Following the Master

We often forget the key to walking with Jesus is waiting for the next step from the Master. There may be times when we are running with Jesus, step by step, following Him with vigor and life.However, we must not forget that sometimes the Master calls us to rest and in our rest, we are indeed following Jesus. 

Other times the Master may ask us to follow Him on a journey of deep suffering. It may seem uncertain, the terrain difficult, but Jesus promises to stand with us in our affliction and to never leave us. Do not flee from your affliction. Many of us will never see the deliverance of God from it, because we chose not to believe that Jesus could see us through it. 

We would be wise to remember that in the midst of our battles, following Jesus simply means to be still and watch Him fight for us. We will quickly become defeated if we choose to fight without Him or if we try to flee from the affliction. 

Following Jesus is more about patiently waiting then passionately pursuing. In our patience, we listen we discerning ears what the Master would have next for us. We dare not run ahead of Him or wait too long. We know His voice so deeply that when He does call us to the next step we rise with confidence, because we love to follow after Him.

To Be Like Joseph

Joseph could have very easily been angry with God. 

His brothers, who were terribly jealous of him, threw him in a pit, faked his death and sold him to foreigners. Not only that, but after many years of serving in the house of Potiphar, as his right hand man, he was wrongly accused of sleeping with Potiphar's wife. He was quickly thrown into prison, bound with chains and left to rot and die. I'm sure this wasn't the dream Joseph had for his life as a young boy. 

Many of us, myself included would become bitter, angry people, we would complain about our present suffering so that others might see our pain. We love it when others notice. In a twisted way it makes us feel better. It somehow puffs up our pride to have others notice our suffering and to complain about it with us. 

Yet, Joseph doesn't complain. He trusts God. It's really that simple. He trusted God so deeply that others took notice. Others knew that GOD WAS WITH JOSEPH. He lived in such a way that proclaimed the belief that God was in control. He carried himself in a way that spoke of the greatness of his God regardless of his terrible circumstances. The Bible tells us that God blessed Joseph and gave him favor, even while in prison. 

I wonder if any of us are even able to see God's favor in our lives when we face our own personal prison of injustice? If I could be honest, I focus so much on the bad circumstances that put me in the spot that I'm in, I have a hard time choosing to focus on the greatness and favor of God when my life is less than ideal. 

Forgive us Father for focusing not on your greatness, but on our suffering. We have caused ourselves to become bitter people full of complaints. We have not remembered that you are with us. You promise to never leave us or forsake us. Please help us take our eyes off our circumstances and to place them back upon you. We choose to trust you even though we cannot see the outcome. We will believe you for our deliverance as we hold fast to you, in Jesus name.

When We Feel Forgotten

God has not forgotten you. 

Many of us feel as though He has. We think to ourselves, certainly, if God loved me, He would have removed my suffering by now. God has stopped listening to our prayers, we think. Things haven't turned out the way that I have desired them, so God has chosen to be done with me. If God truly cared he wouldn't have allowed this person to die, that job to be lost or my spouse wouldn't' have left me. 

Oh, how I wish I could peek into the heavenlies. I wish I could see the Master at work, orchestrating His plan for our lives. I wish that I could see the great cloud of witnesses cheering me on saying, "Don't give up!" "Persevere!" "Fight with the Lord Jesus!"(Heb 12:1-2). I wish that I could, but I cannot. I must exercise trust and faith. I must choose to believe in the sovereignty of God, even though I do not know when God's deliverance will come. 

I truly believe that some of us were on the brink of our deliverance, but we gave up. We became wearied of the battle so we stopped fighting. Truth is, maybe we were fighting not in God's strength, but in our own. We prayed fervently for days, weeks, months or years and God didn't answer our prayer the way we wanted Him to so we stopped praying. Yet, maybe our prayers are being hindered, because of unconfessed sin or disobedience in some aspect of our lives(1 Pet 3:7, Mark 11:25). We never did stop and think that maybe God had answered our prayer, it just wasn't in the way we wanted it. God always answers prayer and we must be wise to discern His voice. 

