True Comfort

“Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?”  —Pastor and writer Frances Chan

Just in case you don’t see the comfort in this perspective, just think about the last time you took someone at their word and your trust was disappointed. Such an event can result in hurt, fear, self blame, a break in relationship, and an inability to trust that person again. It is for this reason that God is so committed to our having interactions with Him. For God knows that our interactions will produce amazement at His greatness and a trust His promises. Here are a few verses that reveal just that:

• “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” —Isaiah 40:28-29.
• “Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.”—Jeremiah 32:17.
• “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’—Jeremiah 33:3
• “For nothing will be impossible with God.” —Luke 1:37.

So, have you thanked the Lord today that He is greater than our ability to comprehend Him? Have you spent any time marveling at His greatness and faithfulness to us? If not, take a moment and do just that for you will be amazed how comforting it will make you feel regardless, of the challenges you are facing.

Knowing Christ And The Power Of His Resurrection

This year marks eighteen years since 800,000 Tutu’s were slaughtered in Rwanda by their neighbors, friends, and fellow countrymen. This all occurred in the span of 100 days, which means that about 8,000 people were being killed per day during that period! These atrocities were committed not by the use of bombs or guns but by means of machetes. Therefore, the killing occurred in close contact situations as neighbors killed neighbors, employees their employers, teachers their students, even clergy their congregants.

The astonishing fact of this event though is that the nation of Rwanda at that time was 90% Christian and a rich history of renewal dating back to the famous East Africa revival of 1929. There were numerous churches in the country and clearly this was known as a “Christian country.” Yet the question comes—how could this have happened? Now we may write this whole event off as a result of those who use the name “Christian” but have never given their lives to Christ. Yet the sheer size of those participating in this disaster tells us that there were probably misled or non-growing Christians involved. So, how could this have happened?

Well, I believe the key is summed up in this statement—If a follower of Christ is not growing in his/her intimacy with God, he/she is not being empowered to live out the Christian life. Without this consistent growth we are not able to handle the challenges & pressures of life in our own power. And without such power continually operating and growing in our lives we are incredibly vulnerable. 

As you go through this day I pray that you will make an important commitment— to know and to follow Christ with all your heart. “All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, so that somehow I also may be raised to life. I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize” (Philippians 3:10-12).

Keeping Focused

One of the greatest challenges we all have as Christians is keeping our focus on the great destination we are all heading towards. To help you remember and to encourage you to keep your focus on eternity here are a few quotes from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. I pray that they will bless you:

“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” 

“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world….  Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.”

May the Lord bless you today as you live in the brilliant light of eternity and to help other to do the same.

Christ In Us

An overlooked aspect of a believer’s renewing his/her mind (Romans 12:1-2) is for them to read the works of Christians who will instruct, challenge, and encourage them in their walk. I would like to share with you one of those writers who has blessed me. Here is an excerpt from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity on the proper outlook a Christian is to have on his/her goodness. 

“A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble—because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out.

That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or—if they think there is not—at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.

And let me make it quite clear that when Christians say the Christ-life is in them, they do not mean simply something mental or moral. When they speak of being ‘in Christ’ or of Christ being ‘in them’, this is not simply a way of saying that they are thinking about Christ or copying Him. They mean that Christ is actually operating through them; that the whole mass of Christians are the physical organism through which Christ acts—that we are His fingers and muscles, the cells of His body.”

Lord help us to remember that all good things come from above, even those good things what we now reflect like a mirror through our lives. Help us this day to point others to you through our good works and to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same.

Expectancy Through Suffering

To live the Christian life expecting to never suffer is like driving in a bumper car rink and expecting to never get hit by another car. These expectations are both irrational for they are not in line with the nature of these two contexts. The nature of the Christian context is presented in such passages as Romans 8:17 “if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him”; and Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

So if this is the case, how does suffering enhance rather than hinder our spiritual expectancy? The reason is found in the purpose of suffering in a life. For a person who is not a follower of Jesus, suffering enters into that person’s life to warn them to turn to God. This is what Paul calls ‘the wrath of God’ in Colossians 3:6 & Romans 1:18 that is both present now, and is still to be fully revealed. But for a follower of Jesus, God allows suffering into that life to assure us that we are Christ’s (when we suffer ‘for His sake’ Philippians 1:29), that we are God’s children who receive discipline when we are not in line with our Father’s desire (Romans 8:17), and as a reminder that we should not get comfortable in life for this world is not our home (Philippians 3:8).

