For years I stayed here. I went to church, I read my Bible, but I was one defeated Christian. I was just doing “good,” whatever that means, in an attempt to earn His favor back. I wanted to “make right” the sinful things I had done. At the end of the day, I just saw my Heavenly Father as really disappointed in me. I saw myself as never going to be “good” enough.

Then, I met Tonya. After we had been together for almost two years, I wanted to marry her. She was the best follower of Jesus that I knew. I had never told her of my past…especially the sex outside of marriage stuff. I just knew that if she knew, I was finished…she would leave. As much as I didn’t want to tell her, I had to. Looking back, telling her might have been the best thing I’ve ever done. Here I am telling her everything (minus the details…of course), and I begin to cry. Then, she begins to cry. She simply asks me this: “Have you asked God to forgive you?” I said “I ask Him all the time.” She said “stop doing that.” I said “why in the world would I do that?” She said “If you have asked Him to forgive you, He has! I forgive you, too! From this day on, let’s go forward together and never look back!”

There it was…a picture of His mercy and grace. If she could so easily forgive me, did I really think God couldn’t? Was my future wife more forgiving that God Himself? No way! At that moment I realized I had been forgiven the whole time. He loved me. In fact, I was hurting Him more by living in defeat. The floodgates were opened and I became the sinful woman at the feet of Jesus. I could not stop praising Him and worshipping Him. I still can not believe how good He is to me.

I now love Him much. But even then, my love is just a cup of water from the ocean.

His love is the ocean!

How much do you love Him?

Later

Adam

Opportunities

…making the most out of every opportunity… — Ephesians 5:17

I‘m still amazed when someone tells me they really appreciate my “ministry.” I guess I’ve heard it enough now that I actually think of WMD as a ministry. I’ve heard people say God “called” them into the ministry. That sounds so cool, but I can‘t say that. I never had a moment that I just knew this was what I was to do.

For me, everything good in my life started with a simple act of obedience. For example, I met my wife because I obeyed God and left my bar/party band. I didn’t want to…I loved playing AC/DC and Metallica tunes. But, because of that simple act of obedience, I was in church on a Friday night singing to the Lord as opposed to playing in a bar with my old friends. There was a lady in that church that wanted to “set me up” with a nice girl. A VERY long story short…I met Tonya a week later.

In another example, I was never “called” to preach. I got this opportunity to preach once a month at a Methodist church. The only reason I said yes was because I had 2 sermons that I really wanted to preach. This was my chance. However, I never really thought just how fast my two sermons would run out. I quickly had to learn to depend on God, which is exactly what He wanted. I would preach to anywhere from 5 to 20 people. For whatever reason, that never seemed insignificant to me at all. If I was going to pull off one sermon a month, I had to study the Bible. I had to pray. I had to ask God for direction. I had to ask Him for a topic. I had to listen to other preachers preach. God threw me in the fire, made me depend on Him, and grew me like crazy at that little Methodist church. The progression has been amazing…I preached for less than 20 people. Then, when that season was over, I just started getting opportunities and found myself preaching for a hundred people. Then, this past December, I stood before close to 500 people and brought the Word of God…Amazing. Never once, did I ask for any of it. He just keeps putting me in these positions. As of right now, I’ll preach at Boone’s Creek Baptist in Salem on May 29^th. Then, I’ll preach at Golden Corner Church in Walhalla on June 19^th. The ONLY reason I’m not freaking out about this is because of how He has grown me. I know He will give me His words and He will be glorified…not me.

WMD just blows my mind. The first WMD was a small paragraph sent to 5 other people. All I knew was that God wanted the few teachers who said they were Christians to start doing their jobs for Him. He wanted us to start living our lives better for Him. I can’t speak for the other teachers, but this totally changed my life and the atmosphere of where I work. Almost two and a half years later, here I am at my computer at 6:45 a.m. on Spring Break writing another WMD. I woke up, and the Spirit told me exactly what to write. He wants someone out there to take advantage of some opportunity that they’ve been given.

