Morning devotions

Morning devotions ~ Such a time

/ The Pastor

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” [Esther 4:14]

Haman has unleashed an evil plot to destroy all the Jews in the kingdom, but Mordecai finds out the plan. Upon his discovery he tells Queen Esther (a Jew herself) but she is unwilling to go and tell the king. You see, there is a law on the books that states: if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. (Esther 4:11) And at this point Esther had not been called in to see the king for 30 days. So Esther fears for her life. But Mordecai reminds Esther not to be so foolish to think that she will escape this judgement, besides, who knows whether she has been brought to a time such as this.

Long story short, Mordecai finally gets through and Esther agrees to help. She secures an audience with the king and Haman’s plot is revealed; where he is eventually hanged on the very gallows that he was going to hang Mordecai (the man who earlier saved the king’s life). God DID bring Esther to a time such as this and therefore millions of lives were saved.

Have you ever wondered what God is doing in your life? Have you ever wondered why you were in a certain place at a certain time? Have you ever wondered why you were called to suffer in a certain way? Well, maybe you were called to a certain place and time for such a time to bring glory to God. Maybe, just maybe, God had His reasons and was using you to do something special and amazing.

Esther’s story is pretty incredible and maybe God won’t call you to save millions of lives, but he might call you to save one. I believe in the depths of my heart that God calls us to moments to share the Gospel and with a particular person, in order to bring that person to faith. But how many times do we miss those moments or not trust God to be faithful. I also believe that God calls us to suffer in order that we may witness to others. What a powerful way to witness when you do so through suffering; a time when many people would curse God or turn away from God. What an opportunity to proclaim God’s love and faithfulness and the hope of the resurrection through Jesus Christ.  Maybe you have been called to such a time.

So instead of wondering why God is doing what He is doing or wondering why here, why now; just witness. Make the most of the opportunity and situation to bring glory to God. Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ; that through his death and resurrection you can have forgiveness of sins and thus eternal life. Live your faith and show your trust in God because who knows, someone might hear the Gospel for the first time and be saved.

And thus God using such a time for His glory.

May God open your eyes to see opportunities and may you have the faith to accept God’s call.

Praise be to God, always and forever. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Wisdom

/ The Pastor

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. [James 1:5-6]

God directed Solomon to ask for anything. He didn’t ask for riches or good health or long life or the death of his enemies but rather, asked for wisdom. Being a young king, he was concerned about how to rule such a people as God had directed him, so he asked for a discerning mind to lead God’s people. God was thrilled and pleased to grant such a request.

James , here, also directs Christians to ask for that which people might not think of asking. The conventional thinking and the ways of this world is to ask for success or good health or many friends or purpose in life or the athletic success of our children. But hearing this text, one may even be tempted to think ~ if I ask for wisdom then I can kill two birds with one stone; with my wisdom I can become successful and rich and have lots of friends and buy the best coaches for my kids. I think I got it. God, please give me wisdom.

Nope, still missing the boat.

God is pleased to grant wisdom (and a discerning mind) but wisdom in this sense is not something that is selfish but something that will glorify God. God is not opposed to people being successful and rich and the like. What saddens God is when God does not get the glory.

It’s one thing to be intelligent but a completely other thing to be wise. But it is one thing to be wise and a totally other thing to be wise when it comes to God. Godly wisdom glorifies God and leads people into deeper understanding of the ways of God. And a truly wise person knows that God can never be fully understood in this life so the wise person continues to pursue God; knowing that that pursuit is what gives true peace through Jesus Christ.

So when you ask God for wisdom, believe that God will give it.
Believe that God will lead you into greater understanding.
Believe that God will take you deeper.
Believe that God will help you grow closer to him.
Believe that your heart will be changed.

And believe that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ you have everything you truly need to know ~ The forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life.

So ask and believe. God’s wants nothing more than for you to know Him better in Jesus Christ.

May God grant you wisdom and draw you closer to Him. May God give you peace in knowing His love. May God give you opportunities to share the Good News and may God give you a discerning mind to see those opportunities.

