Hearing God's Voice

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-24T18:12:00.001-08:00

February 24, 2012

9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. 11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. Colossians 1:914 (New Living Translation)

Have you ever wanted to pray for your wife, your husband, a friend, a family member, your children, etc., but can't find the right words, or not sure what to pray? That is a concern we have all felt at one time or another. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that our prayers should be in a certain format or we should say certain words. Once we start thinking that way the obvious next course of action is actually no action, we don't pray. Whenever you feel that way I would like to encourage you to pray scripture. As I was reading in Colossians, chapter 1, verses 9-14, it seemed a great place to start. My prayer for my wife would go something like this:

"Father I pray for Diana, that You would give her complete knowledge of Your will and spiritual wisdom and understanding. I pray the way she lives will always honor and please the Lord, and her life will produce every kind of good fruit, all the while, growing as she learns to know You better and better. I also pray that Diana will be strengthened with all Your glorious power so she will have all the endurance and patience she needs. May she be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. You have enabled Diana to share in the inheritance that belongs to Your people, who live in the light. For You have rescued her from the kingdom of darkness and transferred her into the Kingdom of Your dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. Thank you Father, Amen."

Imagine what it would be like if we prayed like this every day for a person or if we prayed this "without ceasing" for someone. I firmly believe our marriage relationships could be enriched, our family relationships could be healed, our friendships could go to a different level, and our priorities could be different. Please try praying scripture if you haven't before.

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-20T20:19:00.001-08:00

February 21, 2012

Psalm 79

"How long, O LORD....? Psalm 79:5a

God's people have probably watched the destruction of Jerusalem and God's holy temple and are experiencing a deep sense of depression. They had a sincere desire for God to get involved and they are waiting for some action from Him. They prayed in vs 9, "Help us; O God of our salvation for the glory of Your name; And deliver us and forgive us our sins for Your name's sake". Even though they weren't seeing God change their situation immediately, they did want to become a thankful people because they knew and trusted that God would come to their rescue. Verse 13 gives us a glimpse to their heart, "So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise".

How does that compare to our daily living? Once we see that our situations aren't at all what we wanted and that it's not changing as quickly as we like, it's easy to get bummed out. If I'm not careful I can find myself concentrating more on the situation than on the One that will deliver.

O God may my prayers be filled with thanksgiving and praise as I anticipate Your answers to my requests.

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-18T19:02:00.000-08:00

February 19, 2012

Psalm 71

Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. Psalm 71:3

By You I have been sustained from my birth; You are He who took me from my mother's womb; My praise is continually of You. Psalm 71:6

But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. Psalm 71:14

I have always enjoyed Psalm 71 because of the word "continually". The writer mentions it 3 different times. Some versions say continually and some say "always go to." If there is a one word desire I have for wvBc, it is for us to be "continually" believers, especially in the 3 areas the writer mentions. First, for us to understand that we can go to the Lord whenever. It doesn't matter the situation, whether we are faced with a stressful circumstance, a difficult decision, a dilemma of any kind, our Father wants us to come to Him. It doesn't matter how many times. Our Father never gets tired of hearing from us. We are told in verse 3 that "we may continually come" or we may pray about something to the Lord countless times.

Secondly is that we never lack in praise of our Lord. Yes, it's easy to go to worship service on Sunday and praise God, but what about the other 6 days of the week? Verse 6 says "my praise is continually of You." I don't know about you, but if there was a constant attitude of praise to the Lord in my heart, it could change everything.

Thirdly, when I read verse 14, the question is where do I really put my hope? Does my security come from things, from my job, from people? Verse 14 says "I will hope continually" Our only true hope is in the Lord.

I believe if we become a people who are "continually" we will become like the Psalmist who says: "My mouth shall tell" (vs 15), "I will make mention" (vs 16), "I still declare" (vs 17), "my lips will shout for joy" (vs 23), "my tongue also will utter Your righteousness" (vs 24). What it means to me is a "continually" person cannot help but to tell others about Jesus.

O Father, please help me to be a person that lives "continually".

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-15T20:45:00.001-08:00

February 16, 2012

"He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him." Proverbs 14:31

God has created everyone in His image and it doesn't matter what ones status is economically, culturally, politically or whatever; God has created everyone. It is interesting that He especially shows concern for the treatment of the poor. Matthew Henry says:

"we deal hardly with any because they are poor; we reflect upon God as dealing hardly with them in laying them low, that they might be trampled upon. He reckons Himself honored in the kindnesses that are done them; He takes them as done to Himself and will show Himself accordingly pleased with them. I was hungry and you gave me meat. Those therefore that have any true honor for God will show it by compassion to the poor, whom He has undertaken in a special manner to protect and patronize."

In Galatians 2, as Paul and Barnabas were preparing to go to the Gentiles, James, Peter and John told them to "remember the poor" (verse 10). From all commentaries I have read, it seems that part of the reason was there were many poor saints in Jerusalem. However, I am wondering if the majority of the reason is that James, Peter and John heard Jesus say much about caring for the poor in His teaching. As they lived and walked with him, they saw firsthand how he cared for the needy. It's probable they were just repeating what the Master Teacher had taught them.

Father, cause our hearts to be tender and compassionate to the poor and needy. Lead us specifically to where we can help them and show them Your love.

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

February 15, 2012

"Husbands, likewise, dwell with them (wives) with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of live, that our prayers may not be hindered." I Peter 3:7

A Godly Man's Heart.

In verse 7 of I Peter 3 it says for husbands to "dwell" with their wives. David Guzik offers this commentary on the word dwell which I think is very helpful:

"A godly husband abides with his wife. He doesn't merely share a house, but he truly lives with her. He recognizes the great point of Paul's teaching on marriage in Ephesians that husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who love his wife loves himself (Eph 5:28). The godly husband understands the essential unity God has established between husband and wife."

A husband who "dwells" with his wife makes every effort to understand her well, not in a haphazard way. He honors her. One of the ways to show honor is not making her feel as though she has no say in decisions. Even though she is a submissive wife, the husband is to treat her with honor as if she is the most valued member of the marriage team. The husband also will recognize "whatever limitations his wife has physically, and not expect more than is appropriate" (Guzik). He will dwell with his wife as being heirs together of the grace of life. This should remind husbands that even though they have been given great authority with marriage, their wives are still equal to them in spiritual privilege and eternal importance: they are 'joint heirs'. (Grudem) Finally, Peter states very clearly a failure to have a godly heart in marriage will have spiritual implications; his prayer life will be hindered.

Husbands, we must check our hearts! Are we loving and honoring our wives as God calls us too?

O Father, please cause us as husbands to yearn to have a heart that is obedient to You. Please help me to be the husband You want me to be!

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-13T21:58:00.001-08:00

February 14, 2012

Your adornment must not be merely externalbraiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. I Peter 3:3,4

A Godly Woman's Heart.

In Peter's time as in our time, there was and is so much emphasis placed on how we look. There is nothing at all wrong with looking nice, but as Peter says in chapter 3, verse 3 "do not let your adornment be merely outward." Peter is not saying that a woman cannot wear jewelry, fix her hair or anything like that. The question is what is the most important; spending time to look good on the outside or spending time to look good on the inside? The outside beauty can be something you are not, but the inside beauty is something you are. Peter says to have a heart which is "incorruptible," meaning that it never gets worse with age, but rather it actually gets better. This is so much better than the things which are used to adorn the outside. Peter then says to have a gentle and quiet spirit. This we would never hear from the world! According to verse 4, this "is very precious in the sight of God".

On this Valentine's Day, as you see pictures of hearts displayed everywhere, may you look at your heart to see what the real you looks like. Oh to have a heart that is precious in the sight of God!

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

February 13, 2012

"Give ear to my Prayer, O God; and do not hide yourself from my supplication." Psalm 55:1

"When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You." Psalm 56: 3

"I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations." Psalm 57: 9

These 3 chapters, as in most of the Psalms which were written by David, are a distinct glimpse into David's prayer life. Ps 55:1 David begins with a plea for God to hear his prayer and his heart's desire. In Ps 56:3, David claims his complete trust in the Lord counting on Him to work out his difficult circumstance. Then in Ps 57:9 he gives thanks and praise to the Lord outwardly, meaning that people could see it and hear it. I am not suggesting that this order is required when we pray; I am not suggesting that at all. I am suggesting that our prayers before our Lord should be humble, transparent, confident, and thankful, meaning that it is all about Him. Prayer is my passion, so I never get tired of reading the Psalms and following David as he prays. I covet that close relationship he has with His Lord. The kind of prayer that changes our lives and in turn affects the people around us.

Thank you Lord that You want us to come to you in prayer. Thank you Lord that we can trust You; there is no one that is trustworthy like You. Thank you Lord that when it's all said and done, we can come to You with praise and thanksgiving for who You are; our Sovereign and Loving Father.

