New iPhone…

Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?” “And on that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it. (Amos 8:4-12 ESV)

People who are rich at the expense of others are not going to get off easy in the coming kingdom… But Amos is speaking to more than those of us who do not have the new iPhone…

God will not forget your deeds. He will remember everything you did. To the least, last, lost ,little… He will remember it all and will recount it to you at your final judgment and hold you accountable for your actions.

Do not get ahead because you have held someone else back. Do not make someone else look bad because you wan to get ahead. Anytime you hold something against a brother/sister they did not do, the Lord will remember that and will hold you accountable for it.

So do not worry about keeping up with the Jones, but worry about helping others get ahead of you, and to get what God has given us, which is nothing any of us deserve, but is a feast of rich foods that we should not even be able to smell, let alone partake of.

Go and do for your neighbor, not worrying about what you will get. Trusting in the Lord.

Water

20121212-203923.jpgYou will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord , for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord , call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. “Sing praises to the Lord , for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 12:1-6 ESV)

Salvations well is a never ending supply of refreshing water that will always feed your soul.

We can give thanks to God for the wonderful salvation He has given to us. Not because of what we have done, or who we are, but inspire of what we have done and who we are. God is our salvation and He is our strength. So do not be afraid, and draw water from the well and let it refresh your soul

Jesus saves…

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, ‘THAT’S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.’

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.
They moused.
They faxed.
They e-mailed.
They e-mailed with attachments..
They downloaded.
They did spreadsheets!
They wrote reports.
They created labels and cards.
They created charts and graphs .
They did some genealogy reports .
They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed….

Finally, the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming: ‘It’s gone! It’s all GONE! ‘I lost everything when the power went out!’

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate. ‘Wait!’ he screamed. That’s not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don’t have any?’

God just shrugged and said:

JESUS SAVES …

strengthen

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. (Isaiah 35:3-7 ESV)

Have you ever been sop anxious in a situation you just wanted to run away?

You hear the sound track of Brave Sir Robin of Camelot, “Brave Sir Robin ran away…” You feel so compelled by your anxiousness to get away from the situation. It seems there is no way out of the trouble, and you try to think your way through it, but it jut seems fruitless…

And in that moment the above picture is right, you have a choice. You can forget everything and run, or you can face everything and rise. You see God is not leaving you alone in this mess, He is here with you and will see you through. So no matter what dark place you are walking into, there is no reason to fear what will happen, because He is with you and He will give you the strength to see you through.

Joy

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negeb! Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. (Psalm 126 ESV)

How many times have you wondered how will I go on? You have come to a space where you thought things could not get any worse and they do. It is like the bottom drops out of your boat, or you realize you replaced the door on your submarine with a screen door…

Everything that can go wrong and about 20 other things just went so wrong that you have no idea how you will ever recover. You are ready to curl up in the fetal position and cry your self to sleep.

But God tells us here that those who continue in His service, even in the darkest valleys, will sow in tears, but will reap in joy! We might go out weeping, but the harvest will be as such that we can not help but be joy filled!

Notice the psalmist does not say that God will take all our troubles away but we will be filled with laughter and joy in doing the work that He needs us to go and do. We might still be in a terrible place, but He is with us and because He is  with us and we are following Him we are joy filled!

So follow God where He calls you to, not wanting Him to take away your pain, but help sow seeds that helps others see the joy that God can bring them and live in the joy He will give to you.

Hope

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:22-25 ESV)

Can you have hope in something you can see?

If you can see it and hold it, maybe it is certainty and not hope…

For we have not seen God yet we know that he is there. We have seen the effects of Him working in our lives and we know the promises He has given are true from the things He has done for our ancestors and the Israelite people.

We are certain that He will bring us into the family and adopt us as children! We will be with Him fro all eternity, but are we really certain?

Do we know this to be 100% true?

Were is the proof?