Praise be to God, always and forever. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Wait

/ The Pastor

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. [Matthew 24:42]

I can only imagine that when my kids get older and start going out with their friends, I am going to be one of those worrying parents. I imagine that I will be staying up until they get home; and especially if they are past curfew. I can’t imagine that I would fall asleep and not wait anxiously until they are safe and sound in their bed. I am going to want to see them face to face whether they are late or not.

Jesus uses an image, in chapter 24, of a master of a house and if they knew when a thief was coming to break in, they would stay awake and wait. Nobody would be so lazy as to fall asleep, right? I think I would be anxious. I can imagine I would make sure the doors are locked, and then checked again. I would lower the blinds and pull the curtains. I would check on my family and make sure they are safe; and check again and again. I might even call the police and let them know I am afraid something may happen tonight. And then I am going to stand watch and be ready for the thief. I can’t imagine I would become lazy and complacent and be taken by surprise.

And yet, when it comes to Jesus, many people do just that. It has been so long since Jesus walked this earth that many people take Jesus for granted. Oh, he’s not coming in my lifetime. I’ll get ready later. But whose to say that Jesus won’t come before you finish reading this devotion.

stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

~ Parents anxiously await for their children to return home.
~ Children anxiously await for Santa to bring their presents.
~ Some sit by the phone and anxiously await the arrival of some news.
~ Maybe you sit by the window and wait to the postal worker to deliver a package.
~ A master of a house prepares and waits for a known thief to come.

And so as Christians doesn’t it make sense to wait for Jesus; for he comes to bring the great gift of all: Eternal life for those who place their faith in Jesus. I for one can hardly wait until that day. What will the trumpet blast sound like? Will I fall to my knees? Will I dance for joy? Will I weep tears of happiness? But as the song goes, “I can only imagine”. What a day it will be.

Oh God, may I be “awake” and ready.

Don’t let him find you lazy. May Jesus find you preparing for his arrival. May he find you anxiously awaiting his glorious return. May Jesus find you ready.

My friends, Jesus IS coming. Just wait and see 🙂

Praise be to God and Amen!

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ THE War on Terror

/ The Pastor

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. [Galatians 5:16-17]

We are at war.

No, I am not talking about the war on terror but it is close. This is the war against the flesh; sinful desires. And this is a war that has been going on since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden in Genesis 3. And it is a war in which Satan is relentless for he knows what he is up against: Weak human beings.

The problem for many is that they don’t realize they are at war. It is hard to fight a battle if you don’t arm yourself. But worse yet, you are not going to fight a war unless you first declare war. You need to be ready and that means knowing who your opponent is, where the war is being fought, what is at stake and what your assets are.

Opponent ~ Satan
Location ~ The flesh
What’s at stake ~ Your soul
Assets ~ Jesus

Your biggest weapon in this “war on terror” is walking in the Spirit; staying close to God in Jesus Christ. That means staying in scripture; being in prayer; living a life of worship; studying the Word; having regular fellowship with believers. If you arm yourself in such a way, you are giving yourself the upper hand, not because you are so smart or strong but rather, through faith, you are submitting to the one who already fought the battle and won the war.

That’s right, the war has already been won, but the battle still goes on. It’s a backwards way of doing things but Satan is still trying to take down as many people as he can before Jesus comes again to claim his prize once and for all. But don’t despair, God is not throwing you to the wolves in the interim. You are here to glorify God in this life and bring others to him. You’re not alone.

Fight this battle with the flesh as you walk along side the one who has won the war for you: Jesus Christ. Declare war on Satan and realize temptation is all around you. Stand strong and hold firm to hope of the resurrection.

So go into battle today, ready and willing to fight, all to the glory of God.

Praise be to God and Amen!

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ A Prayer of Holiness

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. [Ephesians 5:3-4]

Holy God, I thank you that my eye lids opened to see this day you have made. I thank you that I am here in this world to glorify you. I thank you that you are using me to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

But I need help; we need help.

There is so much filthiness around your children. So much impurity, sexual immorality, crudeness and foolishness. There is so much temptation and Satan is too strong for us.

Forgive your Church.
Strength your Church.
Purify your Church.
Send out your Church.

