We are are morning family. I leave for work at 7:15 and the kids are usually up by 6 AM at the latest. On Saturday I kind of wish they would sleep in, but during the week I am glad they are early birds because that means I can sit down and have breakfast with them. During breakfast you never know where the conversation might turn. Today's topic was the devil and hell. It went something like this...
"Daddy, the devil is bad and people who do not love Jesus have the devil in their hearts," says Anna. (This sounds offensive, but the truth is her theology is right--1 John refers to anyone who does not Follow Jesus as "anti-Christ"--probably a little different than what we are use to thinking of when we think of the term anti-Christ, but the truth is, Jesus said either we are for him or against him and if we are against him we are "anti-Christ").
"What the 'Debil', Anna?" asks Seth.
"The Devil is red with horns," replies Anna.
"Where did you learn what the devil is like, Anna?" I asked.
"From TV. I saw him on TV. He is red and has horns and has a sharp thingy," explains Anna.
"Where the 'Debil' live Daddy? He live in my heart?" asks Seth.
"No, he only lives in people who do not want to love Jesus," Anna again explains.
"The Devil use to be an Angel named Lucifer. The Bible tells us he wanted to be the boss instead of letting God be the boss. So, God made a place called Hell so Lucifer, the devil, could be boss there. All the other angels who wanted Lucifer to be boss went to hell with him and they became, what is called demons. Now, every person gets to decide if they want God to be boss of their lives", I shared this because I did not want the TV to be the final word my kids receive on any topic, especially biblical topics.
"Yes," Anna chimed in, "The people who do not want Jesus in their hearts go to the bad place. But if you let Jesus in your heart, heaven is beautiful and fun and you get to be with Jesus all the time."
At the end of this conversation with my kids, I heard another voice. It was not an audible voice, but a voice that was just as real and deep within me. God asked, "Do you still want me as boss of your life?" It was a good question for me to be forced to answer as I approach a New Year. May be it will be a good question for you to answer for yourself as well.
Do you want God to be boss of our lives? Sometimes I fear that I want God to love and forgive me, but I don't want him telling me what to do. However, I know the truth is that he is not satisfied with anything less than having complete control of my life..funny thing is...when I give up control everything always turns out better...why do I so often protest?
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
"Enough Light for the Next Step"
This morning I prayed in reference to a particular situation, "Father, I need your clarity and direction." No sooner had I prayed that, then God responded by putting this Scripture verse in the forefront of my mind: Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet." I smiled and said, "Thank you, Father." This morning, right when I was seeking direction, he sent his word of truth to me and it was exactly what I needed to remember.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet," reminds me that God has not promised to light up the path like an airport run way. I would prefer that, but he does not promise that. Instead he promises to give me enough light for the next step. If I will learn to trust him for the next step, then he will give me enough light for the next step and with each step, I will find the direction I seek.
The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light to give us the next step, the more we learn to walk through open doors and not try to break down closed doors. Today, I had a door close. With that Bible verse in mind, I was able to back up and say, "OK...that door is closed for a reason. Now, it is time for me to look for the next open door. God give me light for the next step to take."
The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light for the next step, the more we learn to listen to his Word. God will never lead me to do anything that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible. I can trust that and let it guide me.
The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light for the next step, the more seriously we take our connection to the Body of Christ. God gives us the church--that is the people of God--to help us hear from him. Many times God has used the experience, challenge or encouragement of a brother or sister in Christ to point me in the right direction.
Most of all, that verse reminds me that God wants to light up the path for me. He will not leave me stranded in the dark. In fact, if I am running in the dark it is probably because I quit walking in the light he gives me for each step and have tried to run on out in front his light. Learning to follow Christ is about learning to depend on him one step at a time.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet," reminds me that God has not promised to light up the path like an airport run way. I would prefer that, but he does not promise that. Instead he promises to give me enough light for the next step. If I will learn to trust him for the next step, then he will give me enough light for the next step and with each step, I will find the direction I seek.
