Trust in the Lord

When all else fails why not trust in the Lord? We’ve all tried trusting other things, we’ve put our trust in people, in institutions, in religions, and on and on it goes… you name it and most of us have put our trust in that and what have we gotten? We’ve suffered loss.

And yes that loss hurts. It stings our pride, burns our hearts, brings our anger to the surface, and either humbles us or develops into even more pride; more lifted up in ourselves without an acknowledgement of our tremendous need for God (1 John 2:16).

Yet, in Christ and through Christ we are blessed through… suffering.

For what did the “author and finisher of our faith” do with his suffering (Hebrews 12:2)? Christ learned “obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).

Trust is linked to obedience and obedience to suffering.

So often in my life I hear folks or myself complain about rules and regulations or bosses or well… you name it. We are really, really good at complaining… how good are we at obeying?

Yes, that is sharp. The Word of God is sharp, a two edged sword and when I’m not in my Father’s Word then I’m not obeying Him (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) and therefore I’m not trusting Him.

I know. We are all busy. And we promise ourselves, the Lord, and those who remind us that when we finish this or that… then we will get into the Word. Another distraction, another project, another tasker comes down and…

It comes down to priorities doesn’t it? It comes down to the question, how important is God? How important is it for me to really know him? And do I trust him enough to make Him #1 and stand back and watch him honor that commitment and that trust?

Walking by Faith

“Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:27-29

Years ago my heart sought peace, comfort, and joy. I had tried all the trappings of the world that I could. I was a part of the cool crowd moment and then the next moment, I wasn’t. Yet, my heart wanted more than acceptance from the crowd; my heart wanted to believe.

As a child I attended church and found it dull and boring. I found most of the words unnecessary and irritating. I mean, I believed that I was a good person, why would I ever need anything or anyone else? Why would I ever need Jesus?

Years passed by and with them passed a sorted life that brought temporary happiness but no lasting joy and no peace, no peace for my hurting heart.

The love of Christ came into my life and it came through his love displayed by others. They showed me great kindness even at my cursing them out, they showed me mercy even when I told them to go away. The lent me a hand when my life finally hit dirt bottom. All the while I avoided them as much as possible, I scorned their music, and called them names and yet they responded with kindness, gentleness, and love.

That love of Christ made me stop and made me consider. And when the time was right I asked the Lord to forgive me and to be my Lord. The love of Christ displayed in others taught me that I could never be good enough and that I needed a Savior. I learned that I needed the righteousness of Christ and not my own; a righteousness freely given to me when Christ gave his life on the cross. And just as Jesus rose from the grave daily I rise and I’m a little bit different, a little cleaner inside, a little more like my Heavenly Father all because of faith in Him.

That journey starts with faith. Faith is believing that Jesus Christ loves you and me enough to die for us. But the story doesn’t end there; Christ also rose from the dead so that we could believe that he is the Son of God, the Christ.

Maybe today you believe in Him, you know his life, and you know his sacrifice. Yet, in the very core of your heart is Christ your Lord, your Savior, and your King? Many use the name ‘Christian’ to mark themselves with the religion of ‘Christianity’; using the name doesn’t make you a follower of Christ.

Walking by faith in Him and trusting Christ alone does.

An Old Bush & Mercy

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3:1-6)

Major Ian Thomas, the great British Bible teacher commented on this passage with, “The Lord demonstrated to Moses that any old bush—as long as it’s available—will do to manifest His glory.”

Jesus showed the same principle when he used six common earthen vessels, had them filled with water and then He miraculously turned that water into wine (John 2).

God is seeking those available and clean for his work. Are you clean? The Bible teaches us that when we “confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). There is no reason to fear your Heavenly Father, His mercy is everlasting. “For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 101:5).

Your Heavenly Father wants you to be right so that you can enter into an ever closer relationship with him. He loves you that much! So much so that his Spirit whispers to your heart gently calling you to come to Him. Jesus whispers to our hearts, "Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

That same Spirit that tugs at your heart is gentle. God calls you but he leaves the choice to you if you will accept his invitation or not. You can go on with life as it is if you so choose. You can keep walking in the desert of disbelief or you can turn towards the light of God’s love and experience true and vibrant peace, life, and love. (Galatians 5:22; Joshua 24:15; Matthew 22:14)

God of Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

What a beautiful prayer, a beautiful hope. Such peace and hope we have dwelling deep within. Each day as we learn to walk by faith and trust in Christ we come to an ever deeper understanding and growing joy.

