Monday Morning September 3, 2012

Here in the United States it is Labor Day. We honor the work of millions of people who struggle in the midst of difficult circumstances to keep food on their table and their families together. We look back at how people came together in a common mind to protect the basic rights of the worker. We do face uncertain times and as we honor the American worker, let’s take a look at something on a different level.

Faith can be lulled to sleep when we are focused on our own labors and comfort rather than God's plan.

Abraham did not fall into this trap. He traded the familiar for the unknown and received many blessings.

Living and working by faith is the right answer when God calls us to move forward. His call can come to us at any age and in any situation. Abraham was 75 when he began his journey. David was a shepherd boy when he was anointed to be king.

Paul encountered the Lord on his way to arrest Jewish believers in Damascus. After his conversion, he became the Lord's representative to the Gentiles. Our call may not be so dramatic, but it will always involve taking a step of faith.

Labor in God’s service will also include times of testing. Abraham, like all of us, had some successes and some failures. The initial call to leave his country was met with strong belief and immediate action. As a result, he received a promise of great blessing for him and his descendants. But encountering famine brought a different response. He took a trip to Egypt, he lied about his relationship with Sarah, and he was criticized by Pharaoh. Our response to God's call to work or even get up and do something for Him really does matter. We can bring blessing or heartache through our actions.

Jesus said after feeling sorry for those who were “worried and helpless,” “There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them. God owns the harvest. Ask him to send more workers to help gather his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

There is nothing in this world greater than the power of God. The only way to get in touch with that power is to come into a living relationship with Jesus Christ. Before you get to Jesus, you have to be willing to let go of the shepherds you have been following. There are so many people we come into contact with that do not know the great shepherd Jesus even exists.  Jesus says, there are so many people who are ready to know the truth, but there are not enough workers willing to go and tell them. Will you pray that we here would be willing to go into the fields for a harvest. One of the best kept secrets anywhere we look is what God is doing in the lives of people as close as the one sitting next to you at church. It’s a shame we are keeping this secret to ourselves saying, “It’s not my job,” and letting someone else do the work.

Obeying God can be uncomfortable. Those close to us may question our motives or disagree with our decisions. And we ourselves may not want to do what He asks. But faith keeps moving forward in obedience. It helps us stay focused and experience the blessings found in a relationship with Christ.

Monday Morning 8/27/2012

Do something new. I dare you. Try Worship. God says in Isaiah 43:19 “I AM doing something new.” Remember God’s word to Moses when Moses asked God’s name. “I am that I am.” Therefore the great “I AM” is doing something NEW today. It is an active verb. It’s not finished, it’s not “trying.” It’s not “will do.” He’s doing.

Many people do not realize just how active God is in the details of “life.” Some are just not worshiping God for who He is. “I AM doing something new.”

Worship is not entertainment. Some people feel that for worship they need music, drama, and video, topics, and more stories. None of those things are wrong, unless they take the place of worship. Someone will say we need more stories in worship or people will get bored. I'm not bored. If you're not bored, no one is going to be bored. How can one be bored waiting to see the new thing God is doing? Are you bored? Try worship. I dare you. For some people it’s something new. The Gospel is the main story that we should be telling.

Sharing is great. But just sharing is not always worship. We share a common experience. We share fellowship. We hear a pastor say, "There are some things I just want to share with you today..." It’s great to share, but we are supposed to proclaim a message. If we are not proclaiming the Gospel, glory is not coming down. We must proclaim the glory. People want to hear a word from God. Do something new.  Don’t just share the Gospel, proclaim it.

"Careful, careful, don't offend, always comfortable, never pressured, just a pinch of truth, when they're ready to handle it." Proclaiming the Gospel has become so watered down that everyone is afraid of the truth it contains. Do something new. Listen to what God has to say before you judge God and what He’s doing. If people don’t leave church saying they are challenged, then it’s not a ministry like Jesus had.

