Do we really believe this?

As I listened to a sermon this morning based on the 23rd Psalm, I was blown away. I've been a Christ follower for over 35 years and I've heard and read Psalm 23 many, many times. It's a beautiful passage of scripture that flows with poetry, with beauty - it's comforting, peaceful and reassuring. But today I discovered the challenge hidden within it's verses. See if you can spot it.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

So where's the challenge? 

The challenge is found in living

as if we really believe the promises

of this passage. 

Do we really believe that we lack nothing?

If so, why do we whine about what we don't have?

Why don't we just trust that whatever we need, God will supply?

Why are we afraid to give generously?

Are we afraid that if we do, God will punish, rather than bless by not giving us what we need?

Do we really believe that God will guide us along the right path?

If so, why do we wrack our brains trying to figure out our next move?

Why do we stress and lose sleep over what we should do?

Why are we afraid of the future? 

Do we really believe that God is able to prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies?

That He could give us enough peace and protection to be able to sit down and enjoy a meal in the midsts of  a dangerous situation?

If so, why are we afraid to minister to the homeless, to those who live in crime-ridden areas, to those who are in prison, to those in foreign countries?

Are we really convinced that God will protect us?

Do we really believe that God will anoint us to do any work He calls us to do?

If so, why do we hesitate when He calls us to step into a leadership position?

To teach a Sunday School class? To lead a Small Group?

Why do we shrink back when He prompts us to reach out to the seemingly unreachable?

Seriously...do we really believe the Word?

With God for us, who can stand against us?

What can they do to us?

Kill us?

Oh, please...don't make us go to Heaven!

This morning, my eyes have been opened.

I'm praying that I never again let fear keep me from doing something brave for God.

I'm praying that I never again let my perception of lack keep me from stepping out in faith.

I'm praying that I never again allow well-meaning people talk me out of doing something outrageous for the One who loves me, protects me, provides for me, equips me and anoints me.

I pray that I will take Him at His Word, for when we are bold enough to do that, to live like we believe it, the world will sit up and take notice...not of us, but of our Almighty God.

God's promise is this...

Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Believe it!

And live like you believe it!

-------------------------------------------------------

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!

Are You a Follower?

photo courtesy Tacluda, rgbstock.com

When Jesus invited people to follow him, he wasn't asking them to tag along behind him and watch what he did. He was inviting them to walk along side him and be a part of what he was doing. He taught them how to do what he did, and then he invited...no, expected them to dig right in and work with him in the ministry. Those were the people he called disciples.

The crowds that followed him, the tag along-ers, the curious onlookers were not followers. They were not disciples and Jesus did not bother go share deep spiritual truths with them. Those were reserved for those who demonstrated their willingness to lay everything aside and join him in his work.

Many today claim to be Christians - Christ Followers, but in reality, they just a part of the crowd, the onlookers. They show up at church when they have nothing more interesting to do, just to see what's happening, or perhaps just to ease their conscience. They're not a part of the many ministries that are going on in the church. They're there to receive, please don't ask them to give or they might not show up for another several months.

Jesus had little patience with folks like this and I have to admit, neither do I.  I'd rather have a church full of unbelievers who are earnestly seeking to know what it means to follow Jesus Christ and grow in a relationship with God than a roomful of "Christians" who are not truly following Christ at all.

Don't get me wrong - I love these people and I know that Christ died for them...I just don't have much patience with them. I guess it's because they already know what Christ did for them. They know how far God went and what He was willing to sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins, yet they still remain in the infant stage of Christianity, always looking to be catered to and fed instead of growing up in their relationship with Christ so that they are mature enough to minister to others.

As you can probably tell, this is a pet-peeve of mine, but more than that, it's a crying shame for those who claim the name Christian, but are not following Jesus, not really involved in the work he has asked us to do so that others might know Him and have their needs met. It always makes me thing of this verse in Revelations...

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.(Rev 3:15-16)

Please take a moment and ask yourself if you are a true follower of Jesus, walking alongside him, doing the works of the ministry, because the last commandment Jesus gave his disciples before he left  this earth was...Matthew 28:19-20

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Are you doing that? Are you assisting your church with making disciples? with encouraging others to know God and follow Jesus Christ? 