If you are ever tempted to lose your confidence and expectancy of God’s working in your life because of the difficulties you are experiencing, remember that our suffering is a reminder that God is at work in us. The next step is to determine the purpose God has for allowing these challenges in our lives. Remember, “we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

“Father, remind us of your great work in us. Even through the difficulties we experience in life. Help us therefore to keep our eyes on you during these times.”

Expectancy Through Obedience

Have you ever entered a room that you are familiar, or even unfamiliar, with when it is completely dark? What is your usual approach in that situation? Usually we keep working our way around the walls of that room seeking the light switch. We may have no idea where it is but we expect that if we keep up the pursuit we will be rewarded in the end.

That is how people who expect God to come through for them act when they are in the dark. When they are going through tough times without a clue where they are, why they’re there, or what may come next. In those moments those who believe God have one focus—doing what they know they must do based on an expectancy that God has provided an answer for their situation in that dark place of uncertainty. In other words, they focus on being obedient.

One of the greatest examples of this in the Bible is given to us in the life of Joseph (Genesis 37-45). In this account we see a person who seems to be a poster boy for Murphy’s Law—“If anything can go wrong, it will”—as Joseph continually finds himself in difficult situations. Yet what is key in this account are not the challenges that Joseph faces, but how he responds to them. In every situation Joseph honors God by his obedience to the teachings of God. In the end, Joseph gets to the light switch and sees how everything has worked together to put him in a place where he can not only bless his family but also the great nation of Egypt he has come to govern.

The question might be asked, ‘Why are we placed in dark rooms in the first place?’ The answer to that question is given to us in Hebrews 5:8 where we read of Jesus—“Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”  Please note that difficult and challenging times play a key role in making us what God desires for us to be. They force us to deepen our commitment to God and strengthen our expectancy that He will provide. So, keep honoring & expecting the best from the Lord for He is blessing you even in your most challenging moments.

Expectancy Through Joy

Would you agree that the more certain you are about an object or person the more confident you are in your response to that object or person? This approach is the basis for one of the most incredible commands in the Bible. It is given to us in Philippians 4:4—‘Rejoice in the Lord always.’  And just to make sure that we really got it, the command is repeated in the same verse—‘and again I say rejoice!’ 

This may seem like an impossible command but don’t miss the fact that it is based on a certainty the writer has in a person. That person is the Lord and knowing that His desire cannot be defeated, His goodness cannot be corrupted, His promises cannot be broken, and His goals will not be compromised Paul realizes that he must respond to the good and bad of life by either trusting or doubting God. He continually chooses to joyously trust God. It is on the basis of such a confident trust that we are to consistently revel in God in a way that is not dependent on our feelings but on our expectation that God will be true to Himself and to us. This same expectant trust is also the basis for the Psalmist’s command for how we should view our days—“This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Pslam 118:24).

So, does a confident trust in God that is expressed through joy characterizing your day? If not it is not too late for a change.

“Father, help us to walk by faith that is constantly being revealed through our having unshakeable joy in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Expectancy Through Boldness

There is nothing like certainty to increase one’s boldness. Just ask the young man who has gathered all his family and friends together to witness his marriage proposal, knowing that she has already told him in private her desire to marry him. When we are certain of the outcome our sense of expectancy should be revealed in actions that can only be characterized as bold.

It is no wonder then that the Bible continually highlights the greatness of the Lord as an encouragement for us to be bold. Take a moment and consider some passages that encourage us to step out in strength:

Matthew 28:18-20 says that Jesus’ having supreme authority should cause us to boldly share our faith and call others to wholeheartedly follow Him as well.

Colossians 2:15-16 tells us that Jesus’ display of the vanquished forces of evil encourages us to be bold in living according to Christ’s desire rather than powerless religious traditions.

Hebrews 10:19—25 announces that Christ’s unique position before God the Father gives us boldness to always come before Him knowing that He will rejoice over our presence.

Are you certain of God’s favor and blessings towards you? If so, let it show.

“Father, bless us this day to connect our knowledge of your greatness to our bold acts of expectant trust. For your glory and our growth in you. Amen.”

