TODAY'S VERSE: Hebrews 13:16

“Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship -- a different kind of "sacrifice"-- that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.” [The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson]

TODAY'S MESSAGE

Most of us work very hard to do things right. As heartily-committed Christians and dedicated hard-workers, we strive each day to do everything right, understanding that, when we fall short in anything, God is faithful to cleanse us and restore us if we truly repent and confess our wrongdoings.

This is good to keep up; however, just doing things right (efficiency) is not enough. Doing the right things (effectiveness) is the *key* difference for experiencing a higher-level life of abundance and success. We can do our best to be efficient in everything --according to schedule, a step-by-step map, etc.--, but what if the schedule we're following does not pertain to that specific day? Or what if the map we're following is the wrong map? That might not be our case most of the time, but it could easily happen when our focus is primarily on efficiency.

On the other hand, doing the right things --effectiveness-- works far better for us, for it deals primarily with the development of our character, shaping who we really are. Once we commit to pursue the right things God has already placed before us, our life will surely be better prepared to experience God's best. And our focus on what's really important makes a huge difference in everything we do --and even extends to impacting others in very meaningful ways.

Let us make a sincere commitment to focus our lives on doing the right things vs. just doing things right. For in this way God is glorified through us and our lives become true beacons of faith, love and hope in a desperate world.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for showing me in Your Word how to live my life according to Your will, and for designing a purpose for me. Help me to always focus on being effective vs. efficient, so that others may be positively impacted by Who you really are in me. In Jesus' name I pray and give thanks, amen.

He said to me, My grace (My favour and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

2 Corinthians 12:9 (The Amplified Bible)

John 6:22-40

   The crowd of people who participated in the miracle of the feeding many people with very little food begin searching for Jesus.  They saw Him as a resource for supplying endless food.  Jesus responds to their spiritual hunger as the Bread of Life.  This Bread satisfies and sustains souls eternally.

    What is Jesus telling you about Himself and how should you respond?

    Glorify and enjoy God today as the Living Bread satisfies your hunger.

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!    

Seventeenth century Puritan John Flavel, speaking to the Church, comes directly to the point in the following paragraph:

"Whatever religion or doctrine condones or makes allowances for sin is not of Christ. The Doctrine of Christ everywhere teaches self-denial and mortification of worldliness and sin. The whole stream of the gospel runs against those things. Scripture emphasizes the 'holy' and the 'heavenly' (not the sinful and the worldly). The true gospel has not even the slightest tendency to extol corrupt nature, or feed it's pride by magnifying it's freedom and power. And it rejects everything that undermines or obscures the merit of Christ, or tries to give any credit to man, in any way. And it certainly never makes the death of Christ a cloak to cover sin, but rather it always speaks of it as an instrument that destroys it!"

Flavel provides us with a test for discerning the truth in many of the controversies and modern movements taking place in the Church today. How man and sin are viewed is the key to understanding the difference between Biblical truth and the doctrine of devils.

TODAY’S MESSAGE
Need. That is certainly a relative word. We have taken the word “need” and have turned it into everything from a wish list to a whim. Larry Crabb addresses this in his book, “The Pressure’s Off.” He writes about what we really need. He writes, “Nothing wrong with desiring safe airplane flights and warn marriages and a decent income. But none of these things, none of our hopes for a “Better Life of Blessings”, represents God’s priority agenda… We need only to be safe from any power that opposes God’s agenda for our lifes.” And what is that agenda that we need? Crabb shares the three needs that God wants for us; radical forgiveness, supernatural love and spiritual might. And Paul shares that God is able to grant you these needs because through His grace God will provide all of the forgiveness, love and might that you will need in order to be involved in His good work. Today, might we lay aside those “other needs” that we think are so important and ask God to meet our real needs of forgiveness, love and spiritual might.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, I need You and Your spiritual provisions of forgiveness, love and spiritual might more than anything else in the world. Help meet my real needs today. I pray this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN

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My kids love watching movies. They love the popcorn better.  I love the smell of popcorn better than the taste. Making the popcorn is so easy and makes the house smell great.

You set that back of tightly packed kernels in the microwave. You set the timer on 2:30 and just wait. Once the bell goes off, the kids are crazy; the bag is about to burn your fingers. You cut the bag open, let the steam out and pour the popcorn into the waiting bowl. However, you hear the click click sound of some hard kernels that did not move on to the final phase of popcorn glorification.

