28 August 2017
Capital “S”
John 6:29
Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

Every Believer knows we are not saved by what we do or how hard we work. Jesus perfectly describes the “work” required of us. And believing is actually a full time job, and that job is trusting what Jesus says and applying it to how we live every single day. Ironically, our biggest critics tend to do the exact same thing.

My husband and I were talking this morning how we’ve noticed a shift in how information has been being conveyed gradually over the years. It used to be that articles would present their information by saying, “Recent studies have shown...” But lately, that’s becoming rare. Those words have been replaced with, “Science proves...” Like science is an enlightened thing? There’s all kinds of people touting their beliefs about global warming, gender psychology, evolution, and vaccinations like they are settled matters because of “Science.” They think saying, “Science proves” is a conversation ender. What they should more accurately state is, “Based on their research, our scientist believe thus and such...”

Science is not God. Science can’t make infallible conclusions by itself. It is a system of thoughts and experiments conducted by potentially fallible regular ol’ people. Smoking and drinking used to calm a woman’s nerves during pregnancy, and there are hundreds of practices (leeches) no longer accepted because “Science” disagrees with them even though “Science” used to endorse them. “Science” is not the all powerful being some people want it to be. It’s a lot of work to believe in “Science.”

So why do people who willingly accept “Science” have such a hard time with faith? Hebrews 11:1 defines “faith” for the Believer and the science only embracer...

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

Science is actually a good thing. There should be lots of people in lab coats concocting and studying on our behalf, and there are. But some people who want to choose their own reality have co-opted the word “science” for their own agenda. Their “work” everyday is to believe in evidence of things they can’t see or actually prove because they want to. It’s ironic that many of them seek to disprove the existence of the One True living God by inventing a god all their own with a capital “S”.

Dear God,
You are the One True Living God who doesn’t change. Thank you for making yourself known to us through, creation, through your Word, and even through science. I pray for my friends who truly have invented faiths of their own out of arrogance. I pray for them to turn to YOU and be saved. You are great and greatly to be praised, and I love you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

24 August 2017
In My Anxiety


Psalm 116:7-11
Let my soul be at rest again,
    for the Lord has been good to me.
He has saved me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
And so I walk in the Lord’s presence
    as I live here on earth!
I believed in you, so I said,
    “I am deeply troubled, Lord.”
In my anxiety I cried out to you,
    “These people are all liars!”

In David’s train of thought here, he tells what he did last and begins the passage with what God did. Usually he does it the other way around and cries out to God first and then pumps the reader up with a description of God’s response.

    “I am deeply troubled, Lord.”
In my anxiety I cried out to you... This is what to do with my anxiety too – tell God about it. David doesn’t mix this with any other action on his part. He talks to God when he is troubled. It’s so simple! And God’s response to such a simple action is contrastingly complex and amazing!

He has saved me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling... This is what God does for those who love and trust him when they simply talk to him about their troubles and anxiety! I love the picture presented here knowing that there are tears I have never cried because God spared me ahead of time. There is trouble I haven’t gotten into because he spared me ahead of time. And best of all, he has spared me ahead of time from death and eternal punishment because he loves those who love and trust in his Son, Jesus and simply talk with him.
​
Dear God,
I thank you that I can tell you plainly what bothers me today, meaningless or desperate, without putting any pressure on myself to come up with solutions. Your powerful intervention is evident in my life – and those are just the ones of which I am aware. You have saved me and are continually saving me and I am so thankful. I love you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

23 August 2017
Psalm 94
Sometimes there’s so many thoughts about a passage, it’s impossible to focus on only one verse. Please enjoy this entire Psalm today; it’s a good one!


​O Lord, the God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!
2 Arise, O Judge of the earth.
    Give the proud what they deserve.
3 How long, O Lord?
    How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?
4 How long will they speak with arrogance?
    How long will these evil people boast?
5 They crush your people, Lord,
    hurting those you claim as your own.
6 They kill widows and foreigners
    and murder orphans.
7 “The Lord isn’t looking,” they say,
    “and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.”
8 Think again, you fools!
    When will you finally catch on?
9 Is he deaf—the one who made your ears?
    Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?
10 He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you?
    He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?
11 The Lord knows people’s thoughts;
    he knows they are worthless!
12 Joyful are those you discipline, Lord,
    those you teach with your instructions.
13 You give them relief from troubled times
    until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.
14 The Lord will not reject his people;
    he will not abandon his special possession.
15 Judgment will again be founded on justice,
    and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.
16 Who will protect me from the wicked?
    Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had helped me,
    I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave.
18 I cried out, “I am slipping!”
    but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
19 When doubts filled my mind,
    your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.
20 Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side--
    leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
21 They gang up against the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord is my fortress;
    my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
23 God will turn the sins of evil people back on them.
    He will destroy them for their sins.
    The Lord our God will destroy them.

This passage begins with pointing out that vengeance and justice go together. We typically assume that when justice is served there is no need for vengeance – that a sentence is punishment enough. But in Psalm 11:5 and Psalm 5:5 God hates not only just sin, but also those intent on committing them. He will actually retaliate, and just because he hasn’t done it yet doesn’t mean he won’t.

Verses 7-9 are so relevant! Today, tons of people think that God doesn’t care about what’s going on. They are wrong. Is he deaf—the one who made your ears? Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes (verse 9)?  No, he is not!