The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light to give us the next step, the more we learn to walk through open doors and not try to break down closed doors. Today, I had a door close. With that Bible verse in mind, I was able to back up and say, "OK...that door is closed for a reason. Now, it is time for me to look for the next open door. God give me light for the next step to take."
The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light for the next step, the more we learn to listen to his Word. God will never lead me to do anything that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible. I can trust that and let it guide me.
The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light for the next step, the more seriously we take our connection to the Body of Christ. God gives us the church--that is the people of God--to help us hear from him. Many times God has used the experience, challenge or encouragement of a brother or sister in Christ to point me in the right direction.
Most of all, that verse reminds me that God wants to light up the path for me. He will not leave me stranded in the dark. In fact, if I am running in the dark it is probably because I quit walking in the light he gives me for each step and have tried to run on out in front his light. Learning to follow Christ is about learning to depend on him one step at a time.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
"Who then Will You Please?"
Recently, I received a call from someone in the community. The individual explained that they had just moved here from another state. I welcomed her and thanked her for calling. She then got straight to the point. She said, "Are you a hell fire and brimstone preacher?" Before I could answer, she went on to say, "I mean are you like John Hagee (a well-known TV preacher)I want a preacher like John Hagee. Well, are you?" I said, "If you are looking for a preacher like John Hagee stay home and watch him on TV because all you get here is me. And to be very honest, I have no interest in being likened to John Hagee." She hung up and so far as I know has not visited Living Hope.
The Bible gives a great challenge in Galatians 1:10 that is difficult to live, but the more you do, the more freedom it brings. "Am I now trying to win the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." I think these are good words for us to hear as we approach Christmas. As you think about how you will fit in all the extra holiday parties and as you try to figure out how you will buy all the gifts that are expected that you can or cannot afford, I encourage you and me both to remember the words of Galatians 1:10.
Christmas is a time when we are all put to the test of this verse: To whom will we play? Every person in your life has there own set of expectations of you. If you try to please one person you will offend another. Some of us will have yet another Christmas of stress and depression as we try to make everyone happy. But if you do that it is not the fault of the others in your life, it is your own. Just because people have expectations of you, does not mean you have to try to live up to them or down to them. Instead, Galatians 1:10 says to play to an audience of one...the ONE and only One that really matters. In fact, when you seek to live to the approval of God's love and purpose for your life, then you find yourself becoming, as one woman in our church family calls it, "Comfortable in your own skin." What a gift of God it is to know who you are and who you are not! What a gift of God to play to an audience of one rather than an audience of a 100 different expectations! What a gift of God to know that when I seek God's a approval it leads me to become more free in the me he made me to be!
Friends, let somebody else try to make everyone else in your life happy. Then you can concentrate on pleasing God and enjoying the freedom and acceptance that comes in and through Christ. So, again I say to my disappointed caller, "If you want John Hagee, watch him on TV." Because I am learning to be less and less interested in being who others want me to be and more and more hungry to let God make me who he made me to be!
The Bible gives a great challenge in Galatians 1:10 that is difficult to live, but the more you do, the more freedom it brings. "Am I now trying to win the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." I think these are good words for us to hear as we approach Christmas. As you think about how you will fit in all the extra holiday parties and as you try to figure out how you will buy all the gifts that are expected that you can or cannot afford, I encourage you and me both to remember the words of Galatians 1:10.
Christmas is a time when we are all put to the test of this verse: To whom will we play? Every person in your life has there own set of expectations of you. If you try to please one person you will offend another. Some of us will have yet another Christmas of stress and depression as we try to make everyone happy. But if you do that it is not the fault of the others in your life, it is your own. Just because people have expectations of you, does not mean you have to try to live up to them or down to them. Instead, Galatians 1:10 says to play to an audience of one...the ONE and only One that really matters. In fact, when you seek to live to the approval of God's love and purpose for your life, then you find yourself becoming, as one woman in our church family calls it, "Comfortable in your own skin." What a gift of God it is to know who you are and who you are not! What a gift of God to play to an audience of one rather than an audience of a 100 different expectations! What a gift of God to know that when I seek God's a approval it leads me to become more free in the me he made me to be!