The kernels were exposed to the same amount of radiation. They were exposed to the same amount of buttery saturation yet did not make it. The bowl is full of popcorn. However, there are some that did not “pop” and stayed the same.

Let me ask you some questions: Are you actively attending church? Are you apart of something much bigger than yourself for God’s glory? Are you living who you were created to be? Are you sitting high up in God’s plan our are you resting like a “kernel” in the bottom of the bowl refusing to be changed?

Allow God to change you. Get involved in a church and serve God passionately. You were created for this…..not the bottom of the bowl. (Thanks to Robert Smith with help on this illustration). 

As Jesus moved on, this transformed man begged to go with Him. Jesus didn't let him, but told him, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you." The Bible says the man went away and began to tell all over the region how much Jesus had done for him.

Here's a clue about genuine, God-given wonders and miraculous signs: God gets the credit. God is glorified.

And, last but not least, God's grace, mercy, and love are proclaimed as a result. Many people claim to be doing many things in God's name but few can stand up to all three of these standards. They may give God the credit but they glorify themselves and proclaim their own importance. They may claim to glorify God but all the while building their own reputation and drawing people into their "ministry" rather than God's kingdom.

So do we still see "wonders and miraculous signs today?" Well, above are some sound, Biblical tools. Go take some measurements and see what God shows you. Hint: I wouldn't spend much time looking in the places where the spotlights are shining, the cameras are rolling, and someone's name is flashing out on the marquee.

• Do we still see miracles today?
• What is God showing me?

Pray:
Praise: Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you-majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You perform wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. I will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

Confess: You alone do great wonders and I fail to acknowledge You.

Thank: You are the unchanging God, still showing Your power.

Ask: Remind me to look to You and to Your strength. Teach me to stop and consider Your wonders. Remind me of the miracles You have done. Teach me to wonder.

Digging Deeper: Acts 19:13-20

• Take a few minutes just to rest in God's presence.
• When is it hard for you to believe that God loves you?
• Read Luke 15:11-24. In what ways do you relate to the younger brother? How does God show His love to "prodigals"?
• Read Luke 15:25-32. In what ways do you relate to the older brother? How does God demonstrate His love here?
• Meditate on God's love in Luke 15 this week. How can we model His love to other people?

Psalm 11:5 - The Lord trieth the righteous.

All events are under the control of Providence; consequently all the trials of our outward life are traceable at once to the great First Cause. Out of the golden gate of God's ordinance the armies of trial march forth in array, clad in their iron armour, and armed with weapons of war. All providences are doors to trial. Even our mercies, like roses, have their thorns. Men may be drowned in seas of prosperity as well as in rivers of affliction. Our mountains are not too high, and our valleys are not too low for temptations: trials lurk on all roads. Everywhere, above and beneath, we are beset and surrounded with dangers. Yet no shower falls unpermitted from the threatening cloud; every drop has its order ere it hastens to the earth. The trials which come from God are sent to prove and strengthen our graces, and so at once to illustrate the power of divine grace, to test the genuineness of our virtues, and to add to their energy.

Our Lord in His infinite wisdom and superabundant love, sets so high a value upon His people's faith that He will not screen them from those trials by which faith is strengthened. You would never have possessed the precious faith which now supports you if the trial of your faith had not been like unto fire. You are a tree that never would have rooted so well if the wind had not rocked you to and fro, and made you take firm hold upon the precious truths of the covenant grace. Worldly ease is a great foe to faith; it loosens the joints of holy valour, and snaps the sinews of sacred courage. The balloon never rises until the cords are cut; affliction doth this sharp service for believing souls. While the wheat sleeps comfortably in the husk it is useless to man, it must be threshed out of its resting place before its value can be known. Thus it is well that Jehovah trieth the righteous, for it causeth them to grow rich towards God.

Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Hendrickson Publishing, 1997.

Psalm 141:3 (NIV), “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips”. 

What we say can have such a powerful impact on those to whom we speak.  Our text says, "Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips”. We can use our tongue to to bring forth life. From the doors of our lips, we can bless someone or crush them.  

