Wednesday, February 8, 2012    

Trust Silver or God?

Monday, August 1st, 2011

He’s not exactly a well-known name, even among the kings of Judah. He was even fairly young (by our standards) when the story unfolded…maybe early 30′s. His name was King Amaziah. And he has an important lesson to teach us (or at least me).

Early in his reign as king he starts to get his house in order. He takes care of the men who assassinated his father and then he starts assembling his army. But as the count comes in he finds that he’s a little shy of the numbers he was hoping for (he only has about 300,000 fighting). So he does the “prudent thing” and hires another 100,000 men to boost his numbers…and spends a no small sum of 7,500 pounds of silver to make it happen (about $4.5 million in today’s value).

It’s a good business plan. It made sense then and it makes sense now. We very often do the sound, business thing even today. We look at this plan and there’s nothing wrong with it. Except…

A man of God comes to King Amaziah and tells him:

Your majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the Lord is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim! If you let them go with you into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up. (2 Chronicles 25:7-8, NLT)

And here’s the first lesson in the story…ask God before you act! If King Amaziah had asked God what to before he acted, God would have saved him some cold, hard cash. But the king did what he thought was right and it ends up costing him. Speaking of the cash…it’s the first thing on the king’s mind as he hears this advice from the prophet…so he asks the question we would ask…

Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about all the silver I paid to hire the army if Israel?” (2 Chronicles 25:9a, NLT)

That’s what I would have asked. It’s what any elder board would ask. Hey, I’ve already spent the money so what do we do about that? Should we waste it all or press on and hope God covers our mistake? Too often we press forward and expect God to follow our plan. King Amaziah certainly doesn’t want to just blow 7,500 pounds of silver…but here’s the answer…

The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this!” (2 Chronicles 25:8b, NLT)

And there’s the lesson for me…don’t worry about the cash. God has plenty of it and He doesn’t need me to tell Him how to manage it. I’m His steward. It’s my job to be obedient…even after I’ve been stupid. God will see us through…but only if we continue to follow His plan…not ours!

And King Amaziah does the smart thing. He walks away from the cash and the additional forces. And God comes through with flying colors…as He always does. Sometime the “prudent thing” isn’t a “God thing”. We need to ask God first and then follow the plan we get…no matter how insane it might seem to us. He’s God…we’re not…it works!

01.08.2011 Devotional, Faith, Spiritual Musings 1 Comment

How to Stop a Miracle

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

I continue to read through the book of Leviticus as part of my One Year Bible reading plan. Thankfully, I’ve also got some New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs thrown into the mix. Leviticus has some good stuff, but today’s reading was all about how a priest should handle people with skin diseases. Necessary…but gross!

The passage I read int he book of Mark this morning was another matter altogether. As often happens (more so recently), I saw something new in a story I’ve read many times before. That’s one of the many things I love about reading Scripture…there’s always something new because God is just that awesome!

Here is the story I read this morning:

Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. (Mark 6:1-6, NLT, emphasis mine)

Jesus goes home and finds out that his own family and friends refuse to accept Him or believe in Him. And it has a huge affect. Because of their unbelief He can’t do any miracles among them (save for a few “minor” healings). I’ve never made this connection before, or at least not this clearly. Jesus’ ability to perform miracles among the people was heavily dependent on their faith in the miracle.

Wow…and ouch!

The same must be true for me today. How is my faith affecting the work of God in my own life? Am I stopping the miracle because I don’t believe in it (or in Him)? Am I expecting the miracle FIRST and THEN I’ll believe? Or do I believe in the miracle and the one who is going to perform it and then He does His amazing work?

Am I expecting the miracle or keeping it from happening in the first place? I wonder…

23.02.2011 Devotional, Faith, Jesus, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Have a Little Will Ya?

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

This past Sunday I sat in on a LifeGroup (which is always a great time…awesome to see God working in these groups!). They are walking through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It’s a great book and our LifeGroup went through it a few months ago. I had loaned my book to the leader and he returned that night. So I flipped through it and one of my highlights caught my attention again.

It was one small sentence, but it has stuck with me all week…

What are you doing right now that requires faith?

What a great question. What am I doing in my life right now that requires faith? The question has haunted me all week. God is using this simple question to challenge me spiritually. Am I only doing things that are fully under my control? Am I even willing to attempt something this week that requires me to depend completely on Him?

It’s a challenging question…it stretches my faith (pun intended). And it’s not the first time God has spoken on this topic. Jesus admonished His disciples to have just a little faith…

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them.
“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed,
you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move.
Nothing would be impossible.”
Matthew 17:20, NLT

Just a little bit of faith makes a huge difference…because that’s when God does His thing. Just a little faith and nothing is impossible…because nothing is impossible for God. A little faith is enough…because we’ve got a huge God.

Imagine what could happen with a little more faith.

So…what are you doing right now that requires faith?

03.03.2010 Faith, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Mountain Man or God’s Man?

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

This morning God is asking me if I’m a mountain man or if I’m His man. I am His man, but let me explain.

