Set Free to Remain Free

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”  Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.  He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:41-43

 1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1

Chains are not intended to hold the children of God in bondage. There is a biblical law called the Law of First Mention and it is most often used to best understand biblical doctrines by studying where that doctrine is first mentioned in scripture. This may not be exactly what theologians had in mind for the Law of First Mention but is nonetheless very interesting that the first use of the word “chain” in scripture is that of Pharaoh commanding a gold chain be placed upon Joseph’s neck. The first mention we have in scripture for a chain concerning God’s people is not a picture of bondage. Different commentators note that the gold chain represented a ‘mark of distinction’, a sign of civil authority’, a badge of honor and dignity and so on….

God’s plans for you are good. The only chains he desires to see around you are those of honor and not those of bondage. It was never his plan for his children to be in bondage to sin. He sent us his son to set us free from that bondage we chose for ourselves. Paul declares in our verse from Galatians 5:1 that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Maybe stating it another way is this: We have been set free to remain free.    

Truly I am your servant, LORD;

   I serve you just as my mother did;

   you have freed me from my chains.

Psalm 116:16

Yours for the Day

Today’s post is contributed by David Trotta:

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

When my wife becomes overwhelmed with planning for an upcoming event, like hosting a large gathering of family over the holidays, I will often clear my schedule for one day leading up to the event and then I tell her “Hun, I’m yours for the entire day.  What would you have me do?  Use me!”

  My day will then consist of running errands to pick up last minute items for her.  You might also find me in the kitchen peeling onions and potatoes or frosting cookies.  I might even do some vacuuming around the house.  Whatever she needs, I will do.

I like to believe those days are very helpful to her.  At the end of the day, I feel like I’ve blessed her and helped relieve some of the pressure off her big shoulders.

After thinking about one of those days recently, I thought about how blessed God would be if I laid down my to-do list one day, cleared my schedule, and said “Lord, I’m yours all day today.  What would you have me do?”

Then, I would quiet my soul and listen for His still small voice.  Maybe He would lead me to just sit at His feet and worship Him to rejuvenate my weary heart.  Maybe He would direct me to my neighbor’s house to bless them with some chores that needed finishing.

  Or maybe He would have me visit a hospital waiting room to see if there was someone I could pray with.  Maybe He would lead me to take out a friend for coffee who is struggling and needs some words of encouragement or just a sympathetic ear.

The opportunities are endless in God’s world.

Unlike my wife, the Lord doesn’t need our help, but He does choose to partner with us to accomplish His will on the earth.  He wants to touch many lives.  All He needs is a heart willing to say “I’m yours.”

I’m excited about the opportunity to pick such a day in the near future.  I hope it becomes a regular practice in my life.

What about you?

Follower or Worshipper?

Matthew 8:1-2 “When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”  (KJV)

Did you catch that? It says great multitudes followed him but a leper came and worshipped him! There are, in fact, great multitudes that follow Jesus still today. They often follow at a distance to the ‘Jesus’ they accept as a great teacher, to the ‘Jesus’ they can certainly admire or to the ‘Jesus’, the one, who is indeed worthy of being followed.  Sometimes these great multitudes would just as easily turn and follow another ‘god’.

I love the word ‘behold’ in verse two because it seems to cast a light on the distinction between the individual leper and the great multitude and between the followers and the worshipper.

What is it about leprosy or cancer or bankruptcy or any number of other hopeless situations that change us from a ‘follower’ to a ‘worshipper’?  Maybe I should ask the question another way. If you were not facing humiliation, financial ruin or some other great personal catastrophe could you still be, would you still be, a worshipper? I hope you answered yes to that last question. The true worshipper worships God not just because of what he can do but because of who he is. He is worthy to be worshipped.

Whether he ever heals your body, he is worthy. Whether you ever know again the blessing of financial prosperity or the anointing for a great ministry He alone is still worthy of praise. Are you a follower or a worshipper? Do you worship Him only for what He can do or do you worship Him for who He is? It is good to be a Christ follower. It is infinitely better to be a Christ worshipper. 

Just Enough to Get By

2 Chronicles 16:9a “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…” 

This morning I happened across a book titled: “A Little Bit of God in Every Day”. It is one of those little, small books meant to have an encouraging word for you each day for a month. The book itself is not much larger than a boxed roll of scotch tape so the title is a word play on the size of the book more than anything else. But for how many Christ followers would that title also describe their life? Just a little bit of God in every day and no more. Simply enough to get by and not a measure more! Certainly there is no need to get crazy about loving God.

