Holey Moley

For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water. Isaiah 3:1

What do you think the world looks like when the world stops loving God?

Really, stop and think about that for a second. What do you think that looks like? I think there are a lot of words we could use to describe it, but I'll try one that might be a way of summing it up: Ruin.

Everything falls to pieces, right? When people stop loving God then they stop loving each other. Families break down. Governments become corrupt. Businesses oppress people. Crime rates soar.

You get the picture. But one thing I want you to know today is that the road to ruin involves many steps.

I think for some of us, we think that the road to ruin is like a redeye flight overnight. You wake up and you're there. Not so. The road to ruin happens incrementally, little baby steps at a time. If your marriage is on the road to ruin, it's not going to be ruined overnight. If your business is on the road to ruin, or if your country is on the road to ruin, it's because there are many steps that have been taken.

Now, here's the encouraging thing-each one of these steps provides the opportunity to turn back, to stop going that way, because that way is nothing but misery, catastrophe, heartache, and pain.

Do you realize that God gives us choices? He does! He gives us forks in the road, options that provide an opportunity to come back to Him. In fact, God sent prophets to His people throughout the Old Testament to help them to see their chances to turn around before they ruined themselves. They could have turned around at any moment, and on the rare occasion that they did, God saved them. But when they didn't, He allowed the disaster to come.

In all of that, do you see the constant? The constant is God's heart to save us. He never wavers in that. What varies is whether or not we're listening.

Are you listening to the Lord today, or are you on the road to ruin?

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for Your constant heart of compassion toward me! I choose today to listen to Your voice and follow You into Your salvation. Please keep me far from the road to ruin!

Amen

When Excess Is Too Much

Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained...Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.' Exodus 16:2-3

I think you're stretching things a bit. Have you ever said that to someone? They tell you some story, and the details just don't add up.

That's what was happening in our verses for today. Moses had led the people of Israel out of Egypt, where they had been slaves for four hundred years. He led them to a beautiful place fit for a resort vacation and they stayed there for a while. Then, a month and a half into their new-found freedom, they complained, saying it would have been better to die in Egypt. And not just that, but they talked about Egypt as though it had been wonderful!

Oh, our bellies were full! We sat by the pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted! It was just all-you-can-eat buffets every day! That was the life! they said.

But you know what; they were stretching it a bit. They forgot to mention the whips, the chains, the unbearable quotas of bricks, the early wake-ups and long hours in the hot equatorial Egyptian sun, and the murderous genocide carried out against them there. I think they were stretching their last memory of Egypt-the Passover dinner-into their whole memory of Egypt.

How many times do we do the same thing? When we get stretched spiritually in our journey of faith with the Lord, do we begin to exaggerate how great life was before this stretching season of our faith was brought on?

Here's the part that really gets me-that Israel actually accused God and Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to kill them. Sure, right. Like I can really believe that one. I mean, if they were stretching it a bit when talking about Egypt, this just stretches things to the breaking point. They actually thought that the God who gave them freedom maliciously had plans to kill them as soon as Egypt was out of sight.

God's plan for Israel was the Promised Land. It just so happens that He had to take them through the wilderness to get there. Ask yourself right now, what are God's plans for you? Where is He taking you? Then consider that, just maybe, if you don't like the stretching season you're in right now, it's not God's plan to leave you there till you die. It's His plan to lead you through it and into all that He has promised.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You have good plans for me! I'm sorry for any way that I have complained about the season that I am in right now. I choose to follow and trust that You will lead me into all that You have promised!

Amen

How to Pray

But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. Matthew 6:3-4

Imagine someone stopping to give money to a homeless person at an exit off the highway, but before they do, they crank up their stereo and shout out for everyone to hear, Hey, I'm giving five bucks to this homeless dude!

Or what if you're just sitting in church and someone jumps up from their seat, slam dunks their offering in the bag, and shouts out a scream like they're doing a touchdown celebration dance?

Now, don't get me wrong. It's good to be enthusiastic about giving, but is this how giving should go? No. You don't want to do it like that. In fact, Jesus says that's how the hypocrites give. They kind of blow a horn, make a big scene, and dance in the streets. God says they have their glory; they've had their fifteen minutes of fame. But that's all the reward they'll get for their good deed.