I was reading in my devotional book this morning (and I need a new one for next year if anyone has any recommendations) and the author made a profound statement that God is using to challenge me.

The challenge focuses on this verse:

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt,
you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain,
‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.
You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”
Matthew 21:21-22, NLT

That’s a powerful promise from Jesus…one that most of use struggle with living up to. Jesus says we can move mountains if we have faith and don’t doubt. And that’s where the challenge comes…

No one ever gets mountain-moving faith by obsessing about the mountains.
We get it by focusing on God.

I don’t know about you, but I am too often the guy worried about the mountain in front of me…whatever current stress, fear, or struggle that may be…instead of focusing on God. But He’s teaching me this lesson and I am slowly beginning to learn to trust Him, lean on Him, and have faith in Him alone and stop worrying about the mountain.

It’s a hard lesson…but the mountains are starting to move already…

12.12.2009 Devotional, Faith, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Who You Lookin’ At?

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

The first verse of Hebrews 12 gives us a serious challenge as Christ followers…

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a
huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
Hebrews 12:1, NLT

In other words: you’ve heard about the spiritual giants such as Abraham, Moses, and David so start acting like them. Easy to say…not so easy to do. On the one hand, most of these “spiritual giants” had their share of problems (i.e.: lying, cheating, and murder) so they are as human as you and I are. On the other hand, they had great faith and walked close to God in spite of their weaknesses (and maybe because of those weaknesses).

Any way you look at it, it’s a tall order. How do we do this? Well, that’s why you have to keep reading to verse 2…

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus,
the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Hebrews 12:2, NLT

How do we run the spiritual race? How do we endure it? How do we act like the spiritual giants of the past?

By keeping our eyes on Jesus. It’s not about us. It’s about Him. It’s not about our strength or our weakness…it’s about His power demonstrated in our lives. We do not initiate or perfect our faith…Jesus does (sometimes we get that one backwards).

So….who you lookin’ at?

15.11.2009 Devotional, Faith, Spiritual Musings 1 Comment

Bookend Faith

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

God has slowly, but surely, been working on my walk with Him this week. Specifically, He has been talking to me about my “bookend faith”. Bookend faith is starting and ending my day with God with little in between. It isn’t like I am a total heathen the rest of the day…I am just not living as close to Him as I would like (and as He would like).

I get caught up in work and school and family and the myriad of other “things” going on in my life and He ends up getting squeezed out. It’s not on purpose…I start out with the best of intentions…but it happens. I fail to ask Him about a problem at work. I walk into a meeting and forget to partner with Him. It is subtle, but it makes a huge difference. I am not living in relationship throughout the day.

I know better and God is helping be do better. I desire to walk with Him all day long. I need His Spirit to challenge me and guide me and direct me. I need relationship with Him from beginning to end. So I will start my day with Him and I will end my day with Him. It’s just time to fill in the “in between” a little better than I have been doing lately.

03.03.2009 Faith, Holy Spirit, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Gaps in Our Faith

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

This is just a quick thought on a passage of Scripture I read this morning…it has my wheels turning:

Night and day we pray earnestly for you,
asking God to let us see you again
to fill the gaps in your faith.
1 Thessalonians 3:10, NLT

Paul is writing to Christians here. Persecuted Christians. Christians living out their faith in tough times. And he tells them that he wants to come see them so that he can help “fill the gaps” in their faith. A couple of thoughts here off the top of my head:

  1. I don’t often think of my faith like this…having gaps. It makes me ponder where the gaps are in my own faith.
  2. It strikes me that the remedy for these gaps, how they “get filled”, is within community. We can’t fill these gaps ourselves. We need on another to fill the gaps in our faith. This underscores just how important we are to one another.

Anyone have some thoughts to add to this one? Do you know the gaps in your own faith? Have you ever been a part of filling the gaps in someone else’s faith?

20.12.2008 Faith, Fellowship, Spiritual Musings No Comments

A Faith Too Internal

Friday, November 28th, 2008

This may sound weird, but during some time with God this week He has impressed on my that my faith is too internal. I need to be living and sharing my faith more externally—in the open. I don’t know about you, but this has always been tough for me (which is why I am sharing it here…so that this too is out in the open). I need and seek the approval of others far too much and this keeps me from sharing my faith as openly as I should—after all, someone might think I’m a freak or something!

This is just one of the many character flaws God continues to work on me. There is no doubt that I am a “work in progress” and sometimes I feel sorry for just how much work God has to do. :???: But I am listening and I am willing to allow Him to transform and change me (and I am willing to do my part too). Sometimes it is painful. It was hard just to admit that I seek the approval of others sometimes more than God’s.