If not, let me encourage you to call your church today and ask where you can help. Every ministry, from working in the nursery to being on the prayer team, hosting a small group in your home, to helping vacuum the carpets at the church...and everything in between is all a part of providing a place where people can find Christ, grow in Him and experience the joy of being a part of a church family.

Please let me know if you've decided to follow Jesus closer as a result of this blog post and if you've become involved in a ministry in your church. I would love to celebrate with you because you have just taken one more step closer to Christ yourself and many will be blessed by your willingness to serve.

Prayer:
Father, I pray that you will show each one who reads this where they can serve you in their church and I thank you for speaking to their hearts. I celebrate with them that they have decided to be a part of what you are doing in the hearts and lives of people today. Bless them, bless their efforts and bless others through them. In Jesus Name, Amen

-------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!

Foul Weather Faith

photo courtesy fishmonk, rgbstock.com

Last week I wrote about Fair Weather Faith - people who follow after Christ as long as things are going well, but turn away when the storms of life hit.

There's a flip-side to that coin. I call it Foul Weather Faith. These are people wo live life on their own terms without God as long as things are going well, but when life gets hard, they run to God, desperate for His help. This is a good thing, except that as soon as the crisis has passed, they turn away from God again, reverting back to a self-directed life, which often includes on-going sinful habits. Their desperate need for Gos has waned and so has their commitment to live God's way at least until the next storm hits their lives.

Neither Fair Weather Faith nor Foul Weather Faith is pleasing to God.  What He is looking for is true faith, consistent faith - in good times and bad. Faith that is fully committed to a steady and faithful walk with Him everyday and in every situation of life.

Do you have that kind of All Weather Faith?

Are you a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ? 

-------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!

Fair Weather Faith

 photo courtesy micromoth, rgbstock.com

You've heard of fair weather friends, right? Those people in your life who are right by your side when the winds are blowing in your favor. When you have plenty of money, when your marriage is happy and healthy, when your children are stellar students and spiritually grounded, but where are they when things are not so good?

Oh, they'll be there for a while, but if your problems linger too long - if you talk about them too often or if they begin to feel as if they should do something to help you out, then you'll quickly learn who's your true friend and who's your fair weather friend.

When you think about it, are fair weather friends really friends at all? Do they really love you? Are they really committed to the relationship? 

And that leads me to something else I was thinking about this week - Christians who have fair weather faith. You know them. They're committed to God as long as their life is comfy and rosy. As long as it appears that God is answering their prayers in the way they want and within the time frame that seems reasonable to them. But let trouble come their way, let God seem silent for a while and some "followers" become "flee-ers".

Please tell me you are not like that. Please tell me that you are faithful to God through every phase of life.

We know that Jesus said, "In this life you will have trouble," but he was quick to add, "But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

And in Matthew, we read that "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45) 

This doesn't sound like God has promised a rose garden life to Christians. In fact - brace yourselves...God will allow hardships in your life to strengthen you, to help you realize that when you are weak and helpless, He is strong and able. But remember, He has promised to walk through the rough places in life with us. He will strengthen us and give us peace through the storm.

So, let's make up our minds to be faithful followers, fully committed through anything life can throw at us, knowing that God is just as committed to us.

What do you say? Are you in it for the long haul? Committed until you see Jesus face-to-face? Until Heaven is your home? 

  
-------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!

What if You're the One?

I was listening to KFLR (Family Life Radio) this morning in my car when I heard...

"What if you are the person that God has appointed to stand in the gap for someone you will come in contact with today?"

Years ago I was waiting at a red light. A young man crossed the street in front of me. He was dressed entirely in black. Black shoes, black pants, black t-shirt and a black trench coat that flapped in the wind. He had jet black hair that stood straight up in a mohawk and multiple piercings. His face was pale, his eyes blackened with makeup and his countenance was menacing, yet sad.

The wind blew his trench coat open again and I saw these words written in white across the front of his t-shirt, "I am the Devil."

My heart broke. This young man was once an innocent baby boy with all the promise in the world ahead of him. He was fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-16) in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) The Creator had a definite plan for his life (Jeremiah 29:11 and I'm pretty sure this wasn't it.

When God formed this boy inside his mother's womb (Jeremiah 1:5), his life was full of promise...what happened?

I snapped up the opportunity to pray for that young man as he crossed the street and to continue praying for him as I drove toward my destination. In fact, God has brought him back to mind many times over the years and I have prayed for him again.

