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What are you made of?
January 10, 2010 in Uncategorized | Tags: addictions, anxiety, blindness, changed lives, church, death, divorce, Easter, embarrassment, failure, fear, forgiveness, second chances, shame, sin, understanding | Leave a comment
Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn. Isaiah 51:1
Stonehenge is a mysterious collection of rocks in England. For years the question of who built it, when they built it and how they built it has mystified scholars. It has stood for thousands of years as a monument to human achievement and creativity. It has weathered world wars, famines, disease and the ravages of time itself.
The prophet Isaiah speaks of the righteous as being those that God has ‘cut from a rock’ and ‘hewn from a quarry’. He’s referring to those who would one day receive the promise of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In Isaiah’s day people looked forward to that rock. Today we look back. But the rock is the same, the promise is intact.
Isaiah says we are cut from a rock, not a bunch of rocks, not a series of quarries. Jehovah God fashioned us just as he wanted so that we would endure the tests of time. Life gets us down from time to time. We can lose site of the rock, lose our energy to go on. But Isaiah reminds us that we are all cut from the same stone; the stone that Adam, David, Ruth, Solomon, Paul, Peter and all the other great men and women of faith were cut from.
It’s not about how much money you make. It’s not about the job you have, the house you live in, or your grade point average, or any other number of things people tend to judge us by. It’s not about the music you like or the church you attend. It’s about realizing that YOU were made by the Creator God for a special purpose. He cut you from rock so that you will endure everything life can through at you. Then he gave you forgiveness through His Son Jesus and power to life through His Holy Spirit.
The next time the enemy attacks, remember who made you and what you are made of!
PRAYER: Creator God, I thank you today that you crafted me from rock that I can withstand all the elements and attacks of the world around me. I humbly accept your forgiveness for the many times I’ve failed to do the things I know I should do. Please help me to allow the Holy Spirit to direct my every thought. Keep me focused on who I am in you. Amen.
Be a Light!
January 9, 2010 in Uncategorized | Tags: addictions, anger, anxiety, blessings, blindness, changed lives, church, compassion, death, denial, devotional, divorce, embarrassment, failure, fear, forgiveness, freedom, God, grace, grief, guilt, healing, Jesus, Jesus Christ, judgmental, second chances, shame | Leave a comment
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23
When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror who do you see? The answer to that question will likely determine how the rest of your day goes. If you see a loser in the mirror you will likely treat others in an unloving manner. If you see a lonely person you will likely feel shunned and avoided in all your relationships and contacts with people throughout the day. The person you see in the mirror is likely the person you will become if you let it happen.
Jesus said our eyes are like a lamp. They illuminate our entire being. Who I am is not based on what I do or my circumstances or my past. As a Christ-follower, who I am depends entirely on who Jesus is and what He has done for me. The Bible tells us over and over again that we are God’s children and that he has given each of us gifts to accomplish everything the Father intends for us to accomplish.
The Bible is full of stories of people that had skeletons in their closets, endured tragedy or suffered failure. But God used them in mighty ways. We, as His church, have all been given many gifts. Some gifts are visible and receive lots of attention. Some gifts are done in the background and gain little recognition. But ALL parts of the body are important in order to be healthy.
Jesus says we are the light of the world. Light brings warmth, guidance, and security (among other things) to everything it touches. But sometimes we get drug down by poor choices, broken relationships and a variety of other things in life. We get attacked by circumstances.
Don’t let life circumstances keep you from being all God wants you to be. Charles Swindoll says: The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. Thank you that you have given me everything I need to accomplish the great things you have for me. Forgive me for letting the circumstances of my life keep me from being all you want me to be. Help me to be content with the gifts you’ve given me and to use them to shed your light on those around me and when I look in the mirror help me see me as you do. Amen
Remember!
January 8, 2010 in Uncategorized | Tags: addictions, anger, anxiety, blessings, blindness, changed lives, church, compassion, death, denial, devotional, Easter, embarrassment, Jesus Christ, life, my past, second chances, shame, understanding | Leave a comment
Do you have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? Mark 8:18
It’s the inner quality of life that matters most. Too often we become discouraged and distracted by the external circumstances of life and forget the important things. One day when Jesus and the disciples were on a journey it was discovered that they’d failed to bring enough bread for the trip. This shouldn’t have mattered to the disciples. In the past couple weeks they’d seen Jesus miraculously multiply bread and fish to feed 4,000 and 5,000 people respectfully.
