LEARNINGS TO SHARE…

“Jesus turned to Peter and said, Get away from me Satan!  You are a dangerous trap to me.  You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” -Matt. 16:23

Obviously, yesterday there was no post because it was our gathering day.  I trust you are remaining faithful with the fasting and prayer calendar requests and readings!!

Have you ever felt like your time is not your time?  Don’t we all look forward to the weekend or our day off to do whatever it is we want to do,  projects around the house, just putting some comfy clothes on and just lounging around being lazy, going somewhere, doing something fun, etc., etc.

But, it seems when we have something in our minds that we want to do or we think we would like to do, we start to look forward to it even if it is just a little bit and then something comes up and we don’t get to do that one thing we wanted to do, and we end up using “our time” for others.  If you are like me, self-centered, that can be upsetting and actually make you ill.

truthfully, “our” time is not “our time”.  Most of us would agree that when it comes to stewardship, money issues, that God owns it all.  Everything belongs to Him, so, why wouldnt we ‘give’ of “our money” to Him?  But, sometimes we don’t think that way about “our” time, when we should because time belongs to God also.  We must be good managers of His time and I am a big proponent of everyone observing a Sabbath, for spiritual reasons though, not selfish reasons!

In our reading today, Jesus told Peter that He was viewing things from an earthly perpective and not a eternal perspective.  If we could all just see that when things ‘come up’ and “get in the way” of what we had in mind of how we were going to spend “our time” as God’s working in our lives, then we might lean into what God is wanting for us or leading us into.

It really is hard to see life from an eternal perspective, but to do so truly is the way we should try to see life.  Today, if I could just see that my schedule is messed up because of something God is trying to do requiring me to miss a meeting, and work from home this morning, by giving my wife the opportunity to do a favor for a neighbor spend time with her and get to know her and initiate a relationship that might develop into a discipling opportunity, then I “wouldn’t be seeing things from a human point of view”.  Wow, I am so much like Peter!

I pray that I can look at things differently today.  I pray that I can see life through eternal lenses.  I pray the same for you.  try today to consider, “how might God be using this to redirect me and accomplish something He is leading me to?”

I pray you have a blessed day… Mike

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer”

– Ps 19: 14

Recently I have had several family members dealing with various health issues as it relates to their hearts.  Not long ago I found myself visiting with one of my family members waiting to have a “heart cath” in a holding area at a hospital known for being one of the best hospitals for cardiology in America.  this was a room probably 20×40 in size and had beds lined up on both sides all the way down.  I am not sure how many patients were in there but I guess it is safe to say probably around 20 or so and as they wheeled patients out for their procedure, they wheeled another one in their place all day long.

I had several thoughts.  One was I wish I was the doctor getting all that insurance money from all those procedures.  (sorry, I wish my first thought was spiritual, but, yes, I am very carnal at times, most of the time actually), anyway, another thought was to tell my daughter who is in college to focus her nursing on cardiology, b/c it seems like that is some good job security these days especially with the American diet and stressful culture,  pretty much guarantees that holding area will always be full, another thought was, God, I hope and pray I never have to come here as a patient (I am dreadfully fearful of heart surgery) and (ok, now the spiritual) that heart caths physically are not that much different than heart caths spiritually.

Jesus said in our reading today, “dont you understand yet?  what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart” And O what darkness lies beneath! Evil things, bad thoughts, murder, sexual sins, stealing, lying, gossip and slander, and all come from our nice clean hearts…annnnhhhhh…WRONG, our dirty, vile, clogged with sin hearts.  Well, I guess I should say “my, dirty, vile, clogged with sin heart”, I can’t speak for you, but I know the things I think about, and I know the profanity that comes from my mouth, (well, from under my breath, b/c God forbid that anyone hear me, the preacher cuss), and even more, and none of it is very God honoring and to be honest, it is quite ugly.  I am pretty sure that I need a heart cath.

Catheterization is in the Bible.  It is the greek word Katheridzo and found in numerous places, one of which is 1 John 1:9, its the word cleanse.  I can be cleansed inside if I go to the hospital of confession.  If I will confess, He will cleanse.  this is why David wrote for us today…

“How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?  Cleanse me from these hidden faults.  Keep your servant from deliberate sins, Don’t let them control me, then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer”

I prayed these verses today.  I really like the “free of guilt” part, don’t you?  I am so thankful He is forgiving and patient with me.  Let these verses be your prayer as well…then enjoy living with a fresh, pumping, guilt free, cleansed heart.  Blessings to you today, enjoy your Saturday, see you tomorrow at Worship.