Jesus was asked which the most important commandment is. And He said we're supposed to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Worship just for scholarly things is not worship. Worship is meant to take what we learn and put it into action. It calls to action. It calls us to use our heart soul, mind and strength. Do something new. Use what God has given you to reach others. Jesus said you know the truth and the truth sets you free.

Do something new. Trust God and let Him work out the details. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” The good news is, God says, “I am doing something new. Doesn’t it make you excited to know that God desires to do something new in your life?  

All I can say is do something new. Let Him.

Monday Morning 8/20/2012

Summer is almost over. Kids are panicking as some have started school while others are sad because school will start very soon. On the other hand, some parents are rejoicing that some kids have already started school and others will start school very soon. As the summer months draw to a close, and we move toward the fall season, I wanted to take a moment to write not only to our family at Master’s Hands Deaf Church, but to everyone who either does or does not go to church.

One thing that has been on my heart in recent weeks is the importance of being faithful to Church. I'm not referring to vacations or those who have to work, or other things we cannot avoid once in a while that affect our going to church.

The Bible makes it very clear that as we see the last days approaching that our desire should be to be in fellowship together on a more increasing basis, and not less. 

The writer of Hebrews says, “We should think about each other to see how we can encourage each other to show love and do good works. We must not quit meeting together, as some are doing. No, we need to keep on encouraging each other. This becomes more and more important as you see the Day getting closer.” (Hebrews 10:24-25) One cannot look at the events of this world very long without realizing we are in the last of the last days.

The Bible also gives us great warning regarding our love for God, and the danger of allowing that love to grow cold, or become lukewarm.  I truly believe one of the greatest ways to keep our love for the Lord on fire is to spend time in His presence at home, in church, and in our everyday life in the community.

When a person is faithful coming to church, they soon develop a passion and desire to become involved in ministry. There is also a desire to see our community changed and souls saved. We have so many opportunities for ministry available, especially in the areas of youth and children.  Dads and Moms, I encourage you to set aside time for coming to church with your family. I realize this sometimes is not possible, but it should be a priority. Jesus commanded we bring Him into our community, but we still need to come together as the Body of Christ for fellowship, learning, and worship

Faithfulness in coming to church is important because:

-          People in our community see how Jesus is important in our life every day and we can be Jesus in our community.

-          We learn the needs of our community, not only the need for Jesus, but the personal needs of a struggling society.

-          Evangelism. Yes, Evangelism. Invite someone to church and make sure you are there when they visit.

-          Fellowship – The way we stay connected and informed is to come to the gathering place, the church building to be sent out. Much of the information about events and ministry is given at church with announcements or in the bulletin.

These are just a few ways faithfulness is essential, and I'm sure you can think of many others. The bottom line is we need each other, and the more we connect to each other, the stronger we will be as a church family, and the more effective we will be in our community.

That is where we can be most effective, in our community. But it starts with the gathering of believers for study, fellowship, and worship. Make church a priority.

Monday Morning 8/13/2012

How “religious” are you?  People who are “religious” about reading my blog/devotion are wondering why they are getting a “Monday Morning” blog on Tuesday.

People are “religious” about many things: sports, movies, TV, video games, traveling, and shopping, hunting, fishing. You name it and people can be very religious about it. But how religious are we when it comes to our faith? If we are truly religious then our religion will be more of a relationship than a religion. We all need to have and develop a relationship with Jesus that is free of religion.

To be “religious” means to be connected to a church denomination like Baptist, Catholic, or even Buddhist. But it also means to be obsessive and passionate for something. If you “religiously” follow a football team or a political candidate, you will do whatever you can to find out everything you can about it or them.

So I go back to my original question. How “religious” are you about your faith? Are you “religious” because you go to church every week? Are you “religious” about being Baptist or Catholic or something else?

