God’s Destination, our journey — I Thess 5:17-18

Joy, Thanksgiving and Prayer in the journey
On this journey that God has given us there will be many things thrown in our path to side track us from abiding in Christ and depending on Him.  One of those things is a grumbling, unappreciative, prayerless spirit.     The Apostle Paul understood that when he counseled the Thessalonian church to, “Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks on all occasions, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”

It is a tremendous challenge of faith to learn to delight in God and find our joy in Him, despite the many things the world throws at us.  It takes unwavering trust in God to greet every circumstance with thanksgiving, knowing that we worship a God who is “working all things out for the good for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.”

Prayer is God’s vehicle for us to pour our hearts out to Him and to learn to trust Him for everything.  It is in prayer that we will discover the joy and understand that life and everything in it is a gift from God.  And so Paul, knowing life’s challenges, speaks to us from the ages that we would learn joy and gratitude and learn to “pray on all occasions.”   And when we are willing to embrace these simple commands of God to rejoice, pray and give thanks, the quality of our journey will change because we know there is a great God bringing us to an awesome destination.

God’s destination, our journey (part 3)

Sin and Temptation (James 1:15-18)

God’s destination for us is that we would be conformed into the image of His Son Jesus. (Romans 8:29)  This means that God wants us to take on in increasing measure the qualities of Christ like love, sacrifice and compassion.    But there are hindrances to joining God on that journey.  James gives us one of those hindrances, which is yielding to temptation and sin which in turns leads us to alienation from God, “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully growth brings forth death.” (vs. 1:14)

James wants us to understand the value of persevering when we are being testing without bringing accusation against God’s character.  When we persevere and endure trusting in God’s goodness on the journey, we are promised a blessing and ‘crown of life.’     The key to victorious living and resisting temptation is to keep our eyes on Jesus who was tempted in every way we are but without sin.  (Heb 4:12)  When we do, then we are fighting our battle not from a position of weakness strength and receive the necessary power to persevere under trial and grow in our journey which is ultimately to bring God glory with our lives.

Humility and love and the nature of God

If we want to understand love and humility and the word submission, we must first understand the theological nature of God.  The Bible teaches us that God is three persons in one—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Bible also teaches us that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One, indivisible and absolutely equal in essence.  This is a great mystery, but shows us several things about who God is.

First it shows us that within the Godhead there is loving community.  The Father has loved the Son and the Son has loved the Holy Spirit and Father from all eternity.  There has never been conflict in the Godhead, there has never been division, and there has never been disunity.  Scripture teaches us that God is perfect in love and when we want to understand love we look to God first.  (I John 4:8)

Secondly, when we look at the Godhead we also see government and roles within the God head.  The Father so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son and after Jesus ascended to heaven the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world.  (John 3:16; 14:26) When going to the cross Jesus prayed to the Father, “Let this cup pass from me, but not my will, but your will be done.”   While Jesus on the one hand said the “Father and I are one,” he also said that “the Father is greater than I.”  (John 10:31; 14:28)

This is a great mystery to us that while the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are absolutely equal in essence, there is also rank and delineation of roles within the Godhead.  Why is this so important to us?  If we are to understand humility, love and submission, than we begin with God and than seek to understand what it means to us as we live our lives out in the arenas of our church, family, work place and nation.   (Heb 13:6; Eph 5; Rom 13)

And while God is not asking us to submit to injustice, tyranny, evil, or abuse, He is certainly inviting us to learn humility and love by submitting to one another in the arenas He has created.   And when we are willing to adjust our hearts this way, we not only learn something from one another, but we also learn most of all about who God is—the author and finisher of our faith.

Hurricanes and Earthquakes in Our Lives

      At the end of August most of us experienced something new for the very first time!  An earthquake in New    Jersey!   As many of us tuned into the news that day, we also learned that the hurricane Irene was threatening to visit us, which created a lot of havoc as well.  Earthquakes and hurricanes, not the kind of things that helps us relax or experience rest and peace!

Earthquakes and hurricanes often find their way in our lives.  They are the unwanted visitors, whether we like them or not.  What a fitting analogy for many of us, especially your pastor these days.  As we enter our busy season of ministry this fall, my wife, Dianne, was diagnosed with cancer, my oldest daughter left home and went to college for the first time, my youngest daughter turned 17 and received her driver’s license (yikes!)   The temptation during such times has certainly been to worry, fret and be anxious.