Mike

“Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go, guard them, for they are the key to life” -Prov. 4:13

I had a very interesting couple of days the first part of this week.  Two days in a row, I found myself stranded because of vehicles.  The first was Monday and it was the most interesting, the second was the next day and it was just ridiculous.  After my vehicle pooped out (Monday) on the side of the road leaving me and 3 middle school guys (we were going to play laser tag with the students) stranded, Tuesday I borrowed a friends truck to pick up some tables, well, try to pick up some tables, and started to smell something burning only to notice the cab was filling up with smoke, and I thought am I on fire?  After I stopped and opened the hood,  I realized the wiring under the hood was melting and I wasn’t going anywhere.

But that was Tuesday, back to Monday…As I stood on the side of the road watching the students pull away leaving me and my broken down car on the road, I thought ok, what do I do now Lord?  Just then, actually, a few minutes before, a car pulls up and a guy jumps out and I am thinking do I know this guy?  well, I didn’t he was just a good samaritan offering to help me out.  To make a long story short, comes out, he owns a shop and has a wrecker in the area and was willing to pick me up and have my car picked up, and he was willing to drop me off in Loganville.  Wow!  who does that anymore?

It was totally against my type a driven personality to trust him but I had the thought that God may have sent him, so, I could do things my way and it will probably cost me Lord knows how much or I could just lean into God’s providential direction, which I did.  I actually got into the car of a total stranger on his word that he would have my car picked up.  But something was telling me to do it, so I did.

We never really know how God is working in and around our lives do we?  I am sure Joseph felt the same when his brothers sold him into slavery.  But years later, he had an “aha” moment and realized the sovereign and providential plan of God, when he told his brothers God had sent him ahead of them to provide for them.  God is sovereign, which means He is in control of the circumstances of our lives, and His providence is the working out of His plan in our daily lives.  He is doing these things all the time and we cannot see them, so we never know how He is working.

I wonder how many times I have missed his providential plan b/c of my own stubborn, driven, “I’ll fix it mentality”.  If I could just learn to wait.  Wait patiently on the Lord.  Trust in Him and His Word.  “Take hold of His instruction, guard it, don’t let it go, they are the keys to life.”

And, by the way, the guy was a Christ follower and he was leaning into God’s providential plan for him too.  It was one of those divine appointments.  Have a great Friday, keep your eyes open for God’s sovereign and providential working in and around your life, whatever you are going through right now, good or bad, be assured God is working out His plan…you never know…

Mike

I hope all of you are staying consistent in your spiritual discipline of fasting and prayer.  God is working in you.  Don’t give up.  As we approach the weekend it’s easy to think I will just slack off and get back on track on Monday.  It is sometimes in these type of times that God works in the most profound ways.   Don’t give up or give in!!  Today’s devo is by Hal Wilson, our college community group leader.  He wrote last week also, and writes again today.  ‘Listen’ in to what he says…

Today’s readings continue to drive home an important truth to me: God’s way is perfect so why not listen?  In Psalm 18:30 it says “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him” (NKJV).  Why then is it such a struggle to submit to God?  Do I think I can do better than “perfect” and “proven?”  If someone offered me a “perfect and proven” way to fix my golf slice, become more handy around the house, be a better husband, etc. I think I would be interested.  Of course in today’s cynical society I’d want to know who came up with this so-called “perfect and proven plan that will shield me”…oh…God did.

So why do I often find myself getting caught up in what “I” think is best or what “I” think I should do?  For example, looking back “I” thought it might be too hard with my schedule and all my various other excuses to commit to the full Daniel Fast every day.  I know we don’t have to be legalistic, but I wonder if I truly sought God’s will or did I do what “I” thought was best?

Proverbs 4:7-10 in our readings for today basically says to me that if we listen and submit to God’s will that we will become wise and will be rewarded with understanding, honor, and grace.  I pray that we all continue to seek God’s will (Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”), trust in God’s plan (Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”), and follow it no matter what excuse or obstacle my small mind may find (John 2:26: Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me).

Happy listening.

Hal Wilson

Well, we are almost halfway through these 21 days of fasting everybody.  I hope you are experiencing incredible things.  By now, your bodies have gone through some radical changes and cleansings.  This time is sometimes the hardest b/c of all the poisions and toxins in our bodies.  There is something purifying about the discipline of fasting, not just for soul and mind, but also for our temples, the body.