Jesus did not come to earth, die on the cross and rise from the dead so that we could scarcely skate through life by the skin of our teeth and coast into heaven on fumes. He said in John Chapter 10 and verse 10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” A full life is not marked by someone who has only a little bit of God in every day or just enough to get by but instead it is the picture of someone who, no matter what, cannot get enough of God and will not be turned away from his presence.

Does that describe you?

“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” That is Psalm 27:4 and I think it describes well the life of someone consumed with knowing God. Someone not merely content with just a little bit.

How much of God are you expecting today?   

Fruit – An Expected Outcome

“Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

Luke 13:6-7

If I walk into a grocery store I expect that I will find groceries. Likewise, if I walk into a zoo, I do not expect to find runways, ticket counters and tarmacs. There is an expectation based on the destination. There is also an expectation based on the type of person I am seeing. If you are a lawyer it is assumed you can assist individuals with their legal needs. A financial planner is expected to help me with my long term financial planning. What then is one expectation our heavenly Father has if we are Christ followers? If you answered “fruit” give yourself a gold star! Fruit is an expected outcome in our lives. It is not an option that we can select like we would choose an option on a car if we walked into that new car showroom. We understand this. We agree with this. But how fruitful are we? I am not talking about the “fruit” of church attendance or the “fruit” of giving or good works or anything else but the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). What then is the “secret” to being fruitful?

The answer is found in John 15: 4-5

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

    “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Do you want to bear much fruit? Abide or remain in the vine. Simply put – remain carries a definition of: “…to remain or stay, while others go….”.

 Don’t walk away – remain in Christ and bear much fruit for Him even when or if others walk away!

Buried Treasures

But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

Matthew 25:18

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

Remember the pirate stories of your youth. Remember how the map was marked with an “X” to reveal the spot where you would find buried treasure? In the pirate tales the treasure was highly sought after and of great value.

I wonder how many Christ followers have buried treasures. How many have taken the valuable things of the Kingdom and done nothing with them? Like the ‘wicked’ servant (God’s description, not mine) they have placed those things underground (so to speak) instead of using them to bring increase for the Kingdom and bear fruit in their own lives.

Jesus said: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” How many have buried treasure? How many have buried their hearts in the earth – so caught up and in love with this earth and this world that their very hearts and the treasures that should be used for the Kingdom are instead buried and of no use?

Passion for the things of God? Buried!

Sold out to do His will? Buried!

Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Buried!

I hope that, as a believer, you truly believe in resurrection. We spoke yesterday about second chances. Won’t you let God take that which was buried and resurrect it for His glory? Jesus died on the cross for your sins and mine. After three days He rose again. The Bible tells me that he led captivity captive. Let His Holy Spirit bring resurrection life to what was buried and offer you that second chance to be captivated once again by Him. 

Strength in Your Sacrifice

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. (Luke 22:41-43)

Jesus was facing an incredible sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The Father was asking Him to lay down His life, and in manner that would involve unimaginable pain and suffering.

But I love what happened in verse 43 after Jesus surrendered His will and said yes to His Father – “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”

After saying yes to what was being asked of Him, His Father sent an angel to provide physical strength to help Him carry out the task that lay before Him.

What is God asking you to sacrifice today?  Have you heard His still small voice asking you to lay something down?

Don’t fear, because just as Father God sent ministering spirits to strengthen Jesus in His time of need, God will do the same for you.

Hebrews 1:14 says that we too have ministering spirits available to us.

Remember this, God will never ask you to do something without equipping you to carry it out.  But often, it will take you saying yes first.  It will take you putting that first foot forward.

Say yes to what the Father is asking you and He will give you the strength to walk it out.

Pleasing God

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others,

for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

Hebrews 13:16

How would you define ‘doing good’?

I suppose there are as many different ideas of what that would be as there are people reading this.

Yet, all through the scriptures, God displays for us many ways of doing good.

It may include sharing with those who do not have enough.

It may be visiting the shut-in or the prisoner.

Maybe you are engaged in multiple ways of doing good for others.

When we do these things we are stepping out of the ‘me-first’ mentality.

God is pleased with these self-sacrifices.

It is a good thing.

Sacrifices, as we have learned, always cost us something.

Perhaps it’s relinquishing the alone time you expected.

Maybe it’s stepping out of your comfort zone to bless a person.

For some it may be writing a check, even out of your need, to make sure others have what they need.

Be assured God recognizes each sacrifice, small or great and with such is greatly pleased!