True discernment takes a listening ear that is ready to sit in stillness before the Lord. Our culture is full of distraction and busyness. Our minds are so clouded by entertainment and demands that we have a hard time hearing from God, because we have not conditioned our minds to be free from clutter and distraction. We walk around wishing God would answer, wondering where He is, when all this time He's been shouting the answer at us. Yet, we are too busy to hear His voice. We would rather scroll through our phones, numb out our minds, be entertained by mindless games and videos instead of hearing from the living God. 

God has not forgotten you, but often, we have forgotten Him. Amidst the busyness of life, we go on, 100 mph and forget to be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. We grow angry, we become people we don't even like, but we never pause to sit in the presence of God. The place we experience true transformation. 

Do not give up, but fight with the Lord Jesus for your deliverance. Those who have gone before you are cheering you on in the heavenlies. You cannot fight or win your battles alone. Only God can bring victory. Take up your stand in prayer, don't give up, but take your place in God's army and watch as your Captain leads you into victory in Jesus name! It may not be the victory that you expected or in the timing you would have liked, but we must trust that God knows what He's doing and He will work all things together for the purpose of His will. 

"Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for Him"- Psalm 37:7

To Be Made New: A Time for Self-Reflection

I think what the people of the church need most is time for self reflection.  The problem is most people and family's fear self-reflection. 

In self-reflection we must face the darkness of our souls.  We have to come face to face with the reality of pain in our lives or that constant, aching emptiness.  

We have convinced ourselves that busyness is best.  It keeps us from really dealing with the issues in our lives.  Busyness keeps us stuck.  Better yet, we love our dear friend of busyness, distraction.  Busyness and distraction are tools used against us to keep us from being made new.  

Often times we're not too busy, we're just too distracted.  In a world where our eyes are constantly looking into a screen whether it be a phone or  television, there is no time for self-reflection.  There is no time for stillness  with the music blasting, the TV going and the iPhone always right next to us.  

We scroll and scroll and scroll through news feeds hoping to entertain ourselves or maybe subconsciously, detach from our own world, to keep us from dealing with it.  

Everyone loves to say, we're so busy!  We wave it like a banner to be praised, when in reality it is something we should do away with in order to see our lives and our families healed from years of dysfunction and generational sin.  Yes, I truly believe that if families would slow down, and each would take time for self-reflection with the Lord that we could see family dysfunction healed.  It's there in the stillness where the Lord speaks into our lives, we confess sin to God and it is there where we hear from Him.  

What families need more of is stillness.  They need a mom and a dad who will sit and listen, who will offer words of wisdom and wise counsel.  They do not need more extra-curricular activities, sports practices and expensive gadgets.  What they need is your time.  Unfortunately, in a world run by busyness and distraction parents have become more like chauffeurs then the well from which their child can drink to find things like, spiritual wisdom, guidance and direction.  

Instead, our children latch onto the world that is presented to them.  They run with the crowd of those who are busy and distracted.  They learned from us, what more should we expect?

We wonder why our children have issues with anger, anxiety and loneliness.  However, we never take the time to stop and think that maybe it's because they're crying out for us to guide them.  They're longing for a deeper connection and when they don't find it at home they will go looking for it elsewhere.  Now instead of wisdom being passed down from the generations, our children are being taught by the latest youtuber on what the purpose of life is, or their deep questions about life are being answered by google instead of the generations of parents and grandparents who went before them.  

What if we said, I'm just going to practice stillness each day before the Lord?  What if we made it a priority to place our schedules down before the Lord and to ask Him what He wanted on it?  What if we spent time with our children, having meaningful conversation with them on a weekly basis?  What if we allowed the Lord to deal with the generational sins in our lives and the dysfunction that our family passed down to us?  

I think the church would look quite different, our children would grow to be more confident and satisfied in the Lord Jesus as they observe us at rest in the presence of the Lord.  

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint"- Isaiah 40:31

Parenting in a World of Moral Evil

Who we have become has much to do with where we have been. 

Lot's daughters spent their time in evil Sodom and Gomorrah. They were exposed to constant evil within their culture and it shaped who they would become. 