May this filthiness not be named among us and may we flee from its presence. May we run to you and may we seek refuge in your arms. Then, Oh God, lift us up that we may give you praise and speak of your goodness and holiness and grace and love. May we proclaim with boldness the death and resurrection of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins.

May we be holy as you are Holy.

Loving God, this task is too great for us and if it were left up to us then we would certainly bring it all to ruin.

May you be glorified and praised and worshiped; through Jesus Christ our Lord I pray, Amen.

May God bless your day as you strive for holiness and serve Him.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ What you really need to hear

/ The Pastor

And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” [Matthew 21:21-22]

Oh how these verses have been misunderstood and misapplied.
Oh how these verses have been abused and therefore have caused many people to go astray.

If you believe right and have enough faith you can get what you want and “live your best life now”. This is the mantra of the prosperity gospel (not THE Gospel of Jesus Christ). The likes of Joel Osteen have championed this theology and have garnered many adherents, thus leading many people astray. And the reason these prosperity theologians are so “successful” is that this message is something people think they need to hear.

Give me the secret to success.
Tell me how I can be happy now.
How can I feel fulfilled?
How can I live my best life now?

Everything is about this life, now, and nothing about the life to come. It’s about manipulating and controlling God to get what you want. Throw in talk of Jesus and faith and you have enough to trick people into thinking this theology is legit; from the Bible.

Lord have mercy.

But what was Jesus really teaching in Matthew 21 about faith and prayer? Was he giving us a magic formula to get what we want out of prayer?

Absolutely not!

Two things are being shown:
(1) You may have faith, but you still doubt.
(2) If you truly know God you will ask according to God’s will, not your own. It’s then that you receive what you pray for.

The big difference here is that it is not about your happiness now (your will) but your eternal joy (God’s will). It’s about aligning your will with God’s will. It’s about humbling yourself and admitting that you are a sinner. It’s about realizing that without Jesus you can not get out of this world alive. It’s about realizing that you are meant to glorify God and enjoy him forever. This life may be crappy but you still can have joy; that is if you believe Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

So don’t be fooled by false prophets and self-serving prosperity theologians by trying to reach for and cling to happiness in this life now but rather place your faith in Jesus Christ and cling to the hope of the resurrection. Don’t be fooled into thinking that it is about how you have faith rather than who you have faith in.

Jesus is life and salvation and therefore the source of true joy. That right there will give you peace. And THAT my friends is what you really need to hear.

Have a blessed day enjoying God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Be nice and love…EVERYONE

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. [Luke 6:35-36]

Wow, that’s a tough one. Love my enemies? Do good to them and lend to them? Expect nothing in return? This seems to be asking a lot. And why should I do all of this since my enemies have very little interest in loving me or doing good to me or even lending to me?

In a culture of, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, we are not used to returning good for evil. If someone hurts you then you withhold love and goodness as a form of punishment. But more than that, we often withhold love and goodness as a way to protect ourselves from further injury and pain. We have a tendency to distance ourselves from our enemies

But this is not the way of the Gospel.

Instead, Jesus says love your enemies. What better way to proclaim the Gospel than to show love to those who are not expecting it or to those the world is not expecting you to show love to. This is the whole “heaping burning coals on their head” (Romans 12:20-21) thing; that we should not be overcome by evil but over come evil with good. A tall order. A difficult task. An awesome command.

Lord have mercy and help me.

But consider something else: Who are we to call people evil when we ourselves are evil? That’s right, God shows love and goodness and mercy to you and me; filthy sinners; evil; enemies of God. God sent Jesus to die for us because we are evil and sinful. God did not withhold his love from us even though in the economics of this world he had every right to do so. This, my friends, is what makes God’s love through Jesus Christ so amazing…

It’s undeserved.

Therefore, what better way to show God’s love than to love those we consider enemies, because who knows, we might win a new friend. Better yet, we might win a new brother/sister in Christ.

As God loves you through Jesus Christ, love one another…EVERYONE, to the praise and glory of God our Father.

Have a glorious and blessed day 🙂

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Prevailing

/ The Pastor

So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. [Acts 19:20]

Sometimes I get the feeling that the Word of God is taking steps back. I watch the news (and that might be my first problem right there) and read the paper online and I see this world continuing to sink deeper into depravity. I see chaos all around and therefore plead with God, “Come, Lord Jesus and end it all.”