The Obedience is Always More Valued than the Sacrifice

“Blessed are all who fear the Lord,

    who walk in obedience to him.”

Psalm 128:1

What is a sacrifice to you?

Whatever it is, it may be quite different than the sacrifice someone else is called to make.

Jesus laid down His life for you and me.

Your sacrifice might seem trivial by comparison but I am convinced that many times what we sacrifice is not as important as our willingness to sacrifice.

After all, a true sacrifice will always require a surrender of your will.

Some sacrifices may seem small to you but they build in you the ‘muscle’ needed in the seasons when bigger sacrifices are called for.

God is working in each of us and He is schooling us in the surrendering of our will.

The how of the sacrifice may look different from one person to the next but in every case it will require a setting aside of what we want and choosing to do what God wants.

I know, that easier said than done.

But anything short of setting aside of our own will is not really a sacrifice.

So what is God requiring of you?

Don’t worry about how much or how little He asks of your neighbor.

Do what He requires regardless.

Remember that He loves and honors your obedience.

Obey Him in the sacrifice He is asking you to make.

Are You Ready for Some...Sacrifice?

“May my prayer be set before you like incense;

may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”

Psalm 141:2

Someone once said – with tongue planted firmly in cheek –

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

We have all had moments in our lives which are critical decision points – a crossroad.

Perhaps, like our local church family, you are facing one right now.

Go left, go right, keep straight or turn around!

There are as many opinions as there are options – sometimes even more.

So what do you do?

I think you weigh carefully what others have said but always, at those crossroads moments, you bring your concerns before God.

You press in in prayer, perhaps even fasting to hear more clearly and to help sift out distractions.

If you believe that He truly has good plans for you individually and for your church corporately then you certainly want His direction.

But be warned...

It may go against the tide.

It may go against conventional wisdom.

Sometimes it even defies ‘common sense’.

But if God is directing then it is the best course.

Hands down!

So let’s do that – let’s press in in prayer.

Lets’ fast and lets seek His path and the steps He has ordered.

He may even require some sacrifice in order for what He requires to take place.

Are you ready?

Let’s go...

Sacrifices

Sacrifice....

Abraham knew it....

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Genesis 22:2

David knew it...

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

Psalm 51:17

Jesus knew it...

so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 9:28

God the Father knew it...

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

I John 4:10

Do we know it...?

Just as He said He would

Today’s blog post is contributed by Daid Trotta:

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.  He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said He would. (Matthew 28:5-6)

“Just as He said He would.”

Those are 6 very powerful words.  They are at the core of our Christian faith.  Without them, our faith crumbles.

Before going to the cross, Jesus told His disciples He would rise again and that’s exactly what He did.  He proved that He keeps His promises and demonstrated that He can be taken at His word. 

The bible is full of promises, and they all have the potential to end with those same 6 words if we would just choose to believe God.  I can hear the testimonies now….

He has met all my needs (Philippians 4:19), just as He said He would.

He has shed His love abroad in my heart (Romans 5:5), just as He said He would.

He has given me the words to say at just the right time (Luke 12:12), just as He said He would.

He has generously given me wisdom (James 1:5), just as He said He would.

Will you say amen to God’s promises in the midst of whatever you are facing today?  Agreeing with God will release faith into your circumstances.

Then, you too will be able to testify of His faithfulness with the same ending declaration – “just as He said He would.”

Second Chances

“6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

   8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Luke 13:6-9

I have three hydrangea plants in my front yard that we had transplanted from another family members home. We planted them around a light post in our front yard. The first year it grew wonderfully with lush green leaves but no blossoms all season long. The next year was a repeat of the first. While we still had no blossoms on it we left it alone. This year our plant is full of beautiful pink blossoms. We are enjoying them so much now that we planted a variety called ‘Endless Summer’ in another spot in our yard. 

I am grateful for second chances, maybe in part, because I am so often in need of them. Our hydrangea plant was actually given a second and a third chance. Some may read the text above and find it harsh in light of the vineyard owners command but I find mercy and a second chance in the words of the vineyard caretaker. One was prepared to be done with it because it bore no fruit. Certainly not an unfair judgment on the owners’ part. He had a fig tree and expected to find figs on it. But as a person so often in need of second chances I am so grateful for the caretakers’ response. Give me more time and let me dig around it and fertilize it.