Friends, let somebody else try to make everyone else in your life happy. Then you can concentrate on pleasing God and enjoying the freedom and acceptance that comes in and through Christ. So, again I say to my disappointed caller, "If you want John Hagee, watch him on TV." Because I am learning to be less and less interested in being who others want me to be and more and more hungry to let God make me who he made me to be!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
"Mine!" Warning:You will either like this post or hate it
I find it interesting that children demonstrate such a strong sense of possession. For instance, Anna and Seth may not have any interest in a particular toy of theirs, but the moment the other wants to play with it he or she is quick to proclaim their domain with a loud and clear, "Hey, that's mine!"
Early on children learn to hold on tight to what they call,"Mine!" Of course, what makes a young child's sense of ownership even more interesting is the reality that everything they possess is given to them. My 4 and 2 year old cannot say they have worked for anything they have received. They call my and Kimberly's house theirs, but their names are not on the title. They say the vehicles are their van and their car, but last I checked they have never made a car payment. The truth is everything they have is mine, not theirs. However, they live as though they are the reason they have what they have.
Of course, our children learn this from us adults. Just because we earn a pay check and pay the bills, we believe that all that we have is ours. Its my house, my car, my TV, my bed, my snow blower, my money...because I have it, we conclude, it makes it mine. Just because we believe that does not make it true. The truth is, that is the farthest thing from the truth. The truth is, nothing we have is ours.
The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." The Creator is the only one on earth who has the right to claim domain over anything on earth. Its not my house or my car or my money...its His! I would not have anything without him having created the substance out which all that I have is manufactured. God is the source of all and there by the rightful owner of all. Everything that I have is merely entrusted to me by God. My house is really God's house. My car is God's car. My money is God's money. This means that what I have I am to treat with care and to hold loosely because, after all, nothing is mine; it is all His.
This is one of the reasons Kimberly and I give tithe and offerings. A tithe is 10 percent of one's income. Malachi 3:10 says that if we do not give God 10 % of the money we earn to his work on earth then we are robbing God. Yeah, that is a strong statement, but it is a true statement...if everything is God's and he asks us to give a portion of what is his back to him, then if we do not do so we are robbing Him.
But then Malachi 3 goes on to explain that we are not just robbing God, we are robbing ourselves. It says, "Test me on this [that is give God his 10%] and see if I don't open the flood gates of heaven to you." Kimberly and I have tested God on this and we have found him to be true to his word. He has never left us without what we need. In fact, he has opened his flood gates to us. I could share many examples of how God has asked us to give over and beyond our tithe and we do not know where the money is going to come from, but we give it and then, in amazing ways, money comes from unexpected sources. I can also share how God has opened his flood gates to us in non-monetary ways by us being willing to give what he asks of us. The truth is...if you do not trust God enough to give him what he asks, you are not holding on to what you need, you are robbing yourself of what God wants to pour into your life.
Do you realize that if everyone who says they believe in Jesus would do what Jesus says with tithe and offerings, then 30,000 children would not be dying daily of starvation, 1 child would not die every 15 seconds from unclean water, 15,000 Africans would not die to day due to preventable and curable disease, 40% of the world's population would not have to survive on less than $2 a day and 143 million orphans would be cared for in a way that today they can only dream of?