Imagine if you will, that inside the door of your lips, there is an abundance of blessing and life ready to come out, but there are also things that can come out from the doors of our lips that are not so godly. The Bible says in Luke 6:45 (DARBY), “The good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good; and the wicked [man] out of the wicked, brings forth what is wicked: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

The Bible says Proverbs 30:32 (NIV), "If you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth!" Just like the picture of the three little monkeys, who clapped their hands over their eyes, ears, and mouth, to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil, do not let bad words open and come out from the door of your lips. For the Bible says in Proverbs 18:21(NIV), “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit”. 

My friend, today let us speak words of life, wholeness and healing to those we talk to, words that build people up rather than tear them down. Colossians 4:6 (KJV) says, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man”. The Bible also says in Proverbs 16:2 (NIV), “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones”. It is worth remembering this little nugget of truth: "Lord, make my words pleasant, and sweet, for tomorrow I may have to eat them”. 

God bless you my friend, Matthew.

..."Are running and boxing only for the fit and hardy?

The answer is that we all must run, whether old or young, whether sick or healthy. And this is possible for the sick and senile because the race is run with the heart, not the legs, and the fight is fought with the heart, not the fists. It is a race and a fight not against other athletes, but against unbelief. It is possible for the aged and weak to win this fight because the fight is a fight against lost hope, not against lost health.

Here's the biblical evidence for this. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul says to Timothy: "Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession" The fight is a "fight of faith." It is not a fight to get out of bed, but to rest in God.

It is not a fight to keep all the powers of youth, but to trust in the power of God. The race is run against temptations that would make us doubt God's goodness. It is a fight to stay satisfied in God through broken hips and lost sight and failed memory. The race can and may be run flat on your back. In fact, it may be run and fought better by the paralyzed than by the able and seemingly self-sufficient.

...Finishing the race means not giving up the hope of the gospel. It is a race against hopelessness, not against flawlessness.

When we cheer on the diseased or aging runners who run their final laps in hospital beds, what we are really saying is, "Do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward" (Hebrews 10:35) The finish line is crossed in the end, not by a burst of human energy, but by collapsing into the arms of God. And let us not forget: In the Christian race, we do not finish alone. We finish together. It is part of the rules. "Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called Today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13)"

I find this very encouraging and I hope it will encourage someone out there who is having a hard time running. Keep the faith. Keep looking ahead to the Hope we have in Christ. Keep acknowledging God's goodness to you every day. Blessings on you...

May God Richly Bless your lives.

Mark Patty

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
(Num 6:24-26 KJVR)

Do not say, "Because of the Lord I left the right way"; for he will not do what he hates. Do not say, "It was he who led me astray"; for he had no need of a sinful man. The Lord hates all abominations, and they are not loved by those who fear him. It was he who created man in the beginning, and he left him in the power of his own inclination. If you will, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. He has placed before you fire and water: stretch out your hand for whichever you wish. Before a man are life and death, and whichever he chooses will be given to him. For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every deed of man. He has not commanded any one to be ungodly, and he has not given any one permission to sin. (Sirach 15:11-20 from the Revised Standard Version RSV)

I remember being in grade school, 2nd grade I believe, and quickly running a foul of a classmate. He was a PK - preacher's kid and new to the school. I remember sitting in the cafeteria before school began and having a conversation about the devil - yes, I know, but hey, I didn't have the blog then! - and he said that it was the devil who makes him do 'bad things'. It is the same excuse that many people use today - speeding, cursing, violence - 'the devil made me do it.' Obviously, this was a problem a few centuries before Christ as well. Sirach confronts it with a very abrupt statement - Don't blame anyone but yourself. We have free will as a creation of God - we can employ it for good or evil.

Recently, I have been asked about the idea of apostasy. Apostasy involves the idea of falling away from God. It is right to be reminded that nothing can remove us, but we sure can jump ship! The very idea that people would blame God for their sin, transgression, or apostasy appalls Sirach. I have actually met people that blame either the Church or perhaps the Pastor (or the easiest thing to do, is to blame the pastor's wife) or perhaps a member. The real fault lies in the person themselves. They have chosen to 'leave the right way', to 'fall away' as the King James Version puts it.