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

February 12, 2012

"You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia." I Thessalonians 1:6,7

Does my life reflect a person who is a follower of Jesus? Have you ever asked yourself that question? It can be a little uncomfortable because that means I must consider, and be honest with myself about how I'm doing at living out what Scripture says. Our walk as followers of Jesus must match our talk. That's what Paul was telling the Thessalonian Christians that they were living their lives as believers should. Paul knew what he was talking about because he was great example to the Christians in Thessalonica. After watching and listening to Paul, they became examples to those in Macedonia and Achaia. We all have opportunities to be examples to people near us and may not think about it as much as we should. Our lives must reflect Jesus to all those living around us, whether it be in our marriages, as parents, or as employees......all the relationships around us.

O God please cause my life to be an example so that when they see me they recognize me "as having been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-08T20:06:00.001-08:00

February 9, 2012

"As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!" Jeremiah 44:16

This verse is a quote from the people telling Jeremiah that he was wasting his time in telling them about God's message. Obviously, these people were bold in their defiance of God. They wanted to do what they wanted to do; "we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths " verse 17. As I read this chapter I look at my own heart and although my heart might not be so hard, bold or blatant, I demonstrate a subtle heart. After all, wasn't it easy to not to spend time with the Lord this morning and sleep in a little longer, because I was so tired from a late night? Then I try to make it up by telling the Lord I will make my time with Him longer tomorrow. What's the difference between the Jews rejecting the Lord in Jeremiah 44 and me saying I don't have time for Him today? Truthfully, even though I said my time would be longer tomorrow, it more than likely will be no longer than normal. By reading God's Word we hear from Him and know how we should live. The main complaint God repeated throughout the Old Testament was that the people did not listen or obey Him. Let us pray that our hard or subtle hearts be removed. Let's pray that He causes us to have a heart's desire to read His Word and be obedient.

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he mediates day and night." Psalm 1:2

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-06T18:53:00.001-08:00

February 7, 2012

"the Lord your God promised this calamity against the place; and the Lord has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you." Jeremiah 40: 2-3

When you read these verses, it sounds like a prophet admonishing the Israelites, doesn't it? Well, it is not a prophet but it is a heathen "captain of the bodyguard" for the Babylonian empire. Actually for many years various prophets warned the Israelites to keep from sin and listen to God's voice. Isn't it interesting that this time God uses a pagan to basically have the people acknowledge their sin. Sin's affect on us can be very devastating, in fact, read how it affected David from Psalms 32:

Verse 3

When I kept silent about my sin my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.

Verse 4

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

Verse 5

I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"; And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

We must understand that we are all sinners but it says in I John 2:1-2 "if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." Yes, we are sinners but isn't it good to know that we can be like David and confess our sins and know that God has forgiven us.

"If we confess our sins, He is willing and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-04T17:31:00.001-08:00

February 5, 2012

"Please obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live." Jeremiah 38:20

King Zedekiah came to Jeremiah inquiring what the Lord's message was for him. He asked Jeremiah not to hold anything back. The issue at hand was whether the Babylonian king was going to wipe out him and his people. Jeremiah told him that the Lord said the only way to keep that from happening was for King Zedekiah to surrender to the king of Babylon. If he didn't surrender Jeremiah told King Zedekiah, "this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand." Jeremiah begged the king to obey the Lord (Jer 38:20), but chapter 39 reveals that the king chose not to obey and as a result there was total destruction. The obvious response should have been for him to obey the Lord, which would have avoided a total wipe out.

For me the question is do I listen and obey the Lord when He speaks clearly. An example, would be when He tells me to love my wife "just as Christ also loved the church" (Eph 5:25), will I chose to listen or not listen? When He tells me to "show her honor " (I Peter 3:7), will I chose to listen or not listen? It's easy to look at the life of others (i.e. King Zedekiah) and think they should be listening and obey the Lord. It's so obvious! What about me? Am I listening and obeying the Lord?

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

February 4, 2012

"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;" Colossians 4:2

In this verse Paul is asking the people to devote themselves to pray boldly, fearlessly without ceasing. He also told them while praying to keep alert; stay focused on what they were praying for. Have you ever heard a person request prayer for a difficult circumstance only to forget it by the time you arrived home? With our busy lives it's easy to lose focus. Or perhaps we remembered only a small portion of the request and we are really vague and unclear in prayer. I believe there is so much to learn about prayer and I appreciate verses like this that remind me to be more persistent, consistent, clear and alert in my prayer times with the Lord.

As one of the disciples said to Jesus in Luke 11:1, ".Lord, teach us to pray."

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

February 3, 2012

"Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day." Psalm 25:4-5

Why do you read the Bible? I have heard many reasons, as I am sure you have too. They seem to range from "it's got nice things in it" all the way to "it is God's Word." When I read Psalm 25 this morning I was once again reminded why David is referred to as a "Man after God's own heart." He had such a desire to know God's ways; "make meteach melead meteach me." David loved God and wanted to learn everything he could from the Lord. Next I was in Jeremiah 36. This told the account of the Words of the Lord as told to Jeremiah which were dictated to his recording secretary and written on a scroll. When this was read to King Jehoiakim, he cut it with a knife and threw it in the fire to be destroyed. In comparing the hearts of the two kings, David and Jehoiakim, there is a clear distinction. One had a heart to know God and the other a heart desiring no God.

Oh Lord, thank you for your Word. Please examine my heart and may you find in me a heart's desire to know You more and more.

"Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law". Psalm 119:18

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-02-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

February 2, 2012

"Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God." Colossians 4:12

I am always impressed to read the testimonies of the great men of faith and their commitment to prayer. Some literally spent several hours a day, yes I said several hours a day. I would define that kind of commitment as "laboring fervently" in prayer. I am not sure that is what Paul had in mind when he wrote of Epaphras, but he must have spent serious time bringing the Colossian believers before the Lord. Prayer sometimes can be hard work because it does take time. In these verses Paul gives insight into how we become people of prayer. Epaphras had a caring heart. He had a "great zeal" for the people. He truly cared for them. I wonder if we lack zeal for people, we could sometimes lag in our prayer life. Also, Epaphras was very concerned for the people in Colossae because they were being exposed to false teaching and his prayer shows his heart as he prayed they would "stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." His desire for the people was to mature to be like Christ.

I don't know about you, but I find my prayer life is strongly affected when there is someone I really care about that I'm praying for. Let's pray that God would give our hearts a "great" zeal for people in our life. That could be our husband or wife, our children, our fellow believers in Christ, our neighbors.the list goes on and on. Let's not grow weary in bringing the ones we care for before the Lord.

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought from Dave

2012-01-31T19:54:00.001-08:00

February 1, 2012

"We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you"

Colossians 1:3

During my time with the Lord I have been reading Colossians and I Thessalonians. I am particularly impressed with how Paul demonstrates the significance of his prayer life. In fact, following his greetings and salutations, one of the first things he mentions is that he is praying for the people. When someone tells you, "I'm praying for you," what's your reaction? I know for me it's such an encouragement. I am sure those who were at Colossae (Col 1:2), and those who were the church of the Thessalonians (I Thess 1:1), sensed the same encouragement when Paul mentioned he was praying for them. We are made aware of Paul's commitment to prayer when he writes in Col 1:9, "we have not ceased to pray for you..." How about that for a prayer life? He didn't just pray once or twice, but never stopped praying for them.

When was the last time you sought to comfort or strengthen someone by letting them know you were praying for them? How many times did you forget to pray? It's easy to get busy. Our challenge is to follow Paul's example in that we not only let others know we are praying for them, but that we may also be able to say to them that "I have not ceased to pray for you." Not only is that reassuring for the person being prayed for, but it's exciting to watch and see how God answers!

Dedicated to Prayer
Dave
Heb 4:16

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-30T06:26:00.001-08:00

"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house,

and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there."

Mark – Mark 1:35

"But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant;

and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many."

Jesus – Mark 10:43-45

The paradox of life as a follower of Jesus is truly amazing and absolutely opposite of anything the world would suggest or recommend. As the Bible makes clear, if we want to be first in the eyes of God we must be willing to be last with respect to our desires and needs; if we want to be rich in Christ we have to be willing to be poor in spirit and the things of this world; if we want to really live life to the fullest by God's definition we must be willing to die to ourselves, our ambitions, our relationships, our possessions.

It's not that we have to sell all our stuff, walk away from all our relationships, or abandon all our dreams…we just have to be willing to! And there's the rub! How do we get to the point where we're simply wiling to go where He wants, do what He wants, be what He wants; how and when He wants??? Our Master was the perfect model for us to follow as Scripture makes it clear that He only did what His Father wanted Him to do (John 8:28-29). But how; how was He so willing and able to do only what His Father wanted?

I'm convinced the highest priority of Jesus was His relationship with His Father! Everything else could wait when it came to being with His Father. He was so intimately in tune with His Father that He knew exactly what His Father wanted, when, how and why His Father wanted it. It wasn't because Jesus was, is and always will be God because He came to earth to function as a man even though still God (mind boggling, I know). But functioning as man was created to function He daily, moment by moment was in tune with His Father. Mark shares with us the commentary of Jesus' morning: early morning, still dark, secluded place, praying!!!!

