May 21, 2015

“Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.” Isaiah 38:17

One of the things that being involved in competitive sports taught me is how to put my mistakes behind me quickly.

If I got fooled on a pitch and missed the ball by a mile, I had to put it out of my mind and get ready for the next pitch.

If I missed a wide open lay-in in basketball I would hear the fans groan and the coach would shake his head and I knew I had let my teammates down, but I had to put it out of my mind and hustle back on defense.

If I let a pitch get past me when I was playing catcher and a runner advanced a base, I had to chase down the ball, get it back to my pitcher and get ready for the next pitch.

If I missed the first of two free throws I had to put it out of my mind and concentrate on the second one.

Indiana Wesleyan University lost its very first collegiate soccer game because of a hands penalty on me. That was a long ride home. But the next day I was back at practice working to get better

When I miss the green after I have hit a perfect drive in the fairway, it is aggravating but I have to put it out of my mind and focus on hitting the next shot.

I hated when I swung and missed and when I made an error or missed an easy shot or committed a dumb penalty, but I had a determination not to let one mistake beat me twice.

I have not forgotten the errors and mistakes I made playing ball. If I sat down and thought about it hard enough I could probably remember most of them. But I made a conscious decision not to be defeated or defined by my worst moments. I put them “behind my back”.

Those experiences have helped me understand this great truth about the mercy and grace and goodness of God in Jesus Christ! He Who knows everything always has chosen to not remember my sins against me, to put them behind His back so that I don’t have to be defeated or defined by my sin!

To me, it makes God’s mercy and grace more meaningful. And it makes the sacrifice of Christ more powerful to know He COULD remember but chooses not to because of what Jesus did! Think about that! Which takes more grace forgetting something or remembering it and choosing to extend grace and mercy instead of justice?

If you have ever been told to just forget something bad that you did or something hurtful that happened to you, that is well-meaning advice but it is also unrealistic. Don’t feel bad guilty because you can’t forget. You don’t forget, you forgive and you decide not to focus on it. You can choose to “put it behind your back”. You should refuse to allow yourself to be defeated or defined by your past.

When your infinite, Holy, omniscient God chooses not to remember your sins against you but rather graces you with pardon and forgiveness in Christ – who do you think you are to dwell in your pain and failure from the past?

May 20, 2015

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. What ever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4-9

The greatest power God has given us is the power to choose!

In the context of this Scripture we have the power to choose our attitude. Attitude is the result of what we choose to believe about what we believe. Attitude is how we choose to perceive the events that unfold in our daily living. Attitude is adjusting to life as though you believe God is in charge!

You, and you alone are responsible for your attitude! You have the power to choose!

Rejoicing is a choice! Choose it!

Gentleness is a choice! Choose it!

Thanksgiving is a choice! Choose it!

Peace is a choice! Choose it!

Excellence is a choice! Choose it!

Obedience is a choice! Choose it!

If you are defeated or discouraged it is because you have chosen to be. You can chance your attitude and change your anxiety level!

Why not use the greatest power God invested in you – the power to choose!

In anticipation of the Memorial Day weekend, one of the keys to a good attitude is choosing what to remember and what to not remember.

Notice I didn’t say I didn’t say choosing to remember and choosing to forget. I put it that way because we never forget, we just choose how will we will remember.

Now, this very morning, is a great time for an attitude adjustment!

May 19, 2015

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Hebrews 8:12

Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." Hebrews 10:17

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Isaiah 43:25

Think about this!

An eternal, infinite, omniscient God Who has perfect knowledge of everything always has chosen to not remember your sins once you receive forgiveness through His Son!

How amazing is that?

How amazing is He?

It is important to notice that God doesn’t forget He just chooses not to remember them against you no more. In other words, He forgives you. He chooses not to hold your sins against you once you have asked for forgiveness.

He looks at your sins through the grace of Jesus and no longer hold them against you!

God has the power to remember and He also has the power to remember not!

So do you!

You can make good memories and enjoy recalling them for the rest of your life! That is a gift God has given you!

You can also choose to not remember the hurtful or painful experiences! That, too, is a gift!

