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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Deaf Devotion 3/26/2011

In the last several months the earth has seen some major examples of the power of nature. There have been earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, volcanoes, and the like. While each of these has been said to be caused by nature, it is really a glaring example of the amount of power God has put into the world He created. God certainly is not and was not surprised by any of these events.

God is sending a wake-up call. Hello? Is anybody home? Where have my children gone? Why do they turn their back on me? Why do they pay more attention to arguing with each other than worshipping me? There are those who will blame global warming, blame Christians and Muslims, blame Republicans and Democrats, will blame the Tea Party. But there is one truth. God does not choose sides. Jesus is coming back to take over God’s creation in His rightful place as King.

Jesus is the King of creation and He comes to give us a message of victory over sin. We will never know this victory until we lay our life at His feet and bow before His throne. Before we can be conquerors, we must be conquered. But how?

“Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” (James 4:8 NLT)

Do we realize what this says? It says God is willing to meet us first where we are. He will meet us where we are in our life. He will meet us where we are spiritually. He will meet us where we are with our faith, our doubts and our fears.

The feeling of God being distant even affects those who have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Many times we hear people using this line, "I just don’t feel close to God right now." Or, "God doesn’t seem very real to me right now." We all struggle with that sometimes. “Are my prayers just bouncing off the walls?” So, what can we do about it? How can we overcome those feelings? How can we get to the point of experiencing and enjoying God’s presence and power consistently in our daily life?

There are three key words for feeling God’s power in our life: Approach; Submit; and Separate.

Approach - Yeah, right? How? When I don’t know if He’s there, can’t see, smell nor touch Him. If we look to what God says in His Word, it seems to say we can begin to feel God’s power by having a sense of confidence. What God did by sending Jesus to us, is to send out a wake-up call. Jesus made it possible for us to approach God, draw close, to a close personal relationship, to have our prayers heard and answered and based on historically reliable record, on a real person, not just a ghost or an alien.

“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:5-8 NLT)

Submit – Yeah, right? We must allow God to do His job and what He promised by allowing God’s power present in us to weaken the control of sin. By faith we come to God through Christ and as we come close to God, allow some room for God’s Spirit to maneuver in your lives. This is what James is talking about when he calls his readers to sensitivity about our sin and shortcomings. “Wash your hands, you sinners”

Separate – Yeah, Right? "Purifying your hearts" refers to refining our motives, attitudes, our very thoughts that are against what God wants for us. Sin blinds us. Sin burdens us with worry, guilt, and fear. Sin hardens our hearts. Sin deceives us. Sin separates us from God. It’s not about sin separating us from God. It’s about God separating us from our sin. It’s about us separating ourselves from our sin by faith in Jesus Christ and the power in His Death and Resurrection.

Turning to God and changing from those actions or attitudes that God does not want us to have requires us to allow God to deepen His work in us. By examining thoughts, feelings, and convictions, we allow God to show Himself powerful and mighty through us. We will break down those barriers to feeling God’s presence and power in our life, when we give up and simply admit our hearts are totally evil.

Now, there is an old question that adds an important perspective to this verse. It asks, "If you feel distant from God, who moved?" The answer is "you". You see, God doesn’t move. He doesn’t come and go. He doesn’t show up for a while and then disappear. He doesn’t go on a vacation. He doesn’t take summers off. Scripture says that God never sleeps [Psalm 121:3]

To experience God’s power, claim His promises.
To experience God’s power, operate on faith.
To experience God’s power, repent in faith.
To experience God’s power, pour yourself into service in Jesus’ name.
To experience God’s power, remember everything God has done.

We need to understand it has always been the grace of God, in Jesus’ blood, that God has brought us near to Him. God’s activity in Christ guarantees us purity in the sight of the holy and awesome God. It is in Jesus where we feel more of God’s power in our life. We need every day to remember this. It’s all because of the precious and wonderful favor of God that we can draw near and have Him draw near to us.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Deaf Devotion 3/19/2011

“Timothy, please come as soon as you can. Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done.” (2 Timothy 4:9-14 NLT)

The apostle Paul knew the value of having good friends. Barnabas encouraged him in his ministry. Silas partnered with him in establishing new churches. Timothy became like a son to him. Paul also knew the heartache of co-laborers turning away from him when times got tough. We may experience something similar in our life.

People will react differently to our struggles. Some feel they are not able to help and hold back because they are uncertain about what to say or do. Others are so protective of their time that selfishness causes them to turn away. And sometimes our friends and co-workers do not want to be identified with us in our trials. Even as a Pastor this sometimes happens to me. Other Pastors and friends reach out and help while others hold back for some reason. This experience taught me the importance of reaching out to and serving brothers and sisters in need of God’s Word or in times of trouble.

Our primary purpose on earth is to worship and glorify God, exalt Jesus Christ the risen Savior, and to “watch over” or be caretakers of God’s creation. Look at God’s plan for Adam and what God did next: “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.” (Genesis 2:15 NLT) God then warned Adam of the tree and the danger of Him not thinking himself above God or not needing God. Then God had a plan for us: “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” (Genesis 2:18 NLT) This is Eve being created. The name “Eve” means “mother of all.” Therefore, We are here as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve to first, take care of what God created, and secondly, to be here to help each other.

