April 24, 2018
Three Yeps
1 Peter 1:18-19 NCV
You know that in the past you were living in a worthless way, a way passed down from the people who lived before you. But you were saved from that useless life. You were bought, not with something that ruins like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, who was like a pure and perfect lamb.

You know that in the past you were living in a worthless way... Yep
A way passed down from the people who lived before you... Yep
But you were saved from that useless life... And Yep

All people know how to do is live in such a way to please and indulge ourselves, try and live with the least amount of discomfort possible, and desperately try to preserve all we’ve acquired. And we pass these tiresome, disappointing meaningless behavior to the next batch of people after us. It’s all we know.

But in Matthew 10:39 Jesus tells us to give up our way of life for his, and then we will actually find it. This not only sounds impossible but also ridiculous to our control freakish nature. But the One who created us is also the One who knows what we actually need.

If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. (NLT)

No one wants to have lived a useless life. It would not make for a flattering epitaph on a headstone. Does a person who spent their life accumulating awesome things want Here lies Mr. Man. He lived a useless life on his gravestone? No. We define ourselves by our awesome things. But since awesome things rust, break, decay, devalue, and stay behind after we’ve gone, they really are useless, aren’t they? Thankfully, the things of God and life the way he prescribes is what we actually need and actually need to pass on to the people who live after we’re gone.

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (Matthew 6:19-21 NLT)

Dear God,
Thank you that our treasures in heaven are the people we help show the way there to. Thank you that our treasure in heaven is Jesus. Thank you that our treasure does not rust or get stolen or become destroyed in anyway and makes the life we live now useful and full of purpose. I love you, and I love your ways, and I love your Son, in whose name I pray, amen.

April 18, 2018
Timestheyareachangin’
Romans 10:9-10
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Is there any reason for us to believe what we hear anymore? When I was a kid, grammar, spelling and writing skills were all a really big deal with all the teachers I had. But nowadays, teachers opt to leave out these previously revered practices because people do not use grammar correctly anymore, the computer can fix one’s spelling for them, and the classic five paragraph essay is too long of a format for a blog or post on the internet. What we used to believe about Language Arts in school is becoming obsolete.

How about Science? Science used to be based on hard, cold facts of observation, hypothesis and testing. Now the term “science” is used for psychological and engineering purposes. Let me just casually point out that cutting into a healthy body is mutilation. Everyone from every political party used to agree with that. Now the psychology department determines what is scientific for the human body even though the cold hard facts about x and y chromosomes has never ever changed, and fetus are, of course, naturally actually human babies. Also, how is engineering a plant to be resistant to insects helpful as it also causes the bees to disappear? Nobody ran these things by me, and now it’s all common practice, and honey will be greatly missed.

Since crazy people are ruining the world we have and also the society we live in, can we believe and trust in anything anymore? Yes! For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved... God has issued no further instructions than these to be saved and have eternal life. It’s not like when I was starting my last semester of college and my counselor noticed a class I still needed to take after previously telling me I was all set. It’s not like the grammar and spelling skills I acquired and no longer need. And it certainly isn’t like the ever changing whims of fake scientists who defy logic and common sense. God doesn’t change or move the bar higher or lower.  I can securely trust that he is not going to change the requirements or make this information about salvation obsolete.

In fact, God never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. (James 1:17-18) 
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Dear God,
Thank you that there is absolute truth out there still, and it is only found in YOU! Thank you for being reliable and never changing. Thank you for truth, forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Thank you for not requiring me to do something better, longer, or faster. Thank you that simply believing in your Son is simple, and that declaring it makes all your good promises available to me. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

April 17, 2018
Gods vs. Humans
1 Corinthians 1:18
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

People have their own ideas. One very popular idea is that all people are basically good, and so even if God does exist, he will judge mankind based on our concept of good and evil because we are all not only basically good but also pretty dern smart.

But putting the thoughts of GOD, the Immortal and Eternal and Wise Creator on the same level as human thinking lacks all common sense. The words gods and humans are not interchangeable, not even in mythology. The Egyptian pharaohs labeled themselves gods, but historians all look back and agree they were all just regular, mortal people, and some of them very weak and feeble like King Tut. No, there is a great distinction between God and people.

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction... If someone thinks something God decides is stupid, what does that actually say about the person since we know that God and man are not equals?

When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. (1 Corinthians 2:13-14)

I know that God, by nature, is powerful and does not do foolish things. Contrast that with the fact that I know that I am human and not powerful and have a high tendency to do foolish things pretty much daily. So wouldn’t wisdom dictate that I choose to follow God and what he says and not the popular thoughts of mistaken, feeble, mortal people just like me?
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Dear God,
Thank you for your wisdom that you share through your Holy Spirit. Thank you that you are not like me but distinctly different, and I pray for my unsaved friends and family who mistakenly put themselves on your level or put you down on theirs. You are nothing like me or anyone I know or ever heard of! You are loving and kind and full of mercy and righteousness, truth and real wisdom and there is joy and blessing in following you. I love you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

April 13, 2018
One for the Nitpickers
Romans 3:23-24 NLT
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

We all fall short of God’s glorious standard... Yet, we all apply our own standard of rules and regulations to other people all the time.

In Matthew 7, Jesus talks about not judging others because the measure we use on them will be applied to us, and we certainly don’t want ourselves held to the high, unmerciful standards we set for other people. We look at their broken area and criticize them while ignoring that we too are broken, but just in a different place – a place we certainly don’t want judged.

