Check Your Focus

Does anyone else hate out-of-focus pictures? Like a picture of a person standing next to, say, a sign with the sign in perfect focus...and the person all fuzzy. What happened? Of course the photographer focued the camera on the wrong subject.
That happens all too often with Christians. Yeah, they've got Christ in their frame; but their focus is on a side subject. The result is always the same--a disappointing, sub-par picture. That's the problem the Pharisees had. They were more concerned with their form of worship than with the object of their worship. I'm afraid there are a lot of Pharisees in our churches, more concerned with other people than with their relationship with God. Remember this: life isn't digital--you don't get to delete a shot and try it again. The shutter only opens once; get it right!

The Message

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, Hebrews 1:2a
This is the message of God for us: Christ. God's message is His Son. Everything He had to say to us, He said by sending us Jesus. Are we listening? Or trying to create another message for ourselves?

No More?

Remember when the scribes and pharisees brought the adulteress before Jesus? Remember the whole, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?" Now do you remember what Jesus said to the woman? He said, "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more." You know, I'd bet everything I have that woman sinned again. And you know what else? Jesus was right there to say again, "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more."
How many times have we heard those words? It seems like every day I'm hauled before Him, entirely and undeniably guilty, caught in the very act; yet every time He's there saying, "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more." Knowing the whole time that I'm going to sin again before you know it. How lovingly merciful is that?!

Forbearing Faith

By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, Proverbs 25:15a

Again with the impatience! We ask for something, and when we don't get it right away, we just give up. Come on! Sometimes God wants to see a little persistance on our part. Kind an "if at first you don't succeed" type thing. If at first you don't recieve ask, ask again! That's not to say there won't be times when the answer comes and it's a "no," but when God says no, He'll let you know. Until then, if what you desire doesn't contradict God's Word or His general will for all Christians--keep asking! Be a prayer warrior of forbearing faith.

Slow it Down

In our high-paced, fast-food society we've forgotten the virtue of patience. Once upon a time, people grew up having to wait. Now we go everywhere 55, 60, 70 miles an hour; microwaves take minutes instead of hours; everyone has a drive-thru. We don't have to wait for crops to come up, an oven with uneven temps to cook our food, or our feet to carry us everywhere we go.
Sometimes that attitude can carry over into our spiritual lives. The Bible repeatedly tells us to wait on the Lord. His timing and ours don't always coincide. Today more than ever we have to force oursleves to be patient and wait for His perfect timing. Learn to be still...and wait.

Choose to be Happy

This is the day that the LORD hath made: we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
Joy and gladness is not something that we happen upon in life. That idea is the main reason so many people lead unhappy and unfulfilled lives--they spend their time waiting for happiness to come to them. But being glad and having joy comes from recognizing the goodness and greatness of God and choosing to be happy. That's what it comes down to. Are you going to be happy in life, or are you going to be downcast and downtrodden? The choice is yours.

Step Up

Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace.... Hebrews 4:16
Sometimes I catch myself praying timidly or hesitantly. God doesn't want that garbage. We are instructed to come boldly and confidently before Him with our requests and petitions. He is, after all, our Friend and Father. I just don't see a prince or princess slinking into their father's throneroom. And we aren't to, either. God wants to hear from us; He wants to provide for us. There is absolutely no reason for you to hesitate or be timid when approaching your God. Be bold!

Live on Purpose

Live on purpose. Many times we just kind of float through life, just getting by. That's not God's plan for you. He wants us to live an abundant life, full of joy and happiness and victory and purpose. Don't waste your time on earth away plodding through. Fulfill God's will of abundant life--live on purpose!

The Shepherd's Flock

The LORD is my shepherd.... Everyone pulls it out whenever things aren't going right, when trouble arrives or seems imminent. But how often do we think about the implications of that statement? Because, if the Lord is my shepherd, that means that I'm His sheep. That means that I reflect on Him. If my language is vulgar, if my attitude stinks, if I'm always complaining and negative, if I'm lazy, if my lifestyle is destructive...I'm making Christ seem like a bad shepherd. But if there's something different about me, if my language and habits are clean, if I'm a positive and uplifting person, if I'm known as a hardworking and responsible person...then I can reasonably offer my shpeherd's services to others. After all, people can screw their lives up on their own; but we need help to rise above. So, ask yourself: are you reflecting well on your shepherd?

Rekindle the Flame

Anybody ever get a new job, start a new hobby or begin a new project that you were really excited about or thoroughly enjoyed--for the first few months...or weeks...or days? What happened then? The newness wore off. It got old.
The same happens in our Christian life. After time the newness of being saved and having a relationship with God wears off; and we get bored. In our jobs, the result is going to work is a drag. We do it anyway...bills don't pay themselves. With hobbies and projects, we set it aside with the self-promise that we'll finish it later. In our relationship with God, though, we can't afford to just forget about it. And dragging our way through it isn't good enough. We have to rekindle that first love.
I can't tell you how to do this other than to say, just treat it like a human relationship that gets old. You have to shake things up in some way. Take time to talk it over with Him. Revisit what He's done for you. Find a way, though, to get back that first love. It's vitally important.

My God Is So BIG!

Do you remember singing "My God Is So Big?" My God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do! If you grew up in church, you probably sang it dozens, even hundreds of times. How long as it been, though, since you thought about that truth? Our God holds worlds in His hands. He holds veto rights on the actions of every person on the planet. He is unhindered by restraints of time and space.
Our finite minds tend to limit God. We impose rules on him that don't apply. God is not bound by the rules that bind us! He's bigger than that. He's stronger than that. There's nothing my God cannot do!