Jesus tried to use this opportunity to remind the disciples of the danger of yeast in their lives. In the Bible yeast is used as a symbol of sin. Yeast isn’t seen but it takes very little to change the entire loaf of bread. It wasn’t the lack of bread Jesus was concerned about. It was the hidden doubts and worries that had overtaken the disciples that day. Doubt and worry keeps us from being all God intends for us to be.
I imagine it was with some amazement that Jesus asks the disciples. Don’t you remember what I’ve done in the past? Why are you focusing on issues I can take care of? Guard yourselves from the little things in life that can pull you away from me. Look back at what I’ve done for you. Haven’t I provided more than what you’ve needed in the past? It isn’t the things that you see that will cause you to stumble. It’s those little things, the hidden things in life that can sneak in and steal away your joy, your victory, your success.
Keep your eyes and heart focused on what you’ve seen Jesus do in the past. If He did that for you then, imagine the great things He has in store for your future! Measure tomorrow’s problems by the measuring stick of God’s provision in the past. He has never failed to fulfill his promises. Throughout history he has done just what he said he would do. God has promised us, as His children, that he will never leave you and never forsake you. He will always provide just what you need.
Prayer: Heavenly Father. Thank you that you have given me permission to call you Daddy. Thank you for the promises that you have given to me in the past. As I face the challenges before me help me to remember that you have given me everything I need to succeed in living for you. Help me to set aside my own strength so that I can rely on yours and trust your provision. Amen
Empowered to Succeed!
January 7, 2010 in Uncategorized | Tags: addictions, anger, anxiety, blessings, blindness, changed lives, compassion, death, devotional, divorce, embarrassment, failure, fear, forgiveness, freedom, God, grace, grief, guilt, healing, Jesus, Jesus Christ, judgmental, legalism, life, love, my past, promise, Restoration, second chances, understanding | Leave a comment
Be strong and take heart all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24
“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” Sven Goran Eriksson
No one likes to fail. There isn’t one of us that begins our daily adventure planning to make a mess of our lives or the lives of others. Still, no matter how much we try to ‘get life right’ obstacles get in the way. It could be physical illness, or relational distress in the family or on the job, or any number of things that keep us from reaching our goals or becoming the person we want to be.
King Dave wrote, “BE STRONG! BE COURAGEOUS! Your hope doesn’t rest in your ability to succeed. It comes from the hope we have in the Lord.” Success doesn’t come from your strength but from Jesus working in us and through us.
David knew what he was talking about. He likely wrote this Psalm shortly after he was exposed for having an affair and arranging for the murder of his lovers husband! Not something anyone would want to boast of, to be sure. Yet David experienced God’s forgiveness and went on to bring his nation to a position of power and be the mightiest King Israel had ever known. Not bad for a shepherd boy from up in the hills! He didn’t let his failure keep him from being all that he could be.
Don’t let fear of failure pull you down! Don’t let the failures of your past keep you from being the person you want to be or doing the things you want to do. Your hope doesn’t lie in your ability to succeed but in your willingness to let Christ work in you.
Prayer: Dear Jesus. Thank you for loving me even though I’ve made a mess of my life. Forgive me for my bad choices and for being afraid to press on. Help me to be courageous in the fight to be all you made me to be. Keep me from discouragement. In your name I pray, Amen.
No Expiration Dates!
October 14, 2009 in Uncategorized | Tags: addictions, anger, anxiety, blindness, changed lives, church, compassion, divorce, embarrassment, failure, fear, forgiveness, freedom, grace, grief, guilt, healing, Jesus, Jesus Christ, judgmental, legalism, life, love, passion for God, Restoration, second chances, shame, sin, understanding | 1 comment
A few years ago I sat in a restaurant with a close friend of mine. We were roomies in college, had lost touch for nearly 30 years and had now renewed our friendship. Funny how you can pick up some friendships where you left off after all those years!