You’ll forgive me if my ignorance shows since I am not a farmer but through patient work by the caretaker the fig tree got another chance. Are you working with someone who you would reasonably expect to have produced the fruit of the Spirit in their life only to be frustrated by the lack of fruit? Will you lovingly spend a little more time with them, dig around the ‘roots’ and fertilize – bringing to the soil of their heart the needed nutrients to allow healthy growth? I am enjoying my hydrangeas this year and the only thing that changed was taking the time to prune back the plants. It was a relatively small investment made to reap wonderful benefits.

We aren’t told the final results in our parable from today but the point was made. Fruit was expected and every effort would be given to see that fruit was produced. But perhaps by taking a different perspective on it we see the marvelous mercy and generous grace offered by the caretaker of our souls in giving a second chance. Take time to thank God and acknowledge the second chances you have recei

Fear or Faith?

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

   21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

   22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

   23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

   24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’”

Matthew 25:14-25

Each one of us has certain abilities and levels of skill and talent. That is not in question in the parable we read above. What is in question, is how those abilities were used by his servants when a certain man entrusted his wealth to them. The first two servants doubled what they had received while the third servant, motivated by fear (vs. 25), realized no increase in what had been entrusted to him. There is no good that can come to you if you are motivated by fear. However, when you motivation is to use the talents that God has given you to see the Kingdom of God advanced then the increase is great. Some have clearly recognized the talents, abilities and gifts God has given them, but they are so paralyzed with fear that they do not sow, let alone reap a harvest for the King. Jesus came to set the captives free. Yes, you say you know that. Well, then today receive the freedom from fear that he wants you to have so that you, like the first wise servant, go out at once and put the talents entrusted to you to work for His Kingdom. After all, we are told in II Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (KJV)

Temptation

“Because He himself suffered when he was tempted,

he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Hebrews 2:18

There is great strength found in this verse and available to the follower of Christ. Note that it declares in part the words “…when he was tempted…” and not “when he sinned…”. You see Jesus knows what it means to be tempted and yet to overcome that temptation without sinning. Armed with that understanding we can call out to him at those moments of temptation to receive the strength from his Spirit to overcome the temptation. He is on your side and has provided you the power to overcome. Don’t surrender to sin – instead call out to him in that moment of temptation and know the victory over sin that he has provided.  

James 4:2 tells us:

 “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.” If we combine the thought conveyed in this scripture with Hebrews 2:18 from above we have a powerful combination that is further reinforced through Jesus’ teaching on prayer to the disciples “…and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…”

There is a way out of temptation but we do not have it if we do not ask for it. If we do not ask for it we must then challenge ourselves with this question. What appeals to me more, the temporary satisfaction I get from yielding to the temptation of sin or being like Christ?

“Let a man examine himself…”

The Buck Stops Here

“…train yourself to be godly.”    I Timothy 4:7b

Do you sometimes attempt to “pass the buck” when it comes to your walk with God? Stop blaming others for any lack of passion, holiness or lack of maturity in your walk with God. Paul’s command to Timothy in our verse today was never meant to say that we have no need of others. Perhaps as it relates to today’s text we can listen and follow the advice of Harry S. Truman when he said “The buck stops here.”

If you are not moving forward in your walk with God it is not your spouses fault, it is not your children or parents or Pastor’s fault. It is certainly not blame we can place at the feet of God as some try to do somewhat obliquely by inferring that they are not being “drawn” by the Spirit of God as others are. God addresses that when his word tells us in James 4:8 to:  “Come near to God and he will come near to you…” By Paul’s admonition to Timothy to train himself to be Godly he was making it clear to him, and to us, that we have a role to play in the process of sanctification and godliness.

Do you want to be godly? Then spend time with God in prayer. Spend time with God in his word. Not simply reading a passage, or scanning a promise or subscribing to this blog. Take time to draw near to him today. Memorize his word (hide it in your heart), study it (I know, that one may be tough for some) but most importantly – do it! Train yourself to be Godly!  

“It May Get Worse Before It Gets Better”

“As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.

But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.  

You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.  In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here,

for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” 

Genesis 15:12-16

Abram, later named Abraham is a revered man in the Judeo-Christian faiths.

He received and believed some pretty significant promises from the Lord.

He remained faithful to trust God even though many of those promises did not (as he was told by God in our scripture passage above) come to pass in his lifetime. Many times we are content to receive the promises of God if we can be assured to see them come to pass in the next week or two or at least before the end of the year!

God’s timetable is so much different.

We want instant gratification and he wants our life transformed.

Would you be as committed to serve and follow Christ if the rewards are delayed and the path to them is strewn with a few trials, a few tribulations and a few tests?