This final section of Paul’s letter to Timothy offers some specific instructions as well as some final pieces of advice that Paul is passing on to Timothy. Paul’s main objective is for Timothy to learn that he must allow God to be his strength. Timothy’s and Paul’s effectiveness as Christian leaders depended on it as does our effectiveness as Christians in today’s world. We must allow God to use others, friends and enemies, to strengthen us if we are to be really effective in His service.

There are many different occasions when we will have a need for strength, whether it is physical, mental or emotional. We need strength to accomplish a specific task. We need strength to overcome an addiction. We need strength to cope with the death of a loved one. But, sadly, friends will abandon us and enemies will try to distract us. We must step in and support each other.

Even Jesus had this problem. Matthew 12:14 has the shocking statement that the Pharisees went out looking for a way to kill Jesus. They were planning a murder. Jesus had just healed a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were looking for a way to trap Jesus in his own teachings or actions. Jesus’ healing of this man and then the way Jesus criticized the Pharisees only added to their fierceness in opposing him.

Yet, where did Jesus go for help? He trusted God so completely to bring people faithful to His mission that He knew God’s plan would continue even though He would soon die on the Cross.

The Lord gives us strength. He alone is our source of strength.

Helping others requires an investment of time and energy. We start by praying for them and asking the Lord how we can help. He may have us to come alongside another person to lend emotional support, provide spiritual guidance, offer assistance in a physical or financial way, or find others who can. In the same way God will bring someone alongside us in our time of trouble. Standing with people will encourage them.

When friends abandoned him, Paul asked God not to hold their actions against them. He followed the example of Jesus, who prayed for the Father to forgive the people who abandoned Him, the people who mocked Him, the people who tortured Him and more importantly, the people who killed Him. What's our response when friends let us down? Forgiveness is the choice that pleases God every time.

God is willing and more than able to rescue us and make us strong in our times of weakness. He alone is our source of strength. He will reveal His strength through the blessings and talents of the brothers and sisters He will bring alongside us.

Today are we walking with Christ? Not walking ahead of Him. We walk with Him. We follow Him as our example. Is He our strength? Or are we trying to walk it alone? Is there someone who is burdened that we can come alongside with the strength of God to lift them up? I challenge all of us to let God be the strength. Let Him take over the load in our life. Trust Him with the ups and downs of our life. In all things God is glorified.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Deaf Devotion 3/12/2011

“Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” (Matthew 21:21-22 NLT)

In the Gospel of Mark it is written that Jesus was approached by a father whose son was possessed by a demon. The man came to Jesus, asking Him to heal the boy, if it was possible. The Lord lovingly shared that He could accomplish anything if the man had faith. The dad responded, "I do believe; help my unbelief."

“Help my unbelief.” Are there any greater words of faith? What a revealing statement.

Even mature Christians will sometimes experience some doubt with regard to God's ways, truth, or ability. Thankfully, He is gracious and meets His children where they are.

But the Bible is clear that doubt causes difficulty. First, it affects the believer's fellowship with God. Second, disbelief blocks one's prayer life. The Lord will answer a doubting heart, but God’s answer will never be the right answer, nor will the answer satisfy. Third, uncertainty can lead to dependence upon the flesh and, therefore, can get in the way of fruitful service. All of these can lead to discouragement.

Let's explore how to overcome a lack of assurance. Prayerfully consider what causes us to question. For example, when we were growing up were we taught something other than what God teaches? Or we were told what we should believe by someone other than God? Now, recall a time when we trusted the Lord and He responded; remember how it felt to rely totally upon Him. And, most importantly, study Scripture and learn exactly what God is saying to us. The Bible says it is better to depend on the Lord than to trust in people. (Psalm 118:8)

God wants us to walk in the freedom of faith. God calls each of us to live our lives with full confidence in Him. This removes fear and worry because the almighty, all-knowing, loving Father is able to guide, strengthen, and lead His children to victory.

What is the biggest thing we have ever asked God to do for us? I have learned most of the prayers are good and right, but not bold. About the biggest requests are for physical healing. I believe God does heal in response to our prayers, but surely God wants to do more than “fix” us. God is looking for someone bold enough to ask Him for something big. This is not about a home on the beach or a new car, although these are nice blessings. We are talking about spiritual things! Where are the people who are asking God to invade their lives with His power, to transform a community, to break the curse of racism, to send missionaries around the world?

There was popular book about the prayer of a man named Jabez. Jabez’s prayer was surprisingly simple. “He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request.” (1 Chronicles 4:10 NLT) Notice the end of the verse: “And God granted him his request.” Faith asked and God answered.

What mountain do we need God to move? Today God calls us to bring our mountain to Him and ask Him to move it. Stop wishing, wanting and hoping and start asking in faith without doubt, because that is what Jesus commands us to do.

The next time those feelings of doubt begin to rise, remember that God does move mountains. Along with the everyday prayers that we offer to God, try adding a mountain to the list, let God out of the box, and see what great and mighty things God will do!

If you haven't been living with belief, start today. Don't miss out on His best!