And the last verse that really connected with me this morning from this passage is verse 19.  When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

I know the NLT is a totally modern translation, but the idea in the original language involves our concepts of hope and cheer. God’s comfort to me isn’t for me to simply “buck up.” He fills me with hope (“a feeling of trust”), and he gives me a “state of good feeling” (cheer). (Definitions from dictionary.com)

So, when it feels like the wicked really are winning or getting by unnoticed, God’s comfort to me is that they aren’t. When doubts fill my mind, God reminds me that Psalm 94 is right smack dab in the middle of the Bible. He sees everything, hears everything, and pays back everything good with good and bad with bad.

Dear God,
I thank you for your justice; it turns me TO you. Your immense anger against wickedness doesn’t eclipse your gigantic amount of love and compassion that is also described in this passage. This chapter doesn’t make me afraid of you because fear is for those deserving punishment (1 John 4:18), and you have made me right with you through your Son, Jesus. You are so good to me; you are worthy of my trust, and I thank you for my cheer. Thank you so much! I love you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

How can they live without Jesus
How can live without God's love
How can they feel so at home down here
When there's so much more up above

Throwin' away things that matter
They hold on to things that don't
The world has gone crazy
But soon maybe
A lot more are gonna know

For maybe they don't understand it
Or maybe they just haven't heard
Or maybe we're not doin' all we can
Living up to his holy word

'Cause phonies have come
And wrongs been done
Even killing in Jesus' name

And if you've been burned
Here's what I've learned
The lord's not the one to blame

For he's not just a religion
With steeples and bells
Or a salesman who will sell you
The things you just want to hear

For his love was such
That he suffered so much
To cause some of us
Just to follow, follow

So many laughing at Jesus
While the funniest thing that he's done
Is love this whole stubborn rebellious world
While their hate for him just goes on

And love just like that
Will bring him back
For the few he can call his friends
The ones he's found true
Who've made it through
Enduring until the end
​
The ones he's found true
Who've made it through
Enduring until the end

​22 August 2017
Upward Mobility

Romans 8:32
Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?


Give us everything else... What do people think “everything else” means? It means that God is not withholding anything good from us. Some people mistake God for a magic genie and wonder why they don’t have a million dollars if God is not withholding anything from us. But is God really withholding money from us? Don’t we have our own free will in how to spend it? How about someone from a poor country born into a low station in life with no hope for upward mobility? Does that mean God is withholding? It is vital to remember that the ol’ “American Dream” is not what God shares with us in His Word. Here’s what He actually does share...

1 Corinthians 7:21-24
Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you.  Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it. And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ.  God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world. Each of you, dear brothers and sisters, should remain as you were when God first called you.

I love this passage! Slaves are actually free in Jesus, and free people are slaves to Him.

Remain as you were when God first called you doesn’t mean things are never going to change and opportunities are never going to arise. It means to keep my heart like it was when I met Jesus and decided to be his “slave” by following Him and keep following.

If you get a chance to be free, take it. If you get a chance to be healthy, do it. If you get a chance to go on a missions trip - go! If you get a chance to help someone, help like crazy. Do everything you do with Jesus and access his power, wisdom, compassion, and all the things he gives generously because he doesn’t withhold good things from us. And if it’s something He wouldn’t do, don’t do it.

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).

He gives me all the strength I need and doesn’t hold back. Life has nothing to do with a million dollars or a big house or even perfect health. Those might be options for some, but the only upward mobility God cares about is for His children to end UP in Heaven with Him forever! And He gives us everything we need to get there - starting with His Son, Jesus, whom He did not withhold from us!
​
Dear God,
Thank you for always giving me exactly what I need exactly when I need it. Help me to teach my kids by example that material possessions and status is not what life is about because none of those things are eternal. Thank you that you don’t withhold anything from us that would keep us from eternity with you and with each other. I love you so much and I’m so glad your Word tells us exactly what is true, and I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

​21 August 2017
Real Freedom
Psalm 42:8
But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.

I read an article last week about a country whose people collectively don’t know where life and freedom comes from. Read here for yourself how the “free” money people receive in Sweden actually makes them totally and completely NOT free.
      
Praying to God who gives me life...  Knowing where life comes from gives a person real perspective and affects their thinking. Besides knowing we were each specifically created with complexity and uniqueness, (see Psalm 139) we also know that we were created for a purpose, and that purpose is to have a relationship with our Creator...  
     
  “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.
  For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
  (Revelation 4:11)

And Jesus elaborates (in John 10:9-10) when he says that our life is meant to be “rich” and “full.”
  Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.
  They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.
  The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.
  My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

We live and come and go freely because that is God’s intention. He is the One who gives LIFE. That means he also has given us our freedom, creativity, industriousness, and a whole host of invisible qualities like compassion, empathy and love. No existing authority has given us Life and purpose or has the power to take it away.

Unfortunately, those who don’t know or don’t care that God is the One who gives Life will foolishly allow an authority to take their freedoms from them in exchange for something that appeals to their human way of thinking. The truth is, no one needs free handouts because God’s instructions to us are to work hard (1 Thessalonians 4:11) and to take care of the needy among us (James 1:27). Living God’s purpose for our lives is real freedom. Letting someone else usurp freedom in exchange for money, safety or anything else is not.
​
Dear God,
We live in troubling times these days, as seen in the news, because people have no idea where life comes from and what we are to do with it. I pray that you will continue to protect me and my family from their arrogance and ignorance. Help me to lead a quiet life, work hard, and be thankful like you have instructed. Thank you that I can enjoy a rich, full life like you intend in spite of the unqualified people making global decisions for me because my rich, full life doesn’t depend on them, it is a gift from you, and I am so thankful. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.