What if you sew and somebody else reaps?

Is that o.k. with you?

If it is, you are on the right path but if it is not, then ask God to recalibrate your walk and your motives.

Spend some time with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

There, and for the next day following, you will find out what he endured so that you might reap the benefit.

There you can learn some powerful lessons on surrendering to the Father’s will and not your own.

You will be rewarded but perhaps it comes after some other people reap some benefits because of your sacrifice.  

“We” not Me and “Us” not I

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

 Ephesians 2:10.”

It is interesting how often in the New Testament we find plural pronouns used and not singular.

Such is the case in Ephesians 2:10 above;

“…WE are God’s workmanship…” and at the end of the verse we read: “…good works…for US to do.”

God certainly uses individuals.

But he also speaks to his church corporately and expects that we as individuals are properly united with his body where he has planted us.

WE are his workmanship and we are more effective united together to impact our world for him.

Jesus prayed for his followers to be “one” in John 17.

When people look at our local church do you think they see one representation of Jesus Christ in that place or just a bunch of individuals doing their own thing?

His word comes to individuals but is also comes to his people who gather together as local representations of him.

He has good works prepared in advance for “US” to do.

Are you doing your part?

Commit today to be a contributing part of his body of believers, not just a person who goes to church on Sunday.

Yes, he has plans and purpose for your life!

Mission Accomplished

““For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

I remember some time ago while in prayer telling the Lord how eager I was to hear the words “Well done, thou good and faithful servant…” and then distinctly sensing God saying to me – “I am also eager to hear some words from you as well.” Of course I asked what those words would be and He responded with –

“It is finished!”

Imagine the life that accomplishes God’s plans and purposes for it.

Imagine the life that fulfills all the words that He has spoken to you.

Certainly, that was the life of Christ as he uttered the words “It is finished” from the cross.

While you and me do not have to suffer and die to redeem mankind we were created by God with purpose and to fulfill His plans for our lives.

As the verse from Jeremiah tells us – His plans for us are good.

We each have a specific and personal mission to accomplish.

How about this - as you ‘accomplish life’ today make it your mission to accomplish His plans.  It is easy to get overwhelmed with accomplishing the plan of God for our whole life. When we view it as a mission for the rest of our days we can sometimes miss His good plans for us today.

Let tomorrow take care of itself and do what He asks you to do today.

The ‘Eyes’ Have It – Or Do They?

“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders,

the chief priests and the teachers of the law,

and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Matthew 16:21

Could there exist any greater contrast between what was spoken and what happened at the crucifixion of Christ?

The disciples had been plainly told by Jesus what would take place.

But it would seem that the words He spoke to them could not compete with the stark reality of His betrayal, arrest, suffering and crucifixion.

It was as if the bleakness of their situation was able to blot out even the brightest rays of hope.

The one they had followed for three years was suddenly and violently taken from them.

How could they dare to consider the events that would shortly take place?

The struggle they faced is a struggle we too will face in life.

The greatest struggle of Easter for the disciples and the greatest struggle of our ‘easter’ is this – To believe in what Jesus said instead of in believing what you see.

It’s not that our eyes deceive us, rather it is that we place a greater trust in what they show us than we do in the words of God.

Reality becomes what is visible with our eyes instead of what is spoken by the Lord, when in fact it ought to be just the opposite.

Nothing is more real, more true and more eternal than the Word of God.

The Apostle Thomas learned that lesson after first doubting its’ truth.

May we learn from that account and place our trust in His words and not in what we see.

An Upside Down World

“...But because you say so...”

Luke 5:5 selected

Your world turned upside down...

...not a very fun place is it?

Maybe it was the unexpected doctor’s report.

Perhaps it’s’ the perpetually negative numbers in the checkbook.

Could it be strife in the home or any host of other things?

No matter – it’s not what you expected for this season of your life.

Jesus’ disciples faced a confusing and frightening time after His death.

He told them he would die and rise again.

But their minds were so pre-occupied with Messianic rescue that they didn’t always hear what Jesus said.

Sometimes our ears are blocked in the same way.  

We celebrate His resurrection but forget His words to us that He has given us abundant life.

We are under the gun of a hectic 24/7 existence and don’t even have to time to think let alone contemplate what life would be like if we simply took Jesus at His word.

Why not slow down enough today to do just that...

...take Jesus at His word.

Don’t just read the words on the page:

Let His Holy Spirit breathe His breath of life into you.

Your world will be turned upside down in all the right ways!