Living a 220 life

How the Lord uses the weak

“O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? So he said to Him, ‘O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Judges 6:13-15)

My friends, how often are we guilty of complaining about our circumstances? How often do we accuse, ‘God can’t be with me or I wouldn’t be in this situation.’ I regularly hear Christian people talk about the Lord leaving America because of the widespread sin that is so prevalent and accepted in the country. Gideon did the same thing when his circumstances were rather bleak. He put the blame on God.

I’m not sure where you are in life right now, but I can bet if you’re not in a tough spot now you will be in the near future. My friend, you must remember, even when you’re in a crummy spot, the Lord hasn’t left you. In fact, He wants to use you to bring His glory into the world.

Not only did Gideon feel like God had left him, he also felt like he was too small, too weak, too unimportant to do anything to help. God spoke to Gideon and told him, despite being the lowest of the low, God would use him to save the nation of Israel. The Lord eventually takes Gideons army of 32,000 Soldiers and whittles it down to a mere 300. That’s right; Gideon, the lowest of the low and a skeleton army of 300 men were used by God to save the nation. If the Lord can do that with Gideon, what can He do with you?

My blessed friend in the Lord, do you feel small today? Do you feel unimportant? Perhaps you feel the Lord has turned His back on you because of crummy circumstances. I’m here to tell you God wants to use you; He hasn’t turned His back on you and never will. He wants to whittle you down to a mere 300 Soldiers in order to bless you through the miraculous power of His outstretched arm. You see, if He allowed the 32,000 Soldier army to remain you would believe your own strength had accomplished something and you would be cruelly robbed of the blessing of faith. When God works the miraculous in our life we’re blessed with a piece of heaven come down.

Friend, the time has come. The Lord wishes to use you. Stand up, call out to Him, ‘hear I am Lord, send me!’ Allow Him to use you to change the world! AMEN!

Learning from physical fitness

When Soldiers deploy to Iraq one of the most popular past times is working out. Many Soldiers will hit the gym more than they ever have in their entire lives; I’m one of them. Over the last seven months I can proudly say I’ve lost nearly 35 pounds. I can also sheepishly admit I came to Iraq seven months ago with a little extra baggage. :) None the less, I started working out with the intent of surprising Beth with a new and improved husband when I come home. Little did I know the Lord had other intentions for my strict diet and physical fitness.

You see, as I began getting into my workout regime I began to enjoy the discipline because I was seeing the results of my hard work. That’s when the Lord grabbed my attention. In 1 Thessalonians 4:4 we’re told believers are to “learn to control his own body.” (NIV) I began to realize dieting isn’t easy and it takes getting used to. I had to learn from my incredible wife what foods were good and what foods were bad for my intended goals. Losing weight became much more than simply ‘wanting’ to lose weight; no, losing weight became both a learning process as well as hard work.

The Lord revealed growing spiritually is very similar to physical fitness. We go through life with spiritual blue berry pie’s calling our name and tugging at our desires. We know we shouldn’t indulge in the pie because it will harm our relationship with the Lord, but all too often we give into the temptation out of nothing more than a lack in spiritual discipline. 1 Corinthians 9:27 says, “I discipline my body and bring it under strict control”. Friends, are you letting your spiritual body run wild or are you bringing it under strict control?

As I began working out I saw other Soldiers in the gym who were very physically fit. I would all too often compare myself to the fittest of guys in the gym and get discouraged because my abs weren’t as well defined. Then I realized Christians do the same thing. We know what we’d like our spiritual lives to look like, but get discouraged when it doesn’t match up. In essence, spiritually, we’re stepping into the gym on our first day and expecting to look like a professional body builder. It doesn’t work that way folks. We need to ‘learn’ to discipline our bodies and grow into a spiritually well defined body.

Beth explained to me that when you’re trying to get into shape, you can never out work a bad diet. She told me if I eat unhealthy food I could work out all day long and continue to get fat. The same is true spiritually. Unless you’re eating a healthy diet of God’s Word every day, it doesn’t matter how disciplined you are, you’ll continue to fail. You must off set your spiritual discipline with large quantities of God’s Word.

My friends, let me encourage you. At first, a healthy diet is difficult because we’re used to eating bad. It doesn’t take long though, before the diet and working out become a fun part of life. Consider both a physical and spiritual workout plan and diet. The Lord wants to bless your fitness both physically and spiritually. Dig into the Word and begin bringing your body under strict discipline and see if He doesn’t turn you into a spiritual body builder. AMEN!

Meditations on Psalm 142

A few hours ago my Mom called and asked my thoughts on Psalm 142. So, in response to my wonderful Mother’s request I spent some time meditating on Psalm 142 and found several key points I’d like to share. First, the background of this Psalm must be understood.