But Psalm 46 invites each of us to make God “our refuge and strength” and “a very present help in trouble.”  The Psalmist encourages us to not “fear though the earth gives way though the mountains be moved in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”     It is a strong reminder that no matter how great the earthquakes and hurricanes in our personal lives, God is the one who can provide safety and peace!

The Psalm ends with an interesting invitation from God Himself, “be still and know that I am God… I will be exalted in the earth!”  It is a call by God to spend time with Him and discover the quietness and calm that He alone can give—no matter how great the circumstance.  This is a call to spend quiet time with God in prayer and in His word, reflecting on how turmoil and chaos in our lives can instruct us and conform us into the image of His Son!

So let us turn to the Lord and discover the stillness and peace that He alone can give.  And let us accept by faith that every  hurricane and every earthquake in our lives can provide opportunities to discover that He indeed is a refuge and an ever present help in trouble.  God is only looking for us to trust Him and be willing!  Are you?

Understanding the history of the Bible!

When we turn the pages of the Bible, we can’t escape one obvious truth from Genesis to Revelation—the Bible is a historical book.  The Bible provides us with a story that ranges from creation through to the end of the world.   The Bible is God’s explanation to us concerning where we have come from and ultimately where we are going.

The Bible is not only a historical book, but it is also a book of redemption and salvation to sinful man.  We discover from the first chapters of Genesis that God is working on our behalf, “wishing that none should perish, but that all would come to repentance.”  (2 Pet 3:9)    When looking at history and the importance of the Bible Abraham Lincoln put it this way, “”I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man—all the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this one book.”

On January 2, 2011, as a church are going to embark on a study of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation so that we may better understand God’s message of salvation to us that culminates in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Using the curriculum from New Tribes Missions, “Firm Foundations,” we will journey together and discover during our Worship Service and Community Group time that God is a God who is orchestrating all of history that we may know Him and have relationship with Him.

So join us and make a commitment for 2011 to learn and open up the words of the Bible and discover what the Apostle Paul declared when he told the Ephesian church how the plan of God was “hidden for ages in God, who created all things… but is now made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places—this (plan) according to the eternal purpose that is realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (vs. 3:10-11)

Advent and Christ’s Return

Hope is in short supply these days.  As America’s political climate sours and our economy stagnates, discouragement and negativity seem to be the companion of many!  But this doesn’t have to be.   God is inviting us to place our hope and confidence in Him and not in man.  When we do that our hope will increase, even while we live in a world that seems so barren of that rare commodity.

The Bible promises us a ‘blessed hope.’  In Titus we read that “the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people.”  This grace is found in the person of Jesus Christ.  When we look to Him it “trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions… waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior  Jesus Christ.”  (Titus 2:11-13)

God has only one way to direct our hearts from fear, anxiety, depression and despair in this fallen world.  As we live our lives in a world that is filled with sin and injustice, God is inviting us to place our confidence and faith in Jesus, who will one day return and set everything right.  It is through Him we can discover the abundant life here and now and it is through Him we can look to the future with a certainty and hope.  It is that hope that becomes the fuel for our joy, happiness and well being.

As we celebrate this Christmas and the Advent season, let us remember this hope we have in Christ.  Yes Jesus came as a babe in a manger!  But let us remember that one day He will come again to bring justice on earth and salvation to all who believe.  One day He will set all things right and show us His glory.  So don’t let the condition of the world drive you towards fear and despondency, but allow the promise of His advent and coming turn your heart towards worship and celebration in Jesus’ name.

 

Living a life of generosity!

Jesus told us that “It is more blessed to give than receive.”  (Acts 20:35)   What this essentially means is that our ‘happiness’ or our sense of ‘well being’ will be more tied to a lifestyle of giving than a lifestyle of selfishness and personal gain.

During the months of September and October we will journey together as a church and discover why God has called us to live life generously.   We will discover that “we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared before hand.”  (Eph 2:10)    And the ‘good works’ here are related to how we choose to use our time, our talents and our money.  The Bible teaches us that when we invest what we been given by God back to God than we will be ‘blessed,’ which is the Bible’s way of saying we will be a happier people.