We find contentment in the Lord. We grow and learn and recognize that Christ is all we want, all that we need. In Christ we have peace and our hope is full in Him.

Return to Love

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalms 51:12).

Sometimes, if we take a pause from our busy schedule and we are still and listen intently. If we search our hearts and our minds we find that something is missing. Missing is an intended pureness that is now tainted. Our hearts and minds struggle with doubts, with fears, and with an emptiness that echoes off the walls of our hearts. Our hearts know there’s something better, something purer, something that fills the void and that calms the heart with peace and intrinsic joy.

Somewhere in our past, somewhere in the days, months, or years past we heard some very Good News. The news was so good, the promise of freedom so grand, and the promises so extraordinary that we squinted and backed away from its glory. We backed away; turned and walked away confused and in disbelief.

We filled our lives with all that was available to us. We did that which felt right, felt good, and brought pleasure. We lived life to the fullest but we still… deep down inside felt empty… and utterly alone, so very alone.

But we kept up appearances for appearance sake and after a while we lost ourselves in our own deception. The crowd we associated with were much like us and when those relationships were stressed, we hurt each other with words and actions. Over time the relational scars and guilt criss-crossed the surface of our heart making it cold, callused and hard.

Then unexpectedly the brilliance of that Good News shines upon us once again. Our knees our weak as we want to turn and run but something burns within us… something deep within our heart calls for, longs for, the saving love of Jesus Christ. We think… ’could this be true?’ ‘Could this be what my heart so desires?’ So, with hope, with faith we call on Jesus and ask for his forgiveness and turn our heart over to him.

We find that our hearts melt in the presence of his love. Our hearts glow in peace and in joy that we’ve never tasted. We worship for its right, we worship for it’s true, we worship from a heart bursting-full and free.

Is your heart free? Can you remember your first love? (Rev. 2:4) Can you remember the peace, the joy, the unrehearsed worship, and the unburdened heart? Remember that first love, savor those moments, cherish your first taste of joy. Turn from the practices of do’s and don’ts religiosity and return to him... return to love. The love of Christ.

Garden Weeds

One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones, and then passed the vineyard of a lout; They were overgrown with weeds, thick with thistles, all the fences broken down. I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened: "A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, with poverty as your permanent houseguest!" (Proverbs 24:30 The Message)

Wouldn’t you know it! You wake up one morning and look in the mirror and what do you see… yea, it’s a weed growing out of your left ear! I know, I know, it’s Thursday and you just went to church on Sunday and now this. There’s no rest is there!?

Every time you turn around there pops out something else to work on in your life. Some days its thistles (that’s on those days when you are all grumpy and mad tempered, all because you won’t forgive someone, and so you become kind of prickly). On other days you see these big ugly rocks in your life (that’s when your heart has gotten hard because of the naughty things you’ve been doing, and there’s just no way you are going to repent). And then there are those fences (fences and walls keep out bad stuff and keep you from doing bad stuff, that’s the Word of God) yep, those fences need attention, but… as you yawn again you think, ‘I’ll read the Bible some other day…, ‘I mean, it’s just not cool to be caught reading the Bible, I mean, who does that! [And yes, that is the problem… folks are living without a compass…]

Well, you probably should read and absorb, and live by faith what the good book says because it you don’t then all kinds of ugly things will start appearing. Like weeds, thistles, fleas, and who knows what!

I mean, come on… you eat every day to feed your body. You brush your teeth, to get some of the food out and to show your beautiful white teeth on the rare occasions when you might smile… you take a shower… you do all of that every day because you need to. But, what are you doing for your heart and your soul? Are you feeding and taking care of it? Maybe you just want to look good on the outside and you’ve never thought of the inside much… well, God sees everything… and I mean everything! And you know what, he sees a broken down garden in our lives because of a lack of maintenance… remember the old saying… “anything worth having is worth fighting for” … are you fighting back the weeds that are growing in your life? Do you fight against fear, shame, failure, despair, heartache, and loneliness (just to name a few ugly growths in people’s hearts).