Both Jack and I were going through some difficult times when our paths touched again. He was in the healing process of being brutalized by the church where he had served as pastor for years. In the midst of that trauma, his daughter had left her husband and children and run off with her boyfriend. Jack was battered, bruised and broken. A man of faith whose feet had been knocked out from beneath him.
I on the other hand, was watching a marriage of nearly 30 years crumble. I’d resigned from the church where I as bi-vocational pastor and had recently lost my ‘day job.’ I was scared, angry, embarrassed and ashamed.
After some small talk, I asked Jack how he was doing. These times we had together weren’t some ‘ultra-spiritual’ accountability group. There were no open Bibles, no scripture memory assignments and no ‘questions to answer.’ We were just a couple guys trying to make sense of life in the hard times.
It was a simple question, but Jack’s answer has stuck with me all these years. “You want to know how I feel? I’ll tell you how I feel. I feel like God is saying to me, ‘Jack, you are a failure. I love you. You will spend all of eternity with me. When your time has come I will welcome you at the gates of heaven and tell you I love you. But, I’m not ready for you up here yet. Your mansion won’t be ready for 20 years yet, and actually you don’t qualify for a mansion but you will get a really nice cottage! Since you have messed up so badly I’m going to just let you sit for the next 20 years. When I’m ready for you I’ll come. But for now I have no real use for you. You’ve just messed up too bad.’
I remember chuckling and saying to Jack, “I don’t think we should be together.” There were two reasons for my comment, both in jest of course. The first reason is that often in our Christian circles we tend to shy away from people we perceive as ‘spiritual’ when they utter statements like this. It makes us uncomfortable to think that God would, in all His love, really abandon us.
The second reason is closely related. In those times of brutal honesty I think each of us has felt that way. Especially those who have endured broken relationships, abuse of any kind, or any other calamity that overtakes us. This seems to be especially true if we can point to poor choices we have made. Then, the ‘stuff’ we are going through can be attributed to the ‘consequences of sin.’
Jack had clearly and bluntly stated exactly how I was feeling. God had abandoned us. We had failed miserably. We had dropped the ball. We played the game of life and lost. No matter how we’d tried to get back off the bench, it wasn’t happening.
The reality is we were both basing our demeanor of that night on feelings, not fact. That attitude was a lie straight from the pit of hell and contradicted everything we knew about our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus’ ministry on earth is a constant reminder that He seeks after the lost sheep, the hurting, the bruised and the battered.
In our hearts we both knew the truth. Scripture is full of people such as Abraham, Samson, David, Solomon and the Apostle Paul who had failed miserably to ‘walk the talk’. Yet through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ we serve a God of second chances. Jesus still utters the words he spoke to Peter before Peter openly, defiantly and intentionally denied he knew Christ. “When you return, feed my sheep”. Key word there is ‘WHEN’ not ‘IF’.
John Eldredge, in his book ‘Wild at Heart’ reminds us that we are God’s Plan A and there is no Plan B. He has put us here on earth for a purpose, to glorify His name, to build a relationship with us, to enjoy our company. He knew from the beginning that we would fail, rebel, and act like selfish two-year olds. But He loves us anyway. That’s why Jesus came to die for us while we were still sinful, rebellious, stubborn humans.
Satan would like us to believe that there comes a point in life when we outlive our usefulness to God. Age, changing times, stupid choices and errant spouses or children are just a few of the reasons we believe we have reached our ‘expiration date’ when it comes to the Christian life.
Our churches are full (or empty as the case may be) of ‘The Empty Pew’ people. People who for whatever the reason has given up on God. It may be because of abuse. It may be due to poor choices. I don’t think it really matters to God why these sheep have strayed from the fold. The important thing is that the body of Christ, the church, finds ways to bring them back to the safety and comfort of the fold.
My passion for ‘The Empty Pew People’ is the driving force behind “Built with Grace Ministries”. Please pray with me that together we may reach out to those who need to hear, once again, that no matter what, Jesus loves them.
If you are struggling today with the faith. You’ve wandered away. You feel defeated, abandoned and of no value to God, please don’t believe the lie. You have value. You are God’s Plan A. Jesus is longing to rebuild the relationship He died to create.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 