Questions…

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalms 121:1-8 ESV)

We as humans question things on a daily basis. Kids are really good at this, asking, “why” or “how do you know that.” Or “are we there yet?”

We questions things we do not understand or are unsure of. Sometimes when things are to good to be true or so far out there we may not believe what we have been told or have found to be the answer.

It is in our nature to question…

But there is one thing we do. It have to question. Ay time we need help, all we have to do is turn our eyes to the hills and see our help come from the Lord. He will always be there to keep me going in and out and cover everything that happens in our lives.

So trust that God will always be there and He will help and shelter you!

Are you ready?

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”  He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”  He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.  Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”  (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” (John 21:15-19 ESV)

We are all familiar with this passage where Jesus restores Peter. Peter denied Jesus 3 times and here Jesus restores Peter by asking him if he loves Him 3 times. Peter was angry because Jesus kept asking, but then realized that he was restored.

All of us want restoration from our sins. We all want to be right with Jesus but follow after our own desires and our own self preservation. We desire the restoration but are we ready for it?

You see as in Peter’s case restoration is more than being in a right relationship with God. Restoration to Jesus is about doing  what God is calling us to do and be. It is not about being right with God, but about following and doing what Jesus asked you to do.

So are you ready to be restored?

Why do you do…

He said also to the man who had invited him, When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:12-14 ESV)

Why do you do what you do?

The understanding of a gift is something that is given with no strings attached. Yet how many times does that actually happen? Usually people will give gifts, invite people, send cards because of what they will get in return. We do not do things because we are motivated by love or the gospel. Usually we do things because we are motivated by what we will get out of the process.

As Jesus said in the above passage, we invite those to our banquets we know that they will be able to repay us. But that is not what we are suppose to do. We are called to show love to those that are not loved by society. We are called to love those who can not repay us, because we have been given everything we have by God and therefore should freely give it away.

So why do you do what you do?

See the Lord…

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. (Isaiah 6:1-4 ESV)

The angels had 6 wings.

With 2 wings they covered their faces.

With 2 wings they covered their feet.

With 2 they flew.

Ok I get the face and flying… but what is this feet business.  Let’s just it is the topic of another blog post but it has nothing to do with feet…

They covered their face because they could not look at God. They could not see Him. Even the angels that attended to Him in His high court could not see Him.  No one saw His face. Moses saw His backside, as God passed by him and covered his face so he could not see Him.

Even the angels could not see Him, but we can! Jesus said if you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father. And if we see Jesus in another than we see the Father in them.

So fly and do not worry about covering your face, but cover your feet, that is always a good thing…

Making God Gag…

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:14-22, ESV)

You’ve got your life together right…

No problems everything is going the way you want it to, and things are looking good. You are a self made man or woman and you have done it all by yourself. You pulled yourself up by your own boot straps and your success is your own doing!

We’ve heard this all before. I made this money and I deserve everything I have. I do not owe any one any thanks for where I am…

But are any of us self made?

Did we pull our selves up by our own boot straps?

Did we really get to where we are by ourselves?

Do any of us really need God?

That is exactly what is being said to the church at Laodacea. They are lukewarm, neither hot or cold. They do not think they need God or that God had anything to do with getting them to where they were.

But you see that is simply not true. All of us have had some help getting to where we are. Our parents, pour teachers, and other leaders around us, some of us baseball or softball coaches, football, or soccer coaches, or scout leaders, or others who influenced our lives. But God has also had a hand in our lives, whether we admit it or not. We can either acknowledge that God is a part of our lives, be hot for him, or we can say that God had nothing to do with us and be cold, but we can not say that it is all our own doing. When we try to take all of the credit, we are lukewarm, and we make God gag.

So are you living a lie and saying you are self made?

Are you making God gag?

Tell the world who helped you to where you are and whose you are! Shout it out loud and be hot for the Lord!

The Church is my mother.

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The church is my mother.

In an actual, literal way.

She did not ask to be so.

She could never live up to my hopes for her.

She taught me how to color outside the lines.

She gave me the courage to love others.

She nurtured my soul and showed me I was valued.

She came to my banquets and watched me rock the Psalty chorus.

She gave me clothes when I was naked.

She fed me when I was hungry.

When I felt ashamed, she wiped my tears and told me I was loved.

She has gotten ill and is unable to care for herself.

She tries, like hell, to keep her independence.

The small things get ignored.

The small things become big things and her health decreases.

My siblings stop calling, outside of the mandated occasions.

I call her every week.

I endure the conversations about getting married…

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Fearless

‘I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more.But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority* to cast into hell.* Yes, I tell you, fear him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. ‘And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how* you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say;for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say. (Luke 12:4-12 NRSV)

“The only thing we have to fear is, fear itself!” Wonderful words spoken by Martin Luther King Jr. We do not have to fear anything because we have God on our side.

Why should we fear anyone or anything on this earth? Even the powers of darkness can do nothing but kill your body. Jesus has conquered death and you will see a resurrection like His so why should you fear death of your mortal body? Fear has no place in our lives. We need to boldly go and proclaim the name of Jesus everywhere we go.

And do not fear what you are to say, because when you need words the Holy Spirit will give them to you! So have no fear and boldly go into the world and proclaim the love you have been given, the love that is there for everyone to partake of!

Suffer…

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’ (Revelation 2:8-11, ESV)

Do not fear what you are about to suffer, but be faithful unto death. Christ has called us, and knows us.

He knows those who are rich in wealth yet poor in their understanding of how much they lack in there wealth. And He knows of the slander of those who claim to follow Him but really do their own bidding.

You see the gathering in Smyrna is no longer there as are many other gatherings. We do not exist as a gathering of believers for our own good, but for the transmitting of the gospel. If we are not willing to go through the suffering we will face because of this, then we should re-evaluate our place in the missiona nd who we are really serving.