So, what is it? Is He asking you to lead a small group Bible study? Is He asking you to invest in someone’s life? Is He asking you to sacrificially love your husband or wife REGARDLESS of the fact that you may not be loved in return? Is He asking you to write for Him? Sing for Him? Volunteer at church for Him? Maybe He is simply asking you to give up dating. Maybe He is asking you to give up a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship so that you might really develop your relationship with Him and allow Him to bring to you the person He made for you. Maybe He is asking you to remove yourself from a friend or group of friends that “change” you. When you are around them you talk different, act different, and just do things you would not do on your own. Is He asking you to ditch them?

Now, you might be asking…If I do this, where does that leave ME? I know, I know. It left me at home on many weekends alone with my guitar and my Bible, so I sang praises to the Lord and read His Word. It left me going to every church revival I could find. It left me watching old Billy Graham Crusades on TBN. It left me listening to hundreds and hundreds of sermons on tape. It left me growing in the Lord. I’m so thankful for those seasons of life that everybody else would call “boring.“ Check out this last verse which sums it all up…

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” — Hebrews 12:11

I remember standing on the platform at Golden Corner Church and seeing probably 75 hands raised in the air. Every hand represented a person who had just made things right with the Lord.

A harvest of righteousness that started growing years and years before from a simple act of obedience!

Later

Adam

Who Owes Who?

Just randomly out of the blue someone asked me a question. They said “If someone really hurt a member of your family, like your kids, would you forgive them?” Now, my mind went to all the extremes of someone hurting my little man, my little chick, and/or my wife. At first, I thought that I’d hurt them back, you know…make ‘em PAY! They deserve punishment…they OWE me! Then, I thought that maybe if they got down on their knees and begged my forgiveness and tearfully apologized, I mean, if I saw true repentance…I’d forgive them. Then, I read a Bible Story and a Bible verse that changed my opinion about the whole thing. In fact, it changed my whole LIFE! I hope it changes yours.

In 2 Samuel 11-12 we read the story of David’s sin with Bathsheba. If you have ever thought you could not be saved because of something you did that was bad…you really need to read about what David did. The famous giant slayer became the infamous adulterer. He got another man’s wife pregnant, then committed first degree murder in an attempt to cover it all up. Not only did he commit adultery and murder, other innocent men were killed in the process (2 Samuel 11:17).

Several months went by before David was sorry. Basically, a preacher came by and told him a story. David was convicted of his sin, and he repented. David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 12:13) When you continue reading that verse, you find that God’s forgiveness was immediate. However, in verse 14, even though David is told that he himself will not die for his sin, he is told that his little baby boy will die. The baby got sick. David fasted, prayed, and pleaded with the Lord to spare his life, but the child still died. Who harmed David’s baby boy? God did, but only because payment had to be made for David‘s sin. Remember? The wages of sin…is death! (Romans 6:23)

I hated this story for a long time. When Tonya’s first two pregnancies ended in miscarriage, I thought when I read this story that it meant my babies were dying because of some things I’d done in my past. I thought God was paying me back. However, when I played the comparison game, I didn’t think I deserved it. I mean, I didn’t do anything as bad as David! I didn’t do anything as bad as other people that were having completely healthy babies (then not taking care of them). It turned me really bitter for a while.

Then came the day when I “got it.” I personalized Isaiah 53…”He was pierced for MY transgression, He was crushed for MY iniquity, the punishment that bought ME peace was upon Him, and by His wounds I am healed. I, like sheep, have gone astray, I turned to MY own way: and the Lord laid on Him MY iniquity. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth…Yet it was the Lord‘s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer.”

So, back to the original question…would I forgive? I don’t really have a choice…I have to! I have already harmed another person’s kid. Look what I did to Jesus…God’s kid.

Anybody that says to someone who has harmed them or one of their family members “I’ll kill them, I’ll pay them back, they owe me…blah, blah, blah” does not understand the forgiveness that they received when they repented of their sins, placed them upon Jesus, and asked the Lord to forgive them and come into their heart. You don’t just ask for forgiveness and He says “Sure, no problem!” and that’s that.

It goes more like this. I repented of my sins when I was 16 years old. Just like David in 2 Samuel 12:13 I confessed “I have sinned against you, Lord.” From now on, every time I repent of a sin, I finish verse 13 and 14 this way and pretend this is God‘s response to me…”Yes, but I have forgiven you, Adam, and you won’t die for your sin. But, because you have done this, Adam…MY child, my one and only perfect Son, Jesus, died!”

Nobody owes me anymore.

Nobody will ever owe me anything.