Faith requires a relationship not a religion. Paul recognized this when he was writing to the church at Philippi. He was trying to get them to get over their obsession with “religion.” Paul was “religious” before he met Jesus. But then he realized, “At one time all these things were important to me. But because of Christ, I decided that they are worth nothing. Not only these things, but now I think that all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Christ, I lost all these things, and now I know that they are all worthless trash. All I want now is Christ. I want to belong to him. In Christ I am right with God, but my being right does not come from following the law. It comes from God through faith. God uses my faith in Christ to make me right with him.” (Philippians 3:7-9)

God changed a sinner into a saint. God changed a “religious” man into a believer. Paul was deeply religious before his conversion, but he relied on good works and his own religious accomplishments to gain favor with God. When Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus, the future apostle learned that all of his “religious” passion meant nothing. The only way for people to be acceptable before God is to receive the saving grace of Jesus Christ. He replaces our sin nature with His righteousness. And even though believers will sometimes make mistakes, our heavenly Father remains patient and loving toward His children. He uses our failures to teach us more about Himself and His ways.

What is your outward “religion?” Eighty-five percent of Americans claim Christianity. But confessing Christianity and confessing Christ are two different things. Confessing Christ before people means having a relationship with Jesus and bearing witness to others about Him and His salvation. That doesn’t mean carrying a 20-pound Bible to work, or wearing a six-pound cross around your neck at the mall. Confessing Christ means relating Him to others in the normal flow of your life. If Christ is your Savior and Lord, confessing Him to others is to be expected. And it’s just as certain He will confess you before His Father.  Be a “doer” of God's Word and not just “religious" about it.

Monday Morning 8/6/2012

When is the last time you’ve had to take a step of obedience? God has not revealed to you all the details of what you’re supposed to do. It’s something you know you need to do. But there is something holding you back from acting, from taking that first step. Is it doubt? Is it a complaint? Is it lack of faith? Is it rebellion?

Sunday mornings we have been hearing from God about how our debt to Him has been paid. Our debt is the broken relationship. He gave us everything, but we rejected it looking for something which makes us “happy.” We started by seeing how the debt was paid when Grace replaced sin. Sin brings rebellion, while Grace brings obedience.

But as it grows, God’s grace is not only the starting place for the replacement of sin but that grace is greater than anything.  If something is “greater than” that means the one is “covered” by the other. The Blood of Jesus covers all who believe and brings them into relationship with God the Father. Accepting by faith the sacrifice of Jesus and how that one act of love covers our sins, past, present, and future says “God > Me” (Steve Dye). God is greater than me.

It takes a lot of faith and obedience to confess that God is greater than me. The writer of Hebrews saw this when he wrote the 11th chapter. He writes of ordinary people who are people of faith but notice these are also people of obedience.

“It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Hebrews 11:7) The writer is saying Noah not only had to obey, but in his obedience he had to take a stand of faith to “condemn” those around him.

Suppose you're a farmer living in the 1800’s. A passerby comes along and shows you his new I-phone. It gives the weather report for your harvest season, a rotation schedule for using the oxen that your village shares, the going price for eggs from the chickens that your wife raises, music to listen to while you work, and you can talk to the blacksmith in the next town (and see his face) without leaving your farm. Would you believe him?

Now consider Noah, hearing that rain, which he'd never seen before, would fall from the sky and flood the earth. And what is Noah's job assignment from God for the next 100 years? Build a boat to carry your family and two of every animal to safety. Noah tried to explain it to his neighbors. But who could believe such a crazy story? And those that heard Noah mocked him! His was a world full of rampant violence, and religious indifference. Does that sound familiar? Does that sound like the 2012 world in which we live?

Where is your faith? Faith says “Yes” and allows God work out the details. Rebellion says “No” and waits until we have worked out the details. Faith can be a lonely place. Noah worked day after day on a boat that attracted ridicule and doubt. Yet he fully trusted God for a flood of rain he'd never seen.

