Reach Out and Touch

“Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.”

Matthew 8:3

 

Very few people like those automated phone systems

You know the type where it starts out by asking you to touch one for language choice.

Then you are further instructed to touch 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 for such and such.

That menu selection takes you to yet another sub-menu.

Touch…and so on until finally we get the option to touch 1 for an operator.

No hesitation there, when we have a problem  that needs to be resolved, we all want to talk to a real person.

Those canned choices just don’t bring a resolution.

I believe the days of the huge and distant mega-ministries and campuses are numbered.

Just as Jesus did, the Kingdom of God meets and touches people where they.

I know there are many television ministries that can point to wonderful testimonies of when God has miraculously healed someone when a Word of Wisdom and a prayer of healing was given over the airwaves.

I don’t deny or diminish that work of God.

But, like the canned phone system, it can be very sterile and does not touch people for Christ in the same way that you and I can.

Make no mistake, I am not calling technology evil or opposed to the advancing of the Kingdom using all available technologies.

But when all is said and done, it cannot do what you and I are called to –

Touching lives for Christ and letting His divine touch minister as no technology can!

 

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—

this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”

I John 1:1

Are You Ready to Leave the Cocoon?

“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Mark 16:15

 

 

How much of the world would you guess, does a Caterpillar get to see in their lifetime?

A lifetime which is anywhere from only a few weeks to,

at most, several months depending on the climate that caterpillar is in.

They likely spend most of their time within a mile or two of where they were born.

They don’t get very far.

In other words – no road trips for caterpillars.

Then they spin a cocoon which shrinks their world even smaller.

I think the church over the last several decades, in many ways,

has been like the Caterpillar in the cocoon.

But, also like the caterpillar in the cocoon, there is a transformation coming to the church.

I believe we are in the early stages of that transformational season taking place.

God is moving us out of the cocoon and into the world.

Now the butterfly that emerges from the cocoon has wings and travels to far greater places than the caterpillar ever did. 

To you – no, to each of us who were once caterpillars God is doing a transformational work in our lives and telling us to spread our wings and take His love, His Good News to the four corners of the world.

I cannot do that inside the cocoon.

The cocoon is ‘safe’ but it is not meant to be permanent.  

I’ve tried inviting people to come to my cocoon and hear a great message or be ministered to but for some reason the cocoon has put them off.

Now it’s time to go out into the world and reveal Christ in you to that world.

Are you ready to leave the cocoon?

E.g. For Example….You!

Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost of sinners, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:16)

Today's blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

We see them all the time.  Advertisements are everywhere…on TV, on billboards, on the Internet. Some of the most effective advertisements are those that include a picture or example of someone who used the product with successful results.  That person is living, visible proof that the product works.  It makes for a compelling argument and lends credibility to the product being sold.

As we read in Timothy, God has been immensely patient and merciful to us, but He didn’t demonstrate that mercy just for our benefit.  The verse starts out with “Yet for this reason” making it perfectly clear why God was so patient with us.

He wants to put us on display as His personal advertisement to the world of His goodness and kindness.  We are called to be God’s example to the world to encourage others to put their trust in Him.

Now imagine creating a powerful advertisement, but leaving it on the drawing board at the office.  It wouldn’t be much of an advertisement, would it?

We can’t be an example unless we are out among people.  As we learned earlier this week, we are a temple that carries the very presence of God.  We are a walking temple with hands and feet and with a primary purpose - to showcase God’s great mercy to the world.

And, unlike worldly advertisements, you don’t have to be an example of perfection.  As a matter of fact, the very opposite is true.  The apostle Paul boldly proclaimed that he was the “foremost” of sinners.  Your weakness, shortcomings, and past failures are an important part of your advertisement to the world.  They greatly underscore God’s mercy, not diminish it.

  You are called to be an example of God’s mercy.  Choose to brightly display His goodness.  When you do, others will be drawn to Him and His offer of eternal life.

Let’s Get This Show on the Road!

“Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day”

Psalm 96:2

 

 

What is stale bread good for?

Maybe stuffing base for stuffing your turkey.