But God isn’t going to compare us to each other. He’s going to compare us to his Son, his perfect Son, Jesus. Paul says that it is therefore ignorant and foolish for us to compare ourselves with each other and use our own standard of measurement (2 Corinthians 10:12). With this in mind, we should be rooting for one another to receive as much grace and mercy as we desire for ourselves!

When Pastor Dean was teaching on Matthew 7 last week, he said that the idea of not judging one another doesn’t ever mean to overlook righteousness, for we must discern right from wrong and good from bad. The word he used was “censoriousness,” meaning severely critical. When Jesus tells us not to judge one another, it isn’t so we’ll train ourselves to overlook sin, it is for us to stop being critical, fault finding nitpickers.

Make allowances for each others faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (Colossians 3:13)

Everyone has quirks and broken areas they’re working on. We must allow for that as we realize we might not have the same quirks, but we definitely have some. And, thankfully, God is full of grace for ALL those with quirks!
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Dear God,
Thank you for having grace and mercy for my quirks! Help me apply the grace and mercy that I freely enjoy from you to others and not be a nit-picky, faultfinding, know-it-all. Help me be kind and encouraging today, especially to those I love and see the most. Thank you for your Son, Jesus, who has freed me from our arbitrary standard of measurements and in whose name I pray, amen.

April 6, 2018
These Three Verbs
Matthew 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

These three verbs, ask & seek & knock, absolutely indicate the importance of persistence in prayer, but the progression of these action words are important too as they are presented in a very specific order. Why isn’t it knock, ask & seek?

Asking is what we naturally do. Lord, here’s my request. Paul says to simply tell God what you need  (Philippians 4:6) and Peter says God doesn't mind at all when we do that (Give your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 ). Then, as I mull it over and compare it to God’s Word, I’m seeking. We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) Lastly, knocking is just asking again after I’ve compared my request to God’s expressed will from His Word. Twice Jesus says, Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! (John 14:14)

For everyone who asks receives... Keep in mind, that Jesus is telling Believers to ask, seek, and knock. We already agree with everything Jesus ever said or did, and we agree will all God’s Commands, and we agree that He is good. So, what we ask for isn’t random and inappropriate or unbecoming. 

The one who seeks finds... When we capture our thoughts and compare it to scripture,
we learn a lot about our requests and allow God to shape them. I find lots of times that God simply changes my mind about situations and circumstances I’ve taken to him in prayer.

And to the one who knocks, the door will be opened... Knocking is just asking again; this time after the sincerely seeking part. Prayers for the one who asks, seeks, and knocks are answered affirmatively because God either graciously gives what we ask, or he changes our minds about the original request. And he changes my mind a lot, and that’s fine with me because I want HIS will. I’ll knock all day to get that!

Believers sincerely ask, sincerely seek, and sincerely knock. Persistent prayers become agreements with God’s Will, and we not only find what we’re really looking for but exactly what we truly need!

Dear God,
Thank you for your progression of verbs for me in Matthew chapter seven. Thank you that you don’t mind my asking, you guide my seeking, and you open the door to where I need to go, what I need to do and say and how to be. I love you so much, and I’m so grateful that you communicate with me and guide my life and my prayers. You are spectacular and helpful and I thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

April 4, 2018
No Bounds
Ephesians 1:7
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

When I am kind or if I extend grace, it’s comes out of some reserve in my heart. It’s invisible currency that I just share. I don’t know how it got in there; it’s just there, and so I give it out when an occasion calls for it. It doesn’t physically cost me anything to disperse it. If I have been kind to someone, I still sleep in my own bed at night, eat food and wear clothes the next day. I have never been kind to the point of personal discomfort or peril, and I have had some extremely kind moments in my time – just sayin’...

Jesus lives inside zero boundaries. His sacrificial love was literally a sacrifice. He didn’t spare any bit of his life out of kindness toward me. Wow! Cynics would say that it wasn’t much of a sacrifice since Jesus knew after he gave his life that he would take it back up again (see John 10:18). But this actually just shows that because God doesn’t live within boundaries, he freely replaces what gets used up. Therefore, I am free to live without boundaries too and exercise huge amounts of love, grace and kindness to others regardless of personal discomfort or personal pride. The resurrection of Jesus proves that God can, does and will absolutely replace it all!

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?  (1 John 3:16-17)

Dear God,
Thank you for your infinite buckets of grace and kindness that you freely share and also make available to all who love and trust you. Help me to be generous in kindness and mercy and to not have limits because you certainly don’t have any on me. Thank you for your Son, Jesus, in whose name I pray, amen.

April 3, 2018
Real Authority
Hebrews 12:2
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Oddly enough, the part of the movie, Tombstone, where Wyatt Earp tells the sheriff that he will not “let” him arrest them today reminds me of Jesus – not the characters or the storyline or anything like that – but the demonstration of authority.

In John 10:18 Jesus declares, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

At least 4 times before John 10, Judeans picked up stones to do away with Jesus, but he always left unharmed. It is important to remember that when Jesus was finally arrested, he let them arrest him. When Jesus was beaten, he let them do it. When he was crucified, he let that happen too. No person ever exercised their will over the Son of the One, True, Living God.

Jesus did what he came here to do. He endured the cross, he wasn’t accidentally punished for nothing. He knew this would be the sacrifice for all sins for all time, and it gave him joy to know that I could become part of his FAMILY!

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for your sacrifice, for you authority, and for the joy you looked forward to when you endured the cross. Thank you that saving my life was part of that joy and that you have made a way for us to be together forever AND that you are with me even now! I love you and thank you, for you are so good to me! AMEN!