I owe Him everything!

This Easter season, thank Him. Then, thank Him again for what He did.

Later

Adam

Jude 1:11 “Woe to them, they have taken the way of Cain”

Genesis 4: 1 – 15

Last week, I told you how I responded to God about work. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but Cain didn’t respond to God at all which, I guess, was a response. In fact, sin got Cain, just like God said it would if he didn’t respond in the right way. I have learned from this story that my responses to God determine everything about my future. At this point of the story, Cain is at a crossroads. He has to choose a path: repent and follow God, or stay in his anger and let sin “have him.” Cain is a perfect picture of all the wrong responses. Instead of responding to God in repentance, Cain chose to remain in his anger. Another interesting thing about this point in the story? Nothing major has happened. Nothing has been harmed except for Cain’s ego. Unfortunately, Cain’s poor response caused major harm…he murdered his brother. The innocent was slain because of the sin of another. Sound familiar?

Now, remember that we are talking about the “way” of Cain. Jude 1:11 says “Woe to you who take this way!” It is a stern warning. Let’s look at Cain’s second chance to respond to God. You would think that after murdering Abel, God would just lay the smack down on him. You’d think that God would just slowly torture him and give Cain a nice slow, painful death (good thing I’m not God!) Look at what God does…He gives him another question: “Where is your brother, Abel?” Now, just like the “Where are you, Adam?” we talked about a couple of weeks ago, God knows where Abel is. However, this isn’t about where Abel is, this is about Cain’s response. Isn’t it amazing how God gives us chance after chance even when we don‘t deserve it? So, how does Cain respond?

This is the part that scares me about this generation, especially those in middle school through college. There is such little respect for authority that it is really scary. The majority of kids talk to their parents like they are garbage and give them very little respect. Now, if they talk to their parents like this, I get to be the next in line because we teachers get to be disrespected next. I mean, if they talk to mom and dad like that, do you really think they are going to automatically go to school and respect authority there? Then, many of these kids drop out, or barely graduate from school and then soon show up in the arrest reports. They didn’t respect mom and dad, then they didn’t respect teachers and principals, and then they didn’t respect the LAW! Surely, they’ll respect God though, right? Wrong!

Cain’s response is the most brazen example of arrogance that I know of in the Bible. Listen to the cocky arrogance in his voice as he responds to the Almighty God…”I don’t know! Am I supposed to keep track of him wherever he goes?” In the Salem Standard Version he says “I don’t know! He’s YOUR favorite…YOU go find Him!” What an attitude! Do you see why this is scary? This is so prevalent in the present day and time. We are the generation who is OWED a living. We are the ENTITLED generation. Everything should just be given to us and we should have to do NOTHING for it!

Now, I don’t really want to talk about this, but God wants me to, so I hope that this helps some marriages out there. Here is what this part of Cain’s story looked like for me. Before I asked Tonya to marry me, I basically told her that playing golf was number one in my life. I told her that I didn’t want any whining about me going to play all the time…it’s just what I did, and she would have to be cool with it. Tonya has always been a human “picture” of God to me. She acted cool with my arrogance and just loved me and was patient with me. Well, during the first few years of our marriage, I still treated it like a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. I made absolutely no sacrifices for her…I didn’t help clean, in fact, I rarely helped at all. When I did happen to do something around the house, I expected some sort of medal from her or some sort of praise or something. Eventually, in the coolest way she could, she started pointing these things out to me. Of course, I responded with “you know baby… You are right! You’re always right! Thank you for showing me the error of my ways.” …NOT! I stewed in resentment. I thought of all the ways she was LUCKY to have me. I was mad at the lack of her appreciation of me. At this point, I had a choice. I could either let this resentment destroy my marriage, or I could start loving her as God has loved me! It put me on this journey of figuring out what it looked like for me to truly have a sacrificial love for her. I read books on marriage, and I asked people who had good marriages what they did. I discovered a lot of things and started putting them into practice. Long story short…my selfishness was about to destroy our marriage. It was when I started doing my part that things changed. Looking back, I can’t believe that I thought she needed to change and just accept me and my selfish ways. Of course I did because this required NO CHANGE and NO EFFORT on my part. Years later, I can not tell you how awesome it is being married to Tonya Hopkins. She is by far the best thing that has happened to me outside of salvation. However, the road to a great marriage started with ME…not her! Just like Cain, I was faced with a choice…humble myself and submit to God and my wife, or stay arrogant and let sin “have me” and my marriage.