Maybe good for French toast.

Maybe good for feeding the birds.

How many would accept an offer of stale bread from a sandwich shop?

You know how some sandwich shops display the different types of rolls – sesame, plain, etc…. what if they displayed and offered a stale roll?

How many would choose that?

Of course not, we want it fresh – fresh tastes better.

How many live their life on stale, old testimonies of God’s grace and power?

There is fresh bread available.

But so often it is just beyond our comfortable reach.

Yep, fresh bread requires us to leave our comfort zone.

Isn’t that what we have been experiencing?

The word ‘shew’ in the verse above actually carries a sense of the word ‘fresh’ in the original Hebrew.

Do you carry a fresh testimony of Gods’ love, power and blessings in your life to those in need?

The title for today’s post is : “Let’s get this show on the road.”

The truth is the choice of that title was not casually selected.

It was intentional.

It was deliberate.

I believe it is what God is saying to His church.

No, it is not a show in the sense that we are performing.

It is however, a displaying of Gods’ spirit in us.

 His power – on the road!

 God is saying, I will take you, my trophies, outside these four walls to shew forth my Glory.

It is as if God is once again saying “Let my people Go!”

But this time it is not to Pharaoh He is speaking but to the

bondage of buildings and campuses and programs and stale methods.

Stir Our Hearts, Lord

“So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God,”

Haggai 1:14

 

 

As God stirred up the hearts of the leaders and the people who returned from the captivity,

 He is stirring up the heart of the people of His church to build His house,

though not a house made with human hands. We are His temple.

God has certainly been ‘de-emphasizing’ the brick and mortar in our church while

teaching about the ‘basic, foundational truth of ‘love’.

The building we meet in or call home is so unimportant to God right now – at least on one level anyway.

The Hebrew word for stir found in verse 14 has an interesting definition

– it literally means to open the eyes or wake up.

We might say that God has opened our eyes or awakened us to

the outside world in a fresh, new way.

At the same time He has ‘reduced us to love’ because He wants our works of service to be motivated by His supernatural love for us and working in us.

So what is the bottom line for us?

I believe God has us in a season of:

Opening our eyes to His love, stirring up our spirits as the

 Prophet Haggai said and: spurring us on to good works

This is how, in part, we build up the NT sanctuary, temple or house of the Lord.

 I believe He is ‘with us’ just as He was with them in the passage above.

As they built, we too are building a temple for the living God. •

God is stirring our hearts to love and good works.

This requires that He challenge our motivations because it is

 only through supernatural love

that we can truly affect the world for Christ as we ought. 

Building Up The Temple

“So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God,”

Haggai 1:14

 

 

I believe the church for too long, has been held captive to our culture.

 We are now being released and can choose, as the nation of Israel of old had, to continue to build our own houses or to build His house – His temple in us.

I also believe God has been stirring up the hearts of the church to

works of service motivated by love for Him.

He has challenged, and will continue to challenge, each of us to move more and more to a greater dependence on the leading of the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives in order that we might see those opportunities to love others and do good works in His name.

We are ‘building up the temple’ as we continue to grow in our ability to hear and respond to the Holy Spirit in these areas.

In order for this to truly become a lifestyle for us it must become like

 second nature so that we are spontaneously responding in love and doing good

whenever the opportunities are presented by the Holy Spirit.

We all should be ‘maturing’ from leaning on others to lead to

leaning on the Holy Spirit to lead from day-to-day.

Am I saying we do not need leaders?

Of course not!

That would be unbiblical, unwise and just plain foolish.

God sets and establishes leaders in our lives.

But we cannot be so reliant on leaders that we fail to cultivate our own relationship with the Lord.  

I cannot effectively spur someone else on if I am not able to recognize

 what love and good works are.

The admonition to do just that is found in Hebrews 10:24

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,”

Have you encouraged someone to do that today?

Have you spurred them on?

 

…You Yourselves are Gods’ Temple…

“So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God,”

Haggai 1:14

 

 

I want to speak just a little bit about the Old Covenant vs. New Covenant as regarding where the presence of God was or where it dwelt and now dwells.