There’s a song with a line that says, “Jesus shines brighter.” Everything about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, shines brighter than anything you or I can do on our own. Corrie ten Boom said, “Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.”

Noah's faithful testimony gives every believer the strength to hold on in impossible circumstances. When people insult your testimony, and you wonder how God will ever bring meaning and order out of the broken pieces of your life, take a faithful stand for Him and let the Holy Spirit lead to show you and others what can be brought about with faith.

Monday Morning 7/30/2012

Are you a doubter? Do you doubt others? Are you unconvinced and unbelieving when someone does something? Are you suspicious? Are you a God-doubter? Does God not come up to the expectations you have of Him. How about you come up to His expectations? Ah…..that’s different you say? We can never come up to God’s expectations so just how is God going to be able to do what He says He will do.

Have you ever considered what it is that God wants for this world, your community, your church, or you? Now, not just a passing thought, but have you ever sat and meditated on it. We say that God wants the best for us and yet, do we believe it, do we live like it?

God asked this very question of Moses in the presence of the entire nation of Israel. In Numbers 13:11 God asks, “How long will these people treat me with disrespect? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?" This is the difference between doubt and faith. God is saying to the nation of Israel and to us as well, “When?” When are we going to stop trying to get God to match our expectations and start paying attention to what He expects of us?”

Everything, good and bad, must go before God before it happens to us. Everything, good and bad, goes before God and is therefore for our benefit. A blessing can be good and bad. Many people, if they were in Moses' shoes that day would have said, “Lord you’re right. I’m tired of these people too, and they certainly don’t deserve you".

Twelve men from the nation went into the Promised Land. They all traveled the same roads, met the same people, pretty much saw the same thing. Ten came back with a report that would crush the hopes and dreams of the people. In plain language they said that Canaan is a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. All the people we saw there are giants (They can’t ALL be giants), they’re huge (They ALL can’t be that big), and boy are we small when we compare ourselves to them. We are merely grasshoppers in their eyes.

Caleb and Joshua traveled the same road, walked the same path and they saw the same things as the other ten. But their response and recommendation was completely different. Caleb said "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it" "Do not be afraid of the people of the land for we will swallow them up." What caused Caleb and Joshua to bring back such a positive report? There is really only one reason that caused Caleb and Joshua to look at the Promised Land and see a guaranteed victory.

It is because they had faith in God.

Caleb and Joshua had not forgotten that it wasn’t that long since they were slaves in Egypt making bricks for Pharaoh. They had not forgotten how God had displayed his divine power against the mighty Egyptian empire, bringing the proud Pharaoh to his knees. They had not forgotten the awesome sight of God’s mighty hand dividing the Red Sea and of the Egyptian army being swallowed up.

Who will believe?

Things have not really changed that much over the years since the twelve went into the Promised Land.  As God’s people we are called to get out of church and do God’s Work. We are commanded to teach others to strive to walk the Christian walk and claim the promises of God. And like the Israelites in the wilderness we too many times believe the reports of doubt, fear and intimidation.

Sure it’s a good idea, it’s a noble purpose, sure it would be nice, BUT, BUT the job is too big, the road is too long, the hill is too steep, so we might as well turn back.

Many for example, when they consider the challenge of sharing the gospel with a friend, neighbor, co-worker or relative listen to the report that says, "It’s a great idea, and yes they certainly need the Lord, BUT we are too weak, we won’t know what to say, they’ll never listen to us, and they may even laugh at us or think we are strange. We can’t do it. It’s not worth the risk. We need to turn back.” And we forget the promise of God that says that He is with us wherever we go as we take his Gospel into the world.

Remember the commercial for Wendy’s in the 80’s with the old lady screaming, “Where’s the beef?” Well God’s trying to get our attention by saying, “Where’s the faith?” He says, “I’ve given you everything, shown you everything, proved my power over and over and over. How long will you not believe?”