Ezekiel 22:23-31 recounts the story of ancient Israel, who had strayed far from following God. The nation was overrun with sin. The prophet Ezekiel was sent to warn the nation of the impending judgement of God and the destruction of the nation. God looked for someone to "stand in the gap before me...that I should not destroy it", but He found no one.

There are several incidents in the Word where God was willing to spare people if only there was someone praying, someone willing to beseech God for mercy for others.

I wonder, how many lives are turned over to their own destruction because there is no one praying for them? No one to plead for mercy. No one who cared enough to ask God to move on their behalf to bring them back to Him, to spare their lives and turn them around.

Which leads me back to the question...

"What if you are the person that God has appointed to stand in the gap for someone you will come in contact with today?"


Keep your eyes open today. God may bring someone across your path that desperately needs prayer.

If you feel God prompting you to pray for someone today, I would love to hear your story . Share it with us in a comment.

God bless and guess what - God has prompted me to pray for anyone who may stumble across this blog post, so I AM PRAYING FOR YOU!

-------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!

Call Me a Rebel

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. “ Romans 12:2 (NIV)

I have a favorite t-shirt that shows a fish swimming upstream. The shirt says, “Go against the flow.”

I've never been one to conform. In junior high school English class we read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. The last sentence of that poem struck a chord in my heart...

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

I knew then that I would always take the road less traveled. I wanted to be different, to think for myself, to do what I thought right no matter what everyone else thought or did.

That resolve has taken many forms. It led me to buck the system, rebel, be adventurous, be independent...some of these things were good, some landed me in hot water, but I was always my own person.

When I came to Christ, I committed myself to him wholeheartedly. I fell in love with God and with His word. I wanted to live the rest of my life the way He wanted me to live it.

Unfortunately, in those early days of faith, I had no idea how God wanted me to live my life, so I decided I should probably conform to the model of Christianity I saw at church; first to the dress code of the church, then to the behavior of those in the church and finally to all the rules and regulations of the denomination.

I played the game, not understanding all the rules, but fully recognizing when I fell short by the looks of disdain on my fellow Christian's faces. I didn't really fit the part, didn't look the part and often didn't behave the part.

Just about the time I was ready to give up, I read this...

“continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Philippians 2:12-18 (NIV)

The King James Version says “...work out your own salvation...”

This passage set me on the path to an exciting and adventurous life with Christ. First I noticed the words “your own salvation” and realized that I was on a personal journey. It was my walk with God, not someone else's and that I was to work things out between me and God, not follow the rest of the crowd.

And second, it taught me that it's God who works in me to bring me to the point that I want to behave according to His will and to want to follow His path for my life. I didn't have to do the work myself, I just had to stay plugged into Christ and obedient to His word and cooperate with Him as he made the necessary changes in me.

This brought me full-circle. Once again I find myself on an adventurous path, not worried about where the rest of the world wanted me to go, but following the road less traveled.

Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

I don't want the well-traveled road, the wide gate and broad path that most of this world follows. I want the narrow gate...the one that few find...the road less traveled, for it's on that road that I walk with Jesus and find peace and joy for the journey.

So call me a rebel – I'm proud to be one.

 -------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!

I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.

In Mark, chapter 9, a man whose son was demon possessed came to Jesus for help..

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” Mark 9:21-24

Even those of us who fully believe that God hears our cries for help and have the faith to believe that He will answer struggle from time to time with unbelief, especially when we have prayed for something for a long time, but have not yet seen God working in the situation. Notice, however, that Jesus did not rebuke the man for the bit of unbelief. Instead, He brought the answer the man had sought for so long.

Don’t be dismayed if a little bit of doubt or unbelief sneaks it’s way into your prayers from time to time. We are human and God understands that. Just declare as this man did...”Lord, I believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Keep praying, keep standing strong on God’s promises, keep reaffirming your trust and faith in the Lord and soon you will see Him move on your behalf.

Prayer...

Lord, help us to stand especially strong when my prayers have not been answered. Help us to not lose heart, but rather, to continue to grow in faith. I believe that you hear and answer prayer, but I need you to help me in those moments of doubt. Help me to recall past answered prayer, to remember your promises and to thank you in advance for the way you will answer the current cries of my heart. Amen

-------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!