So what do you do when a weed is growing out of your ear? Well, pull out the sword of the Spirit (the Bible) and cut that thing off, please… it’s unsightly! Then start doing some weeding in your life. A good place to start is where you are right now. First, God says, stop what you are doing “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). First, do you believe there is a God or not? The Bible says “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God” (Romans 1:20). It sounds like God has really tried to get our attention but we’ve been snoozing. Yep, the Bible speaks of that too, “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:14).

You know it sounds like I’m in the poor shape that I’m in because of… yep, my own doing. Yet, like you there is the greatest of hopes. Neither you nor I need to stay in a broken down garden. Christ left us a manual to follow on how to kill the weeds, fix what needs fix-en, and clear out our lives the hatred, arrogance, deceit, lies, and hypocrisy… again, just naming a few. Christ will fix you up, he will help you with your garden, with your heart if you by faith and trust turn your heart towards him.

Rejoicing in Christ

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

Nice scripture right, but does it apply to today?

Some believe the Bible is out dated and that its words hold very little meaning today. It is unfortunate but have you noticed that those folks also do not possess the peace of God deep in their hearts. Jesus Christ is not the Lord of their lives, behind the front they put on… they are terribly unhappy (John 3:17-21). Are you terribly unhappy?

Everyone serves something be that money, reputation, looks, or self. And that is where the true believer in Jesus Christ differs; they differ because daily they learn to serve and follow Jesus.

You see a believer at one time in his or her life came to the conclusion that they were terribly dissatisfied. Folks who now serve Christ at one time in their lives served booze, drugs, sex, money, reputation, looks… self. They like me came to a place in their life when they gave Jesus Christ a chance. They said in their hearts, ‘well, I don’t know if coming to you in such circumstances and with such sin in my life will… but Jesus will you accept my heart, my life, and be the Lord of my heart, Lord, please help me.’

And you know what happened? We found a new beginning, a new life. Oh! What a wonderful life we’ve found because of Christ our Lord!! That terrible emptiness that clawed within us was filled; filled with the love of Jesus Christ. That desire to lie, to be angry, to be just a nasty person slowly, ever so slowly is changed… not by being good little Christians, no… but we are the love of Jesus that compels our hearts to seek him, love him, learn of him, and love others.

Are believers in Christ perfect? No, not by a long shot. But let me tell you we are deeply happy. So much so that we read a passage of scripture like the one above and the joy of Christ begins to overflow our hearts and swell our eyes with tears.

Why? Because of the tremendous sacrifice that Jesus did for us on the cross. For on the cross Jesus Christ took on himself all the sins of the world, that includes yours and mine.

So, why aren’t all people saved? God gave folks choice. Some folks reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They go along with the belief that all religions are o.k. and that all religions serve the same God and that all people go to paradise when they die.

Yet, is that the truth?

Don’t you wonder what the truth is?

The Bible says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). Those were the words of Jesus.

Words the believers in Christ believe in. What do you believe in?

I believe the words of Jesus and daily I desire to focus more of my life on him and less on me. Daily, I rejoice in knowing these truths:

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12) – We rejoice because we are children of God and nothing can take that away from us!

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15) – We rejoice because Jesus is our friend and we are his!

“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (Colossians 1:13-14) – We rejoice because our sins are forgive us and we have peace and grace because we belong to him!

Blameless in Christ

“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23

All around us a lot of folks are hurting. Folks are hurting because their bodies are failing them, their finances, or relationships are crumbling. Being in Christ does not grant full immunity as some events are common to all mankind (1 Corinthians 10:13); being in Christ gives us the assurance and peace of his purpose in our lives.

Just as silverware in a drawer often gets banged around, jostled, dented and scratched. So we also go through life. Yet, sometimes our Savior picks us up and we are used of him and other times it is someone else. We should feel honored, humbled, and rejoice when either happens. For the greatest honor we have in this life is to bring honor to Jesus Christ. We honor him by being ready for his use.