We are foolish to think that if we do not choose to protect our children or even our own eyes from destruction, moral filth and evil that it we will not be changed by it. 

Lot's daughters commit a grievous action by sleeping with their father. They hearts and minds had become so tainted by the evil culture of Sodom that the thought of sleeping with their father become a good idea. 

Something happens in a culture when we call what God calls moral evil, something good. It is a dangerous and slippery slope when we start to redefine what morality truly is. 

If man looks from within himself to find morality, he won't find much. Why? Because man within himself is led by selfish motives. 

When Lot's daughters got their father drunk and become impregnated by him I'm sure Lot never dreamt of such a day. However, it happened and much of it had to do with what Lot, as a father, decided to allow into his children's lives. The moral corruption of Sodom shaped his daughters. 

What is shaping our children? Who they will become has much to do with the decisions that we make to protect them from moral evil. If we allow them to watch any movie they like, listen to any music they choose or spend their time with whomever their heart desires then they will be shaped by those things. 

However, if we place our children and our own lives into the household of God, practicing wisdom in what we allow our eyes to see and our ears to hear, then our children will be shaped by things like, goodness, holiness and mercy. This does not guarantee they will become sold-out Christians, but it does set the stage for a greater propensity towards a lifestyle shaped not by the filth of evil, but of Godly qualities and characteristics.

Will Life Ever Get Better?

Today many of us feel as if life is passing us by.  We wonder when life will finally bring its "big break" or when our circumstances will change to our liking.  We try to manipulate and our control our lives with the hopes that things might look differently tomorrow than they did today.  

We often forget that the world and its troubles are much to great for us to handle on our own.  Our efforts to control and manipulate only leave us wearied and frustrated.  Many of us comfort our disappointments with a new outfit, a brand new car, a new relationship or a job change.  

Yet, we still live with a gnawing dissatisfaction inside of us.  Wondering if this is really all there is to life.  

"I'm pursuing my dreams.  I have a big house, a husband with a great job, we say to ourselves," but our hearts are not at rest.  

We live for the next big thing.  We long for a better, different life.  We bury our hurt and pain.  We self-medicate, put on a happy face and make it seem as if we've got it all together.  Until, the dam breaks and the waters of insecurity, discouragement, failure and disappointment come rushing out.  

This infects everyone around us as the waters come gushing out.  Often times the ones we love the most.  We ruin and wreck relationships.  We cause turmoil in our lives, telling ourselves, "I'm not going to do that anymore," but we just can't seem to stop.  We know it's not good for us, but we keep repeating the same cycle.  We feel broken, but we don't want anyone to know.  

We wander on lonely roads of hopelessness.  Seeking restoration, a brighter future and a happy life.  Everyone tells us to just "look inside ourselves" or "tell yourself that you're number one", but the more we do this, the deeper our dissatisfaction grows.  We don't even really like ourselves.  All we see when we look inside ourselves is fear and deep insecurities.  

Maybe that means we need to start looking outside ourselves.  Maybe the cure to a heart troubled by life worries is to look to something greater than ourselves?  Maybe real hope and joy isn't found in our circumstances, but in something that is constant in joy, and holds the key to life and peace.  

A wise man once said, "come to me all who are weary and heaven burden and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light'.  He also said, "I came that they may have life and that they may have it to the full".  

The reason this man is able to offer rest is because His nature is different from ours.  He is peace.  He is joy.  He is hope.  He is freedom.  

If I cling to this source of peace and joy I will find rest for my weary soul. 

Jesus Christ is that man.  He is calling unto you today to run with courage towards Him.  To turn away from your own way of living and towards His life.  It's there that our lives finally find rest.  We can sit in contentment as we find wholeness and healing, freedom and joy!  

We must recognize that our way of living is wrong.  His way is right, come into agreement with God, confess that to Him, turn away from it, and choose to embrace Jesus Christ as master of our life.  

That is where true freedom is found, hallelujah!  

The Operating Table: Entering into the Altar of Sacrifice

"Offer your bodies as living sacrifices"- Romans 12:1

What does that mean for me, a follower of Christ to offer myself as a living sacrifice?