Truth be told there is no proof. That is where hope comes in…

Hope is that wonderful thing that allows us to believe the promises are true and are for me. Hope is the understanding that God loves me as I am, and will be with me through thick and thin.

There is always hope. We can not see it or be certain of it, but it is there. God is always walking with you through the pain, and darkness, He will see you through, and that is hope.

 

purifier of silver…

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord . Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. (Malachi 3:1-4 ESV)

For today’s devotional I share a story I have read many places. I have verified it is correct with a friend who works in jewelry…

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three they came across verse three which says, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that, in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot – then she thought again about the verse, that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s the easy part — when I see my image reflected in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep His hand on you and watch over you until He sees His image in you.

So know that God is always with you and working on you until His image is clear in you.

Stubble

20121208-074110.jpgSee, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse. (Malachi 4:1-6 NRSV)

Evildoers are going to be stubble. They will be burned up and there will be nothing left of them for God can not stand the evildoers to be in His presence. That is why we need to make sure that all of the evildoers know they are evil and correct them. Because we are the ones who revere the Lord and uphold His statutes and ordinances…

Have you ever heard this from someone? Sounds a bit arrogant, which means something… The person who said this has a different translation of the passage above from me, or they did not read it clearly. The passage above says that the arrogant and the evildoers will be stubble, burned until nothing is left. God does not like the arrogant, and seems like from the passage puts them in the same class as evildoers. Those who think they got it all together and will help every one else be saved are just as bad as those they are trying to save…

We need to be humble and realize we can not make it on our own. We need God and the whole community of believers not just the ones we agree with or like, but all of them. We are one body knit together by God to send His message of love, mercy, grace and healing into a dark and broken world. So humbly go and help everyone see the relationship God has for them, knowing you are in need of Him just as much (or maybe even more) than the others…

in vain to serve…

“Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’” Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. (Malachi 3:13-18 ESV)

 

Does it ever seem like all those evil people are getting the good stuff when the true followers of God are getting the shaft?

Do you feel like you are serving God in vain and not getting any where but just spinning your wheels?

We do not serve God in vain…

God has written down everything we have done in public and in secret. He will judge us for everything we have said and done and every action we have taken. He knows every motive for every process you have undertaken and if it is for personal gain, then you were not following the commandments, love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself. If you have ever done anything to promote yourself, then you have let God down and are serving in vain…

If you are not worried about this, you had better check your pulse, because we are all guilty of looking out for #1… We look out for our selves and what we think is best for us before anyone else usually. It is a rare case that we are looking out for someone else over ourselves…

So who will be in the Book of Remembrance? Who’s name will be written down as being one who feared the Lord and esteemed Him? I can not say… I think though it will not be the ones worried about keeping the rules in spite of loving God and neighbor… If we can not put the other first, as God did, how can we say we love God and neighbor?

Look to your motivation, is it for you or the other? If it is for the other it is not in vain, if it is for you… Maybe you should think again…

My situation…

20121205-204708.jpgI want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my situation has actually turned out to advance the gospel: The whole imperial guard and everyone else knows that I am in prison for the sake of Christ, and most of the brothers and sisters, having confidence in the Lord because of my imprisonment, now more than ever dare to speak the word fearlessly. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do so from love because they know that I am placed here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, because they think they can cause trouble for me in my imprisonment. What is the result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. (Philippians 1:12-18 NET)

While you and I may never find ourselves in prison, we can understand Paul in his
letter to the Philippians. He is advancing the gospel. Do you k ow anyone who advances the gospel, and through that gets others to advance the gospel?

Does your life have an impact on someone so that their life is touched by God? Do you live through the pains of lose and wanting to show others how much God has given you? When you could cry out why have you forsaken me to God, yet live so that the mercy you have received is show forth even in the midst of darkness all around you…

We have been called to be beacons of hope even, especially in the darkness. So cling to the promise and know that He is faithful and will never leave you or forsake you.