So how should we give? Here's how we do it. We do it in secret, so that our Father who sees in secret will reward us. After all, do you prefer the reward of man or the reward of God? I know, it's a silly question, right? But you maybe wouldn't think so if you realized how much people give the wrong way.

And it's not just about giving; it's about praying and fasting, too. Because Jesus goes on to say that the hypocrites would wear their worst clothes, not shower, and make sure their faces looked sad when they fasted so that everyone would know what they were doing. They would pray loudly in public so that everyone would be impressed with how spiritual they were. In other words, all the good things they did were done so that people would like them-God wasn't really even in the picture of their hearts.

Alright, step one-as a church, we have got to be doing good, charitable deeds. We have to be tithing. We have to be giving offerings. We have to be praying. We have to be fasting. And, yes, I said, Have to. Why? Because Jesus didn't say, If you pray, fast, and give; He said, When you pray, fast, and give.

Step two-make sure your heart's right. When you do all those good things that you are now going to do, do them for God, knowing that He not only sees what you do, but the heart with which you do it. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly for all to see.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You have told me what's important to You. Please help me to see opportunities around me to do good for others and let Your Spirit work in my heart so that it will be right before You!

Amen

Lost In Passion

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

One of the highlight events for me every year is our church's Halloween alternative outreach. At one of them in particular, I was blown away by the turnout. Thousands of people came for an alternative to what the world offers.

I saw a guy there as a daddy with his kids and it made me think of something. That's just like a little example of what we're to be providing everyday-an alternative.

This is what our verse is about today. It is telling us the right choice to make, whether to become a temple of God or to unite ourselves to the world. When we choose to truly live out what it means to be God's temple, we show the world an alternative. Our very life declares that there's a better way-a way that leads to everlasting life, out of the pit that we're stuck in and head us towards home.

It's like what so many people have in their vehicles, that GPS navigator, and you've dialed in your destination and on the road you go. All of a sudden, you make a wrong turn. You didn't mean to, you just made a wrong turn and all of a sudden that voice from the navigator starts speaking to you saying, Please return to the highlighted route.

Or you just have no clue where you are. You just don't know where you are and you're lost. And here's what you do.

OnStar. I love that it's called OnStar, like the wise men. We can probably convince ourselves that we know where to go and what to do, but instead we're going to submit now and follow that star. It's going to lead us to a Savior.

This is the Lord today, saying, Please return to the highlighted route. Come home. Uturns are okay. Turn around. Come back.

And you can stubbornly keep going your way and that voice keeps saying, Please return to the highlighted route. Please return to the highlighted route.

I think that after a while the voice would want to say, Hey, stupid, you're lost. Stop the car. Turn around. But here's God pursuing us, ever so patiently, wanting us back, wanting us to come home.

Will you receive His invitation today?

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You can show me the way, because I know that I am very lost! I need Your help to get back to where I'm supposed to be-holding Your hand on Your path of life. Please change my heart, be my Lord, and lead me from this day forward!

Amen

Our Father

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.' Then the Jews said to Him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.' Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. John 8:56-59

Have you ever wondered what God's name says about Him? If not, then you should, because His name says quite a lot about Him.

In fact, take another look at our verses today to see just how seriously the Jews took God's name. When Jesus used it about Himself, they picked up stones to kill Him, flying into a religious, zealous rage.

God's name-I AM-is important, but not just that we are passionate about His name being treated properly. What's much more important about God's name is that we understand what He reveals about Himself in it.

First, His name shows that He exists. It really settles that whole issue altogether. He is. Period. And there's nothing anyone can do about it. You cannot make God not exist. You can't make Him go away. He is.

Second, He's self-contained. He isn't dependent or indebted to anyone. No one created Him, so that He should answer to them. No one gave Him anything that He hadn't first given to them, that He would owe anyone anything. He has no need. In fact, He has everything we need.

Third, He doesn't change. You know, a lot changes in our world, but God never does. His love doesn't waver when we do things we shouldn't. His commitment to us doesn't change depending on His mood. He simply is who He is, and He never changes.

Fourth, He isn't going anywhere. This means we can trust Him. Listen, don't trust your stocks, your bank account, your job, your looks, or your popularity. All of those things can go away. But nothing is going to move God.

Fifth, His name proves His sacrificial love. Jesus shows us this when He says, Hey, guess what? You know that God you claim to serve? I'm Him. I am the I AM. And what Jesus showed us about the I AM is that He is a God who sacrificed His very life so that we could live. You can't find bigger love than that.