In the OT where did the presence of the Lord dwell?

Where did the people look to for His presence?

It was in the Temple wasn’t it?

Specifically it was in the Holy of Holies.

Gods’ dwelling place – His presence in the OT was seen, by the people, to be in the Temple in Jerusalem and before that in the ‘portable’ sanctuary they had built in the wilderness.

Now let’s move ahead to the NT and ask that same question.

In the NT where does the presence of the Lord dwell?

Same place isn’t it?

In His holy temple.

Aahhh, but you say – there is no temple in Jerusalem.

No, there isn’t and yet God still dwells in a temple – where might that be?

Well, I think we know the answer –

I Corinthians 3:16

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”

Ephesians 2:22

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

So, in the OT God’s presence was in the temple and in the NT Gods’ presence is still in the temple.

The Lord does not change - in the Old Covenant and in the New Covenant He is in His holy temple.

He does not change – the temple where His presence dwells did.

You and I are the dwelling place of the presence of God.

We are the temple in which His presence dwells.

Meditate on that for a bit!

What a wonderful, holy God He is!

Will You?

Today's blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

Will you follow a God when you don’t know where He’s going?

Will you trust a God that you don’t fully understand?

My pastor asked these two questions this past week.  I hope by the time you are done reading this blog, your answer to these questions will be a resounding “yes!”

God knows exactly where He is going!

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ (Isaiah 46:10)

Although God often reveals His plan to us one step at a time, He knows the beginning from the end.  He knows EXACTLY where He is going and has a specific purpose for every step we take while following Him.

God is trustworthy!

Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:26)

If God created the stars, knows each one by name, and doesn’t lose track of any of them, surely He can be trusted with your life.

In order to honestly answer “yes” to both of the above questions, you must completely surrender all areas of your life to Him.

During war, when one side surrenders, they lay down their weapons and cease resisting.  They choose to allow themselves to be captured, give up the ground they have been holding, and come under the control of another.

This day, stop fighting against God.  Lay down your weapons and stop resisting His call to surrender all.  Give up the areas of your life you are holding onto and let Him capture your heart.

Then, you will be able to confidently say “where you go, I will follow.”

Overflowing Hope

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

 

 

Remember way back to your school days.

Not high school – grammar school.

Do you recall the science project involving baking soda, vinegar and a volcanic eruption?

You fashioned a makeshift volcano from newspaper, flour, water and a few other ingredients.

On the day of the science fair your volcano was able to erupt because you mixed the baking soda and vinegar together.

The oohs and aaahs of classmates was the only reward you needed!

That’s kinda the picture I get when I read this verse for today.

As I learn to trust in the God of Hope, He fills my life with joy and peace.

That joy and peace in me overflows with hop by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My life can impact others for Christ.

They may not ooooh and aaah like your classmates did so many years ago but, make no mistake, they are watching you.   

There is so much chaos and turmoil in the world today that the one who is filled with joy and peace in the midst of it all stands out in stark contrast to those around you.

Sooner or later someone will ask the question –

 “How do you do it, how do you remain so calm when all this is happening around you?”

That’s your cue to honor God and share the last part of the verse.

I do it by the power of the Holy Spirit in me as I trust in God.

Maybe those words are enough to scare them away for awhile

But give them time.

God’s joy and peace in you is very attractive to others and His power will draw them back.

You just keep trusting in Him!

Unlike the volcano we need not erupt all over them.

The Word says it overflows in our life.

Let it overflow out of you and others will be drawn to the God we trust in!

Hurry Up and Wait…

“I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he turned to me and heard my cry.”

Psalm 40:1

 

 

We have drive-up windows for our burgers.

We have drive-up windows for our coffee.

We have drive-up windows for our prescriptions.

I even read recently of a funeral home with a drive-up window to view the deceased.

We just can’t wait.

In and out quickly.

As the old saying goes – “We have places to go and people to see.”

But the Psalmist had a different pace – a slower pace – in seeking the Lord.

He said the he waited patiently for the Lord.