No wonder the Master of all creation could say "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many." Only a supernatural, growing relationship with our Creator can empower that kind of humility and paradox of life.

"Father please make me a man and us a people who so long for You in daily experience that we can't imagine going through a day without spending time with You. Please gracious King give us a hunger to spend time with You in prayer and in Your Word like we've never had before. Empower us to serve and not be served and thoroughly enjoy it. In Jesus Name. Amen."

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-26T13:47:00.001-08:00

"For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all,
so that I may win more."

"I do all things for the sake of the gospel…"

Paul – 1 Corinthians 9:19, 23

In John White's book Magnificent Obsession he records part of an actual letter written by an American communist living in Mexico City. He's writing to break up with his fiancée for the sake of his commitment to communism. Here's a portion of that letter:

"We communists suffer many casualties. We are those whom they shoot, hang, lynch, tar and feather, imprison, slander, fire from our jobs and whose lives people make miserable in every way possible. Some of us are killed and imprisoned. We live in poverty. From what we earn we turn over to the Party every cent which we do not absolutely need to live.

We communists have neither time nor money to go to movies very often, nor for concerts, nor for beautiful homes and new cars. They call us fanatics. We are fanatics. Our lives are dominated by one supreme factor – the struggle for world communism. We communists have a philosophy of life that money could not buy.

We have a cause to fight for, a specific goal in life. We lose our insignificant identities in the great river of humanity; and if our personal lives seem hard or if our egos seem bruised through subordination to the Party, we are amply rewarded in the thought that all of us, even though it be in a very small way, are contributing something new and better for humanity.

There is one thing about which I am completely in earnest – the communist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife, my mistress, my meat and drink. I work at it by day and dream of it by night. Its control over me grows greater with the passage of time. Therefore I cannot have a friend, a lover or even a conversation without relating them to this power that animates and controls my life. I measure people, books, ideas, and deeds according to the way they affect the communist cause and by their attitude to it. I have already been in jail for my ideas, and if need be I am ready to face death."

"Father please do in us whatever you must so that we would have the same level of sacrifice and commitment to the cause of Jesus and then some. Please rid us of anything that would be a distraction in being fully devoted to You all the days of our lives. Please work in us so that we would love You and love people like You love us. You are so gracious, so kind, so patient, so loving; thank You Father!! Thank You God! In Jesus all powerful Name. Amen."

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-24T04:56:00.001-08:00

"Flee immorality! Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body,

but the immoral man sins against his own body.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,

whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

For you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body."

Paul to the Church – 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Ownership seems like such an American right that it's hard to imagine not owning ourselves! I own my clothes, my home (sort of), my bank accounts, my stuff. I am responsible for it so it has to be mine…right?

To be sure, a great stewardship has been entrusted to us but we do not own anything. Paul told Timothy "For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either." (1 Timothy 6:7) God as the Creator of all has absolute authority over His creation, including us humans. Even though we "feel" independent and autonomous, we are completely dependent on Him for our next breath. We were created to be wholly dependent on our Creator for everything.

Tragically, sin has seriously messed up our thinking and Paul reminds us that we are God's in every imaginable way including our bodies. In Paul's day this concept would have been a little easier to comprehend since half the population were slaves. Slaves go where they're told to go, when they're told to go, how they're told to go and often have no idea why. Truly, their lives were not there own!

"O God of all creation, please create in me a clean heart. Examine me Father and show me if there is any part of me that thinks I am my own and forgive me of that pride and arrogance. O Father freshly I surrender to You this day. Please cause these eyes to look only where You want them to look; my hands only do what You want them to do; my feet only walk where You want them to walk; and mostly God my mind to only think on things above and not on things of this world. Please move me by Your Holy Spirit to glorify You today in my body. I beg You please make me a faithful servant! In Jesus mighty Name, Amen!"

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-23T06:02:00.001-08:00

"And indeed, all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Paul to Timothy – 2 Timothy 3:12

Nobody in their right mind would choose to have their heart broken, their spirit crushed, or their bodies beaten…or would they?!?! So many suggest following Jesus is the beginning of a great, abundant life since now the King of all creation is our Father and He loves us beyond anything we can imagine. On this side of heaven and maybe more specifically, viewing life from North America our perspective of "great, abundant life" can sometimes get in the way of our understanding of what God's about in our lives. While He is the sovereign King of all and His love for us is humanly inconceivable (Romans 5:8) His ultimate end for us necessarily means suffering.

Bummer news for sure until we consider the nature and character of our God and King. God will never act contrary to His nature and character which is perfectly kind, compassionate, merciful, gracious, faithful, righteous, holy, and LOVE! This is certainly not an exhaustive list but you get the idea. Now consider what's going on in your life that you would rather not be wrestling with or enduring right now. Think of the most difficult realities of your life and consider who the author of that reality is…God Himself. If God could change or stop our difficult circumstances and He's all loving, why doesn't He? As Moses began to debate with God about the mission he had just been given and argues the fact that "he can't talk good" (supposed to be funny) God tells Moses in Exodus 4:11 "Who has mad man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"

If we combine these two realities, God is absolutely sovereign and perfectly loving, we either have a formula for madness or we have a road map to a supernatural existence. The Biblical fact is that God's ultimate end for us is that He would conform us to the image of His son Jesus! Jesus "learned obedience from that which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8) how much more would that apply to us. Jesus was "despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3) and if we're to be conformed to His image it's likely we might encounter people who don't like and who even try to make our lives miserable.

However, we can be comforted in the fact that our perfectly loving and absolutely sovereign God and Father only brings into our lives that which is to this end: Christ-likeness. He'll only bring into our lives those people and circumstances that is for our good and His glory. So although nobody would consciously choose suffering in and of itself, many do choose to follow Jesus and trust their lives to the great, eternal King of all which necessarily means difficulties and suffering. But it's not random, God doesn't do random!!! He's in the business of making like Jesus and there's no great, more abundant reality than that!!!

"Father please change our perspective to see you as both completely sovereign and perfectly loving! Please move us to thanking You in all our circumstances. Thank you for loving us so much that You would make us like Jesus. Please keep us focusing on Him today no matter what You bring into our lives. We love and praise You our eternal King!"

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-20T05:56:00.001-08:00

"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD."
Solomon - Proverbs 16:33

2012 looks like it's shaping up to be a really interesting year! Perhaps it's too early to be dogmatic but it seems the ingredients are coming together for this to be a year that'll be hard to forget. Consider some of our realities: we're still in the middle of all kinds of economic stress both nationally and globally; nobody seems to know how or when the economy will get fixed; from a militarily perspective relationships between nations have never been more strained; individualism has become the new world order; the foundation of any nation, the family, is under assault like never before and is quickly fading as a priority from every perspective; we're in an election year (need I say more); and most tragic, universally God has become whatever you want Him to be. By the way, have a great day!!

Seriously though, if we stopped to look at life from a glass is half empty perspective (me) we could seriously wonder if there's really a God out there and if there is, does He really care. It wouldn't be that difficult to loose hope. I had the privilege this week to join a modern hero of our faith (I won't mention her name because it's the last thing she'd want me to do) who invited me to come and share Jesus with a friend of hers (91 years old) that she had been sharing with for some time. When I discovered that she didn't know if she really believed the Bible to be true or Jesus to be real I asked her if there was any hope in what she believed. Her eyes welled up with tears and she quickly said "No, I have no hope." We shared with this precious woman that Jesus is the only source of hope.

Where's your hope…this economy, your job, some relationship you have or are pursuing, your bank account, your religion? All of these end up hopeless!!! There's only one hope and His name is Jesus! He is the only true God (life) and He is in absolute control (security & peace) and He loves us more than we can possibly imagine (provider & protector). Once we've met Him and come into a relationship with Him we need only to get to know Him more. The more we know Him the more we trust Him and the more we trust Him the more we obey Him and live life on His terms which necessarily means life and peace and security and provision and protection and HOPE no matter what our circumstances hold. We begin to see His magnificent hand in everything, even the heartbreaking realities of life.

Consider what the King of all creation said, "Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just has I have planned so it will stand." (Isaiah 14:24) God doesn't just randomly allow our circumstances. The King of all kings orchestrates everything in our lives for our good and His glory! He does all He does out of His nature and character: grace, mercy, patience, kindness, holiness, justice, righteousness, LOVE! If you ever wonder about God's love you only need look at the cross (Romans 5:8).

"Father, today please get my eyes off of my circumstances and fix them on Jesus. Please loosen my grip on all that is hopeless and make me cling to Him. Thank You for all that You're doing in my life that moves me closer to Him, that makes me seek Him, cling to Him. Thank You, gracious King, for Your loving hand in my life. Please cause me to see Your hand in all You bring to me."

His Kingdom Come,

Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-18T04:16:00.001-08:00

"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Paul – Romans 8:37-39

Most of us can relate to the pain of betrayal and mistrust. Most of us can identify with the confusion and bewilderment of wondering who really our friends are. As I read about David running from King Saul who he so faithfully served, I can only imagine the pain and confusion that had to plague his mind. If you're one who reads the Psalms often it doesn't take long to here the heartbreak of Saul's mistrust and betrayal in David's words.