People regularly ask me, "Pastor, how can I tithe in my current financial situation?" My answer is, you must do what Kimberly and I do. We adjust our lives to live on 90% and then we always have at least 10% to give. It will mean you have to decide if you trust God or not. This is not a money issue. It is a trust issue. If you trust God when he says test me on this and I will open the flood gates to you, then it will be worth you adjusting your living to the 90% he entrusts you with...what will that mean for you? I don't know. I know for us, God has asked us to give over 10% and so it has meant we have made a choice not to have cable and not to have texting and not to ever by clothes unless they are on sale at the end of the season, etc...the point is, when God asks us to do something we must decide if we are going to trust him.
So, next time you hear a child holler, "Mine", ask yourself if your life is teaching him or her that everything they and we have is "HIS."
Early on children learn to hold on tight to what they call,"Mine!" Of course, what makes a young child's sense of ownership even more interesting is the reality that everything they possess is given to them. My 4 and 2 year old cannot say they have worked for anything they have received. They call my and Kimberly's house theirs, but their names are not on the title. They say the vehicles are their van and their car, but last I checked they have never made a car payment. The truth is everything they have is mine, not theirs. However, they live as though they are the reason they have what they have.
Of course, our children learn this from us adults. Just because we earn a pay check and pay the bills, we believe that all that we have is ours. Its my house, my car, my TV, my bed, my snow blower, my money...because I have it, we conclude, it makes it mine. Just because we believe that does not make it true. The truth is, that is the farthest thing from the truth. The truth is, nothing we have is ours.
The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." The Creator is the only one on earth who has the right to claim domain over anything on earth. Its not my house or my car or my money...its His! I would not have anything without him having created the substance out which all that I have is manufactured. God is the source of all and there by the rightful owner of all. Everything that I have is merely entrusted to me by God. My house is really God's house. My car is God's car. My money is God's money. This means that what I have I am to treat with care and to hold loosely because, after all, nothing is mine; it is all His.
This is one of the reasons Kimberly and I give tithe and offerings. A tithe is 10 percent of one's income. Malachi 3:10 says that if we do not give God 10 % of the money we earn to his work on earth then we are robbing God. Yeah, that is a strong statement, but it is a true statement...if everything is God's and he asks us to give a portion of what is his back to him, then if we do not do so we are robbing Him.
But then Malachi 3 goes on to explain that we are not just robbing God, we are robbing ourselves. It says, "Test me on this [that is give God his 10%] and see if I don't open the flood gates of heaven to you." Kimberly and I have tested God on this and we have found him to be true to his word. He has never left us without what we need. In fact, he has opened his flood gates to us. I could share many examples of how God has asked us to give over and beyond our tithe and we do not know where the money is going to come from, but we give it and then, in amazing ways, money comes from unexpected sources. I can also share how God has opened his flood gates to us in non-monetary ways by us being willing to give what he asks of us. The truth is...if you do not trust God enough to give him what he asks, you are not holding on to what you need, you are robbing yourself of what God wants to pour into your life.
Do you realize that if everyone who says they believe in Jesus would do what Jesus says with tithe and offerings, then 30,000 children would not be dying daily of starvation, 1 child would not die every 15 seconds from unclean water, 15,000 Africans would not die to day due to preventable and curable disease, 40% of the world's population would not have to survive on less than $2 a day and 143 million orphans would be cared for in a way that today they can only dream of?
People regularly ask me, "Pastor, how can I tithe in my current financial situation?" My answer is, you must do what Kimberly and I do. We adjust our lives to live on 90% and then we always have at least 10% to give. It will mean you have to decide if you trust God or not. This is not a money issue. It is a trust issue. If you trust God when he says test me on this and I will open the flood gates to you, then it will be worth you adjusting your living to the 90% he entrusts you with...what will that mean for you? I don't know. I know for us, God has asked us to give over 10% and so it has meant we have made a choice not to have cable and not to have texting and not to ever by clothes unless they are on sale at the end of the season, etc...the point is, when God asks us to do something we must decide if we are going to trust him.
So, next time you hear a child holler, "Mine", ask yourself if your life is teaching him or her that everything they and we have is "HIS."
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