"OH...Yeah, He Knows!"

Then the devil led Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem and put him on a high place of the Temple. The devil said, “If you are the Son of God, jump down, because it is written in the Scriptures:

‘He has put his angels in charge of you.
    They will catch you in their hands
so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.’” Psalm 91:11–12

Jesus answered him, “It also says in the Scriptures, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’”

Did you know that Satan is very crafty and cunning?  He does come to us in the horribly disfigured red hideous creature that we have been led to believe.  If he did, would we be willing to talk with him?  Satan is cunning, clever and comes to us in ways we will willingly listen.  Sometimes pretending to be a close and caring friend ("I'm sorry your marriage isn't working out, but I have a friend who would love to meet you.  It's okay because you're SO miserable." Or "It's okay to take stuff. After all, this is a HUGE company with gazillions of dollars, so who's going to know?")

We must be diligent and we must always be prepared. He will come to us as an angel of light but that veneer will quickly fade when we can also remind him what Abba's Word says. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Corinthians 11:14, "Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."  We MUST be strong, prepared and armed to the teeth with Scripture!  Not just the words of Scripture but with the strength of knowing it is Abba's words to us.

 

"We Few...We Happy Few"

Do not fear, for the Lord your God will personally fight for you.

Deuteronomy 3:22

 

These last several weeks have been one of those periods of life when words cannot adequately describe the exhaustion I have felt.  I have officiated three funerals of people I have gotten to know.  When each of them passed, it felt as punch to my spirit.  Putting together each eulogy was agonizing and left me feeling as though I had been the punching bag for a prize fighter.  I just wanted to go to bed and not wake up until next week.

This morning, during my quiet time, one of my favorite movies came to mind.  The movie is "Henry V" starring Kenneth Branagh.  The pivotal moment in the movie was the Battle of Agincourt where the outnumbered English soundedly defeated the French.  But the part that stood out for me what after the battle scene when King Henry V of England stood visibly exhausted on a cart to address his soldiers.  He was bruised, filthy, and bloody.  And I could understand how he felt.

You see, the object of that battle is to force the opponent to give up.  And I have felt that I had been fighting an seemingly endless battle.  Then God reminded me that when I fight in my own strength, it's a losing battle because my strength is limited.  But when I step back, be still, and let God fight the battle for me, His strength is limitless...not to mention He has already won the war!

Am I still tired?  Yes.  But knowing that the battle is God's to fight gives me strength.  God has let me fight until all my strength was gone, but He is always faithful to remind me that His mission for my life is not completed and until it is, it's HIS job to make sure I get there.  So I have learned this lesson once again...God is God and I am not. It is not my place to try to do God's job because I can't.  It IS my place to get out of God's way so HE can show His strength and mercy.

 

 

 

 

Are You Afraid?

He said: “Pay attention, all you people of Judah, residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid and don’t panic because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 

2 Chronicles 20:15 

Have you ever felt like you were being hammered with issues and problems and frustrations and irritations?  Have you ever felt as though you were in a boxing match and you were on the receiving end of the beating?  Have you ever felt like you are losing ground in this life?  When facing life's challenges, we can often feel overwhelmed!

 

The back story of today's passage is that King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah looked over the walls and saw what appeared to be an army so large they had no idea how they would survive.  Sound familiar?  Look at your bills and wonder how they will ever get paid; look at your refrigerator and wonder how you will ever find food to put in it; see someone needing help or caring (warning: cops are among the most prickly porcupine people ever, and aren't prone to let others get close to them) and you wonder how you can reach out to that person? 

 

I love the key part of verse 15: FOR THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD'S.  When we try on our own, we will fail over and over, but let God fight the battles and we will see victory after victory.  Our enemy likes to stay in our face so we are too distracted to look to God, but when we are wise to his tricks, we are able to step aside and let God do His job!

Armor Up!

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.  For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 6:12-13

In the days of the Roman Empire, soldiers knew they would be in a fight.  They knew they would most likely be executed if they ran away or refused to fight.  On the upside, once a soldiers enlistment was over, the Empire took good care of them.  The Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen (by family purchase) and was accustomed to seeing the Roman Soldiers, and probably interacted with them regularly.  He got to see their armor up close and understood why the armor was SO important to the success of the Legions.

