Trusting God In A Loss

This is one of the most powerful things I have ever seen on Christian TV, and I encourage you to watch this 12 minute segment from the 700 Club if you are or have ever gone through loss, regardless of the type of loss.  May God use this to bring comfort to you.  Click on this link, then click on Session 1 http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/voiceofhope/

Oh, the lives we touch

Just read an article I really liked by NY Jets reporter Kristian Dyer about "sources" saying that Tim Tebow will bolt from the Jets if he's not used as a starter this season.  You can read it here:  http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/09/13/dyer-the-tebow-we-know-wouldnt-ask-for-a-trade/ 

It's not often that the focus of sports reporting is about the character of the man.  But that's what Tebow has become known for...not what he is, but who he is.  Here's what I consider to be the best paragraph in the article-

"Sources are sources, and they can be right and they can be wrong, but when speculating on a player like Tebow, there’s more to take into account then just what happens on the field. The impact of this man isn’t measured in snaps, passes completed and touchdowns. No, Tebow will weigh his years on this earth by the lives he’s touched, and no source anywhere can know just how much that means to him."

Oh, that this is what could be said about every one of us...that our lives were measured by the lives we touched.

Healing from Blindness

There is a passage in John 12:37-40 that has troubled me for years, but recently I believe that God has given me understanding from His Word regarding it.  Here’s the passage from the English Standard Version:

Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸ so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

       “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹ Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴⁰    “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart,

       lest they see with their eyes,

and understand with their heart, and turn,

and I would heal them.”   

I have not understood why God would blind the eyes and harden the hearts of people so that they would not believe, and therefore could not be healed.  This means that some people would not receive the benefits of believing (salvation, and all that it encompasses) because HE had blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts.   

This is the sort of passage that skeptics use and ask the question “what sort of God is this anyway?”  and adding “I don’t want to believe in a God that would blind people to so-called truth.” 

But look at verse 42a: Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him.   

Apparently, many did believe, and if you read through the entire book of John, you see that multitudes believed.  So who is Isaiah and John writing of here?  Exactly who is it that could not or would not believe? 

I believe it to be those who are proud.  It is people who have raised their own intellect and their own viewpoint to the level that it is their own god.  In that day, those who were proud were the Pharisees, who were in power in the Jewish religion.

In John 9, Jesus healed a man who was born blind, but the Pharisees were so proud that they were blinded and unable to see the manifest power of God through this miraculous work.   Here’s what Jesus said regarding them:  “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (verse 39) 

I believe that this same pride remains at a number of levels, especially in Western society.  It continues to remain in religious circles as it did in the time that Jesus was on Earth.  It also is more prevalent than ever throughout educated people who have bought into thought birthed in the Industrial Revolution and that has grown throughout the age of technology.  Intellect and reason has been placed on the throne of our lives. 

But what I believe God asks of us is intellectual honesty.  If your decision rests that there is no God because you have studied it out for yourself, including the study of the Bible and other Christian apologetic materials, then so be it.  But if your decision comes as a result of prejudice, then my friend, you are mired in pride.  You would know that it is prejudiced if your belief system has been formed  through lectures, conversations, books and magazines that only those who believe as you do have used. Or worse yet, you believe what you do because someone you respect convinced you to do so.  That sort of belief system lacks integrity.  This includes many who consider themselves Christian.

Here is the fundamental reason that a blind person remains blind.  It is found in James 4:6, and repeated in a number of places throughout Scripture:  “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 

Friend, if you have the disease of pride, the first step in being free of it is to come to God with humility and confess it to Him.  May you be able to see the Lord Jesus in all His glory, and be healed.  That is my prayer for you.

A Declaration of Dependence

Today as we celebrate our independence as a nation, I want to celebrate my dependence on God.

Jesus told me that I can do nothing without Him.  (John 15:5)  But He also told me that we will do works greater than those He did, if we believe.  (John 14:12)

He has told me that there’s a secret place where I can find protection from all the things of life that paralyze others with fear—those who don’t believe Him. (Psalm 91)

He has told me that as I am dependent on Him, He will exalt me.  (James 4:10)

He has told me that as I diligently seek Him, He will reward me.  (Hebrews 12:6)

So I make a declaration of my dependence on the Creator, Yahweh, the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, the First and the Last.  I am finite, You are Forever, and I humbly believe that you are who you say you are.  (John 14:6)

The Integrity of a Man (or Woman)

While at a School of Pastoral Nurture last week, we listened to a presentation from the CFO of Church on the Way.  He talked about the quality of integrity in the servants of the Lord, and told a story or two to illustrate.