King David spent much of his life either on the run or on the throne. At this point he’s on the run. He’s being hunted down by people who want to take the throne, his family is in shambles, he’s lost a child, and another child is leading the charge trying to kill him, he’s been rebuked by God for the Bathseeba incident, and he is living with the blood of his friend, Uriah the Hittite (also known as Bathsheeba’s husband) on his hands. David is probably writing this Psalm from inside a dark dingy cave with the weight of the world on his shoulders. David is NOT in a good spot right now. He probably feels like the world is spinning so fast he doesn’t even know which way is up. Ever felt that way? If you’ve never been in a really tough spot….just wait, you will be. James 1:2 says the tough times are coming.

With this background established, Psalm 142 overall is David’s plea to God for relief. However, he offers us some very good practicle application for the tough times as well. In verse 3 we read, “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then you knew my path.” This is a very comforting declaration. You see, an overwhelmed spirit often translates into a spirit of hopelessness and despair. When our spirits are overwhelmed we often don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and only see the problems and issues weighing us down. With the economy the way it is, many people are experiencing this right now. Or, more closely related to David, when your own sin (Davids was adultery with Bathsheeba) causes the world to crash down on you and you have no clue where to turn or how to make it all stop, David declares “then you knew my path”. Folks, when everything is out of control and you’ve really messed up your life He knows the path to restoration. Jesus is the reset button! It might take a bit to sift through the ashes, but He can get you back on track and out of that dark dingy cave.

My second observation I’d like to point out comes from verse 7 when we read,”Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name” Do you see that he’s writing this from his prison? He’s not talking future or past tense here but rather present tense…bring my soul out of prison. So while he’s in the muck his thoughts are about bringing praise to the Lord. Friends, we need to always focus on bringing praise to the Lord no matter what the situation.

My final observation is this: there are 3 people involved with this Psalm. 1. David 2. Those trying to kill David and 3. Those not lending help or sitting idly by. This observation is very important because each one of you reading this is one of these three. Either you’re currently in the cave with the weight of the world on your shoulders; you’re pursuing someone and causing them to live in the cave; or you’re ignoring the fact that many others in the world are living in the cave. My friends, we are called to bear one anothers burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2) Some of you are in the cave and you certainly know who you are. Unfortunately, some of you are causing others to live in the cave. Some of you know who you are but most of you probably don’t. I beg you, get on your knees and ask the Lord to reveal if you’re causing someone great pain. If you are, repent and help that person. Most of you are in the third category and are turning a blind eye to the pain and misery around you. If you are thinking to yourself that you don’t know anyone in the cave, then you’ve turned the blind eye. I promise you, there are hurting people in the cave all around you. You won’t need to look far to find them.

Friends, seek the Lord’s will in your life. Ask Him how you can come along side a hurting brother or sister and bear their burden. American’s are a blessed people with great wealth but don’t fool yourself, I’m not talking about just throwing money someones way. No, I’m talking about bearing their burden. If you’re bearing their burden you’ll expend much more than your money, you’ll expend your time, energy, and friendship. Once you do this, and you help carry anothers burden, you will find a new aspect of Christ you’ve never known before and the pain involved with carrying the burden will pale in comparison to the new found intimacy you have with Christ. AMEN!

The rains will come

My beloved friends, as I was reading in my quiet time the other day the Lord greatly impressed on my heart that a couple verses and a devotion were specifically for someone reading this blog. I had an overwhelming sense that some of you are carrying some heavy burdens and walking through a spiritual desert right now. Well, my friends, the Lord acknowledges our deserts and our burdens and has a Word for us.

He says, “And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.” Deuteronomy 11:13-14

Friend, the Lord is telling you the desert doesn’t last forever! No, He tells us if we seek Him, if we serve Him, the rains will come. The burden you’re carrying now will not last forever. I know the burden feels like it’s too much; like you can’t take another step. You CAN! In Christ you can do all things, but only in Christ. The desert can be lonely. I know. I’m there now. The desert can feel like it’s going to swallow you whole. I know. I’m there now. But friends, our God loves us and will send the rain in its’ season.

The rain will come if and only if we seek Him and serve Him. Are you seeking the Lord or are you wallowing in your misery? One thing about the desert is this: the moment you sit down to feel sorry for yourself is the moment the desert wins and swallows you whole. Get up! Serve Him. Spend time with Him; seek His will for your service to Him. Where does He want you to get involved with the body of Christ?

The burden is heavy for you; I can sense that even as I write this. Friend, I know for sure the rains will come if you seek Him and serve Him. Let us all seek His will for us in service to Him and work diligently until the rains come. 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!