Did you know that we are in a daily battle?  Believe it or not, our faith is under constant attack in order that our faith will become weak and/or so we will lose heart and stop fighting.  Paul was well aware of this and reminds us that we need to ARMOR UP!

Our battle is not with people. Rather we fight against the ideologies that seek to make our faith something to be manipulated and pulled apart.  I wish I could tell you that people study, and learn from, the Scriptures.  But far too many have become "soakers" who believe whatever a pastor or "religious speaker" says without every checking to see if it is actually true.  We have people in the pulpits who give "pep-talks" or motivational speeches or "feel good" talks and may or may not ever reference the Bible.

This is why we must Armor Up EVERY SINGLE DAY!  We have to be prepared for the fray every single day.  Imagine if a police officer arrived on a violent call only to remember that their weapon had rusted from lack of attention.  Imagine the soldier going into battle and realizing that they didn't remember to pack supplies to survive in a hostile environment.  Yet this is exactly what we do when we don't bother to read, study, and check out what we're being taught.

Paul reminds us that we MUST put on our armor and prepare for the battle or we will not survive.

"Never trust one who has no battle scars, for they have never been in a fight." 

Why Do We Fear?

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
    so why should I tremble?

Psalm 27:1

Several years ago, Tom Petty performed a song called "I Won't Back Down."  Given all that has been going on in our world, perhaps the time has come for us to say the same.  After all, we claim that God is our fortress so why should we be afraid, don't we?  We claim to trust God's plans, don't we?  We sing praises to God, don't we?  But is that all we do?

In the good times, we are quick to say "God has blessed me!" But honestly, I have heard those same lips question God's love for us when things aren't going our way.  And if I am truly honest, I have done it too.  But I am learning!  God loves us ALL the time!  God blesses us ALL the time!  God protects us ALL the time!  Even, and especially, when things seem to be going against us.

Stand strong!  Be firm in your faith!  Trust that God has you!  Pray for each other! Love each other!  As believers, we are part of each other, so let's stand together!

Decisions Decisions!

 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

John 8:1-5

     Decisions!  We face them every day.  Some are easy to make (Coffee before speaking for me please). And some are not so simple (Bacon wrapped salad or salad wrapped bacon?).  But have you ever had a decision to make that, no matter what you decided, someone was going to be ticked off at you either way?

     In today's passage, a woman has been brought to Jesus who was caught in the very act of adultery.  Adultery, in Jesus' time, was punishable by death!  Jesus taught grace, love and mercy.  And this woman has been brought to Jesus, by the religious leaders, and put in front of Jesus for a decision.  Jesus was teaching a crowd of people about God's love, mercy, forgiveness and grace, and now He has to make a decision that is going to make Him EXTREMELY unpopular with either the "Church Folk" who brought the woman or the people He had been teaching.  Jesus had been put in a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situation.

     What about us?  Do we have decisions to make that are "damned if you do and damned if you don't"?  Let's face it, you can't make EVERYBODY happy. And let's also understand, you will discover who your TRUE friends are in such situations because they will stand by you even if they disagree with your decision.

     Meanwhile back at the ranch, Jesus has a decision to make.  If he decides that the "Church Folk" are correct, then His teaching about love, mercy, grace and forgiveness will be seen as a pack of lies and no one will want to listen to Him ever again.  On the other hand, if He decides to go the route of mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness, the "Church Folk" will take umbrage and tell the Romans that Jesus should be killed because He was inciting the common folk to go against the church.  What to do, what to do?

     But Jesus took Door #3 and told the "Church Folk" if their way was so good, then they needed to be the ones to STEP UP and prove it!  Were the "Church Folk" right?  Technically, yes!  According to the Law of Moses, having been caught IN THE ACT of adultery, the woman should have been killed (and so should the man she was with).  But the reality is this, none of the "Church Folk" were willing to step up and hurl the first rock.  They liked Jesus even less after this, but they preferred to be cowardly and make a lot of noise rather than step up and prove their ideologies.