As you move closer to this Memorial Day week end, remember that a God Who cannot forget has chosen not to remember your sins against you.

Remember that if He no longer remembers them against you, neither should you remember them!

Remember that He can help you remember to not remember the sins of others against them no more.

Don’t forget how good and gracious God is!

May 18, 2015

^"At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold,  and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”  Daniel 3:8-12

How does your faith hold up under threats or pressure from those who oppose what you believe?

Do you "go along to get along" or are you committed to the right thing regardless of the personal consequences to you?

The three Hebrew men developed a fireproof faith that allowed them to survive the heat of the attacks against them by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Do you have a fireproof faith?

Would you like to develop a fireproof faith?

In the last post I shared how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego found their faith in a relationship with their God. Faith is based in a personal relationship with God and there cannot be faith without relationship.

God created you to live in relationship with Him and faith is the only way that relationship can happen.

Do you have a personal relationship with Him? Are you living in that relationship?

A second component of faith I see in this account is righteousness. You have been made right with God by entering into a personal relationship with Him. In other words, you have been made righteous. Once you are made righteous you will want to keep right with God by choosing to do the right things.

Faith is concerned about pleasing God. Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, for those who come to Him must believe that He is and He rewards them who diligently seek Him."

Fireproof faith makes sure it knows what is right and then does what is right, despite the personal cost to him. These three Hebrews knew exactly what would happen to them if they ever disobeyed or dishonored God. AND they also were very clear what would happen to them if they disobeyed and disrespected Nebuchadnezzar.

Bowing before the 90 foot golden image was NOT the right thing to do but it would have made the king happy and saved their lives. Bowing to the idol, the false god, would not have pleased God but it would have taken some heat off of them.

How committed are you to righteousness? Will you please God even when it brings the wrath of the government on you?  Is your faith driven by the desire to remain righteous before God or do you see it as a way to make things right for you?

Fireproof faith develops out of personal relationship and a commitment to righteousness.

May 17, 2015

"........the God we serve is able to deliver us......" Daniel 3:17

What can you expect from God? There are probably not enough enough weeks in a lifetime to fully answer the question, but here are several:

When God puts a giant in front of you, expect Him to demonstrate His giant power.

When He puts a giant in front of you expect Him to raise up the giant within you.

When He raises up the giant within you expect Him to raise up giants around you.

Expect joy from God as you celebrate your salvation.

Expect joy from God as you share your salvation.

You can expect that when God leads you into trouble He will bring you out.

In this devotional you will learn that you can expect if you stand for God and take the heat, God will stand with you!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood for God against the king and faced the heat. In so doing they demonstrated a fireproof faith!

What is a fireproof faith? How did they develop it?

Fireproof Faith Is Relationship

Sometimes people say that they have a faith or they belong to a certain faith and others claim they have faith.

To clarify, I will say that faith is more than:

- A Concept

Faith contains a lot of big ideas but just believing in a big idea is not what fireproof faith is made of. You may believe that there is a God and that He sent His Son, Jesus to be a Savior. But a simple intellectual acceptance of that concept is not what constitutes faith. Demons believe in God and Christ, but what does that faith do for them?

- A Creed

A well organized system of beliefs can be referred to as a "Faith". For instance, the Catholic faith has a creed they expect their adherents to accept.

Creeds are valuable and useful to define a doctrinal system. But fireproof faith does not arise from a creed.

Concepts and creeds are important components of a belief system. They can aid in the development and definition of faith, but fireproof faith requires much more than head knowledge.

Faith is:

- A Connection

Fireproof faith begins with a personal spiritual connection with God through accepting Christ as your Savior. As Romans says, "His Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God. '

- A Commitment

Fireproof faith grows out of a commitment of your love and your loyalty to Jesus Christ. After making the spiritual connection with Christ, you then commit to giving Him first place in your life and living in obedience to His Word and His will. Commitment is what you give to God in exchange for what He has given you through Christ.