Something that many are not willing to do today.

After all, doesn’t God know I have a schedule to keep and that he is just one more penciled in appointment in my busy day!

The truth is we make the time for the things that are important to us.

If your walk with the Lord matters more to you than anything else in your day you will take the time to wait patiently for Him.

He is indeed worth the wait.

Can God answer the hurried plea of a desperate soul?

Of course He can and He often does.

But there are those times, more than we are willing to admit, when we rush needlessly into His presence not waiting, not lingering and demand He meet with us.

As if we can coerce or strong-arm God to do our bidding.

But if we learn to wait patiently on Him the reward is evident in our verse today.

“He turned to me and heard my cry.”

How many times can you say that?

More often than not we are the one to set a timer in our prayer closet.

Have you learned to wait patiently on Him?

Allowing Him to talk with you?

Do you have a conversation with the Creator of the Universe or do you,

 like a child sitting on Santa’s lap, recite a list of “I wants”?

Wait patiently for the Lord…

Forgive

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Colossians 3:13

 

 

 

Has someone offended or hurt you recently?

Are you tempted to get even?

At one time or another we have all been hurt and we have all tried to take matters into our own hands.

Forgiveness takes those issues out of our hands and places them in Gods’

That is where they belong.

Holding forgiveness is more than just unhealthy.

It is downright dangerous!

Few scriptures carry a more sobering warning than this –

“But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Matthew 6:15

That’s one of those verses we wish wasn’t in there.

But it is, and it points to how important our forgiving others matters to God.

It is immensely easy to build walls of unforgiveness in our life.

Not so easy though to demolish what we have constructed.

When it comes to unforgiveness it is best to leave that construction career behind.

Are you ready to demolish those walls?

Father:

Reveal to me any I have refused to forgive.

I ask that you help me to place them in your hands.

I forgive them.

No longing holding the grudges, hurts and offenses I have nursed for so long.

As I forgive them I ask that you forgive me for my disobedience in holding on to those offenses.

In Jesus Name

Amen!

 

https://youtu.be/h1Lu5udXEZI

Talking With Your Mouth Full

“But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.”

Acts 6:10

 

 

Who can stand up against the wisdom the Spirit of God gives?

Well, the easy answer is no one can.

But look at the last three words of Acts 6:10.

They are “…as he spoke.”

There was certainly a part the Holy Spirit played but there was, and is, a part for us as well.

Now, more often than not, wisdom demands we remain silent.

Jesus demonstrated this for us in His life when questioned by the High Priest.

When He did speak, after his first silence, He spoke the Truth in power.

But when it is time to speak be sure your words are spoken in truth and in power.

Don’t speak only out of your emotions.

That is when the flood of words can get you into trouble or dig a deeper hole than you may already be in.

But our scripture today reveals a different picture.

Stephen was being confronted by the religious leaders of his day.

They did not like what he was saying.

Stephen was not speaking out of emotion, anger or any need to ‘get even’.

An earlier verse tells us he was “…a man full of God’s grace and power.”

As he opened his mouth to speak God filled it with wise words.

Words they could not refute.

Eventually, they took up stones to kill him.

But the truth is, his words endured.

They are recorded for you and I to read today.

There is a time to speak.

There is a time to confront.

But, like Stephen, before you or I open our mouths, may we be full of God’s grace and power.

Then what flows out will be Holy Spirit inspired words.

Is Your Calendar Flexible?

Today's blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him (an Ethiopian eunuch) reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.  (Acts 8:29-31, 34-35)

This week, we talked about God’s “now” moments and the importance of not missing those opportunities when they come.

When God speaks, are you flexible enough to drop what you are doing to respond to His voice?

At work, there are certain individuals who can disrupt my calendar at any time.  They can lay claim to spot on my calendar, no questions asked.  If I get an invitation to join a meeting, even at the last minute, I will move or cancel other meetings to clear time for them.  My manager is one such person who has that freedom.  I’m sure there are people at your workplace who carry that kind of authority.

God also deserves that freedom, and not just 8 hours a day, but 24 hours a day, and for a much more important reason.