We let ourselves be frightened and panic stricken by what we feel we cannot do and then we take our eyes off God. And when we do, we find ourselves standing all alone and as we look at ourselves we say, "There is no way I can do this, I’m just not good enough, I’m not strong enough."

If we had a list of all the churches throughout the years who failed in their work for the kingdom because they allowed nerves to stop them dead in their tracks, I am sure the list would be staggering and very sobering.

There would be:

Communities that were not reached

Buildings that were not built

Lessons that were not taught

Visits that were not made

Fellowship that was not shared

And souls that were not saved

Friends we need to have a faith like Joshua’s and Caleb’s. We need to keep our eyes on the Lord, and we need to keep our faith firmly planted in His power. If the work we want to do, if the goal we want to achieve is for the advancement of the work of the kingdom, we must remember that we are not alone and that God is with us, and that it is He who will give us the victory.

Is the cost too high? “We can’t do it” – God said you not only can, you will and Caleb said, “We must.”

Monday Morning 7/23/2012

There is an old song that goes:

“Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam
where the deer and the antelope play
where seldom is heard a discouraging word
and the skies are not cloudy all day.”

Sounds great doesn’t it? Well….get over it. The Bible says, “No man can control the tongue.”  (James 3:8)

There are two types of criticism, good and bad, positive and negative, constructive and destructive. One builds up and the other destroys. Moses’ own sister and brother let their lips get loose and before you know it they were saying things they would later regret.

How does one keep from making a mess with one’s mouth?

Here are some questions to ask yourself before you look to criticize someone.

Are my comments against the person, or against something the person is doing or saying? Is it against the person or the situation? There is nothing at all wrong with trying to help our leaders or anyone else see things about themselves that need improving. But the "why" and the "way" in which we carry out our mission are really important. When Miriam and Aaron went after their little brother it was personal.

Does my criticism mask the real reason for my verbal attack? The attack on Moses’ character was simply a cover-up to draw attention away from the real reason Miriam and Aaron were upset with him. They were upset that all of the attention and all of the speaking opportunities were going to Moses. Our motive is always central when we talk to or about others. Put plainly, Miriam and Aaron suffered from envy and jealousy.

Aaron was the only man on the planet who could enter the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement. What a position of great magnitude and honor! Moses could have been jealous of Aaron but he wasn’t.

Miriam had been the one who had cleverly saved Moses’ life as a baby. Hers was a place of great honor in the camp of the Israelites. She prophesied and led the Israelites in worship and praise to God at the Red Sea at a time when female prophets were rare. But Moses wasn’t critical of her. He was not jealous.

If you find yourself tempted criticize someone take some time to reconsider the opportunities God has given you. Take a look in the mirror!

I asked several people to tell me what they think is the difference between criticizing and complaining. Sandy Tisdale said something very true: “Feeling sorry for myself is complaining. To criticize is to focus on someone else. (Sometimes, it's something we don't like in them because we see it in ourselves, but won't admit it.)” What we need to do is not to focus on the doors of opportunity God has opened for others. God calls us to focus on the opportunities He puts before us that will honor and glorify HIM.

Have I cleared my criticism with God? The Bible says, that, when Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses, "the Lord heard it." Uh-oh. Of course God hears everything. That’s something we need to seriously consider in all of our conversation. We need to practice the presence of God in our communication - especially in our criticisms. Look at it this way: If you don’t mind God hearing what you say, and how you say it, then it’s okay to speak.

Am I helping or hurting by what I am saying? It’s not enough that something is true. It must be necessary and helpful for us to tell another person. Ephesians 4:29 - "Do not let unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

The comments made by Miriam and Aaron had to hurt. They hurt God. They hurt Moses. They hurt the family of God. They even hurt Miriam and Aaron. Love is constant, but our attitudes are always changing. We need to choose an attitude of love over an attitude of criticism. Attitudes have one thing in common: They are a choice. We chose to be critical or we choose to love. Most times criticism is not called for, but love is always the best way to go.