David was marked by loyalty and faithfulness, and unquestioned commitment to Saul's leadership. Yet, that loyalty was met with the very opposite type of heart; one of hatred and death. Even though David trusted God and continuously cried out to Him, humanly he still agonized over his reality and that very reality is what brings us so much of God's Word that was written by David and is so encouraging.

If you're finding yourself in David's sandals, cry out to God as David did. Read the Psalms consistently and regularly David's story in 1 & 2 Samuel. God's dealing with David is so encouraging. At times it seems as if God's not there…but He always is!! No matter what we face we follow a God, the only God whose is there!!! Nothing will ever separate us from Him, He's always there!

"Father thank you for always being there! Thank you that I can trust you in spite of my feeling and what seems to be my reality. Please make me a man and us a people who stand on the promise that you will never leave us or forsake us! Thank You for Jesus who created the Way to You! Move us to worship You with our very lives. Here I am Lord please use me, please send me!"

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-13T06:03:00.001-08:00

"Speak for your servant is listening"

Samuel – 1 Samuel 3:10

A number of years ago I became mesmerized by something Jesus said in John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, I know them and they follow me." The simplicity of the statement captured my attention and I began to note the passages in Scripture that talk about God's voice and specifically us hearing His voice. Consider Abraham hearing God tell him to pack up everything and leave his home without knowing where he was going (Genesis 12; Hebrews 11:8); Moses being told to take off his sandals and go lead a stubborn people for 40 years (Exodus 3); David asking for specific battle plans and God telling him to hide behind the trees and watch (1 Chronicles 14); Jeremiah being told to preach to a people that would never, ever listen; Ezekiel being told to preach to dry, lifeless bones; the disciples being told to leave family, livelihoods, friends and follow an unknown, penniless, itinerant preacher named Jesus. In each case they obey when humanly it makes no sense at all.

After hearing God call out to him three times the young man Samuel is instructed by his mentor Eli to simply respond to God's voice by saying "Speak for your servant is listening." As I consider my life and my walk with the Master I've realized that the issue is not that He's not speaking to me since I know He's said all that needs to be said in His Word, the Bible. The issue is on my end…am I listening?!?! Am I really listening??? Is it just me or don't all of us often go to God's Word just to find passages to support what we want to do anyway? How many times do we approach the great, eternal throne just to check off the box and rid ourselves of guilt, unconsciously thinking 'I read my Bible today so things should go ok and God should be nice to me today'?

Listening to anyone doesn't come easy. Our human condition is so selfish and self absorbed that it's hard to really listen without an agenda or 'what's in it for me' motive. The times I've seen God do the supernatural and truly beyond anything I could have hoped or imagined is when I've pleaded with Him to rid me of myself and focus my ears on His voice and then I opened my Bible.

"Please God open my ears to hear your voice. I admit I'm so often distracted by so much. Please do what you must that I would be a man who longs for your voice more than the air I breathe or the food I eat. Oh gracious King move me to obedience to whatever you ask. Please Father, speak for your servant is listening."

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-12T06:39:00.001-08:00

"…the precious possession of a man is diligence."

Solomon – Proverbs 12:27b

By the inspiration of God Himself, Solomon could not have said anything more profound, more timely, and more desperately needed in our culture today. In large measure men have stopped living like men as God intended us to be. Every time I read this verse I immediately think of my dad. There are very few men in my life who has exhibited the concept of diligence as much as he has. When I was a boy every morning (if I woke up early enough) I knew I could look down the stairs and there would be my dad, sitting at the dining room table with an open Bible. Sometimes he'd be praying; other times in the middle of reading; often with pen in hand making notes of what the Lord was saying to him. Rain or shine, summer or winter, prosperity or humility, it did not matter. I knew dad would be there listening to his heavenly Father, his God.

Now my dad is certainly not perfect and like the rest of us, he's not without faults. However, the concept of a disciplined life, of an intentional life; the concept of "diligence" was portrayed to me in living color through him while I was growing up. He lived as God intended a man to live, diligently. As I've asked the Lord to create the same thing in my life and in the lives of our sons, I've discovered a few self deceptions that have often kept me from being a man of 'diligence.'

Probably the biggest one, at least for me, is practically making the distinction between 'good' and 'best'. There are so many things that seem so good that are pressing us for our energy and attention, it's often very difficult to know what to invest our time, talents, and treasures into. Knowing this human difficulty Paul prayed this for the believers in Philippi: "⁹And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless in the day of Christ." (Philippians 1:9-10) The NIV version translates verse 10 "so that you may be able to discern what is best…"

Dad is a diligent man because the Word of God daily transformed his heart and mind so that he could "discern what is best". Not perfectly to be sure, but little by little, month by month, and year by year he became a man of Godly diligence. Quite frankly, not a one of us, in and of ourselves, as the ability to discern what is best. It's only the Spirit of God transforming our hearts and minds by the Word of God that we can have that level of discernment. To distinguish between all the 'good' things out there and only invest in what's best is a supernatural endeavor.

So how's your discernment level? Are you confident that you're investing in what's best? Or, are you struggling with time pressures, money pressures, craziness of life pressures? Only God by His Spirit through His all powerful, life changing Word (Jesus) can give us the 'best' discernment that leads to life to the fullest.

"Father please forgive me for those days that I've left you on the shelf as if I could handle life on my own. Please give me a hunger & thirst for your Word like never before. Oh God, please make me diligent about being with You in Your Word so that I can live life diligently before You and before others as You transform my mind and heart! Thank You for loving us so much to give us Your living Word to show us Jesus every day! Oh God please make me a diligent man!"

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-10T06:37:00.001-08:00

"However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord…"

Judges 14:4

One of my favorite things about God is the magnificent reality that He creates, controls, and manages even the "it" of our lives. Sometimes that "it" is really good stuff, sometimes "it" is heartbreaking and buckles our knees. But that's exactly what I've learned and still learning to enjoy about our awesome Creator. There's nothing outside of His control, no circumstance beyond His reach, and certainly not a single broken & desperate heart beyond His repair! Most of us look back at our lives with all kinds of regrets, but the really good news for those who follow Jesus…we don't have to!!!

It's one thing to be saddened and disappointed that something we've done or said in the past displeased our gracious heavenly Father. Quite frankly, if we're not saddened and disappointed with displeasing our God who is so overly gracious to us we've got other serious issues. At the same time, when we hang onto the sin and mistakes of the past we fail to see God for who He is and ourselves for who we are. As William R. Newell put it so well, "To be disappointed with yourself is to have believed in yourself."

Take Sampson for instance. Here's a guy that is blessed with good parents who are in tune with God and trust God with the news that they're going to have a special son called of God to a Judge of Israel. There's nothing in Sampson's childhood that would point to the development of a fatal flaw…he really liked women. Nothing wrong with liking women, in fact, there's everything right with liking women in the way Sampson did if you're a man. Sampson's issue was he liked too many women. He was kind of like the old Lay's potato chips ads…'one is never enough.' So Sampson finds himself falling for a woman that is completely against God's instructions for him as a Hebrew man and he tries to convince his parents to buy into the relationship. Like good parents they try to dissuade him but he will not be moved.

Then comes the 'it' and the Lord of heaven and earth explodes off the pages of Scripture! If you read the whole passage you discover that the 'it' refers to Sampson's rebellion against the Lord and his parents. God is certainly not making Sampson sin, nor is He responsible in any way for any sin (Ps. 5:4). However, to bring about God's magnificent plan & purposes, that are admittedly often beyond human reason or understanding, He (God) does release us at times to sin; to be ourselves. Whenever we are not controlled by His Spirit we are necessarily controlled by the flesh and that's an ugly scene (Romans 7:18).

On the other hand, when we look through the lens of Scripture we see God using even our sin and stupidity for our good and His glory! In Sampson's case God used Sampson's out of control lust for women to eventually lead to the deliverance of Israel from the rule of the Philistines. Sadly, it also cost Sampson his life…sin always has consequences (Galatians 6:7). In my opinion, like us, Sampson's down fall was how he viewed God. Instead of seeing God for who He is as the perfectly holy, absolutely sovereign, infinitely powerful, and infinitely loving God, Sampson took matters into his own hands.

Don't we do the same crazy thing?!?! Consider David's perspective of God: "If I say, 'Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,' even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You." Psalms 139:11-12. We follow the God who has no limits and cares for us more than we can understand…the real craziness is why we wouldn't trust such a magnificent Savior!

His Kingdom Come,

Skip

A Thought From Skip

2012-01-09T20:43:00.001-08:00

January 9, 2012

"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

Jesus – John 17:3

"In order to…what?" This is truly one of my favorite questions! A number of years ago, while I was working at Shea Homes I was strongly encouraged to ask myself this question continuously. I'm going here or I'm doing this or that "in order to…what?" If I couldn't answer the question consistent with the company and position objectives, goals, values and priorities then I really needed to rethink going there or doing this or that.