Expectancy Through Thanksgiving

One of the greatest indicators of expecting something to happen is to act as if that event has already occurred—Preparing a nursery for your not yet born baby, getting a manicure in preparation for an engagement ring, purchasing a car in light of a pending raise, or writing a ‘thank you’ speech before you’ve been given an award. Conversely one of the greatest indicators that a person has lost their sense of expectancy is to not be thankful for what they’ve received.

In Luke 8:26-39 we are introduced to a group of people who have lost their sense of expectancy. In this account Jesus comes to an area where there is a man who is notoriously possessed and overwhelmed with demons. Jesus heals this man, but when his neighbors come and see him they ask Jesus to leave rather than thanking Him for the transformation He has caused (35-37). The negative response of the people of that land reveals that they had become so accustomed to the demonic influence in their lives that they could not appreciate God’s transforming power in their midst. They were not thankful for the incredible gift they had experienced.

We also can be so accustomed to sin that we can fail to acknowledge and be thankful for God’s actions in our lives. Any movement of the Lord that is not comfortable can be responded to with fear or opposition if we don’t respond with thanksgiving based on an expectancy of God’s blessings. Thanksgiving lights the way for our mind and hearts to trust God and to venture forth boldly in faith!

Would you like to cultivate a thankful outlook on life? If so take a few moments throughout, and especially at the end of your day to thank the Lord for everything that is occurring in your life believing that He will use these things for the good He promised (Romans 8:28). You will be surprised how this practice increases your expectancy and anticipation of God’s blessings.

Expectancy Through Prayer

The very act of praying is based on anticipating or expecting God to do something in response to our communicating with Him. This is a message that is repeatedly highlighted in the Bible, as these few examples show:

God challenges His people to act in trust towards Him and gives them this promise to encourage their actions—“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know’ (Jeremiah 33:3). Don’t miss the emphasis on God’s response—‘I will answer you.” In Mark 11:24, where we’re given the account of the disciples marveling at the fact that Jesus’ prayer was answered, Jesus responds to this amazement—“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”

It is as if God is saying, ‘Come on, have a great expectation of me when you pray for only then will you truly be praying.’ So, do you have that kind of expectancy when you pray? Paul so strongly believed in the power of prayer that he used a Greek word that was used for the ‘agony’ or ‘struggle’ athletes experience in their pursuit of a goal when describing his prayers of expectancy for the Colossians (Colossians 2:1)

Saints, are your prayers characterized by expectancy that God will do something great because you have prayed to Him? Take a moment and review one or all of the verses above then pray as if your prayer is the final action that will cause God to bless your life, family, church, unsaved loved ones, etc. Then at the end of that prayer thank Him for His response by faith.

Indicators of True Faith

One of the indicators of true faith that Paul says exists in the lives of the believers in Colossae is the ‘love which you have for all the saints’ (Colossians 1:4). It is as if Paul is saying that the love they have evidenced for their fellow Christ followers is a key indicator of their truly following Christ. So, in light of this powerful faith measure I’d like to encourage us to participate in one of the greatest ways we can show our love for all the saints—by praying for them. Here are a few steps that will help us do just that:

1. Pray in the plural. Have you noticed that when Jesus taught His disciples to pray (Matthew 6:1-14) He gave them a pattern that was consistently in the plural?—‘our Father,’ ‘give us,’ etc. We are called to not only pray for ourselves but also for our brothers and sisters. Let us make it a practice to use ‘us,’ ‘our,’ and ‘we’ more in our prayers for it will cause us to pray more for others.

2. Keep a list. James states that we are to confess our sins to one another and to pray for one another (James 5:16). When someone trusts us enough to confess their areas of weakness and need to us it is then important that we respond by faithfully praying for them. Making a list enables us to remember to pray for these individuals and to fulfill our responsibility in love.

3. Pray without knowledge. The Bible is clear that we have brothers and sisters around the globe that we will stand in the presence of the Lord with some day (Revelations 7:9). Paul later sets an example of how we are to approach them now by encouraging saints to pray and care for others they did not know (2 Corinthians 9). We can do the same by praying for our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who we hear are being persecuted for their faith but we may not know them. We may have our freedoms in order to pray for those who have no freedom.

May the Lord bless us as we pray and care for those who are a part of our new family in Christ, and hopefully someday the Lord will say of us that our faith was evident by the ‘love which you have for all the saints’.

Still Acting On New Year Resolutions?