God’s “now” moments always have an eternal purpose with eternal implications. It may be an opportunity to show the love of Jesus to someone through an act of kindness or word of encouragement.  Through you, that moment may bring a person one step closer to Jesus.

Whatever the reason, we need to be flexible enough to let God throw a “now” moment on our calendar at any time, no questions asked.  Other, less important things will still be there tomorrow or the next day, but God’s “now” moment will not.  Once missed, it’s gone forever.

So, keep your calendar flexible!

 

 

Don’t Be Silent When it is Time to Speak

“On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy.

They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.”

Acts 13:44-45

 

 

The WHOLE city gathered to hear the Word of the Lord.

The Word of the Lord that Paul was sharing was Good News not bad.

I don’t know about you but I enjoy hearing good news.

If someone said to me: “I have some good news and some bad news” I think I would ask to hear the good news first in order that it might buoy me up when I receive the bad news.

Paul gathered a crowd with Good News.

But rather than hear what was being said there were those who were jealous and became critical and contradictory instead.

There will always be naysayers.

Those who feel it is their role to rain on everyone else’s parade.

Those who contradicted and abused the Apostle Paul did so, not because of any error being spoken but, purely out of jealousy.

At a time when there was good reason for rejoicing the enemy brought divisiveness instead. Perhaps God has given you a platform from which you may speak.

Perhaps He has brought you a captive audience.

Don’t’ let those who would contradict and abuse stop you from speaking what God has placed in you to speak.

If that were the case I am reminded of the old saying –

“Silence isn’t golden, it’s yellow!”

There is a time to be silent but there is also a time when it is obedience that demands you speak.

Learn to know and understand the difference between the two and when God releases you to speak as He did with Paul don’t let anyone stop you.

This posting today is a little off topic from earlier in the week but I pray it ministers to someone who needs to hear it.

Be encouraged in the Lord!

 

 

 

God Redeems Our Lives

“in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Colossians 1:14

 

 

Remember those little wooden blocks you played with as a child.

If you are 50 years old or older you probably do.

They were simple blocks with letters, symbols or designs on them and left alone with your imagination they could become a skyscraper, a roadblock, whatever you chose to build.

Our accumulated ‘now’ moments with God are like those blocks.

Those moments help to build our future walk.

I think it is essential that we see the word ‘help’ as an important link in that last sentence.

Let’s go back to those building blocks.

Remember the time you tried to build that tower only to have it come crashing down?

Sometimes our opportunities with God are missed.

Let’s face it, sometimes we just blow it.

The wonderful news is that we serve a God of redemption.

He is a God of second chances.

He is a God who restores.  

Thank God we don’t get what we deserve.

Praise Him that because of the grace given through the work of Jesus Christ even my mistakes can be redeemed.

My less than glorious past moments can be placed under the Blood of Jesus.

Forgiveness was available for those who put Jesus on the cross.

Forgiveness is available for you.

Do you have past moments that need to be forgiven?

Bring them to Christ.

There is forgiveness for you.

You, and your past, are not beyond the power of the cross!

 

Hearing ALL God Has Spoken

“He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

Luke 24:25-27

 

 

 

Is it possible to miss the ‘now’ moments of God?

Yes.

One only need to read the Gospels for proof of this.

Many in the Nation of Israel missed the Messiah when He came.

How could this happen?

They were sure their Messiah was coming to rescue them.

But the rescue they thought they needed – from Roman oppression – missed the fact that they needed rescue, first and foremost, from their sins.

The prophecies of a suffering Messiah did not fit the understanding and the hope they had.

There were many prophetic words that clearly spoke of Jesus coming to suffer and die.

These were spoken by the same prophets esteemed by the leaders of the nation.

In many cases these same prophets prophesied concerning the second coming of Christ.

It was these prophesies that were poured over, studied and hoped for.

No one recognized or had need for a Messiah who would come for the purpose of suffering and dying.

Has God spoken into your life in times past?

Did you hear all of what He said or did you listen only to those parts you wanted to hear?