   And this same struggle continues. So we have a decision to make (damned if you do and damned if you don't): Will you cut and run?  Will you step up and prove your ideology?  Or will you just make a lot of noise for attention and so people will think your noise makes a difference?  

What Do You Mean I'm A 'Captive'?

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

~Jeremiah 29:11-14 

 

We like to quote verse 11 of today's passage where God tells us that He has incredible plans for us that will be good for us and bring us hope.  But we don't usually bother to read beyond that because, after all, we cling to the promise and are content to wait for God to rain down His blessings on us.  But read the rest of the passage!

 

God does have plans for us that will be good for us and will bring hope for us, but He also ways WHEN YOU PRAY, I will listen.  When was the last time you and God had a heart to heart chat?  Did you do all the talking?  THEN God says, "IF you look for me WHOLEHEARTEDLY, you will find me."  Before you ask, NO God is not hiding from us.  Let me put it this way, if I am wearing my sunglasses I cannot read my radio display even though I am looking directly at it and it is less than a foot away.  Why, because my sunglasses filter out the color of my display.  The same applies to us when we "look" for God and can't find him...we casually look expecting to see the bright light and mighty powerful warrior ready to smite those who have hurt our feelings.  But we don't see that God has sent someone to help us who is rather ordinary, because we are not looking for ordinary, we are looking for nuclear fireworks!

 

God promises that if we seek Him will all our attention and desire, we will find Him AND He will end our captivity.  WHAT? Captivity here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?  Yup! We are captive to our STUFF!  We are captive to our CAREERS!  We are captive to our BANK ACCOUNTS!  We are captive to our SPORTS!  We are captives because we find so many things (which will eventually end) to hold our attention rather than God!  How many people do you know who can quote the latest stock trends but can't remember a single verse of Scripture?  How many people do you know who will faithfully attend every single football game and have had season tickets for generations, but "don't have time" to talk with God about their marriage falling apart or their children who have gone wild for lack of parenting?  WE ARE CAPTIVES!!  We are held captive by our own desires!!!

 

A gilded cage is still a prison!

On The Other Side

 Then the devil left Jesus. And heavenly messengers came and ministered to Him.

~Matthew 4:11

It's not easy having to learn new things, is it? But we have to learn new things throughout our lives. 

We learn new life skills from experiences like: 

     *  sidewalks have invisible speed bumps, teaching us to be careful.

     *  when you are pressed for time, the slowest person ever will get in your way, thus teaching us to either be patient if we are paying attention.

     *  when someone is hurting, we learn what to say and when to shut up.

We learn more difficult skills through experience if we are willing.  

     *  When dealing with difficult people, we learn to stand up for ourselves even when our insides have turned to jelly.  

     *  When we deal with persistent salespeople we learn to say "No Thank You" and walk away.

     *  When we are hurting and feeling weak, we must learn to let others help us and minister to us.

I like helping people. I like talking with people who need counsel.  I like being able to minister to others. But I am not so good being on the other side of that.  Recently, my Bride and I have been enduring a situation that was draining us and stressing us, yet together we are learning that we are not alone, we are loved, and we will become stronger.  And this from learning to let others minister to us.

Did you know that even Jesus had allow Himself to be helped? After dealing with 40 days of no food, Jesus was exhausted and weak from hunger.  THAT is the very moment when the enemy decided to take action.  And he still does that today; when we are mentally, emotionally, financially exhausted and at the end of our endurance, THAT is when the enemy will attack us through other people.

Jesus relied on God for strength and endurance.  WHEN Jesus had endured and came out of that battle in the right, God sent His own angels to care for Jesus's needs.  

Jesus had to stand strong through the battle, and God gave Him the strength, and then gave Him the comfort when the battle was over.  Jesus, who helped so many people had to learn to let others help even Him.

My bride and I are being taught two lessons from this time in our lives:

     1.  God is in control.

     2.  We must be strong in this battle and do what is right, even if we don't like it.

    3.  When the battle is over, God will minister and restore.