It should be no different living life as a follower of Jesus! Whatever we do, wherever we go we should be asking "in order to…what?" Our gracious Father is not only concerned with what we do (John 15:16) but also 'why' we do it. Do you ever consider 'why' you do what you do? Do you ever ask yourself the question 'In order to…what?' For most, we do what we do, eat what we eat, live where we live, work where we work, play where we play in order to make life better. Sadly, we often miss a foundational issue, the definition of life.

Jesus said ' eternal life' (real life, abundant life, life that starts here & now) is all about knowing the God that created us and His Son Jesus! So ask yourself 'Am I doing what I'm doing in order to know Him? How often do we seriously consider the motive behind what we do? Is your greatest desire to know Him? Does that even factor into the desire of our hearts or the daily activities of our life?

"Father, please search me and show me what my motives are. Please show me if I have any other definition of life than Jesus. Father like the Psalmist please bring us to the place where we could say 'Whom have I in heaven but You and besides You I desire nothing on earth.' Oh God, thank you for loving us even when we don't see you as life. Please help us focus on Jesus."

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

A Thought from Skip

2012-01-07T14:09:00.001-08:00

January 7, 2012

In my opinion, one of the biggest challenges we face to experiencing the life Jesus intended is our lack of belief. Generally, most sincere Jesus followers have such a hard time believing God for who He is and what He has said. We are so prone to see life from our experience, our perspective, our biases, our fears, and our desires. The biggest obstacle to really experiencing God's power and grace is ME or in your case YOU!

Just the other night Laurie and I were with a bunch of young adults and we were discussing what Jesus said to a religious man in Matthew 8 who claimed that he's follow Jesus anywhere. Jesus responded, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Another approached and said "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." Jesus' response must have blown him away, "Follow me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead."

I wonder how we might have responded to Jesus at that moment. I mean, isn't it reasonable to want to know that tonight we'll be sleeping somewhere warm, clean, and somewhat comfortable? Is it wrong to want to take care of your family and once all the family is safe and secure then radically follow Jesus? Jesus knowing that conditionally following Him was not possible (Matthew 12:30) put these two to the test. He never asked them to sacrifice a descent place to sleep or neglect responsible planning for the family's future. He just wanted them to be willing to go where He asked them to go, when He asked them to go, how He asked them to go and all along the way to trust Him with the why.

Are you willing to go where, when, and how Jesus tells you and trust Him with the why? At times the places where He asks us to go; the people He asks us to love; the things He asks us to do may seem absolutely unreasonable and maybe even impossible! But that's our great God; He asks of us the very impossible and humanly unreasonable so He alone gets the glory when we trust Him enough to obey. Please remember this about our magnificent King

"God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist." Romans 4:17

"Father in heaven, please help us see you for who You are, the God who brings life to the dead and makes something out of nothing. Please forgive us for not trusting you to go where, when, and how you want us to go. O God of all creation please make us an obedient people; please make us a people who daily hear Your voice and follow you wherever, whenever, however you ask. Thank You for Jesus! Please make us more like Him today! In His great and awesome Name I pray. Amen."

His Kingdom Come,

Skip

A Thought from Skip

2012-01-06T18:32:00.001-08:00

January 6, 2012

¹⁹"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, ²⁰by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." Deuteronomy 30:19-20

God is by nature a Savior! Cover to cover the Bible demonstrates God to be our only Savior! Even the angel revealed to Joseph in a dream that the baby inside Mary was to be named Jesus, because "He will save His people from their sin." However, in the mysterious and paradoxical relationship we have with our Creator, God calls us to pursue Him after He pursues and save us. All through the Bible we are called to seek God and 'hold fast to Him.' To "choose life" we must "love the Lord our God, obey His voice" and learn to 'hold fast to Him.'

As King David handed off the throne of Israel to his son Solomon he said the following, "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. (1 Chronicles 28:9) Jeremiah speaking for God said, ¹²'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³'you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (29:12-13). Jesus said, ³³"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

As the branch must hold fast to the Vine (John 15:1-8) in order to be fruitful, we must hold fast to Jesus in order to experience fruitful lives. We hold fast to Jesus by consistently and transparently communicating with Him (prayer) and allowing Him to speak to us by His life giving Word. In Deuteronomy 32:47 Moses told Israel "For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life" Do you see God's Word and spending time with Him in His Word as life? Do you cling to Him daily by hearing from Him? The devotionals and blogs available to us are many and some are very good but they will never replace your own personal discovery of the greatness of God by spending time with Him every day!

As we experience Him we'll want to help others experience Him by encouraging other believers and telling people about Him that don't know Him. To love God is to obey God by making disciples who make disciples who make disciples. It's not complex! As one dear friend put it 'read, pray, obey'! As Jesus put it love God and love people! The simplicity of the Christian life is amazing. It's also amazing how quickly we stray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.

"Father we are so prone to wander from You the very source of life. Please capture us freshly by Your amazing grace and endless love. Captivate us in Your life giving Word and please never let us look to any other source of life. Give us a heart to know You and a heart to make You known. I beg You Father make us a people who have ears to hear Your voice, hearts to believe Your Word, and feet to obey all You command. Thank You for Your amazing patience with us and make us more like Jesus today! In His Name, in the Name of Jesus I pray! Amen!"

His Kingdom Come,

Skip

A Thought from Skip

2012-01-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

January 5, 2012

¹⁹"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, ²⁰by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." Deuteronomy 30:19-20

As we walk through the pages of the Bible a few things become very evident. Things like God is the beginning of everything, He is absolutely sovereign, He is perfect in character and all He does, and He is love! This is obviously not an exhaustive list as He is endless and far beyond us (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:33-36). The fact that God is love and commands us to love Him and love people is how we choose life!

Love is directly connected to the second "how" to choose life in Deuteronomy 30:20. First, it's by loving the Lord your God. Second, it's by obeying His voice. In reality God spells our love for Him o-b-e-d-i-e-n-c-e! From His perspective love and obedience are synonymous terms. Consider what Jesus shares with His disciples right before He goes to the cross:

¹⁵"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14:15

²¹"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." John 14:21

²³Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. John 14:23

¹²"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴"You are My friends if you do what I command you. John 15:12-14

To choose life is to choose to obey Him, to choose to find out what He wants us to do and do as we're told. Fortunately for us, He empowers us to accomplish the very thing He calls us to do by His Holy Spirit. Think about the most difficult person in your life. Think about God's mandate to love that person just as He loves us. It's these people that we'd just as soon never see again let along loving them according to 1 Corinthians 13. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, "Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass." Whatever God calls us to do, He Himself will empower us to do iteven loving our enemies which might people in our own family, neighborhood, or work place.

"Father, thank you for loving me when I was Your enemy! Please empower me by Your Holy Spirit to obey You in all You ask of me, even loving my enemies. In Jesus awesome Name I pray. Amen!

His Kingdom Come,

Skip

A Thought from Skip

2012-01-04T19:22:00.001-08:00

January 4, 2012

¹⁹"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, ²⁰by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." Deuteronomy 30:19-20

After Jesus said to love God with all our heart was the greatest commandment, in Matthew 22:39 He added "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself." In essence, Jesus is saying 'the second is foremost also, love people!' As we continue to figure out how to "choose life" the first mandate is that we would love God but also love people! In reality to love God is to love people. John made it very clear in 1 John 4:7-8, 20

"Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." "If someone says says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he as seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen."

As simple as this seems, I'm convinced the difficulty lies within our definition of love versus God's definition of love. Please take a moment and ask the Lord to show you how well we really love people. Here's God's definition of love:

⁴Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, ⁶does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; ⁷bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Hard question: think of the people in our lives, do we love them like this? Is our love for others conditional and circumstantial or is it like God's love for us, unconditional? This kind of love is supernatural and can only happen as we walk in the power of God's Spirit. He alone can love like this through us which is why abiding in Him is so critical.

"Father I confess I don't love people like You've asked me to. Please remove my selfish definition of love and replace it with Your selfless, supernatural love. Help me, move me to love people like You love me! Thank you for loving me so unconditionally! By Your Holy Spirit help me love You and love people to the glory of Your Name! In Jesus Name! Amen!"

His Kingdom Come,

Skip

A Thought from Skip

2012-01-03T19:45:00.001-08:00

January 3, 2012

¹⁹"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, ²⁰by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." Deuteronomy 30:19-20

As God's chosen people, Israel had the daily opportunity to choose life. We are offered that same choice every day as followers of Jesus. We can choose to walk in death (absence of life; the flesh; Romans 8:6) or we can choose to walk in life (Spirit empowered; Romans 8:11)! How do we make that choice?