I am not saying God spoke gloom and doom to you.

I am recognizing that so often Gods’ words spoken are spoken with promises and conditions.

We latch on to the promises but ignore the conditions necessary to realize those promises.

Take the time to revisit what God has spoken into your life.

Ask Him to forgive your tendency to only see what you wanted to see.  

His Holy Spirit can reveal anything you may have missed.

Ask that your eyes be opened and your heart obedient to the conditions God has set forth.

Then move forward in obedience to the whole counsel of God!

Gods ‘Now’ Moments

“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

Habakkuk 2:3

 

Distractions, daydreams and dilemmas can draw us away from the ‘now’ moments of God.

Those moments of glorious fulfillment when Gods’ presence is so real

and His words to us are being fulfilled.

Maybe you have experienced it through the exhilarated sharing of a brother or sister in Christ.

They were animated, passionate and excited about what God was saying and doing –

 while your response is:  “Huh?- What did I just miss?”

You were in the same place but you missed it.

What you missed is a ‘now’ moment from God.

He was working while you were MIA (missing in action), so to speak.

Go ahead you can say it – “Been there, done that”

I think we all have at one time or another (and another, and another, and another!

In its simplest form the word ‘now’ is defined as ‘at the present time’

God’s ‘present times’, His ‘now’s’ so to speak are pregnant with the prophetic past.

In Hebrews 1:1 the writer tells us:

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets

at many times and in various ways, …”

God was speaking in the past setting up the now moments of the New Testament.

God has spoken into your life some things that are for an appointed time,

a ‘now moment’ yet to be realized.

Let’s take a closer look this week at those moments, what they mean and how we capture everything God has purposed for us in those moments.

God has spoken in the past concerning your present.

God is speaking even now into your future,

Are you listening now?

Can you hear His voice?

Are you prepared to step out in His plans for you in His timing?

Let’s answer some of these questions together this week…

A God Who Amazes

Today's blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

It’s very easy to let the everyday pressures and demands of life diminish our view of God.  Life gets in the way, so we stop cultivating our relationship with Him.  We stop focusing on how awesome God is and instead focus on the circumstances of our life.  We reduce God to ordinary.

But, God is anything but ordinary.  He’s extraordinary!  And, He loves to continually amaze us.

He is so vast and powerful that doing amazing things is as natural to Him as breathing is to us.  He can’t help himself.  Amazing is written over everything He says and does.

Jesus, who only did what He saw the Father doing, continually amazed when He walked the earth.  He amazed the crowds with His teaching in Matthew 7:28.  He amazed the disciples when he calmed the winds and the waves in Matthew 8:27. He routinely amazed the people when He drove out demons and healed the sick, leading them to proclaim “nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel” (Matthew 9:33).

Well, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He still wants to amaze today.  He wants to leave us saying “Nothing like this has ever been done in the Americas, or the Philippines, or England.”

Habakkuk 1:5 says “Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed.  For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”

God didn’t hang up His “amazing” hat.  He’s still a God who amazes.

I love the lyrics to the song “Stay Amazed.” May it resonate in your heart today…

O Holy God, I stay amazed
You are so much more than words could ever say
O Holy God, I pour out my praise
On the One who never ceases to amaze

Living a Fulfilled Life

“And if I have prophetic powers ([a]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God’s love in me)

 I am nothing (a useless nobody).”

I Corinthians 13:2(Amplified)

 

 

God placed purpose in our lives when He created us.

We are not a mistake, an evolutionary product or a created being left to our own devices.

We have, whether we acknowledge it now or not, a heavenly Father who breathed life into us and has given every person ever born a unique purpose.

That purpose is not and cannot be separated from His love to you and through you.

Part of seeing that truth fully realized in our lives is believing that life without His love is a wasted life.

His supernatural love is vital to fulfilling His call in our lives.

Apart from it we simply cannot do what we are called and purposed to do.

Jesus walked in that supernatural love.

Jesus finished what He was sent to do.

He showed us how.

No life lived has ever been as transparent or as documented as His was.