God is Good!

There are a lot of traps that we fall into as Christians. Semantics present an especially tricky area. Example: Many times we're guilty of saying things like, "God is good because He did____!" What's the problem? Well, yes, God is good. And whatever you filled in the blank with is, I'm quite sure, excellent evidence of God's goodness. But God is not good because of what He does...God is good because He is God! Goodness is His very nature. Indeed, He defines goodness just as He defines love and holiness. There may be times when we don't see what we would consider proof of God's goodness in our lives; sometimes it will seem like God is cruel and vicious--He's not. God's ways are higher than our ways, the Bible tells us, and we won't always understand them. But He always knows best, He's always looking out for our best interests, and He's always good!

A REALLY Good Lit Teacher

Psalm 119:18 asks, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." This ought to be the prayer of each Christian each day. We have this incredible advantage in studying the Word--the Author is there with us. I always hated in literature classes when teachers and textbooks (literature textbooks--what a crock!) tried to say, "Well, this is what the author was trying to say." It bugged me, because I'd put everything I own on the fact that most of the time the writers weren't commenting on the state of the union or the corruptness of politicians or.... Couldn't they have been--oh, I don't know--telling a story?!
But with the Scripture, we don't have to wonder what the Writer did or did not mean. We can just ask! He's right there with us to go through His Work with us. Take advantage of your very knowledgable tutor! He'd love to help.

A Freeing Faith

The other day someone, quite indignant about that whole flier thing that I mentioned the other day, demanded, "So, what...you think everyone shoul just do whatever's right in their own eyes?"
Well, in a way...yes!
Romans chapter 14 sums up the Christian life by saying, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." The simple fact of the matter is, there is a plethora of gray areas in life. There are going to be things that I do that you wouldn't and vice versa--and that's okay. A lot of Christians don't like that; Christian liberty in its raw form scares them to death. But fearing something, being made uncomfortable by it, doesn't make it less real. Paul wrote later in the same chapter, "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean." The fact of the matter is, Christian maturity is exactly the opposite of what many people have long thought. A mature believer is not one who lines up a series of rules that one must follow to please God, but one who recognizes the difference between a commandment and a preference.

He's Living Again

Too often when people are shown how to share the Gospel they are imbedded with one major flaw--they're trained to leave Jesus on the cross. Jesus died for us; His blood was shed so that our sin-debt might be paid. But He didn't stay dead! Jesus is alive, and it is in that fact that we have our victory.
If they knew where to look, Muslims could find the bones of Mohammed and Buddhists could view the grave of Budda. Every pope dies and Mormans can pay homage at the grave of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. But there is no grave of Jesus Christ; no bones will ever be found that belonged in His body. Jesus is alive! And because Jesus rose from the dead, we can be assured that we can live forever as well.
Don't leave Jesus on the cross!

The Love of God

Tomorrow is a day we set aside (in theory) to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and I'll talk more about that then, but today I want to remember what He did three days prior.
We think about the death of Jesus and we think about the crown of thorns, the beatings, the stumbling journey up Golgotha, the nails, the spear. We imagine the pain, the suffering, the humiliation. But too often we imagine it from only our human point of view. Jesus was a human being--He did feel the pain, the suffering, the humiliation. But He was much more than that--He was the Son of God. And while Christ hung on that cross, suspended between heaven and earth, He felt the ultimate pain and loss--He experienced, for the first time in eternity past, real seperation from His Father. When our sins were placed upon Jesus, God the Father had to turn His back on His Son. At that moment, Jesus took our Hell. The burden of the cross was great, but the burden of my sins and your sins and the sins of every man, woman and child who has ever lived was infinitely greater. Take all the guilt you've ever felt in your entire life, multiple it by billions...that's what Christ endured for us. And He did it knowing that His Father would forsake Him during that time. How much He loves us! How much do we return that love?

Grown-Up Problems?

My church hosts a big, well-known youth conference every year, and the fliers for this year's conference recently went out. No big deal--except that no one looked them over first. Within days the youth pastor received 17 phone calls complaining about the flier. Was there a faux pas inducing spelling error? No. A screwed up Bible verse? Nope. a vulgar reference of any sort? No way. The thing that caused so much problem: a picture featuring guys whose hair covered their ears.
So...17 grown adults felt the need to call and cause a fuss.
What is wrong with us?! We're more concerned about a picture with shaggy-headed young men than with changing young hearts for the Lord. What a sad, sad commentary on Chrisitanity! Let's grow up, folks, and learn to be concerned with things that actually matter.

Hiking Towards Heaven

I'm tired. Insomnia has from time to time plagued me since childhood, but I'm going on a week and a half of not being able to sleep. I'm not telling you this so you can feel sorry for me (but if you do, feel free to send checks, money orders or homemade cookies;) I'm telling you this to make a point. Sometimes you're tired. Sometimes everything seems to be going against you. Sometimes life just stinks! And right now, for me, life is stinkin' to high heaven.
I read a friend's blog today, though, that helped me put a little perspective on things. She recently went on a hiking trip in the Great Smokies of Tennessee and shared some thoughts on hiking and life in this blog. One of the things she pointed out was that, even when the trail is steep and tough, you can rest assured that at some point it will level out--even turn downhill. So true! Life is a journey--a marathon, not a sprint--and there are times like I'm having right now when it's hard. But there are two sides to every hill.
You, too may be climbing right now; or maybe you will be soon. God's not playing a cruel joke on you--you'll eventually reach the top and be able to start down the other side. That may not make it easier to climb, but it sure does give you a reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other.