Here are just a few of the things I have been noticing:
~ With the rise of ISIS one wonders if this war can even be won. It’s scary.
~ Racism seems to be on the front burner again. Not that it ever left but it seems to be garnering more headlines now.
~ With continued court battles over marriage, it seems that traditional, biblical marriage is gone forever and families seem to be falling apart.
~ The prosperity gospel seems to be taking a stronger hold among many people as they strive for happiness now instead of eternal joy.
~ The holiness of God seems to be slipping into only a theological concept for many.

And I could go on, but that would get too depressing. Looking around; how does one not wonder what God is up to.

So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

But then I read the book of Acts. I am also reminded of Isaiah where he says that God’s Word WILL NOT return to Him empty. But more importantly, I am reminded of the cross. You see, God’s Word has already prevailed. Jesus has already won. The forces of evil and darkness have already been defeated. ISIS and racism and hatred and war and Satan may have their day, but that’s it.  God’s Word has prevailed and will continue to prevail.

And so I pray, “Come, Lord Jesus” so that those who do not know may find their hope in the Lord. Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.(Psalm 30:4-5 ESV) Morning is coming, my friends. Hold on and know that the Word of the Lord has prevailed through Jesus Christ.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Be still

/ The Pastor

This pastor so needed the devotion from yesterday; to be still and know that God is God. To be still and listen to the voice of God. To be still and be at peace. I so needed that, but that is not what happened.

———————

My little girl woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. crying,

“I want my daddy! I want my daddy!”

Tired, and a little cranky that I was getting up earlier than planned, I acquiesced to my little girl’s cry. We rocked for a while and then I laid her back down when she seemed to be sleeping, but immediately she started crying for me again. I returned to her room and sat in the rocking chair next to her crib. I then reached my hand through the crib and caressed her head; and she calmed down. Whenever I tried to leave she would cry. Eventually I fell asleep in the rocking chair…

[I’m not sure why she wanted this snoring beast next to her]

…and woke up just after 8 a.m. (I had a 9 a.m.baptism meeting). This was not how my morning was supposed to start. I bolted out of her room: showered, made coffee, ate (all the while my little girl is screaming for me) and got dressed. My wife woke up and help her but she still wanted daddy.

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

All I wanted was to be still and know that God is God.
All I wanted was time alone with God before I started my day.
All I wanted was to hear God’s voice.
All I wanted was some encouragement as I prepared to finish two sermons today.
All I wanted was God.

And God did acquiesce to my request. God gave me a beautiful moment this morning and all I could think about was that it wasn’t what I planned. As a pastor friend of mine told me yesterday in a blog post comment,

“God made the time and gave it to you”

God definitely made the time for me this morning but I missed it.
Oh God, please forgive me for being so selfish and short-sighted.

Definitely carve out moments to get away and enjoy the fact that God is God, but don’t miss the moments that God carves out for you. Don’t be so short-sighted and selfish like I was this morning but rather…

Be still and know that God is God.

…and then actually pay attention and listen.

Holy Father, thank you for the holy moments that you create. May I have the eyes of faith to see them.

Praise be to God and Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Off and Pondering

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Another day off for this pastor; drinking coffee, enjoying the laughter of my children and now some quiet time as my wife bathes the oldest and the youngest sleeps on my chest. A beautiful morning to enjoy the wonderful blessings in my life. God is indeed great.

And in the quietness of my living room now, I’m reminded of Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” What a wonderful reminder to take advantage of every quiet moment to listen for God and to reflect on His promises. Sometimes we get so busy that we forget about God but God will not be denied. God will be exalted. God will be glorified. If not by us then the rocks will cry out.

So remember to create quiet time throughout your day and don’t just wait for it because it may never come otherwise. Carve out moments to get away and don’t feel guilty about it, thinking you’re being lazy. Reflecting and “day dreaming” about God is time well spent. So listen for and to the voice of God. Worship His Holy name and reflect on his promises.

May God bless your day and happy day dreaming 🙂

The Pastor -|—