- A Communion

Additionally, fireproof faith arises out of a close personal faith Christ through the Holy Spirit. Communion is the intimate personal relationship that a converted Christ-follower enjoys and maintains through obedient living. Communion is the strong spritiual connection between God's spirit and yours.

For the person of faith, communion happens through prayer, through reading and studying the Word, and through worship.

These three Hebrew children understood that the most important priority for them as followers of Jehovah, the only true God, was to know God through personal intimate spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ, the on of God.

You were created for fellowship with God and God's people. That fellowship comes from a spiritual connection with God and a spiritual commitment to Him. Connection with God is the starting point of faith. Anything short of that spiritual connection with Jesus is NOT faith.
If there is no spiritual relationship with God, there is no faith!

How is your faith relationship? Do you know God in a personal spiritual connection? Are you in the Word? Are you praying regularly?

May 16, 2015

First, Caleb had a Visionary spirit!

Second, Caleb had a Vigorous spirit!

And finally, Caleb had a Victorious spirit!

Here's what I'm talking about.

"Only  do  not  rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the
land, because  we  will  devour them. Their protection is gone, but  the Lord  is
with us. Do not be afraid of them." Numbers 14:9 

That’s how winners talk!

I can imagine General George Patton saying something like that to rally his troops before a battle.

I can hear Coach Coleman motivating his FCS Eagle football team with words like these!

Winners win in their heads and in their hearts before the win on the field of battle!

Caleb was a winner! I would follow him into battle, wouldn’t you?

“Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said. So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance” Joshua 14:12-13

If you need more examples of how victors think and act, take notice of this verse! Look at what Caleb claims victory over!

“give me this mountain” – it’s one thing to fight FROM a mountain but it’s quite another thing to fight FOR the mountain! To fight FOR the mountain you must overcome the people who are already ON that mountain! But Caleb said, “Bring it on! I’ll take that mountain!”

That’s a victorious spirit!

“the Anakim were there” – if it isn’t hard enough fight FOR the mountain imagine the people ON the mountain were GIANTS! That is who the Anakim were! This is how winners think! Caleb says, “I’ll take the mountain and whip the giants that are up there!”

That’s a victorious Spirit!

“the cities were great and fortified” – what do winners do after they take the mountains and kill the giants? What they do is attack the fortified cities! Caleb says, “First I’ll take the mountain, then I’ll smack down the giants and when I’m done I will sack their cities!”

Is this guy serious? What’s wrong with him?

He’s a winner! That’s what winners do!

Are you ready to win?

May 15, 2015

“And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. “As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in” Joshua 14:10-11

Caleb was one of the few from his generation to enter the Promised Land and gain his inheritance. According to the Scriptures, this happened because he had a “different spirit”!

So, we are looking at several significant ways this “different spirit” manifested itself.

First, he had a Visionary spirit!

Second, he had a Vigorous spirit!

When God’s people finally returned to the region of Canaan after forty years of additional wandering, Caleb was now an 85 year-old man! But no ordinary octogenarian was Caleb! By his own testimony: “As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in”

Wow!

How can that happen?

I can offer several observations!

Caleb had a purpose!

Living for a purpose much bigger and better than your self is very invigorating! Caleb was living to fulfill God’s purpose for his life and for God’s people. When you have a godly purpose for your life every day matters and every deed matters! Even when Caleb was wandering for those forty-five years he was doing it on purpose!

No wonder he had a “different spirit”!

Caleb had a promise!

God had promised Caleb an inheritance for him and his family! There was a place in Canaan with his name on it, it was a better place, it was a belonging place and Caleb was determined to possess it! That’s invigorating!

No wonder he had a “different spirit”!

Caleb had a presence!

By Caleb’s own testimony, God had kept Him alive! It’s not a bad idea to have a personal relationship with the Source of Life, is it? Because Caleb believed God and knew God and trusted God and obeyed God, God’s Spirit lived in him! Caleb had life everlasting and abundant!

Now we know what that “different spirit” was!

How do you get to your eighty-fifth year with the same vigor you had in your 40’s? Discover God’s purpose, claim His promises, and receive His presence into your life by faith!

It worked for Caleb!