The Greek here is a paraphrase of the Hebrew (yes, contrary to the KJVO myth Sirach was written in Hebrew originally) which reads 'Say not, From God is my transgression, for that which he hates he made not.' This leads us to a slightly different understanding of the verse, but both implying that God does not make sin and would not lead people into it. James clearly echoes Sirach here, when he says,

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  (James 1:13 NKJV)

It is interested to note the Hebrew addition to verse 13(b). The Greek says, 'The Lord hates all abominations, and they are not loved by those who fear him' to which the Hebrew adds 'and he will not let it come hear those that fear him.' Again, Paul agrees here when he says,

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NKJV)

Sirach here sees the orthodox idea of sin - that it is by our own inclination, will, and choice. We must choose to live sinless lives. Sirach says that before us is fire (the curse) and water (the blessing) and it is up to each and everyone of us to choose between the two, but if we choose the fire, then it is not because of God that we do this, the blame falling on our own shoulders.

 Several times in my life I have looked to Abraham for the great steps of faith he'd taken.  God calls him out among the people and makes a covenant with him, stating that through him, all nations will be blessed.  Later on, when called to make a sacrifice, Abraham takes his son Isaac up to be sacrificed to God.  His incredible faith and devotion has encouraged me throughout my own walk with Christ. 

 Perhaps because of my own recent confusion and attempts to figure out God, I read through his story in Genesis and began to see a completely different side of this Great Man of Faith. 

 I don't want to discredit the faith that Abraham does show.  Afterall, the writer of Hebrews highlights this faith as he exhorts those reading:

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1)

Abraham was a man of great faith...but inevitably he was also a man...whose faith, at times, seemingly faltered. 

Confusion and impatience must have brewed in the heart of Abraham for several years.  God promised to Abraham descendents, yet even by the age of 75, he was without child.  Again the Lord promises to give Abram's descendents the land through which he passes.  Still no child.  Again, God tells Abraham, "KNOW FOR CERTAIN" (Gen 15:13) with regards to the fate of his descendents. 

Wait?  God, do you not see...Abram has NO children! 

Eventually, Abram and His wife discuss the matter, realizing that the Lord had prevented her from bearing children thus far, Abraham sleeps with Sarai's maid, Hagar.  Hagar bears Abram's first son, Ishmael. 

Regardless of the importance that is given to a "first son" in the ancient days, this was not the child God was planning to use.  Over 20 years after he first made His promise to Abraham, God finally gives them a child, through Sarah.  His name is Isaac and he became the descendent through which the covenant would continue on.  

Yes, Abraham is a man of faith, but Abraham also had his moments of little faith in the Lord.  Thinking about these lapses has led me to marinate on the idea of control.  God promises his followers a life of blessing and purpose (Jer. 29:11).  We may pursue God out of faith, we may fight for God's will in our lives, but there is something that happens when God's hand is seemingly still.  When waiting ensues, or when God's timeline seems much slower than ours we begin to take things into our own control.  We walk in faith, but fear causes us to, in the middle of that faith journey, do or not do things that we could be trusting God for.  In the same way, we look and we wait and inevitably we find ourselves taking things into our own hands.  Just as with Abram and Hagar, we try to manipulate and control the situation - we try to complete God's purposes in our own way, on our own time...in all reality that rarely works!

It's so easy to jump in and try to make things happen...waiting and walking in faith is hardly easy, but we mustn't forget that God is going to do what he wants to do...we just need to let go and let him do it.

Lord, I confess to you that so often I jump in and try to force your hand to move.  I confess that so often I doubt your promises...especially when you don't work according to my timeline.  God please help me with this impatience.  I want to wait on you and I don't want to force things...your ways are right and pure and your timing is perfect...in all that I do, please help me to wait on you.  I thank you for this faith journey that I walk even today.  please continue to help me trust and have faith in your love. Amen 

How then can we let our wills dominate our impulses? The key word is wait. Whatever happens, we must put some space between the hostile act directed toward us and our response. We must distance ourselves, take time to think, talk it over with friends, and wait until we are ready to respond in a life-giving way. Impulsive responses allow evil to master us, something we always will regret. But a well thought-through response will help us to "master evil with good" (Romans 12.21).

But God asks us to choose life and to choose blessing. This choice requires an immense inner discipline. It requires a great attentiveness to the death-forces within us and a great commitment to let the forces of life come to dominate our thoughts and feelings. We cannot always do this alone; often we need a caring guide or a loving community to support us. But it is important that we both make the inner effort and seek the support we need from others to help us choose life.