How many of us are still acting on our new year resolutions? If we still have our resolutions in focus we are probably not as fervent about them as we were in January. It has been shown that by June most resolutions become a distant memory, a mere speck in the rear view mirror of our lives. But there are 3 steps that we can take to move our resolutions from intentions to actions and eventually to success.

1. Exchange your strength for God’s. One day King Asa faced an overwhelming military force that was assembled against him. In that moment Asa prayed a prayer (2 Chronicles 14:11) that transferred the control of his Army to God’s oversight. This action allowed God to empower Asa’s forces and bring about a great victory. 
If your resolution needs a greater power source in order to succeed, and most do, give your battle to God and He will empower your actions.

2. Review your resolutions weekly. The saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’ has great relevance to the topic of achieving one’s resolutions. Most of us have our commitments buried under the pressures and pace of life as our year progresses. For this reason it is important for us to remind ourselves of our commitment to change. 
We will never achieve our goals if we don’t review them or if we excuse ourselves because we tried. Margaret Thatcher noted the error of this outlook in saying—“No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he had only had good intentions.” 

3. Enlist some help.  Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 heralds the benefits of collaboration towards a goal— “Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Ask someone(s) to hold you accountable. Give them permission to ask you how your resolution is progressing, let them know how you like to be encouraged, and give them permission to challenge you when you aren’t doing well in achieving these goals.

4. Give yourself the gift of grace. We can often be our own worst task masters. Such tough oversight rarely works and is hard to maintain. Note the words of writer of Ecclesiastes—“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happensto them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). 
Remember, your year is a journey to change, not a sprint.

May the Lord bless you as you go through your day and take a few more steps to make this a wonderful year.

What Is Fear?

Do you know that one of the greatest weapons of the enemy is fear?  Fear is powerful because it causes us to minimize God, to doubt that the all powerful God of the universe can do anything and everything He desires! Or, if He can He won’t for us. This is powerful because if God cannot meet our needs it is then up to us! The end result is worry, anxiety, and greater fear about the future.

It is for this reason the Bible attacks anxiety and its underlying cause—fear. This is especially seen in Peter’s words in 1 Peter 5:6—8:

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

So, be fearless in stepping out on God and His promises. I am sure you will be, or are presently, having a few opportunities to do so.

Do We Really Need One Another?

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

“Believers have two responsibilities. The first is to worship God and the second is to work for His kingdom. Where and how we serve is based upon our unique talents, skills, and calling. But the one place where we are all expected to give of ourselves is the local church.

When you were saved, the Lord baptized you by the Holy Spirit into His church—the body of believers who live all over the world but are united by trust in Jesus Christ. You then chose, according to the will of God, to become part of a local, autonomous group of believers. He placed you there because He knows that you are needed (1 Cor. 12:18). You are significant to your home church. 

The church is more than a community. It is an interdependent body with individual members who were created by God to function in communion with one another. We Christians, like the world at large, are a diverse group, and that means we often have to strive hard for unity. But our differences are actually something to be celebrated, because each person uniquely contributes to God’s purpose. A church that is truly operating as a unit—with all its varied gifts, talents, personalities, and intellects focused toward kingdom goals—must be a beautiful sight before the Lord.

Christianity isn’t a spectator religion. We all have jobs to do in God’s kingdom. The body of Christ functions best and most beautifully when all members resolve to serve God and each other to the best of their ability (v. 25). What are you doing for your church?”

Please don’t ever forget that you are very important to us as a church and that your presence and gifts have been given to us for a purpose that you are uniquely prepared to fulfill.

Constant Worship

Although it is always great to be in worship on Sundays we can feel like a tire with a slow leak as we go through the week. By the end of the week we’ve lost the joy an excitement we gained from our time in worship with our church family. To make the good start to our week result in our having a wonderful time worshiping the Lord throughout the week remember each Sunday’s worship gathering sets the table for what we are to feed off of and renew throughout the rest of the week.

How can we keep such a focus on worship throughout our week? Here are three suggestions:

1. Remember that everything you do is a way of bringing pleasure to God, so include Him in your thoughts throughout the day—“whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, we should do this to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

2. Sing a song from the worship service, or another Christian song, to keep your heart and mind centered on Jesus throughout the day—”... be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-20).

3. Remove any distractions to realizing and appreciating the greatness of God. This is especially the case for that which is sinful, or counter to His ways—“Give unto the Lord the glory that is due unto His name, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2).

May the Lord bless you as you go through this week in an attitude of gratitude that is expressed in worship.