April 12, 2017

"Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”   Matthew 17:4

Who doesn't enjoy a mountain-top experience?

If I ask how many would like to have to see fresh inspiring personal vision of our Lord and the manifestation of His glory - everyone would sign up! I don't think there is any doubt about that.

Is it realistic to expect a mountain-top experience every Sunday? How about every day?

Why don't we see more of them?

Even the inner circle of disciples only had one of them in their three years of following Jesus?

So, what SHOULD we expect?

While that would be an interesting discussion to have, let me tell you one thing I know from this Biblical account - REVELATION BRINGS RESPONSIBILITY!

The disciples where so excited about what they beheld during Jesus' transfiguration that they wanted to build some shrines and camp out up there! Who can blame them?

But, God Himself, shut that idea down by interrupting Peter in mid-sentence. God is not nearly as interested in happy days on the mountain as is about what happens in human hearts! He wants your worship to reflect in your walk! If your worship doesn't reflect in your witness what good is it?

Old-timers who were dubious about charismatic worship used to say, "I don't care how high you jump but I care about how straight you walk when you hit the ground!" I think that fits in this event!

Let me offer this opinion for your consideration, "We will have more mountain-top experiences when our witness and our walk reflects the passion, power and presence of our worship." Make sense?

Revelation carries with it responsibility. If you want the joy, sign up for the job! If you want to see His glory, live out His story! You can't have the experience His glory if your are willing to be an example of His glory! Mountain-top experiences are not about a thrill up your leg, it is about a transformation of your life!

The reason we are talking about this is not primarily because of what happened on the mountain-top but because what happened after they came down! John, James and Peter took the responsibility of the revelation!

Do you want more thrills on the hills? 

Live in the power of His Presence in your daily walk and be a witness to His glory! If you want the revelation - take the responsibility!

"What Should I Expect From God?"

^"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."  Ephesians 3:20-21

Okay, can we just admit it and get it out there – you have been disappointed with God. Does it help to know that you are in good company?

Consider these surprising quotes from some well regarded people:

"I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes." - Billy Graham

"I am exhausted crying for help....waiting for my God to help me." - King David (Psalm 69)

"Where is God? Go to Him when your need is desperate and what do you find? A door slammed in your face." - C. S. Lewis

"I have had enough, Lord.....Take my life."  - Elijah

"In my soul, I can't tell you how dark it is....I feel like refusing God." - Mother Teresa

"My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" - Jesus

"God has no right to treat me like this -- it isn't fair!" - Job

I would take a guess that most, if not all of those people whose quotes were represented in that clip are enjoying Heaven right now and I guarantee you that they are not disappointed!

Let me ask you, “Have you ever disappointed God?” Again, let me ask you, “Have you disappointed God more often than He has disappointed you?”

“Did God quit on you when you disappointed Him?”     “Will you quit on Him?”

Okay, I will go first! I have been disappointed with God.

In order to resolve this faith crisis I had to face some hard options, "Was God insensitive to my need?" or "Was He unable to meet my need" or "Was He unwilling to do so?" or "Were my expectations unrealistic?"

Given those considerations I had to finally conclude that my expectations of God were unrealistic because I just couldn't come to the other conclusions. I know my God cares and I know He is able and I know He is willing.

So, this brings us back to the question, "What should I expect from God?"

That is a HUGE question that will take several weeks to answer. But in the meantime, I leave you with another quote to help keep you from being disappointed with God:

"When I can't trace His hand I can trust His heart." - Charles Spurgeon

April 10, 2017

I read an interesting story about an old miner who had lived the life of a hermit deep in the mountains of Colorado. When he died, some of his distant relatives came to collect his valuables.

They arrived to find a miner's shack with an outhouse behind it. Inside the shack, there was an old cooking pot, some mining equipment, and a cracked table with a three-legged chair that stood next to a tiny window. A well-used kerosene lamp stood as the centerpiece on the table.

As the relatives gathered up the miner's possessions, loaded them in a truck, and got ready to drive away, the miner's old friend came walking up. He called out to them, "Do y'all mind if I take what is left in that old shack?"

"Oh, no," they said. "Take it. We have all the valuable stuff. You can have whatever is there." The man thanked them, and off they went.

He walked over to his friend's shack, went in, and looked around for a little bit. Then he reached under the table and lifted up one of the floorboards. Little by little, he lifted out all of the gold his friend had discovered over the previous decades - millions of dollars' worth of gold.

Apparently, the old miner had died with only his true friend knowing his actual worth.

In the same way, our friend, Jesus Christ, wants to make Himself known to us, but we can be like a distant relative sometimes. Yet, if we would get to know Him better, we would discover the riches that He has for us.

And where are these riches? They are in His Word!

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discern-er of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  Hebrews 4:12

The power of the Word is the power of the Trinity, it is the power of the truth AND it is the power of transformation!

What is the transforming power of the Word of God?

God's Word is the scalpel of the Holy Spirit that He uses to do soul surgery on you.

Only God's Word has the power to change your heart, soul, and spirit to become more like His.

As the Word takes up residence in your heart and mind it adds His value to you at the same time is removing your impurities!

His Word can make you good as gold but only if you dig deeply into it on a daily basis.

April 9, 2017

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." John 17:16-17

God's Word is powerful because all the omnipotence of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are active through the Word! The Trinity gives power to the Word!

