Living a 220 life

What do you fear?

As I was reading Deuteronomy in my quiet time the other day, I read something rather striking. In Deuteronomy 5 the Ten Commandments are reviewed and shortly after, beginning in verse 25, the people begin telling Moses they don’t want to talk with God out of fear. In verse 27 we read, “You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.” First of all, I found it funny that they told Moses “You go near”. They feared talking with God would kill them so they told Moses, “I’m not doing it, YOU do it”.

The people of God had a true fear of God. At first I thought this was bad and that they would get in trouble for it, but then I read verse 28. The end of the verse is God talking about their fear when He says, “They are right in all that they have spoken.” God was pleased with their fear of Him. Then it dawned on me; because of their fear of God they claim in verse 27 “and we will hear and do it.” You see, they truely believed God is real, that He would kill them if they spoke to Him face to face, and that He would punish them if they were disobedient. Their fear moved them to obey all God commanded and this pleased the Lord.

Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”. My friends, do you fear the Lord? Does your life say you fear the Lord? Is your life filled with obedience to God’s Word or do you snicker at God’s commands as you live your life how you want to live it? If you’re living a life of sin you don’t have to remain there. The Lord simply wants you to fear Him, love Him, and obey Him. “But how do I learn to fear the Lord?” you ask. Simple:

Proverbs 2:1-5 explains, “if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”

Oh my beloved friends in the Lord, if you want to live an obedient life that is pleasing to your Savior you need to spend time with Him. Spend time seeking Him in His Word, in prayer, in fellowship, and in evangelism. As you begin seeking Him you will begin to fall passionately in love with Him and at the same time develop a healthy fear of the Lord as your Creator and God. So let me ask you, what do you fear? Does your life reveal a fear of the Lord? I pray that it soon will. AMEN!

What does God want me to do?

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-15)

As you may have recognized it’s been a few weeks since I last posted a devotional. Several things have been going on in my life that have taught me a great lesson that I thought I had already learned. I guess I just needed to re-learn the lesson through experience.

I’ve had a tremendous work load the past few weeks in preparation for our departure to Iraq. Needless to say, a pending one year deployment to a war zone has caused some anxiety and questioning. The most pressing question Beth and I have been asking recently is whether I should remain in the military or pursue a civilian career. We put a lot of thought into this question; building a pro’s and con’s chart, comparing retirement numbers, considering potential new communities, etc. Then it hit me…why not find out what God wants? Not in a rhetorical way, but in a practical way. What does God want me to do with my life? Here’s what I got:

1st- “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) He let me know that He wanted me to passionately love Him no matter what. That is the important thing. As long as I pursued Him I couldn’t mess things up. However, I also discovered that though I couldn’t mess it up, I could certainly make things harder for myself. “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.” (1 Corinthians 6:12) Therefore, I concluded that my decision wasn’t about right or wrong but about what exactly God wants for me.

I couldn’t understand how being deployed away from my family for a year at a time would possibly be what God wants for my life. Then I discovered Paul’s message to the Church in Philipi. Paul says in Philipians 1:12-13, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ”. Certainly Paul being thrown in prison in chains would appear to be a bigger hindrance to ministry than me being sent to Iraq. Therefore, if Paul could boast of such a thing then I could certainly be used of God while deployed away from my family as well. I must only hold fast to Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”

As I began truly seeking the Lord’s will for my future I was brought back to the calling He had already given me. He made this calling abundantly clear to me and I suppose time and hardship were the only factors that blurred it for me. God loves us so much and is increadibly passient with us. He didn’t get upset that I forgot my calling, He simply set it back in front of me. Ephesians 4:11-15 is the calling for my life. The Lord has gifted me as a teacher and charged me to lead others into spiritual maturity. This is what God wants me to do! I need not question that any longer. I need only to love Him and love others with the love He gives me.

Leading others closer to Christ is what God has called us to do. Doing this in the military is our specific mission field the Lord laid upon our hearts. When times get tough the Lord will carry us through. He has given us specific promises that we can rest upon and will continue to walk hand in hand with us through life.