The most miserable people are the most selfish people.  We see evidence of this so often with the wealthy and the rich.  Years ago the great artist Delacroix asked James Rothschild, the great European banker and one of the richest men during the 18^th century to pose as a beggar for a painting, ‘since he had exactly the right expression.’   Amazingly, Rothschild agreed and came the next day dressed in rags.  He was so convincing that on his way to see Delacroix, a passerby gave him money.

God is pleading with us to put away the false notion that happiness is tied to getting more of what I want, when I want it.   Jesus wants us to know that the surest way to misery and spiritual bankruptcy is a stingy and greedy heart.  He wants us to know that when we tie our happiness to selfish desires, we will only be like the proverbial horse ever chasing the carrot on the stick.

Jesus wants us to know that the key to the joyful abundant life here on earth is ‘living a life of generosity’ which is the purpose for which God created us.    When we discover that everything we have comes from God and is given by Him to be used to generously invest back into His kingdom we will be closer to the blessed or happy life.  So join us this September as we gather together in worship, community groups and small groups in homes to discover this great journey God has called us to, to “live a life of generosity.”

Learning to pray using the Word of God

One of the most meaningful ways to pray and to meet with God is to use Scripture in our prayer life.   You may ask, ‘Well how do I pray using the Bible, the Word of God?”  While there are many portions of the Bible we can go to for prayer, perhaps there is no better place to begin than the book of Psalms.

Let us go to Psalm 27 where we will look at three facets of learning to pray through Scripture.  The first area is the area of worship and thanksgiving to God Himself.   Psalm 27:1 reads, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid.”    A way to take this verse and utilize in worship and thanksgiving is to tell God, “Lord, I praise you and thank you that you are my light and my salvation.  I praise you that when I believe that you are the stronghold of my life, I don’t have to be anxious or afraid, because you are in control.”

A second area of praying through Scripture is personalizing it.  Psalm 27 is already personalized, so let us take another familiar verse of the Bible to show how we personalize it in our prayer life, John 3:16.  “God I thank you that you loved me so much that you sent Jesus to the world that I would not perish in my sin but live with you forever and ever.”

A third and final area of praying through Scripture can be intercession, or praying for others.  Again let us take John 3:16 as an example, “God, I know you love my Uncle Jim so much you sent Jesus to die for his sin; I pray now that Uncle Jim would trust you with his life.  I pray that he would not perish in his sin, but come to know you and have everlasting life.”

I encourage you to open the word of God and begin praying.  Begin with the Psalms or another familiar portion of Scripture and begin worshipping and thanking God, taking on the promises of God as your own (personalizing it), and then praying for others (intercession).  When you do that another dimension of prayer will be open to you.  And I have learned that God returns ten fold every minute of time with Him with spiritual growth, blessings, and most of all His presence.

Psalm 34-Praying through the Psalms (Part I)

Read Psalm 34

 

Moving beyond our circumstances

The Psalms is God’s collection of songs to us to carry us through the many valleys and complexities of life.  There are Psalms of celebration, worship, lament, and many prayers for deliverance.  And so it would be good to develop the discipline on knowing how to pray through the Psalms.

Our first Psalm that we will look at together is Psalm 34, which is a both a song of worship and reflection on God’s delivering power over impossible circumstances.  David is hemmed in on both sides.  On one side is his own countrymen with Saul pursuing his life.  On the other are the Philistines of Gath.  In an impossible situation we learn that David feigned madness to escape with his life. (I Samuel 21)

But in reflection David discovers that his deliverance didn’t come from great acting skills and his own cunning to escape, but to God’s almighty hands.  Therefore, he sings and acknowledges the first ingredient in moving beyond difficult circumstances–worship, “God’s praise will always be on my lips… this poor man sought the Lord and the Lord heard his cry.”

Another ingredient that David addresses is that of brokenness.  In vs. 17-19 we discover that it isn’t in our strength or wisdom or in our cunning that God delights, but in our humility and brokenness.  This is where we discover that it is through weakness that God’s strength can be perfected and it is through weakness that God than can provide grace.