Louisiana, my heart goes out to you.

              As I continue to drive home the point that unexpected storms will come into your life and you must be prepared for them, the real world reflects that. In Louisiana over 40 thousand homes have been destroyed and there have been 11 confirmed dead. Thousands are homeless and have lost everything due to a storm that went across the state last week. This storm flooded the area and led to flooding in the area. The loss of property is one thing but the loss of life is another. Property and homes can be replaced and repaired but loss of life can not be replaced. The destruction was inevitable no matter how well prepared the people were. I know that this translate into our lives as well. look at the lives and families in the flooded areas. Their lives are changed forever. The destruction was not limited by race, income, education or any socioeconomic group. So how should we respond when this happens?

1. Accept Help. These people in the flooded areas will soon be flooded with help in the form of food, water, money and so many other ways. They will not let their pride hinder them when they need the help.  In our lives when bad times come, allow those around you to comfort and help. It is what they are called by Christ to do! 
2. Give Help. We here are more likely to not be able to go help in the flooded areas but we can make a difference. There are plenty of ways to get into helping these people affected. As Christians we are called to help those in need. So lets get to doing that. The flood victims are easy to help because there is a non-personal connection with them. In our inner circle it becomes hard because we know these people and can be afraid to reach out and help. DO NOT be afraid to reach out to your friends when you know they are hurting. 
3. Pray. The best thing to do for someone is to pray for them. No I am not joking. Telling God how much a person means to you and how much seeing that person hurt in turn hurts you, is exactly what prayer is about. Remember to pray habitually, profusely and humbly. So go find a way to help your friends in Louisiana in need. It is what God commands. 

"He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker,

But he who honors God has mercy on the needy."-Proverbs 14:31

When that Hotline Blings........

Last night God was talking to me. It happens that way. When my brain quiets, God usually has something to say. So here is last nights message.

 

In a world where everyone is just a couple of button clicks away, is our hot line to God being used? Hows your prayer life? That's a question that I was asked recently. So my brain chewed it over and thought that this would be a great lesson. I mean God gave me illumination on this subject. He took me right to Luke 22:39-44.

The Prayer in the Garden

 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “ Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “ Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

God spoke these three points to me about Prayer Life. When we want to know how to do something we look to Jesus Christ for the answer. So here we go.

1. Pray Habitually.    Right there in the first verse it says that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives as he was "accustomed to". It was a habit with Jesus. He had a time and a plan for His time praying to God the Father.
2. Pray Profusely.  Now here in the south we know what it means to sweat profusely. I can say however that during my entire life praying I have never broken a sweat, much less had it dripping off of me. So what the scripture is telling us is to put some effort in to your prayer life. If we took a jog around the block we would be sweating profusely because of the effort we are putting out. That effort should be carried over to your prayer life. 
3. Pray Humbly. Here we see Jesus again in THE servant role. He is praying that God's will be done, not His. Jesus came to serve. That's the point here. Humble yourself before God, Jesus did. Jesus was sweating and praying humbly.  Now Jesus would go on to to be glorified on the Cross but He was God's humble servant. So humble yourself to God in your prayer life. Sometimes, if we are honest, we don't want to be God's humble servant in our prayer life. Why? What if he said we had to go to some foreign country? Might get uncomfortable. 

There you have it. That's straight from God last night. Hope it illuminates your prayer life like it did mine.

Yeah your faith is going to be tested.

It would be foolish for us to think that our faith would not be tested repeatedly. Think about the repercussions of a faith that is not tested. It would not grow. It would not flourish and blossom into something that is worth of the Lord. Look to the life of Peter. The Apostle Peter had his faith tested multiple times. He succeeded in walking on water. He owns the record of water walking by a human. He only sank into the water after he questioned his faith. Of course Jesus was there to save him but up until that point Peter had walked on water. So that takes us to today’s scriptures I want us to look at.  Luke 22:31-34, Luke 22:54-62 and John 21:15-17

         Here we find the Apostles and Jesus reclining at the Last Supper. Jesus lets Peter know that Satan wants to test him. Well of course Peter says he ready to follow Him anywhere no matter the cost. Well Peter had the faith to say that but was his faith strong enough to actually follow through on it? Jesus looked right at Him and told Peter that before sunrise that he would even deny knowing Jesus. I am sure Peter was doubtful because he was so comfortable in his faith. Now one of the things that has always amazed me about this scripture is the phrase in in Luke: 22:32 where Jesus gives a bit of two sides of the coin to Peter.

“But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

         Jesus breaks Peter down here. Jesus speaks to Peter and tells him without a doubt that he is going to stumble in his faith. He is not going to fail because Jesus has prayed for him but he is going to stumble. Then Jesus builds him up by telling Peter that when he returns to his faith to strengthen his brothers. Jesus knows that Peter is going to deny Him. Jesus knows the pain and agonizing that Peter is going to go through by denying Him. Jesus, as only Jesus could do, gives it to Peter straight that he would stumble but would return and be able to further strengthen the brothers. Now if we look ahead, we know Peter does indeed stumble and deny Jesus. He is terribly upset with himself and had to be frustrated too. Here he is having denied Jesus and now Jesus has been crucified and is dead and Peter is left with no way to be restored. It is here that we come to one of my favorite stories of Peter.