Won't you call on this name of God today?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for what You have revealed to us about Yourself in Your name! Thank You that You will always be there for me with Your sacrificial love! Please help me to reveal You to others as You have revealed Yourself to me.

Amen

Heaven: A Study of Our Home

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.' Then the Jews said to Him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.' John 8:56-58

Our world is all about connection. Never before has being connected been so easy, so important, or so constant. Every new technology that is produced is made with connectivity in mind. The internet birthed social networking. Then wireless internet expanded our ability to connect. Then smart phones came with 3G and 4G connections, speeding up and spreading out our connections. Now not just desktops, laptops, and smart phones, but tablets, televisions, and even glasses are keeping us connected like never before.

Now, I'm glad you're almost maxing out your friend limit on Facebook, but what I'm really more concerned about today is, are you connected to God?

Because, see, just as there are technologies that we need in order to stay connected to one another, God has provided heavenly technologies, so to speak, for us to be able to stay connected with Him. And believe me, if you aren't more connected to God than you are to your Twitter followers, you have a big problem.

God's chief connection technology is called prayer. I know, it sounds so simple, and it really is. But this prayer connection is more powerful than your power-boosted high speed internet.

Take Solomon for example. In his early years, when he built the Temple and dedicated it, he prayed a magnificent prayer that all of us would be proud to have prayed. More than that, his prayer life is what connected him to God so that he could get his amazing gift of wisdom. In other words, every wonderful thing that Solomon ever did, he did because he had prayed at one point in his life.

But if you know his story, Solomon didn't finish well. By the end of his life, he was worshiping idols and spreading their pagan filth through all of Israel. What happened? He lost the connection, not because God's receiver stopped working, but because he stopped transmitting anything. And when there was no connection, there was no power, no presence, and no perspective.

Listen, your God in Heaven has more resources available to you than Apple, Google, and Facebook's app stores combined. Stay connected to what really matters. Stay connected to God through prayer.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for reminding me to stay connected to what's most important and teaching me how to keep that connection strong. Please teach me to pray; teach me to stay connected to Your heart!

Amen

When the Church Gets It Wrong

For I fear...lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbiting, whisperings, conceits, tumults. 2 Corinthians 12:20

Distraction. It's a big issue these days, is it not? I mean, how many states have enacted some form of legislation to ban texting while driving? And some places don't even let you talk on a cell phone at all while you're driving, and some only if it's with hands free devices. Distraction is no less of an issue in churches, as not only do we face all the issues that the instant connection of technology brings, but we face all kinds of other distractions as well. There's the distraction of worship. People say all kinds of things. Didn't like it. Too fast. Too slow. Too new. Too old. I like the hymnals. You like PowerPoint on a screen. And that church over there? Man, they're still stuck on overhead slides! As if the technology we use during the music portion of a service could somehow serve as a barometer for our love for God. The real barometer there is your response to the technology and style-can you overcome the hurdle of your preferences, or do you love your preferences more than you love God?

There's the distraction of teaching and preaching. That preacher preached too long. This one offended me. And I just didn't like the sound of that other guy's voice; boy, he just picked the wrong job! Seriously. Don't shop for your church, looking for someone to tell you all the things you want to hear. Instead, find a church that preaches the Word of God purely and simply, but that also won't let you get by just learning the Word, leading you beyond that into living it.

Even miracles can be a distraction. Now, let me be clear, I have seen miracles and I sincerely believe that miracles belong in the Church today. However, I've also seen churches where miracles have become the main show, like they've somehow become more important than the most important miracle of Jesus' death and resurrection. Every other miracle serves to demonstrate the love of God that was most supremely demonstrated on the cross to save us from sin, death, Hell, and the grave and remind us of the most chief of all miracles-salvation.

The point is that churches get it wrong when they take the focus off of God. When anything else becomes the main point, it's a distraction that keeps us from entering into the best God has for us.

What's taking your eyes off of God today? Give it over to Him and choose to focus your heart on Him alone.

Prayer Lord God,

Thanks for refocusing me! I give to You my circumstances, hopes and dreams, family, work, and everything else to You and I choose to set my eyes on You today. Fill my heart and lead me into all You have for me!

Amen