I want to encourage you to persevere.  As we approach the last half of this time of fasting, my experience has taught me, that the most clear direction comes from the Lord during this time.  Remain disciplined.  God will show up in a big way as some people say (I struggle sometimes with that statement, God will show up, b/c He is Omnipresent, right, but as a figure of speach I think we all get the point).  God will do great and mighty things in our lives and through our lives if we are willing to remain focussed and not get off track.  “Stay full of Holy Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh”, Galatians says, even those desires of the flesh to EAT!!  Hang in there!

When you and I are full of Holy Spirit, do you think we can see Him?  Do you think others can see Him?  In today’s reading in Genesis, the presence of God’s Spirit upon Joseph was clear and obvious.  In verse 38, Pharoah said, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the Spirit of God”.  God’s presence was obvious in Joseph.  So much that God exalted Him to second in command in Egypt.  Other Scriptures tell us that “those who humble themselves will be exalted but those who exalt themselves will be brought low”. The presence of God’s Spirit in our lives should be obvious.  In fact, we are told in Galatians 5 that His filling will produce attributes in you and me that look like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.  The opposite is true as well.  The lack of God’s presence in our lives will look like sexual immorality, impurity, lust, idolatry, anger, fighting, arguing, lack of unity, jealousy, envy, drinking & partying.

A pagan king (Pharoah) recognized the Spirit of God.  I believe this was because of the striking difference he saw in Joseph compared to others.  Holy Spirit made Joseph humble and wise.  Those two attributes go together by the way.  Joseph stood out because of the presence of God in his life.  Do you stand out?  Make sure when you get ready to go out, whether to work, or anywhere, that you not only focus on the externals of your temple but more importantly the internals of your temple.  Let God be seen!!

Love you all, praying for you too.

Mike

Somebody sent me a message the other day about some things that God was doing in their life.  It was sooooo encouraging to hear how God was speaking to them.  Somebody asked me the other day why the negative is so big in my mind and I told them, “well, that is often all I hear”, I said, “nobody schedules an appointment with me to tell me how awesome God is working in their life”, all the appointments that get scheduled are due to problems, conflicts, issues that poeple have with me, our church, their life, God, sin, etc., etc.

So to hear how a verse of scripture was opened to their heart and mind that has had a radical effect on them and their whole perspective, really is HUGE.  This person said they had heard that verse their whole life, but for whatever reason God revealed it to them in a light they had not been seeing.  PRAISE GOD!!!

Jesus said in today’s reading, that Isaiah was right, “while seeing, they do not see, while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand…for their heart has become dull” .   After this Jesus went on to explain how truth is like the seeds of the sower, some truth gets rooted and unfortunately some truth does not.

We are living in a day and time where people will tell you they like the truth, but many like their “ears tickled” with truth.  Tell me truth that makes me feel good, don’t tell me truth that confronts my sin, don’t tell me the “whole truth”.  Many will take up the fight for truth but only until the line is being drawn in their own sand.  This reality of our age can be discouraging because it may seem like more seeds of truth are being eaten by birds, burned by sun, and choked out by the word than seeds of truth actually taking root!

But God…………(i love those words)

A verse of truth sticks out, finally, after a long time of hearing and not hearing, seeing and not seeing, truth sprouts through crusted soil and begins to grow.  It’s just one sprout, but how refreshing it is.  Kind of like the small sprout that “Wall-E” found (the movie) that eventually changes the world as he knew it.

The fight for truth is a worthy fight.  As I read Jesus’ words today, I am reminded that the odds were 3 -1.  3 areas of bad soil and a lot of seeds of truth to 1 area of good soil and those seeds of truth.  Even though it appears the odds are stacked against us fighting for truth, and even though it seems like people don’t want to live by truth, there are some seeds that take root and change lives!!  Truth will win, fight for truth!  Fight for truth today in your life.  What lies are you listening to that are destroying your life?  Don’t listen to the enemies lies.  “Truth will set you free!”

The Psalm we read today told us..“by the Word of Thy lips, I have kept from the paths of the violent”. Truth is what will “KEEP” you and me.  Not my experience found over in the book of 2 Opinions!!  Fight for Truth-the whole truth!  I  am praying for you.  Continue to seek God, read your copy of Truth, daily, so you can “see” and “hear”.  Blessings…

Mike

NO DEVO POST TODAY.  PLAN TO ATTEND WORSHIP INSTEAD.  IT WILL BE BETTER ANYWAY!!  STAY ON TRACK WITH YOUR CALENDAR READING AND PRAYING THOUGH.  SEE YOU AT WORSHIP!!