I remember when my sister and I were kids, we used to love to ride bikes together.  We'd go everywhere on our bikes and we only had one speed, fast.  A leisurely bike ride just wasn't in our vocabulary.  As we zipped around town at mach speed one day, my sister said that she needed to slow down.  I being the loving and understanding sister that I am said,

"What's wrong you big baby? Can't handle the speed?" 

My sister responded to my ever so kind words with,

"My heart is racing and I just don't feel very good".  

Well in that case I thought, I guess we can slow down.  It wasn't long after that my sister had a similar episode when we were playing in a 3 on 3 basketball tournament.  Mom and dad were in on this episode so they decided to take Andrea to the hospital.  We soon learned that my sister needed heart surgery.  That made me feel really great for my loving comments while on that bike ride.

I remember sitting in that waiting room during the surgery.  I was really afraid.  I was only 11 years old and I really wasn't sure what to expect or how to feel.  I just knew that my best friend was now lying on an operating table and there was nothing I could do to make her better.  She was at the mercy of the doctors now.

Thankfully my sister had a successful surgery.  We were back to riding bikes at mach speeds soon after.

As I reflect on that moment in my sister and I's life it helps me better understand what Paul says when he tells us to offer our bodies as a "living sacrifice".

My sister could do nothing to fix her heart.  She was at the mercy of the doctors.  The ones who had a higher authority, the ones who knew how to fix her heart.  Had my sister continued to ride bikes at neck breaking speeds and run up and down the basketball court without having heart surgery the doctors said, eventually, her heart would have burst.   She would have died instantly.

The reality is that you and I live with a sin sickness.  The bible says that the heart is deceitful, it is beyond cure.  To follow our heart is to follow our feelings.  It's to follow a wisdom that centers around desire and pleasure.  Our hearts run around without self-control, until eventually we nearly become destroyed by the pursuit of desire and pleasure.

In the Old Testament the High Priest would go in once a year to the Holy of Holies to make a sacrifice for the sins of the Jewish nation.  This would be a lamb, pure and spotless that would satisfy God's requirement for atonement of sin.

When Jesus dies on the cross He became that lamb.  He was pure and spotless, without defect and had no sin.  The book of Hebrews tells us that He now reigns as High Priest forever.

I have this picture in my mind of us offering our bodies as a living sacrifice.   What I see is for us to cease doing, fretting, worrying and allowing our feelings and hearts to dictate our every move and to lay ourselves down on the operating table of God's mercy.

To offer our bodies as a "living sacrifice" is to become completely dependent upon the great and mighty healer, Jesus Christ.  It is to place ourself at His mercy, trusting in His will. We must lay down our own will, hurried hearts and scattered minds.  It is to cease doing as we actively lay down our lives at the altar of sacrifice.  It is to say God, I'm done with me.  I'm done trying to come up with the right answers to try to convince myself that I know whats best for my life.

It is to say, God, I recognize that my heart is deceitful and it is beyond cure.  This is why I need your grace and mercy to walk with me, moment by moment and breathe by breathe.  As we lay down our lives as a "living sacrifice" we join in agreement with God that He is in control, that His way is best for our lives.  In that agreement is where our hearts and our minds find rest.  As we sit and rest in the presence of God on the altar of sacrifice it is there where our hearts start to change and heal.  It is there where God starts to tether in us a new mind, centered on His thoughts, His peace, and His perseverance.

Charles Spurgeon so eloquently says, "lie passive in the hands of God and know no will but His".  

I'm wondering who needs to enter into the altar of sacrifice where the Lord Jesus awaits to give you joy, peace and hope.  Who needs to offer their body as a living sacrifice and place themselves at the mercy of our Great Physician, Jesus Christ?

Just as my sister put herself at the mercy of those doctors long ago to be made well God wants to do the same for you and I today.  His desire is for us to be set free and to know the healing and life changing power of Jesus Christ as we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.

Place your life on the operating table of God's mercy and watch as He makes your heart and your mind brand new.