In Deuteronomy 30:20 above Moses says, "by loving the Lord your God." I so enjoy the fact that God puts life in real simple terms. Very consistent with what Moses was saying, Jesus answered the question of the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37 by saying "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." He then paints the picture of loving God real clearly in Luke 14:26-27, 33:

²⁶"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ³³"So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

In verse 26 Jesus is not telling us to hate anyone! He's saying if there are any personal relationships in our lives that are more important to us than He is, we cannot be His disciple. In verse 27 Jesus tells us we must be willing to die to our own personal goals, dreams, and ambitions or we cannot be His disciple. The cross was for one purpose, death. We must be willing to die to ourselves and live to Him. Verse 33 needs little explanation; if we have any personal possessions (home, bank account, car, vacation, etc.) that are more important to us than He is we can't be His disciple.

Any wonder why the first of the Ten commandments is "You shall have no other gods before Me." To love God is to have no personal relationship as a god in our lives; no personal goal, dream, ambition as god in our lives; no personal possession as god in our lives.

"Father please search me, try me and see if there are any other gods in my life. Lord God my Father please forgive me for ever placing anything in my life as more important to me than You. Please do whatever You must to rid me of these false gods and make You alone the Lord and King of my life. Help me Father! In Jesus magnificent Name I beg you! Amen!"

His Kingdom Come,

Skip

A Thought from Skip

2012-01-02T19:29:00.001-08:00

January 2, 2012

The questions have already started and confusion has already been admittedhow can I choose life if God chose me for salvation before the foundation of the world? While I believe the Bible clearly teaches God chose us for salvation (John 15:16; Ephesians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:13) I also believe that God holds us responsible for choosing to follow and obey Him every day as believers. God tells us to choose to walk in the power of His Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and yet how often do we choose to walk in the flesh and do our own thing. Throughout Romans 6 Paul tells us to "consider yourselves dead to sin" and "don't let sin reign in your mortal bodies" and "do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin"; these are all choices we make every day. To choose not to sin is to choose life! Granted that choice is powered by the Holy Spirit because "nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not." (Rom. 7:18)

We are in a heavenly relationship with our Creator which is started and empowered by His amazing grace. However, like any other relationship we either contribute to the enhancing of the relationship by choosing to communicate with Him and then follow what He wants us to do. Philippians 2:12-13 says, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Paul commands us in Galatians 5:16 "walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." Do we still choose to sin; sure we do, I'm betting far more than we'd ever like to admit. So we do make a daily, even moment by moment choice to walk by the power of God's Spirit and by doing so we choose life!

Like any relationship, once two have met the depth and intimacy of the relationship is completely dependent on the amount and quality of the communication between them. Please meditate on the following verses in preparation for considering the first of the three "how's" of choosing life (Deuteronomy 30:20) - Matthew 22:36-40.

"Father please move us to choose life by loving you! Please give us a passion to know You more than anything on earth. Oh God please give us a hunger for Your Word like never before in our lives. Please move us to desire You as we desire the air we breath and the food we eat! To Your glory and advancement of Your Kingdom, we pray in Jesus Name. Amen!"

His Kingdom Come,

Skip

A Thought from Skip

2012-01-01T19:40:00.001-08:00

January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

Well, it's here again, a new year, a new beginning, a new chance to finish previous year's projects, lose previous year's pounds, rekindle previous year's hopes. We all do it, it's part of who we are, we want a fresh start and a new beginning. Fortunately, God is a God of second chances and fresh starts.

After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness God gave the nation of Israel a huge second chance and an incredible fresh start opportunity. Only one thing was required of them...choose life! God put before them "life and death, the blessing and the curse" (Deuteronomy 30:19) and all they had to do was choose life. He offers the same to us everyday! Jesus said He came to "give us life and life abundant." We don't have to live miserably mediocre lives, like Israel, we only need to choose life! For the pragmatists among us the big question is HOW??

Deuteronomy 30:20 gives us three how's, "by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him..." Tomorrow we'll look at each of the three and try to paint a picture of how to choose life! For today, let's ask our gracious God to be real to us and do whatever necessary in our lives that we would choose life; that we would choose Jesus!

His Kingdom Come,
Skip

This message will self destruct....

2011-12-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

So I write this unscheduled blog post from a secret location without knowledge of anyone (especially Skip) for fear of retribution. If you guys know Skip at all you know he hates any form of public acknowledgement and I know I take my life in my hands by writing this (kidding... kinda), but reading God's Word today left me no choice.

Hebrews 13:7

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁷ Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the ^[a]result of their conduct, imitate their faith.

In this Christmas season where we are getting all kinds of mixed and false messages, from Santa to the minimizing of Christmas by saying "Happy Holidays" (right Doug), I think its appropriate to remember our Pastors. To honor and thank Skip for faithfully and fearfully teaching/living God's Word to us for so many years.

So that it is, just wanted to pass that on and maybe when you see Skip this Christmas eve service give him a big hug (he loves hugs) and tell him thanks (or gift cards....just kidding).

Again this message will self destruct upon reading....

-Eric House

Give... and be patient

2011-12-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

I don't think that I normally struggle with patience... but I do. When I am serving or giving of some sort, I often find myself being impatient when it comes to wanting to see the fruit from my effort. The times that I don't see any fruit, or if I see evil in return, I really lose heart and feel that God must not be in it..

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

4 And we urge you, brothers, admonish pthe idle,1 qencourage the fainthearted, rhelp the weak, sbe patient with them all. 15 See that tno one repays anyone evil for evil, but always useek to do good to one another and to everyone

Lord, cause me to be patient in the midst of giving my life away. Cause me never to return evil for evil, but to seek to do good to everyone. Cause me to give as unto you and trust you with the results... if any. I confess that I pre-determine what results I think are appropriate and that is just wrong. Lord, I thank you for your patience with me and I pray you would cause me to be patient with others.

Blessings,

Rob

The Lord Is My Rock

2011-12-08T20:56:00.001-08:00

Today was just an off day. When I went to bed last night, I knew that today was going to be stressful. I was rushed this morning (aka slept past my alarm a bit) and only had a few minutes of Prayer and Proverbs before I headed out. I was met with some challenges that I have seen coming for a while, but today they came to a head. Stress & Anxiety gripped me as I fought to stay focused and beg for the Lords power to get me through today. Tonight as I sat down to read my Psalms for the day, here is what the Lord had for me.

Psalm 18:1-6

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

2 The Lord is my irock and my jfortress and my deliverer,

my God, my irock, in kwhom I take refuge,

my lshield, and mthe horn of my salvation, my nstronghold.

3 I call upon the Lord, who is oworthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

4 pThe cords of death encompassed me;

qthe torrents of destruction assailed me;1

5 pthe cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6 rIn my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his stemple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

You, O LORD, are my strength, my rock, my fortress and my deliverer. I have no control over the circumstances other than to work diligently unto you and trust that you are my refuge. Forgive me for trying to find refuge in success & comfort, and cause me to focus more clearly on you. Lord thank you for saving me, loving me, delivering me. Lord cause me to share the hope, joy & peace that I have in you with everyone around me!

Blessings,

Rob

Hostility to Reconciliation

2011-12-07T19:03:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning expecting to hear from the Lord. I have someone in my life that I am certain I am commanded to love and I needed the Lord to speak to me about this person. Then I read the following:

Colossians 1:21-22

21 zAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, adoing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled bin his body of flesh by his death,cin order to present you holy and blameless and dabove reproach before him,

While I was hostile and doing evil, God reconciled me to himself through the painful death of Jesus. I should be willing to suffer pain... physically if need be to reconcile with the people around me.

Lord, cause me to look to Jesus as the example of how to love people sacrificially... even if it hurts. And when you show that glimpse of Christs love in me, I pray that I would give you all the glory.

Blessings,

Rob

Birthing Hips

2011-12-01T10:07:00.001-08:00

Usually giving birth is thought of as a good thing with a few notable exceptions (remember that Bill Cosby episode where he dreamed he was giving birth to a giant sub sandwich?). One of those exceptions is listed in James 1 when it talks about giving birth to sin.

James 1:14-15

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin ^[a]is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Now its true that no one ever got fat by walking into a grocery store, its the countless Twinkies that eventually will do us in. However, if you know that you have a Twinkie problem, then its best not to buy them and if you have a hard time not buying them then you should probably stay out of the store.

Sin can be a nasty thing, secret sins are worse (there is a reason why God constantly calls us to repentance) it can be really easy to say this Twinkie won't hurt me, but like James says lust conceived gives birth to sin and sin accomplished, death. Don't let sin get a foothold, like a splinter left untreated eventually gets infected, even from the small sins, repent!

Mark 9:43-45

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into ^[f]hell, into theunquenchable fire, ⁴⁴ [^[g]where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] ⁴⁵ If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into ^[h]hell

Have you ever said "I'm only gonna do this one more time"...."Im only gonna drink one more beer and then I'll quit"...."im only gonna look at this one more time".....Im only gonna have one more qt corn dog..... whatever it is the statement is flawed. As Mark says cut your hand off if you can't stop, better to enter life (eternal life) with no arms, legs, eyes whatever then to have your lust give birth to sin and sin bring forth death (eternal separation from God). Cry out to God, Salvation is now!!

2 Corinthians 6:2

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

² for He says,

“AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,
AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.”

Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”

The Month of November is over...Eric House out!

Desperation

2011-11-28T14:02:00.001-08:00

Often Pastor Skip makes a joke about one of his sons "suffering for Jesus" in Hawaii, the joke obviously being ironic to use the words Hawaii and suffering in the same sentence. The same can be said for any of us who live here in America compared to almost every other country. The question I have is would I really be willing to suffer for Jesus?

The Church that I grew up at about once a year would have what they call "missionary week" where missionaries from all over would come and share their stories etc etc. Well I remember sitting in Sunday school hearing them talk about how when they were sitting where I was they would beg God not to send them to Africa and sure enough that is where God sent them. I wasn't about to make that mistake, so praying not to go to Africa doesn't work and I'm not dumb enough to ask God to send me to Africa, so I found what seemed like a good alternative. I would tell God that I am willing to go wherever He sends me but that I think there are some great opportunities to stay here.

I find that 20 some odd years later my prayers can tend to be the same...trying to figure out how to get my way without looking like Jonah.

2 Corinthians 1:8-10
⁸ For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in ^[a]Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; ⁹ ^[b]indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; ¹⁰ who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, ^[c]He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us

Burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. What would it be like to be that dependent upon Jesus? Is it possible in this culture, in a place filled with excess to actually be that dependent upon Jesus? What would we look like, what would our church look like if we became like this, so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead" What does that kind of dependency even look like? Maybe we might pray more fervently, care less about our selves, not make any decisions without having heard from God, maybe even branch out from just reading the Proverbs of the day.

A part of me honestly fears that my children will never truly grasp the true character/nature of God, I beg God that He will teach them complete dependency upon Him, no matter what sort of "hell on earth" path God might allow them to go on, to get them to that place, desperate for Jesus.

Eric House

Big Church snack time

2011-11-22T11:00:00.001-08:00

When I was a kid I looked forward to when our church(big church, where the grown ups went) would have communion, which I think was about once a month. Now, that might sound good like wow he was really spiritual as a kid, well sorry to disappoint but, I looked forward to it because it meant we got a little snack in the middle of sitting still in a pew for about 2 hours. Luckily God didn't strike me dead, but He has convicted me on multiple occasions of the seriousness of communion. As I was reading in I Corinthians God just reminded me don't take communion with Him lightly, although God is a personable God and I can speak to Him without a bunch of "shalts and thous" doesn't mean He shouldn't be revered. God is Holy.

1 Corinthians 11:26-27

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

²⁷ Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

John Macarthur

He says, "Look, it's serious, it's important. If you treat this uncommon thing commonly, you become--literally--liable, that's the word guilty, for the body and blood of the Lord." If you come to this table wrongly, you're guilty of it

How many times have we spent the week being angry, or disrespectful, or failing to love our spouses the way we should, or wake up Sunday morning get mad at our wife for taking to long, yell at the kids for spilling their cereal all over their "church clothes" and kick the dog for being in the way? (PETA this is just an analogy, no dogs were hurt in this blog) We then roll up to church (probably sped on the way) late just in time to get the bread and juice, man that is dangerous.

James 3:9-10
. ⁹ With it(tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; ¹⁰ from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

John Macarthur

If you come to this table with any bitterness toward another Christian in any way, shape or form, with any unconfessed sin, living in any kind of sin that you will not repent of and turn from, if you come with any less than the loftiest thought about God, Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, if you come with anything less than total love for the brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, you come to this table unworthily.

How often do we live our own selfish lives then have the guts to come before the Throne and worship Him? If God allowed Elisha to call bears down to maul kids for calling him bald isn't this worse?

John Macarthur
a man who tramples the flag doesn't just trample the flag, he insults his country. He becomes guilty of dishonoring a nation. And somebody who tramples with the feet of indifference or sinfulness, the body and blood as represented in the elements of communion, is guilty of dishonoring, mocking, treating with indifference and hypocrisy the very person of Jesus Christ. How you treat this table, beloved, is how you are treating Jesus. That's what he's saying.

So what should we do?
I Cor 11:28
²⁸ But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

To quote Ice Cube "You better check yo self before you wreck yo self", yes terrible song but good line. Check your heart, check your motives, check your attitude before the Lord. Don't be like the verse in James, cursing and blessing God with the same mouth.

Examine yourself, don't take going before His Throne lightly.

John Macarthur
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/1847

Working at the car wash, yeah

2011-11-18T08:47:00.001-08:00

There are many things that I have learned or been taught by my parents, like a taste for old country music(Roger Miller anybody??) or burnt toast is better then regular toast. Parents teach many things intentionally, but often its the things that they/we end up just doing that is caught. My dad was one of those guys that was up early for work (in fact one time my brother came home late and told my dad he didn't have to wait up and my dad said I'm not waiting up, Im going to work),he worked hard and came home when the work was done. He also had a habit of washing cars, his cars, friends cars, if a car was parked in the driveway it was getting washed. It was this kind of hard working character that God used to soften one of their neighbors hearts to the Gospel and it's this kind of quiet, go about your business and do it well attitude that God hit me with while reading in I Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁹ Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰ for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, ¹¹ and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, ¹² so that you will^[a]behave properly toward outsiders and ^[b]not be in any need.

How often do we complain about coworkers or about an injustice that has been done towards us by our boss? What about feeling like we deserve a break, others don't work as hard as us, gossip in the name of asking for advice, or search facebook statuses looking for the next piece of good gossip err sorry "information" or "keeping in touch". Do we start sentences with "did you hear about....." If you find yourself saying "I probably shouldn't tell you this but..." but nothing, shut it (and trust me I fail at this). To me all these things are what is talked about in II Thessalonians 3:6 (look it up), it says stay away from people who live an unruly/undisciplined life, 3:11 actually uses the word "busybodies" in the NASB.

We do all kinds of things to set are selves apart from the world, but what about living a quiet life(Prov 17:28 Even a fool is considered wise when he shuts his mouth)? Verse 11 says make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and then verse 12 says people who don't know Jesus (outsiders) will be watching, so what are they seeing (Col 4:5)?

Whether intentionally taught or just watched, my parents, my Dad, showed what it meant to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business. God reminded me that my ambition is to be pleasing unto the Lord, to bring Glory to Him and anything less then a life that excells still more by leading a quiet life is undisciplined.

2 Thessalonians 3:13

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹³ But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

Make it your ambition....

Beer me, for Jesus of course.

2011-11-16T07:13:00.001-08:00

At wvBc we have all kinds of slogans and sayings, one of them is CPR Cultivate, Plant, Reap which really is a farming analogy (in the Bible as well) of cultivating/tilling the soil, planting the seed, and reaping the crop. Now this doesn't always have to be a linear thing, we can call people to repentance the moment we meet them, it all really is a led by the Spirit thing. However, after reading the following passage God really convicted me that I was hanging out in the cultivate phase a little to long.

Sometimes its easier to say I'm gonna go watch football with these guys, or rock the Peter Piper Pizza buffet, or go grab a beer with with some people all in the name of cultivation. Next thing you know a whole football season has gone by and the person has no idea of why you are investing so much time in them and it becomes really difficult to find "the right moment" to actually tell them the Truth(Gospel, Jesus). Now instead of being led by the Spirit, instead of letting the Truth of the Gospels work in this persons life its about when I(sinful, idiotic me) think its the right time to give them Jesus, how foolish is that. Looks at Acts 17 and you will see the CPR but you will also see how quickly Paul moves to the Gospel.

Acts 17:22-23b
²² So Paul stood in the midst of the ^[a]Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. ²³ For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD......

Paul took the time to find out who these people were, he noted you are very religious in all aspects, he then let them know he spent some time observing what was important to them I was passing through examining the objects of your worship even said the name of one of those objects. To me this is like going to my neighbor and saying "Hey I see you're a Vikings fan, aren't you glad they finally benched McNabb". Taking the time to let them know you care about them, that is cultivation, this is where I can get stuck.

Look thought at how quickly Paul moved to planting the seed.

Acts 17:23b-25
I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵ nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

Paul hits them with the Truth quickly, states that what they worship is false and then tells them who the one true God is. This is planting, letting your neighbor know what is most important to you telling him your "story" it can be a whole lot easier at the beginning to tell them who you are and what you are really about. Example, you ever have the neighbor that you forget their name but you have talked to them too much to actually ask them again? Same type situation, if you go months, years without sharing the Truth it gets hard and awkward to go back.

Reap

Acts 17:30-31
³⁰Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, ³¹ because He has fixed a day in which He will judge ^[c]the world in righteousness ^[d]through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men ^[e]by raising Him from the dead.”

All in one setting Paul CPR's those Athens, tells them to repent, he pulls no punches. So what God hit me with is don't get stuck in the "beer me" phase. God calls us to make disciples, not drinking buddies. Be sensitive and led by the Spirit, if God tells you to speak then speak if He tells you to just grab a drink with a guy and listen then do it. In all things be led by the Spirit (at the beginning of this passage verse 16 it says the Spirit in Paul was provoked which led him to do what he did)

The point isn't cultivation, the point is loving God by loving people, and the best way to love people is tell them that they are a sinner (Rom 3:23) and the cost of that sin is eternal separation from God(aka hell, Rom 6:23) and they need to repent and believe (Rom 10:9.