The weekend is upon us and for some of us that might be a little unnerving when it comes to fasting.  When we get out of the schedule groove sometimes it’s easy to cave, so to speak, so, some might be a little fearful with messing up or breaking their fast and then feel all bad and down on themselves for being weak and not disciplined enough.

I hope this doesn’t describe you, but if it does rest easy…remember, its’ about grace.  I am not giving you a license here, because I really think you should be strong, but if you mess up, it’s ok, it’s not the end of the world, just start over by the next meal.

Maybe it’s easy for me to say this because I ate a steak tonight!!  I know, I know…but, there’s always a”but” right, we knew going into this fast that tonight we were going to have to make an exception.  you see today was my Father’s 83rd Birthday, so we celebrated by having all our family up cooked some steaks, laughed, prayed, and had a great time.  It will go in the memory books for a lot of reasons but one biggie is that my sister was here and all her family.  We don’t see her much, and there is history there that has made it that way, but we were together tonight.  It was great!!  And oh, yeah, the steak was great too!! 🙂

I said all that to say there are these times like the one Jacob experienced in 32:28, where He was fighting with God.  We too often fight with God and sometimes these fights are very hard things to deal with and sometimes they are just simple things of life.  I really felt this week like I was fighting with God about breaking the fast tonight.  But I realized it was ok.  I will not be judged, God is not disappointed with me, no more than going off to work one morning without prayer and reading my Bible, which I do sometimes.  I am not happy about it, nor proud about it, but it happens.  All these are spiritual disciplines, not legalistic religious rituals.  It is a matter of my heart.

I believe that fighting with God can be a good thing.  It makes us work through motivations and reveals heart issues, which all hopefully will draw us closer to Him and make us love Him more.  Kind of like Jacob experienced, He did not want to let go even to the point of demanding a blessing.  I think through the rest of the fast I will experience more communion with God and draw close to Him and I hope I have to wrestle some, ultimately it will draw me closer to Him.  I hope you will too.  Don’t be afraid to fight with God.  You understand what I mean don’t you?  I don’t mean argue with Him, push and demand your rights and wants, but simply just to wrestle through issues you are dealing with and all with a perspective that He is God and He is your Lord and you are His servant, desiring to do His will so much that you are willing to roll up your sleeves and work through whatever issues exist in your heart and life.

I hope you have a great weekend!  see you tomorrow at worship!!

Ever had one of those days when you just wanted to quit?  Well, a few more days and we all will have finished our first week of this time of prayer and fasting.  I want to encourage you to persevere, don’t quit!  your focus and discipline God will honor and show Himself powerfully in your life.  The more you come to the end of you, the closer you will get to Him.  Fasting usually starts off with us focusing on our ability to be strong, but when that runs out, then are we at the point where God really begins to move in powerful ways…persevere, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, not by our might, not by our power but by God’s Spirit who moves mightily in us!!

In the readings today I found a truth in both passages of Genesis and Matthew.  When Jacob feared seeing his brother Esau, he reminded the Lord (as if…I know, right), that God had “promised” him that He would treat Jacob kindly, and that it was God who had told him to return to his own land.  He told the Lord, “you promised”, and even though he feared Esau, he trusted in what the Lord had told him.

Jesus said something similar in Matt. 10.  He said don’t be afraid!  what I say to you, shout out for all to hear…don’t be afraid of those who try to hurt you physically…don’t be afraid b/c you are more valuable to me than you realize.  these things really speak to me.  In the midst of fear… any fear… fear of anything, what God has said stands taller!

I experienced fear yesterday and as a result wanted to quit and give up.  But God, (aren’t those great words)  in His graciousness reminded me of what He has told me (He’s good like that you know)…”He would be with me”, “He would build His church”, “tell them what I tell you to say, uphold my truth”.  Eventually, I trusted in what He told me and the fear subsided, no rash decisions were made and no unwise actions occurred because I chose to trust in…” He promised”.

God’s promises never fail!  Never!  What He says, we can trust in, we might experience fear, after all we are but human right, but He promised, and He will deliver!  Never quit trusting in His promises, no matter what!   What has He promised you.  I encourage you to write it down for when you have one of those days!!  Hopefully today won’t be that day!  talk to you tomorrow.

mk