Friday, January 28, 2011

God's Mercy Can Be Difficult To See

The ride may be rough but at least you are inside the ark.


Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the animals in the boat.

Psalm 119:132 Come and show me your mercy, as you do for all who love your name

In the midst of the destruction that occurred on the outside of the boat there is a perfect picture of God's mercy and his grace to man.

Noah and his family were on the boat for one year with all of the animals and all of the waves pounding on the outside, it must have seemed forever. Think about being on a cruise for one year without any shore excursions and then if that isn't difficult enough why not throw in a thousand animals on the passenger list.

From Noah's perspective, by day three he may have wondered if God was helping him out or if he was the one being punished, sometimes it is hard to tell the difference. God works slowly sometimes, it can seem like forever, but even when the waves are smacking you around don't forget that there is always an ark of protection for those that are his own.

Help us to trust in you Lord, your faithfulness to your children never fails, thank you for your love and mercy to me.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Big Obedience Comes From Big Faith

The largest construction project that the world had ever seen was the last one that they saw.


Genesis 6:22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Hebrews 11:1-2 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.

2 God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith.

When I was young I was on my way to Sunday School every Sunday with a King James Bible in hand, the details of the ark were not very clear to me as we read about the size of the ark, I had never seen a tape measure marked off in cubits. The world had never seen anything so large being built, there were not any high-rise buildings and the tower of Babel wasn't thought of yet, this was the construction project that out did anything that had been built.

Genesis 6:15  "Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high."

A man of lesser faith would have met the same demise as the rest of the world but Noah's faith was big enough to build the biggest thing that they had ever seen and he did it with primitive tools. Building this boat wasn't a resonable project to take on, afterall he could not take a trip to the construction supply company to purchase lumber or to get a crane, the labor pool was very small as far as we know it was probably only four people building this huge ride.

The only way that Noah was able to complete this assignment is through faith that was big enough to take him beyond what was reasonable to think that he could accomplish, God gave him a job to do and it was only through faith that he was able to complete the task.

I need to have faith to accomplish what God wants me to do no matter how large.

Thank you Lord for giving me faith, I pray that it will grow stronger everyday so that I will be obedient to do anything that you may ask.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Desire Out Of Control

Be careful, even a talking snake can seem to make sense at times.


Genesis 3:1- 6  Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made.

"Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?"

2 "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him.

3 "It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die."

4 "You won't die!" the serpent hissed.

5 "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil."

6 The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too.  

This story reminds me of the New Testament story about the woman that was found in adultery and she gets pulled out into the street and taken to Jesus and they only point the finger at her as if she committed adultery all alone. Verse six tells us that Adam was right there next to Eve, he heard the talking snake twist God's words around and tell half truths until it all sounded so logical and yet we give Eve the blame.

Listening to our evil desires make about as much sense as listening to a talking snake. Our pride gets in the way and distorts our ability to think logically and even the most obviously lame story can seem to make a lot of sense.

Proverbs 29:23  One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

I am reminded of men's conference speaker, Steve Farrar, he says that "we need to remember that we are all just one step from stupid." We can all drift away from truth and accept the devils logic that entices us away from God.

The greatest tool to use each day to keep my pride in check is to stay in the word every day so that my eyes will stay focused and my heart will stay true to God's command and I will not be tricked into compromising what God wants me to do.

You are so immovable Lord, you have given us solid ground of real truth that we can base our lives on. Help me to stand my ground when pride and desire try to creep in.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Heart Of Worship

Don't be so full of pride, listen to God when he gives you a heads up.


Genesis 4:3 At harvest time Cain brought to the LORD a gift of his farm produce, 4 while Abel brought several choice lambs from the best of his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his offering. This made Cain very angry and dejected.

6 "Why are you so angry?" the LORD asked him. "Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it."

Since the beginning of time man has worshiped God, it seems to me that I would be motivated to worship God the right way if he were somebody that I had a direct conversation with. If God came into my presence and told me directly that i was messing it up then I think I would make the appropriate changes.

Abel got a tip from God that he needed to do it the right way and instead of making his worship all about God he continued to keep his focus on himself, sometimes we are too full of pride and we refuse to listen to anybody, including God.

I need to keep my focus on the one that I am worshiping and block out what is going on around me, my only concern should be on His greatness and majesty, everything else should seem fade out of view if I have the heart of worship.

You are awesome God and only you ar worthy of praise, help me to worship you with the right attitude and focus.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Resolution #6 - It's Time To Exercise

Everybody wants to take care of Mother Earth but what about God's Temple?


1 Corinthians 6:19-20   Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

1John 4:15-16  All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

Exercise is a four letter word to most Americans, maybe it should be on the list of topics to not talk about, right next to religion and politics.

It doesn't matter what you do as long as you start moving around some more and burning more calories. The best form of exercise is the way that you enjoy the most, do something fun to take care of your temple!

I need to drop some pounds this year. I should park the car further away from the front door at work, take a walk in the evening and improve my diet.

Lord help me to take care of my body and treat it with the care that your temple deserves.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Resolution #5 - Make The Most Of Today

Sieze the day because time is ticking away.


Ephesian 2:10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13  I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live, and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift from God.

Philippians 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!

Psalm 144:4 For we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow.  

When we are little our lives seem to be so long, each birthday seems to never get here and Christmas is an eternity away, but the older we get the faster the gears on the clock seem to turn. Even as fast as time seems to be moving it still seems like we have plenty of days left to take care of our good intentions.

There seems to be plenty of time to:
  • Work less
  • Increase family time
  • Love more
  • Listen to somebody that needs to share
  • Get physically fit
  • Be kinder 
  • Focus on others
Before we know it we have spent too much of our day on the things that didn't matter. The urgent things that pop-up each day, the cares of life and the desire to accumulate wealth can easily get in the way of doing what I really intend to do.

I need to enjoy each day as a gift from God and invest my time in what really matters. People matter to God and he has called us to be his hands and feet to show the world his love, I want to be busy doing the work that God created me to do.

Help me Lord to be your hands and feet, showing your love to my family and to everyone around me. I want to be busy doing your work until my days on earth are gone.

Saturday, January 01, 2011

We Will See Them Again

If the Lord is their Savior the end is not the end.


1 Thessalonians 4:13-18  But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Don't get as upset as the rest of the world when you experience the loss of a loved one, sure it isn't easy and you should mourn but it shouldn't be the same as those that have no hope of ever seeing their loved ones again.

When you witness the funeral of a person that has a personal relationship with Christ and contrast that with the funeral of somebody that doesn't have that relationship, what an incredible difference in funerals.

Since Jesus took care of the sin problem in my life I have the opportunity to spend eternity with him and with my family and friends. There is no greater comfort than knowing that the end is not the end, I will meet my creator face to face and I will be with my loved ones that know him, as the song by Big Daddy Weave says:
"When I say my last farewell oh, please don't forget to tell them, that I'm not really dead I'm just changing neighborhoods"
Thank you Lord for the most awesome gift ever! Give me opportunities and give me boldness to share with those that don't have the gift yet.