Near the end of the presentation, one of the pastors had a confession to make.  He told us that during the previous evening he had “nicked” a certain parked car while trying to parallel park his own car in front of the house we were meeting in.  While listening to the CFO’s presentation, he was convicted that he needed to confess what he had done, and hidden.  He told us all what he had done. 

I thank God that this pastor responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and obediently confessed before his group of brothers.  What this showed me was that his heart is tender towards the Lord.  While he should have revealed the “nick” at the time of the occurrence, his posture of humility and obedience to God would not let him continue to hide the infraction, as minor as it may be.

A hard heart hides the “nicks.”  A tender heart is moved easily by the Spirit of the Lord, and makes amends.

God wants us to live a holy life.  He wants us to have nothing holding on to us that our flesh or the enemy can use to bring shame to ourselves or to the cause of Christ.  He wants us to be free. 

How wonderful it is to live free!

My Nigerian Friend

Hello Friends,  I so want to show you photos of our goings-around Yosemite and the Bay Area, and tell you about his home town that he told me about.   But I’m not going to because I want to protect my friend.  In our church, we have missionaries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and we write little about them online for the same reasons.  Their names and location need to be withheld for their protection from those who would want to bring harm to them and their families.

So you want to know my main take away from two weeks of living with a pastor from Nigeria?  Pray about everything.  The first time I met him, last year, I asked him how he got the money to buy a plane ticket, knowing that it cost him roughly six months income.  His reply:  “I prayed and asked God for it, I believed for it, and by God’s grace it came in.”  For him, everything is “by God’s grace.”

Lord, my prayer is that by God’s grace, I will enter into that place of prayer that hears, sees, and receives…to your glory.

You do not have because you do not ask.  You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  (James 4:2b-3, NKJV)

The Helper

Jesus said in John 16:7 “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”

Well, Jesus did go away.  He’s no longer in the Earth.  He’s in Heaven.  But he sent the Helper, aka The Holy Spirit.  It is the Helper who is God in the Earth today.  If you want to know what he is like, pay attention to what Jesus said one of his names was.  The Helper. 

What do you need help with?  I can think of lots that I need help with.  But the main thing that the Helper gives us, I believe, is the ability to live for God, to love God, and to love others.  I know that left to myself, I have no desire to do any of those.  But when I look to The Helper and ask for a fresh fill-up, he never says no.

He delights to fill us up.  It is only in the fullness of the Spirit that we can honor and glorify God.  And from that full-ness comes the full-fill-ment that makes life exciting and productive.

That’s the sort of help worth living for.  Everything else I think I need help with just sort of fades in importance.

Even His Prayers Are Detestable

The dictionary defines the word detestable as an adjective that means abominable, hateful.  The root word, detest, is a verb which means to feel abhorrence of; hate; dislike intensely. 

I’ve had people ask the question before, “Does God hear everyone’s prayers?”  I believe the answer is no.  Take a look at this:  Proverbs 28:9 says that “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.”  That is saying that if a person turns a deaf ear to the law of God, then God turns a deaf ear to their prayers.

Now, you may be saying, “but we don’t live under the law any more.  We live under grace.  We aren’t obligated to God’s laws any longer.”  Really?  Which one no longer applies to you and me?  The Bible says the law is written on our hearts.  We know God’s laws deep inside, whether we want to obey them or not.

There is so much to this subject of prayer, and I don’t hold myself up as an authority, but certain things in the Bible point us to the correct path.  1 John 5:14-15 says “This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

What is God’s will?  It’s in His Word.  If you know His Word, you know His will…even the things that are not specified in His Word you will know and have understanding of…if you know His Word.  And then you can pray according to His will.

I wonder if that Proverbs verse applies to nations.  What do you think?

Trapped

Have you ever felt trapped?  I know I have.

I was thinking about how we can be trapped by our enemy, and you know, the Bible has plenty to say about that.

Think about a bear trap.  The trap is set by the hunter to snare an unsuspecting bear that happens to be passing by, usually on a familiar path.  The trap is covered by brush and leaves, so it is hidden from the bear’s eyesight.   The bear steps on the trap and suddenly, the iron jaws crush into the skin, muscle tissue, and bone, usually causing a fracture resulting in much pain and blood.  The bear is trapped, chained to the ground, and unable to free itself.  Hours later, the hunter comes to shoot the bear dead.

That’s a picture of you and me when we have been ensnared by sin.  Although the bear is unsuspecting of anything hidden that will take away its freedom, we know of the traps that are set for us.  And the trap that is set for me may be different from the one set for you.  The problem is that the traps that are set for us become hidden, just like the bear trap is hidden. 

