Wednesday Morning Devotional

Psalm 66:10 For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

So, I had to put this title in all Caps. Not because I’m yelling at you, it’s just that the song that this lyric comes from is one of those scream-o bands. I don’t suggest that the majority of you listen to the song, or even the group, but if you just can‘t help it, the name of the band is Mortal Treason. The name of the song is Khampa Nomads. Check out these lyrics…

My sin

My shame

Takes it’s toll on my heart

Oh how I long to be pure

Purify me Lord

Take my pain away

Purify me

Last Sunday, our preacher talked about Achan in Joshua chapter 7. He talked about how he sinned by taking what was not to be taken and hiding it in his tent. He applied it to us by telling us that we have sin in our church, and that we could deal with it…or God was going to.

Now, the crazy thing is, I heard this coming off of one of the best, most God-filled weeks of my life. So, to be honest, I kind of sat there all smug and was really glad that the preacher wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to those “sinners” and they needed to get right and take care of their junk because they were keeping God from blessing our church. I’m sure you see where this is heading.

Well, the next day, I decided to test myself. I went to Psalm 139:23. I asked the Lord to search my heart and let me know if there was anything in there that was hidden and needed to be brought to the light. It didn’t take long at all for Him to reveal one to me. The next morning, I prayed about helping me deal with that one, but I asked Him to reveal to me anything else in my heart that didn’t need to be there. Well, He revealed something else. The same thing happened on Wednesday, and quite honestly, I began to doubt my salvation. I was full of pride, jealousy, envy….I just stopped asking Him to reveal stuff to me so I could deal with the issues that He had just revealed.

However, this got me to thinking. 10 years ago, if God had brought these things to my mind…I would have told you, and probably Him, that they weren’t that big of a deal…everybody does this kind of stuff. But, as my heart grows more and more in love with Him, they seem as huge walls keeping me from His best. I want these things that separate me from Him gone. Psalm 66:10 gives a great picture of what is happening to me, and what is hopefully happening to everybody that loves God.

You may look at silver and it may appear shiny and pure. But, if you heat it up and melt it, the impurities in the silver will burn away. When you let it cool back to normal, what you have is silver that is pure and untainted. I read a story that said that when a refiner could see his own image in the silver…the silver was pure. Pretty interesting considering we were made in God’s image.

I have been a piece of God’s silver for 20 years now. As I get more and more pure, I simply want more and more of Him. I want to be as valuable to Him as I possibly can. Whatever the trial He sends my way…I realize now that it is to purify me. I think I know why the guy screams it in the song…because being purified is something you have to want. You have to forsake the flow of this wicked world and go after Him with everything you’ve got. It is something that you have to grit your teeth and say “Lord, thy will be done…whatever it is.“ We tend to exaggerate our value and rationalize our impurities. We have to be willing to let God put us over that refiner’s fire and KNOW that when we come out on the other side, we will be even more pure, and even more valuable to Him and to everybody that we come into contact with.

Lord, purify me…even though the fire hurts…I am willing.

Later

Adam

Statistics

Judges 21:25

I’m not a real big fan of statistics.  That probably sounds surprising coming from a math teacher, but statistics are too easily manipulated.  For example, let’s say God used you to lead one person to Him last year.  Now, this year, let’s say you have already led three people to Him.  You could say “I led two more people than last year to the Lord.”  Or, you could say “I had a 200 percent increase in the number of people I led to the Lord in one year!”  Even though they mean exactly the same thing, you have to admit, the second one sounds awesome.

Now, because of statistical manipulation, I am wary of statistics when I see them.  Plus, when people take part in a poll, they can say anything.  But I saw some statistics that kind of blew my mind.  Dr. Thom Rainer wrote a book called “The Bridger Generation.”  He was studying the effectiveness of how the most recent generations are passing on the Gospel to the next generation.  Here were his findings.

Age 65 and older:  65% have trusted Christ alone for their salvation

Age 45 to 64:  It drops to 35%

Age 35 to 44:  It drops to 15%

Age 16 to 34:  It drops all the way to 4%

If these statistics are anywhere NEAR accurate, this means that there is an entire generation that does not know God.  Find the very last verse in the book of Judges and look at what it says.  We have a generation that simply does not know God as their King, and “does what is right in their own eyes.”  What is worse, it means that those who do know Christ are simply not passing it down to the next generation.  This has got to change…like now. 

One of my really good friends just preached a sermon called “stand up.”  If you have time, go to www.goldencornerchurch.org and click on “recent sermons” and listen to Tim McCall’s message.  He talks about how we are too “chicken” to read our Bibles in front of other people.  When people ask us what we’ve been up to, we say lame stuff like “workin’” or “school,”  or just some other stupid simple answer that has absolutely zero eternal value.  We who know God have to start stepping out on faith and pointing others toward Him. We must not remain in the closet.  I would even go as far as to say that a “closet Christian” is NOT a Christian.  Today, ask God who He wants you to tell, and then come up with a plan of action.  The statistics won’t change unless you and I do something about it.

I will leave you with this thought:  You can’t trust God for your salvation, and then turn around and not trust Him with your life.  In other words, if you only prayed to receive Him because you didn’t want to go to Hell, then that is great…for YOU!  If He really has your heart, then you learn to deny yourself and follow Him.  Your primary purpose is to SHOW others through your life that there is a new and awesome life in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Go, and make disciples. (Matthew 28:19)

Later

Adam

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