He spoke of the Father’s love.

He demonstrated the Father’s love.

He prayed that same love would be in His disciples.

How can we live below that and ever expect to do what we are created to do?

Instead of only placing I Corinthians Chapter 13 in a wedding invitation or as part of the vows in the ceremony how about we make it a regular part of our prayer and meditation in order that we not take a step in life apart from His supernatural love being real to us and through us.

As we do that I know the contrast between His supernatural love working in us and our own self-centered efforts at loving others will become more and more evident.

The desire and necessity of walking in His love will be more and more apparent.

Anything else becomes a waste!

You Used to be Ugly Too!

“And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope—joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation;

love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

I Corinthians 13:13(Amplified)

 

 

The songwriter wrote these words –

“Living, He loved me, dying, He saved me, Buried, He carried my sins far away Rising, He justified freely forever One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day!”

Let’s not even try to get past the first four words =

“Living, He loved me…”

So how might we, who are made in His image, best ‘re-present’ Him to others?

He lives in you in order that He might love through you to others.

Not just the ‘others’ you like.

Not just the ‘others’ who love you back.  

If you’ll forgive me – you were pretty ‘ugly’ before Jesus came into your life,

I can hear the protests.

But those denials ignore the ugliness of sin each of us was born with.

He washed away our sin and made us a new creation in Christ.

Only then was the ‘ugly’ in you (and me) taken away

Don’t be scared off by someone else’s ‘ugly’.

Jesus didn’t let it stop Him from loving you.

The truth be told – sometimes you still can be ugly (yep, me too).

Does God’s love for you cease at those moments?

Of course not!

So His love in you – let it shine through you.

Let it bring someone out of ‘ugly’ into the beautiful call God has for their life.

Send ‘ugly’ running simply by loving as He loved you!

How Complicated is the Choice?

“Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest];”

I Corinthians 14:1a (Amplified)

 

 

You stop for the red light.

A homeless man holds a sign.

“Please help- I am hungry.”

You are already late for your next appointment.

What motivates your choice to stop and help or to speed off when the light turns green?

Your boss calls you into his office.

His offer seems too good to be true.

And it is.

The promotion comes with doubled workloads on a plate already overflowing.

Your wife is beyond stressed with the weight at home and your added ‘away time’ won’t help.

What motivates your choice to say “Yes” to boss or “Yes” to wife?

You write the next scenario.

I believe you can.

Life always gives us choices between choosing love or…

…or our schedule, our career, money, power, prestige, and (as they say) the list goes on and on and on….

Walk through today with your eyes wide open.

What are the choices I am faced with?

Based on those choices, what motivates my decisions?

Is it God’s love?

Would my choice put a smile on Gods’ face?

Would I choose something far, far less than that?

I know what you’re thinking – “It’s more complicated than that.”

Is it…

Looking Around

“Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’?

 I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!

They are ripe for harvest.”

John 4:35

 

As I read through some of the books of the Old Testament I am reminded of what so many preachers have said over the years concerning the perspective the Old Testament people had compared to ours.

It went something like this – They looked forward to a Messiah; we look back to the Messiah.

Both require faith.

While I cannot and would not argue with the sentiment we also can see that those who lived in Old Testament times also looked back to the promises God spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

And those of us living in the on-going ‘Book of Acts’ church look back to the wonderful work of the cross but we also look forward to the glorious hope of Christ’s return when Jesus is.

no longer a suffering savior but a Messiah who rules and reigns.

So, what’s my point?

Whether looking back or forward let us not forget to also look around.

Jesus spoke of lifting up of eyes to see the harvest.

You see, in looking around, we neither diminish the past work nor eliminate the future hope.

Instead, we recognize that we are now joined to Christ and there is work to be done in the ‘here-and-now’!

As we do the work of the Kingdom the historic work of the cross is made real to us and to others.

So too is the glorious hope of the future

So today I encourage you to look back and remember, look forward and hope but also look around and ask – Lord, what will you have me to do today to advance your Kingdom?

I promise you that that question asked in sincerity will be answered assuredly by Him.