Interesting 50 second clip of a video from an Atheist (Penn from Penn and Teller) about loving people enough to tell them about Jesus (click below)
Loving people video

Eric House

Walk this way

2011-11-14T19:47:00.001-08:00

Galatians 5:16-25
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh ^[a]sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you ^[b]please. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. ¹⁹Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: ^[c]immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, ^[d]factions, ²¹ envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴Now those who ^[e]belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also ^[f]walk by the Spirit.

To think that I or anyone for that matter has anything to add or to make Scripture more clear is foolish and I especially feel that way with this passage.

Simply put in ESV (Eric's standard version) to think that we can operate in our own flesh is just dumb.
"now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are".....and it goes on to list a number of things that can definitely rear its ugly head in my life and then it lists the fruit of the Spirit which exists only with Christ.

So the questions are:
What does it look like to walk by the Spirit?
-Walk implies step by step, not a few times a year or on big decisions
When is the last time you have heard God speak to you?

The speaking voice, a chapter in Tozers Pursuit of God
Click the above link for a great chapter on hearing from God.

Just what I needed, some more puke in my life.

2011-11-13T17:20:00.001-08:00

Matthew 6:19-21

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

For most of us when we read this verse we are like "check, I don't have any money/treasure anyways". However on days like today, when my son is puking in the backseat of my truck and everything he ate this weekend at grama/grandpas was covering my nice clean seats, I was quickly reminded of my "earthly treasures".

This past week we went over this passage with our High School students, talking about how much time/money/resources we invest in earthly treasures. We asked questions like:

Do you find security in things you own? How do those things make you feel secure?
How would awareness of people who are less fortunate then you change your own attitude towards your possessions?
Is it possible to feel satisfied because you're totally rich in Jesus?
What would change if you decided to trust the Lord for your security?
Do we want things because other people have them?

It is easy for me to read this passage in Matthew and say "this isn't me, I'm not rockin a Lamborghini Reventon Roadster or flying in my private jet." When in reality it is sickening the decisions I make daily that benefit me today/tomorrow/5 years from now (the money I spend on food alone could probably feed a small country or two).

Would you, would I be willing to surrender it all (clothes, cable tv, approval from others) to be used by God? Is He calling you to surrender it all? What are you investing in?

Francis Chan video "What are you living for?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86dsfBbZfWs

Eric House

God, where is my eunuch?

2011-11-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

We all know the Matthew 28 passage (make disciples) and the Matthew 22 passage (love the Lord with all your heart....and your neighbor as yourself) and so when I am in my right frame of mind I pray for opportunities to love people, to tell them about Jesus. Well many times I find my self frustrated at not getting the results that I wanted, whether its a conversation that never went to spiritual things or that the person just ignored or failed to respond to my fancy Gospel speech. This morning God hit me with this passage

Acts 8:26-40

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁶ But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (^[a]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got up and went;........

Now if you read the rest of this story Philip then meets a Ethiopian eunuch, helps him read the truth, then starts preaching Jesus to him, it seems then that the man believes and wants to be baptized so Philip baptizes him. If you are like me I long for the experience like Philip with the eunuch, to meet someone, share the Gospel with them see them repent and then be baptized, if that happens that is a really good day (or maybe even a good year). But look at the first verse and a half of this passage, the angel of the Lord said get up and go south, verse 27 SO HE GOT UP AND WENT.

Philip didn't say "why" and then God said cause you are gonna get to lead someone to Christ, God said go and Philip got up and went. It made me wonder about the opportunities to obey and to be pleasing to the Master I miss because I ask why or I am so focused on having the results that I want.

I talk/demand obedience to my kids, yet how many times do I fail to give God glory by simply not obeying. Phillip got to be a part of an amazing experience, seeing a life transformed (not to mention he got to experience teleportation in verse 39), and it started by simply getting his butt off the couch and obeying.

.....So he got up and went

I Peter 4:11
¹¹ Whoever speaks, is to do so ^[h]as one who is speaking theutterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving ^[i]by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen

Thank you may I have another.

2011-11-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I wrote about the passage from Luke 9:
²⁴ For whoever wishes to save his ^[n]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[o]life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

Talking about the cost of being a follower of Jesus, which is tough enough to swallow, then today I read Acts 5:40-42
⁴⁰ They ^[a]took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to^[b]speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. ⁴¹ So they went on their way from the presence of the^[c]Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. ⁴² And every day, in the temple and ^[d]from house to house, they ^[e]kept right on teaching and ^[f]preaching Jesus as the ^[g]Christ.

Now its one thing to accept that being a follower may cost me some things that I value here on earth, maybe some friends or family, items/comforts, or quite possibly my life but to do it with a smile on my face now that is rough. In this passage in Acts not only did they take a beating for being obedient to Christ but in verse 41 it says they went away rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.
That was convicting, last week I wrote about taking up my cross daily, but to me this passage was talking about not only taking up my cross but that attitude in which I do it. "Alright Jesus I'm suffering for you time to for you to bless me," seems a little more up my attitude alley. Not the apostles, they rejoiced that they had been considered worthy to suffer (which was by flogging, google that term) for His name. Not their name or their recognition but HIS NAME!! The Name above all Names, our Savior, King of Kings, Lord of Lords.

I envy the way the apostles viewed Jesus.

Eric House

For those of you who get this via e-mail, a few of the last posts have had videos attached to them that don't come through on the e-mail, to see the videos go to the blog site at http://www.mysheephearmyvoice.blogspot.com/

Fighting Harlots

2011-11-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

Part of my reading includes reading a Proverbs a day, well on the 7th I was reading, go figure, Proverbs 7, and if you have read this chapter then you know its full of verses blasting warnings to run like your hair is on fire (or your clothes if you're bald) from the dreaded harlot, verses like:

¹² She is now in the streets, now in the squares, And lurks by every corner.
²¹ With her many persuasions she entices him; With her ^[o]flattering lips she seduces him.
²² Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as ^[p]one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,
²³ Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hastens to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

For some reason this topic seems to be taboo, something people don't talk about, yet here it is eating up a whole chapter in Proverbs. My wife and I continue to be shocked of story after story of marriages ending, lives being destroyed (married or single). This stuff, what we call immorality, lust of the flesh, fleeting eyes, that we justify by saying it was just a glance or I'll close my eyes during that part of the movie, its toxic!!

Look at the man in Proverbs, it started with just walking in her general direction (v.8), for us maybe its a lingering conversation, taking a certain path at the office to walk by her, or picking a certain checkout stand. It all seems innocent, but that's not how it works. Look at how John MacArthur describes verse 10
"This is an unfair contest between the naive young man, who lacks wisdom and is void of the truth, and the evil woman, who knows her goal, but hides her true intentions"

So heed the warnings
²⁴ Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
²⁵ Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths.
²⁶ For many are the ^[q]victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain.

So what does this look like? Look at the first few verses of Proverbs 7:

¹ My son, keep my words, And treasure my commandments within you. ² Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.
³ Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend; ⁵ That they may keep you from an ^[c]adulteress, From the foreigner who ^[d]flatters with her words.

Now its not enough or even the point to just flee lust of the flesh, we have to run to Him and repent

Acts 2
³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “^[a]Be saved from this perverse generation!”

Eric House

The Demon Whisperer

2011-11-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

My 6 year old son and I like to watch channels like the Discovery channel and National Geographic (can't beat Shark Week), well there is a show called the Dog Whisperer where Ceasar takes what seems like crazy out of control dogs and turns them into the most obedient house pet. Ceasar spends time training the dogs but also a good amount of time training and spewing his wisdom out to the owners.I know that if I ever need help or advice regarding my dog, Ceasar is the man!

James 3:13-18

¹³ Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and ^[a]selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, ^[b]natural,demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and ^[c]selfish ambition exist, ^[d]there is disorder and every evil thing. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, ^[e]reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits,unwavering, without hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And the ^[f]seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace ^[g]by those who make peace.

Two major thoughts hit my brain when I read this.
1. Where do I go for advice/wisdom
2. Am I a demon whisperer?

So where do I get my wisdom from? Google? Friends that agree with me? TMZ? Pastor? Logic? Hannity? Books?

The only source of true wisdom comes from God (Prov 2:6) and the best way to hear from God? His Word!, Its ok to get advice/wisdom from people(Prov 11:14) but choose your source "wisely" make sure they are people who are spending time in the source (His Word) and then confirm their advice by praying and reading God's Word.

Also its a huge reminder to me that just giving people my own wisdom or advice, well as verse 15 put it, that its demonic. I know that I am selfish, and can be jealous so if my words to people aren't first pure, full of mercy, good fruits, is gentle, without hypocrisy ......then I am the demon whisperer,

James 1:5- If you lack wisdom ask God (paraphrased of course)

-Eric House