My friends, I offer this testimony as encouragement for you to dialogue with the Lord. Seek His will in your life. He will reveal what He wants for you. He loves you and will speak to your heart. When the Lord gives you specific promises you can stand firm on those promises, knowing that the Creator of the universe will complete that promise for you! AMEN

Living wisely

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)

Do you do things in life that make you stop and wonder why you did such a dumb thing? Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I do things that are really dumb. I’m not a dumb guy so it really boggles my mind by some of the things I do. I believe all human beings have these moments. However, the book of Proverbs tells us that we have the opportunity to grow in knowledge. This opportunity begins with the fear of the Lord.

When I read this verse I was pretty excited. I was ready to sign up for the program immediately. Then I began to wonder what exactly does “the fear of the Lord” mean? How do we really fear the Lord? I was all for getting the knowledge, but I really didn’t know how to fear the Lord.

Then I read Proverbs 2:1-5. The Lord heard my questioning heart and answered my question. He told me, “My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:1-5)

My friends, this breaks down to 7 simple tasks:
1. receive His Word–read the Bible regularly
2. treasure His commands–willingly obey what He tells you through His Word
3. incline your ear to wisdom–humbly listen to other Christens and check what they tell you with scripture.
4. apply your heart to understanding–dig into what you read. Do some research and really investigate.
5. cry out for discernment–Pray, pray, pray. Ask God to instruct your heart.
6. lift up your voice for understanding–Pray, pray, pray. Ask God to instruct your mind.
7. seek and search–don’t give up. It’s a life long pursuit that we never stop.

As we conduct these 7 steps whole heartedly we begin to find our loving Saviour. These steps aren’t the complete package of being a follower of the Lord but they will lead you into His presence. My friends, seek Him and you will find Him. AMEN!

How Christians are like transformers

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

Transformers: More than meets the eye. You can almost hear the tune that goes with it. Transformers are certainly more than meets the eye. You see one thing but something else lies beneath the surface. Christians are called to be very similar; we’re called to start out as one thing and be completely transformed into something else. The only difference is that we don’t transform back.

The first thing we’re called to in Romans 12:2 is to be seperated from the world. “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world”. Think about this for a moment. This is a huge task. We are called to be different from the rest of the world. We can’t do this on our own though and the Lord explains how we’re to do this. We are to be transformers through the renewing of our mind. That’s right, your mind.

How often do you study your Bible or really think about what you believe? Do you work your mind and attempt to renew your thinking? Your mind is the gateway to transformation my friends. Your mind creates thoughts which create actions which create habits which create character. If you want to change who you are then change the way you think. That’s what the Lord wants to do in you, now just spend time with Him.

As we spend more time with Him, learning about Him, studying who He is, we will be transformed into His image. When we’re transformed we’ll be able to know His will in our lives. Friends, this is where we want to be; perfectly living in His will throughout our lives. The next time you see a poster or toy or any other marketing piece for transformers, be reminded that we too are called to be transformers in this world. AMEN!

What is your sacrifice?

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)

I was recently reading a book called “Jesus Freaks” which details the stories of numerous martyrs and Christians who’ve been horrendously persecuted for their faith. As I read some of the horrific stories I couldn’t help but feel like I was really blessed, and yet, at the same time inadequate for not enduring such pain for the Lord. It was much the same feeling as when your watching the finish of a marathon; you’re really glad you didn’t just run 26 miles and yet, the runners are the ones receiving all the glory.

Do you ever feel like you just blend into the crowd while others are receiving the cheers as they cross the finish line? Do you wish to make a greater sacrifice for the Lord? As I was reading Romans chapter 12 I realized we’re all called to make the sacrifice whether we’re martyred or not. We’re called to offer our bodies as ‘living’ sacrifices. We are called to be martyred in our old life and reborn into our new life. The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can get up and walk off the alter. This is my problem all too often.

My friends, I began to realize that I was looking at martyrdom and the great sacrifices the people in ‘Jesus Freaks’ made in the wrong light. I, in an odd way, desired that sacrifice because it brought more glory to me. The Lord laid on my heart that He wants me to be martyred in my every day life. He wants me to stay on the alter rather than fulfilling the desires of the flesh throughout my daily life. Why would I desire such a public display of sacrifice when I have trouble with simple displays of sacrifice every day? Friends, let us all willingly climb up onto the alter and offer our bodies, our daily lives, to Jesus. AMEN!