All Cain had to do was say “I’m sorry, I did what you told me not to do and I killed my brother…I’m sorry!” Instead, we read this arrogant response that is now serving as a warning to those who are taking “the way of Cain.”

The world does not need one more person who behaves like Cain. It needs someone who will wholeheartedly submit themselves to Christ and SHOW others what God looks like! Please, please, please, if you recognize any of the Cain attitude in any area of your life…repent and start brand new today!

Later

Adam

The way of Cain (part 1)

Jude 1:11 “Woe to them, they have taken the way of Cain”

Genesis 4: 1 – 15

In the small book of Jude, there is a warning for people who have a certain attitude. There is a warning against people who have a certain “way” about them. When I studied this “way,” I was shocked at the comparisons of this generation and “the way of Cain.” The really interesting thing is that this warning comes right before the book of Revelation. I think it is kind of a hint to us that right before the end time events unfold, or perhaps while they are unfolding, people will have this “way” about them. So, what does “the way of Cain” look like?

After the fall of mankind in chapter 3, the next time we hear God speak is a question to Cain: “Why are you so angry?” Cain was angry because his offering wasn’t accepted and Abel’s was. It’s pretty obvious to me that God really cares about our attitudes when bringing offerings to Him. Proverbs 21:27 says that “God loathes the sacrifice of an evil person, especially when it is brought with ulterior motives.” WOW! You’d think that God would be cool with anybody bringing SOMETHING to Him, I mean, at least they are acknowledging Him, right? Wrong! If my heart isn’t right, God doesn’t want anything from me nor does He want me to do anything for Him…in fact, I make Him sick if I even try. It is so easy to be a member of the Laodicean church in Revelation 3. You go and act all good and give off the appearance of being hot on Sunday, then Monday through Saturday live as cold as you want. Jesus says “Be one way or the other…ALL the time!” (Salem Standard Version, of course)

Cain was angry because God didn’t accept his half-hearted effort. After he saw Abel’s offering being accepted, he played the “what makes him so special?” game. Oh man, this game is easy to play, and unfortunately it feels good to play. You get to point out all of the other person’s flaws to God and try to convince Him that they are no better than you. You get to find others who give half-hearted effort and slander and spew insults about the ones doing it right…it’s a really fun game to play, but in the end, God is not going to accept you or your offering. He tells us how to correctly respond in Genesis 4:7: “You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must master it.” I love this verse…I learn to master sin, or sin masters me! Personally, I have decided that, with God’s help, I can and will master sin!

Now, let me tell you what this looked like for me a few years ago. I remember sitting in our awards ceremony at the school where I work. I had just watched a teacher have the yearbook dedicated to them. I thought to myself “I’ve been here longer than that person, why didn’t I have it dedicated to me?” Soon after that, the Teacher of the Year award was given to a teacher that was not me. I thought, “what makes them so special? How come I’ve been here 10 years and never been teacher of the year?” A week or two later at our sports banquet, I watched the Coach of the Year award be handed out. The coach of the year was, once again, not me. Now, I began to think of all of the reasons that I was better than all of them. I can only imagine how putrid I smelled to God (and I wondered why He seemed so far away). However, God asked me in a similar way that he asked Cain “Are you giving me your best?” At first, I responded by telling God how I was better than those others who were chosen, but it didn’t take long before I saw the half-heartedness in just about everything I did. I wanted to master sin so I told God I was sorry, and I went for it. In two years I became a completely different worker. I discovered two things. One, I love my job when I do it for Him. Two, if I’m doing my job for Him, I do not need or even want human rewards or recognition. The joy I have in the Lord is more than enough.

However, just to show His sense of humor, in 2010, He gave me all three of those awards I coveted just a few years before.

So, if you claim to be a Christian, what is your attitude about work? If you’re a student, what is your attitude about school? Do you do it to honor God? Are you giving your best? Most people are taking the way of Cain. They are giving God SOMETHING, but not their best, then complaining about the ones who do give their best. Our generation wants maximum reward for minimum effort. Unfortunately, you don’t get credit for just “showing up.” You get a real deal relationship with God for giving your ALL!

Later

Adam