A second source of power from God's Word is His Truth!

What is the power of God's Truth?

Obviously, God's Truth is powerful because it is the expression of His character. It shows you Who He is.

Life is without meaning or substance until you fully know Who He is and surrender to Him in faith.

It is also powerful because it shows you who you are!

The truth of God's Word convicts you of your sin and points you to your Savior. There is no other reliable source of exposing your sinful nature apart from the Holy Word of God.

God's Word reveals the truth of what you can become in Christ!

In Christ, through obedience to His Word, you can be sanctified or "set apart" unto God and made holy. 

Studying and obeying the Word of God can keep you from being "of the world" while you are "in the world".

The Word is powerful because truth is powerful!

April 8, 2017

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made"  John 1:1-3

So, what is the power of the word?

First, the power of the Word is in the Trinity!

The Word of God is the word from - God - the Heavenly Father.

Featured in your Bible is the Way of God, His nature and His character. If you read the Word you will get to know Who God is in His core.

Also contained in your Bible is the Will of God! What is it that He wants to happen in this world and in the world to come? You will find those answers in the pages of His Word.

Along with the will of God and the way of God, the Bible reveals the Word of God. By reading and studying His Word you will learn God's instructions, interests and intentions for His people.

You cannot know God, your Father, apart from His Word.

But in addition to the Father, the Word of God has the power of the Son of God!

Jesus, is the Word and He became a flesh and blood man to demonstrate the love of God and illustrate the life of God. Through the Bible Jesus is revealed as the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. He often identified Himself as the Son of God and is recorded in the Word as "I am the Way,the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me."

The power of the Word is the power of the Father and the power of His obedient Son!

However, the power of the Word is also the power of the Holy Spirit! 

Who was it that inspired the written Word of God?

It was the Holy Spirit!

Who was it that Jesus promised would guide believers in the truth of God's Word? It was the Holy Spirit!

So, all three members of the Godhead are resident in and active through the power of God's Word! God's Word is triple true and threefold powerful! When you interact with the Word you are becoming involved with all three members of the Trinity!

Think about it! Those are three REALLY good reasons for studying the Word of God!

Spiritual Weakness and Poverty

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." Ephesians 3:16-17

This incredible prayer becomes even more impressive when you realize that the man who is praying to encourage the Ephesian Christians was imprisoned and chained to a guard. The very one who should have been seeking encouragement was sending this prayer to encourage them. As we saw yesterday, he was concerned that they would become discouraged because of his suffering. We conceded that suffering does get discouraging and prayer is supposed to be a resource for encouragement.

How is it that we discover prayer works?

By being prayed for and having that prayer answered.

Likewise, we discover God's glorious riches by declaring our poverty and we discover His strength by confessing our weakness. And we get both of those by receiving Christ.

How can you have His strength without having Him? You can't! He IS your strength! Until you have Him you are weak. No matter how strong you think you are you are weak until you receive Him.

And how do you receive Him?

By faith.

What does it mean to receive Him by faith?

It means you confess your sinfulness, your renounce your independence and rely totally upon His righteousness and grace for your spiritual well-being.

That is what the Apostle Paul did and it radically transformed his life! His radically transformed life changed the world. It has altered my world. But it only happened because I was honest about my own weakness and spiritual poverty.

It is precisely what Jesus meant when He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see God."

Here is the kernel of truth that you can wrap your heart and mind around - you get as much of God as you desire!

Pain and poverty are terrible things. I have been to the inner city of Chicago and Los Angeles and been overwhelmed by the unimaginable pain and poverty there. I have been to cities and villages in Africa and seen the devastation of poverty there. When you look into the eyes of helpless, hopeless people you never get over it. But there is something about pain and poverty that clarifies the value of faith. The powerless quickly recognize their need for His power.

Paul's prayer for his beloved brothers and sisters in Ephesus was that they would realize just how spiritually weak and powerless they are so they would receive the rich and powerful measure of God's Spirit. He realized it through his suffering and prayed that they would, too.

How much of God do you desire? It depends on how much spiritual weakness and poverty you are willing to confess. How much of your impotence are you willing to exchange for His power? 

That is the only way you will receive it and receiving it is the only way you will know it.

April 6, 2017

"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." John 14:3

How can you find peace of mind in a world filled with danger, turmoil and strife?

Jesus' answer is, "Let not your heart be troubled......"

Then Jesus told gave some reasons why you don't need to be troubled.

He cares!

He prepares!

The third reason is what I want to focus on today - He is there!

Jesus said, if I go then I will come again.

We know that He went so we must conclude that He will come to us as He promised.

Make no mistake, I believe in the personal, powerful, glorious return of Jesus at the end of the age. But I also remember His last words to His disciples were, "And lo, I am with you to the end of the age!"

We serve a God Who can be THERE in heaven preparing for us and also be THERE with us caring in our time of need!

By nature He is omnipresent. That means He is a Spirit Who can be everywhere at once! And since He is also omnipotent (all powerful) when He shows up, He comes with full power!

Isn't it great to serve a God Who can be there where He needs to be and also be there when we need Him to be!

That is our God!

Fear not!

Let not your heart be troubled!

Be anxious for nothing!

Your God cares!

Your God prepares!

And your God is there!