When you sit down to eat in a restaurant you would not eat with a dirty fork or knife or spoon, no, you send it back. It’s not clean enough to eat with. That instrument returns to a place for scrubbing and cleaning. A place not in public view, a not very pretty place.

Christ scrubs us clean through His Word and the moving of his Spirit on our hearts. He loves you, he wants the best for you. Sometimes the Spirit takes us through a good scrubbing and cleaning. Often we feel alone and our feelings are in a dark and ugly place. We look around and all we can see is the dirt and ugliness of other instruments or the lack of luster on ourselves. It is during those times that God’s hands of peace touch us the most, help us, and mend us.

God’s preparing you for his purposes. Purposes you’ve never dreamed of. Never thought of. Never imaged. He’s shaping you for eternity. Those scratches and dents will heal but not overnight, it takes time to polish them and to smooth out our rough edges. God is patient, he won’t give up on you, don’t give up on Him.

For just a little while you will see him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). His reflection is taking place in your life every single day (1 John 3:2)!

Deny Yourself and Follow Christ

“If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and daily follow me” Luke 9:23

Years ago the love of Christ compelled me to go before strangers and there give my heart to him. I can yet remember the war going inside of my heart. Part of me was terribly angry. For one I could not stand religious folks, they were a bunch of hypocrites as far as I was concerned. Well, I had that part right.

Another part of my heart so yearned for freedom, I craved love to enter into my heart. Throughout my youth I knew something was missing and in the back of my mind I kept searching. So on a warm July night, among strangers, among the religious, and with all types of contradicting emotions and thoughts my heart surrendered to the love of Jesus Christ.

Little did I know or any of us what that decision really meant. Back then if you quoted the above scripture I probably would have swallowed hard and said o.k., Lord, I’ll do whatever you ask, just love me, just let me be near you. I would have thought of denying myself and my conclusion would be, it’s worth it… just to be near him whom my heart so loves…

That was many miles and trials ago. I’ve been through much of the ‘Christian’ experience. The one who so hated hypocrites ever so slowly developed into one, a pretty good one. The one who so despised the arrogance of false Christianity… took it up and ran with it and made some people believe that he was just the best, the sweetest, the greatest.

And you know what… Christ even loves the hypocrite. And through his love and grace and mercy I am what I am today… whatever that may be.

And whatever that is… is the concern of others but as for me I’m moving on. I’m passing through this world as a stranger and a foreigner. For I don’t belong here, this is not my home. My place is at the feet of Christ my Lord and my heart is crying, ‘just love me Lord and let me be near you and if you want me to give up something just say so. Lord, you know I’ll need help because I’m weak and foolish and a mess but I’m in love with you and you say which way and I’ll follow. Who else can I follow, who else can you follow (John 6:68)?

So, Christ is speaking to your heart to listen as his Spirit whispers to you. He’s calling, “come after me… “give up yourself to me” and “take up who you are” and “follow me.” Christ doesn’t say change first and then follow him, he’s saying do it now and let his love wash you of worldly falsehoods that bind you and cause you to stumble.

The Bible says, “come after me”; that means follow Jesus, keep your eyes on him and him alone. Don’t be something or someone that you are not, be yourself. Look in the mirror of God’s word and accept yourself for who you are, for the wonderful person that God created. Get your eyes off of the physical and look at the heart. You may be small or big, tall or not so tall, goodly to look on or not so much—but none of that really matters now does it? There are no beauty pageants in heaven!

Everyday I’m amazed. Folks so take care of their flesh. The wash and groom it, feed it, exercise it and do absolutely nothing for their souls. It is no wonder that the world is a mess all around us? Christians are on a vacation. They would rather watch a movie than study the Word of God. They would rather hit the running trail then fall on their knees and pray. They would rather look great than become great in the sight of God.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with eating right and exercising. But there is something very, very wrong if those things are a higher priority than feeding your soul with the goodness of Christ Jesus. Where is your heart? What is your priority? To whom are you in love with?

As this world continues to disintegrate right before our eyes Christ is calling for Godly men to stand and be men of God. He’s calling women to be women of God. And he’s calling all of us to give up trying to be someone we are not, to hear his voice, and to follow him.