How does it become hidden?  Have you ever found yourself thinking about sinning?  The idea is in your mind, and you are drawn to do it.  It feels good to think about it.  You begin to calculate and formulate the way you can actually experience the thrill of it, without being caught.  At some point, the deception that you can do it and not get caught clouds your thinking, and you can no longer see the trap.  The hunter has you exactly where he wants you.

This is what has happened to the financial officer who extorts money from his employer, thinking he’s smart enough to not get caught.  This is what has happened to the coach who sexually molests children, enjoying the sinful pleasure to the max, but giving no thought to getting caught.  This is what has happened to the man who meets up with the other woman, believing that he won’t be found out by his wife.

There is a word that is found numerous times in the Bible that gives us God’s plan for living victoriously over sin, and that word is flee. 

1 Corinthians 6:18 says “Flee sexual immorality.”

1 Timothy 6:11 says “flee these things,” and these things refer to the desire to get rich and the love of money.

You see, there’s a number of things we need to flee.  You know what it is for you, and I know what it is for me.  How do you do that?

You take flight in the direction of God, which is away from the hunter.

James 4:7 tells us how to make the enemy (the hunter) flee.  “Therefore, submit to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  How do you submit to God?  You obey His Word.  You follow Jesus.  You follow His commandment of love.  Proud people are unwilling to do that.  But those who have come to an end of themselves gladly submit to God.  You lean into God, and that is resisting the devil. 

Watch him flee.

That bear trap is set for you, my friend.  And the hunter waits to come and shoot you dead.  But you can outsmart the one who comes to kill, steal, and destroy by following the One who wrote the Manual on How to Not Become the Prey.

All Pro Football Players Go To Heaven

I had a conversation with a friend the other day about how there are so many Christian football players.  I asked him, "how do you know they're Christians?"  He responded something about how they point up in the air when they make a touchdown or make a great play.  I asked him, "Don't you think that some of those guys are pointing with their index finger straight up because they're saying "We're number 1?"  He insisted that when a football player points up while in the end zone they are Heaven-bound.

OK.  So the NFL all goes to Heaven.  Or at least the receivers do.  And the quarterbacks.

But check it out,  I found a defensive lineman who is Heaven-bound!!  And I'll be darned, he's a 49er.  Patrick Willis.   He is regarded by many as the best inside linebacker in the business.  Watch number 52 this Saturday as he leads the assault on Drew Brees.

You can watch a TV segment on him right now.  Click this link for a quick overview of who he is. http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/SB81v1_WS

Now when I watched this, the thought occurred to me about why football players pray....and what they pray for and about.  I don't think they are asking God to help them win the game.  I think they are thanking God for the strong body and mind He gave them to be able to play the game, and for the unbelievable opportunity to play professional football....and they're telling God that in all they do, lose or win, they want to glorify Him.

Perhaps that's a good word for you and me in our professional....and non-professional lives.  Ya think?

3:16

You've got to love all the Tebow-trash talk!
But let's check out some stats from last weekend's game between the Broncos and the Steelers.  What a game!

Tebow, whose favorite Bible verse is John 3:16

• passed for a season-high 316 yards in the game
• set an NFL record of 31.6 yards per completion
• AND the CBS audience rating for the game was 31.6!
• Add to that, 3:16 was the #1 search on Google on Monday!

Source:  USA Today, Washington Post, and CBN News
Come on you doubting trash-talkers!  Of course you say all that is just meaningless coincidental football stats.  Sure you do.

When Tebow was in college, he would write "John 3:16" on his eye black.  (Today the NCAA has outlawed that.)  He also used to write "Phil" under one eye, and "4:13" under the other eye.  In case you're wondering what that means...let me tell you.  It stands for Philippians 4:13, from the Bible.  That verse says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Here's the Bible verse that is John 3:16, Tebow's favorite:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

In case you're one who Googled 3:16, you read that verse, but you still don't get it, let me break it down for you.  The reason that Tebow loves this verse is that it shows you the way to Heaven.  God loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to take away your sins.  God never wanted you to die in your sins and go to Hell, so He made the way for you to live eternally with Him.  He says in this verse that if you will just believe in Him (Jesus), you will not go to Hell, but to Heaven.

So what do you do with that?  If you will believe what is written in John 3:16, you simply pray, and ask God to forgive you for the wrong you have done (sin), that you are turning away from that lifestyle, and that you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that God raised Him from the dead.  Then thank God for what He has just done for you.

Tebow has been quoted as saying that God's plan for his life is to be a positive role model for kids through football.  How do you think he's doing?

If you've prayed the John 3:16 prayer, please let me know, and I'll send you a Bible and some info to help you get to know Jesus. (free)