Of course, He helped me on this point with several Scriptures on the topic and He is so faithful through the process of shaping me (it rarely happens in an instant…the process is important). Here are the passages in case you’re curious (and want to read them for yourself). I’ve included the phrases that dig the deepest but you should read them in full too:

  1. Psalm 19:14 – “…be pleasing to You…”
  2. Romans 2:29 – “…seeks praise from God, not from people.”
  3. Galatians 1:10 – “…win the approval..of God…”
  4. Galatians 6:8 – “…live to please the Spirit…”
  5. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 – “…please God not people.”
  6. I Thessalonians 4:1 – “…live in a way that pleases God…”

Think maybe he was trying to get my attention on this topic? If you are so inclined…pray for me about this. God isn’t finished yet…

28.11.2008 Faith, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Trusting God’s Heart

Monday, October 27th, 2008

My devotions this morning stretched me…it even hurt a little. I even struggled a little bit about writing a post about it, but then I remembered that this is the main point of the blog in the first place: to share my spiritual journey (the good, the bad, and the ugly). And it’s my fault anyway. I’ve been asking God to poke and prod and help me grow…He just gave me what I asked for.

The topic this time around? Faith.

It started with my devotional book reading discussing the topic of faith and our belief in God’s abilities and willingness to work in our lives (I warn you…this stuff is toe stepping material):

“We can believe that God might meet our need without any understanding of whether He wants to. And our suspicion of Him at this point is often the flaw in our belief.

“We know God can do great things on our behalf; we seldom believe that He will.

“We often tacitly acknowledge God’s omnipotence, His ability to intervene in our lives, even in very specific ways. But this is only half of faith. It has nothing to do with our experiences as long as it remains only a theological proposition. The other half of faith is understanding the mercy of God and His great willingness to intervene. This is what brings His glory from the realm of theology into the practicum of our lives. You want mercy and power? Expect mercy and power. And it will be done to you.” 
(At His Feet, page 300)

G-U-I-L-T-Y-!

I have long struggled with my lack of faith. I want to have faith…and I certainly believe that God CAN do some amazing things. What God exposed within my spirit this morning is that I don’t usually think God will, because I don’t trust His heart. I don’t trust God’s motive.

I know that sounds crazy..and it is a little bit. I know where it comes from, but my childhood is only an excuse. God wants to heal this within my spirit. He wants to free me from this lack of faith (or half-faith?). I desperately want to see the miraculous and the supernatural (not just for it’s own sake but to see God revealed and working as a result of my faith).

I do know that I’m not alone here. Even if others today don’t admit to this ailment I know that Jesus saw it plenty of time sin His ministry. He was constantly chastising people, including His disciples, for their lack of faith. And as long as they didn’t walk away from Jesus He was more than willing to help their lack of faith. If they showed an interest in growing and changing then He was there to help.

After my reading and prayer time this morning…after God had done some of His work on me…I felt a lot like the man in Mark 9:14-29 who has brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus for healing (after the disciples couldn’t to it because of their…well, you know):

“How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.
He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

It’s that last line that has stuck with me all day (and that God is using it to change my heart and spirit on this topic):

I do believe — in God’s ability and power to do great and wonderful things

…but help me overcome my unbelief! — In God’s heart and motives…His willingness to work in my life.

I think many Christians suffer this particular malady, but God is working on me so that’s my focus right now. I am praying ans asking him to change my heart and restore my faith to fullness. Faith in God’s ability and faith in God’s heart. I’m a work in progress…

27.10.2008 Faith, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Fear or Faith?

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

I have been reading out of the book of Mark for the past few weeks. It moves fast, Mark rarely beats around the bush…he gets right to the point of the story. No fluff, no filler. The entire book moves fast…sometimes so fast you can miss important details.

This morning I was reading out of chapter 11. In this one chapter mark covers the Triumphant Entry, Jesus cursing a fig tree, and Jesus clearing the temple, and Jesus’ authority is challenged. So what stood out this morning? A picture of contrasts.

As Jesus is clearing the temple, the Pharisees are flaming hot angry at him. In fact, they decide right then and there that they are going to kill Jesus (that’s murder one in case you’re keeping track). But they don’t do it right away. Why?

But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at His teaching.
Mark 11:18, NLT

That’s kind of where that story ends. The next day the religious leaders decide to challenge Jesus…ask Him where He gets the authority to do what He does (they never learn). Jesus refuses to answer them unless they tell Him by what authority John the Baptist came from. Oops…now they are stuck! They refuse to answer. Why?

For they were afraid of what the people would do,
because everyone believed that John was a prophet.
Mark 11:32, NLT

No matter how wrong these guys were, at least they were passionate about being so wrong. Yet, they were afraid. But not afraid of what Jesus might do or afraid of what God might do (or what He wanted for that matter). What were the afraid of? The people. They were afraid of losing what mattered most to them: popularity, power, and influence. They loved the spotlight and would do anything they had to to keep it. Sound familiar?

This attitude (and the actions that go along with it) stand in stark contrast to the way Christ followers should think and act. It’s the very attitude that God seeks to change deep within our hearts. He wants to transform this part of our spirit and change where we seek this kind of praise:

A person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
Romans 2:29, NLT

The Pharisees lived a life of fear…fear for what they could lose. We are called to live a life of faith…faith in a God that makes all the difference. Fear or Faith? It’s our choice. It’s a lesson I am still learning. How about you?

26.08.2008 Devotional, Faith, Spiritual Musings No Comments

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