         The disciples were out fishing after Jesus resurrection and a man walking along the shore tells them where they can find fish. They cast their net and do indeed find fish. Peter then recognizes that this man is Jesus Christ. Peter demonstrates that he has learned a lesson. Instead of making his way back to shore on the boat, Peter goes overboard into the sea and is swimming back to shore. Why? He so wanted the Lord, so wanted to be forgiven that he just jumped. So Jesus restores Peter by asking Peter three questions.

1.   Simon Peter son of John do you love Me more than these? Yes, Lord.  “Feed my Lambs”

2.   Simon Peter do you love me? Yes. “Then Shepard My sheep.”

3.   “Simon Peter, son of John, do you love Me?’ Yes, Lord, You know everything!” You know I love You. “Feed My sheep.”

This is what the Lord Jesus wants to do in your life. Restore you, refresh you and love you. Jesus knew Peter would stumble. Jesus knew he would suffer emotionally. Jesus knew He would die and rise again. Jesus knew that He would restore Peter. He also knew how Peter would die. He also knew that Peter would affect the Gospel being shared to this day and until the day of the return of Christ.

More Than We Can Handle?

"You know God will not give you more than you can handle." This is a piece of advice that I have heard over and over. I was in the car and heard it during a song and it got me to thinking. I began to wonder if it was true or whether it was just an overused phrase inside the feel goodish religion of the day. So as my mind turned this subject over and over I came to a couple conclusions. 

First thing to ask is that a true statement. Will God only give you what you can handle? Or, will He give you more than you can handle? I find this to be a false statement. I came to this conclusion based on my personal past and upon observations I have made of other people’s lives. There are things in this world that happen to us that we just are not capable of handling. I am not just talking about death, cancer, divorce, sickness or that type. I am looking at the day to day things of our lives. The financial, work, personal and all of those things. God does not call us to be a comfortable Christian. He gives us these things as ways to move us out of our comfort zone. We move out of these comfortable spots based solely on faith. Well, here we are at that sticking point. Having faith. Believing that God is going to be there to help and fulfill His end of the bargain. Its where the rubber meets the road. Sure the preacher on Sunday does a great job, the music is great, my spot is always available, we give to missions but when God speaks and says believe, what then? Do we go outside of the comfort zone? Do we talk to those around us that are lost? Look at this list and see if any apply.

1.  Are you attending church without an expectation of God "showing up and showing out"?

2  You are no longer concerned with the spiritual condition of your family, friends, neighbors or those people in your life.

3  When's the last time you have talked to a lost person about Jesus?

4  Does your Bible have a coat of dust on it? When is the last time you dug deeper into a subject?

5  Your happiness on Sunday morning is more important than the amount of work it takes to reach the unchurched.

6  The poor, homeless and needy just doesn't concern you.

7  The foreign mission field is in another country, not your own backyard.

8  It’s hard to let go of that tithe check each week. Are you tithing sacrificially?

9  Your prayer life is very still and stale.

10          You don't even recognize the fact that God wants to do great things through you and in your life.

Secondly, if we going to be given more than we can handle, how do we handle it? The Christian must come to realize that Jesus Christ lives in us!! The same man who walked on water, healed the sick, loved the poor, took an enormous beating, suffered a crucifixion, died, rose and defeated death, ascended to Heaven and is coming again, lives within you. That’s awesome. That’s powerful. That is life changing and should change our perspective on how we live this life! Then just to top it off God sent the Holy Spirit to help guide us and help us deal with these things.  

So there is the answer. God does give us more than we can handle. He does it to move us out of our comfort zones. He does it to test our faith. He does it so that we will rely on Jesus Christ who lives in us. He does it so we will learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and rely on Him. 

Holding onto the past.

People love to hold onto the past. It is a comfort to them. Holding grudges, withholding forgiveness, being bitter, being resentful and so on, are just examples of holding onto things that only slow us down. The Bible tells us that we are running a race.

" Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."- Hebrews 12:1

So we are going to run with this idea, no pun intended. If we are running a race, then how can we hold onto all that baggage and expect to make headway? Lets say those things listed above are 5 pounds each. Imagine trying to run a race with all that weight in a backpack you are wearing. It is possible but the toll it takes on you mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  The next problem is that you continue to look backwards at the past and all the things that happened there. It is impossible to run forward and constantly look backwards.  You can but you will end up falling and hurting yourself. 

So the best way to run a race is by running lightly and by being streamlined.  Let go of the past that holds you back. Put down those weights that are dragging you under. Throw off all these issues. Be free. We are designed and commanded to run this race in such a manner that we could win it. That is impossible when we are looking back, bearing the heavy burden of the weight of these issues. So my advice to you is this, lay those weights, burdens and all your troubles down at the feet of Jesus Christ. The very next verse in Hebrews chapter 12 tells us how to put it all down and leave it in the past by "fixing our eyes on Jesus."