Looking back upon my relatively short life of 30 years, I can point to a time when even as a sinner, the grace of God was my support. It has led me to a strong belief in prevenient grace, or in the language of the modern vulgar, the preceding grace. Yes, this preceding grace allows for God to call the sinner, but it is more than that, it a grace that lifts a sinner to the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, often times giving the sinner support and surrounding him in preparation of the love of Jesus Christ.

It is this type of grace that uplifted me in during the latter half of 1995. I was 17 then, living in Mississippi with my grandfather - my mother unable to take care of even herself due to alcoholism. On June 23rd of that year, at approximately 2 in the afternoon, I found my grandfather dead, and he had been some time since he had been missing since before dawn. I cannot express to you the love and appreciation that I have for my grandfather that I have to even this day. He was a solid force in my life and even today I think about my short time with him.

I was sitting in Church on Saturday night just a few Months later on September 16th listening to a minister. For the life of me, I cannot remember the sermon, but I do remember thinking to myself that if my mother would but her that message, she would give up her sinful life, which by this time was consumed by alcohol and drugs, and really make a start for God. You see, it was just a few days before that I had told my mother that due to her constant let downs, her constant lies, and her life, I wished nothing else to do with her - going so far as tell her in my triumphant and condescending 17 year old voice that the next time she saw me would be at her funeral and she would lucky if I showed up. That Saturday afternoon, again about 2pm, she crossed the yellow line, killing not just herself, but another person as well. See, I didn't know this as I sat there listening to that sermon about the need for God and praying that I would have a chance to tell my mother about it, praying that she would listen this time. It was not until about 9pm that I was told by my then pastor's wife who had helped to raise me almost from my birth.

Then, in December of that year, my then-pastor's wife was overtaken and destroyed in her battle with cancer. That pastor did not believe in doctors, so for the months, possibly years, that she was being eaten up inside, everyone simply thought that she would get better. By the time that someone finally took her to the hospital, it was too late. She passed quietly from this world in the middle of December. She had always been there for me, and had through her pain comforted me through the death of my grandfather and my mother. A few years before she could see that I was sick and invited me to stay at their house for the night. The next morning, I awoke to a feverish day. Unbeknown to anyone but me, and now you, she took me to town to get me some Tylenol, facing the wrath of her husband, because she felt that common sense easily went along with faith.

It was the previous year that I was fortunate enough to spend some time with my grandfather's sister, my Aunt. We talked for a long time, and as we shared a few things she shared with me the single most important Psalm to her. It had helped her through life's troubles many times.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

As I set there and read that, I thought that it was a decent Psalm, really paying no attention to it until the time that I needed it. With each death, and with each reading, that Psalm provided me with strength and knowledge that no matter how bad it was, God was still there. There were times that it seemed that I had made my bed in hell while other times I prayed that I would wake up from the horrible nightmare that had suddenly become my life. No, it was not like my life was all that easy before, but this year, well, this year had shaken me, and often times, even now, I still wonder how I made it through.

There were times after the deaths that life got pretty difficult, and often times I wish that God would have taken the other parent. Often times, during that time, I would wish that God would simply have taken me. But, He took me by the hand and led me to a place of rest. I was serving Him, but I know some of the Truth, some bit about God. I was still a sinner and need of His Grace, but so many times through that horrible years and subsequent years, there was a preceding Grace calling me unto Him, leading me and protecting me.

I still was able to get into plenty of trouble, plenty of heartaches, and plenty of sorrow, but I can stand here today and turning around, see God's grace calling me to Him.

I realize that this is not a normal post on this blog, but it is still my blog and I am still finding it's voice. Grace is what Jesus Christ brought first of all - not doctrine. His first call was for repentance, not for theological discussion. He sought to bring the very words of Life to the sinners, not to debate bible version. He called the false prophets out, but in doing so, He protected the sheep from their venom. He taught grace and truth and brought to people God. This man Christ Jesus was rewarded for His efforts with the cross, the needed sacrifice that would truly bring us grace, but before that He had spent at least 3 years imparting to the Apostles a preceding grace and lifted them out of Judaism and the dead vine until they were ready for the Day.

For so long in my life, I have subsisted on nothing but the grace of God and have subsisted because of the Grace of God. It is by His hand that I have beed led safe thus far and it is because of this grace, that I at the perfect time found the call to repentance only natural, and so very sweet. I have let my God down many times, and most likely will do so a few more times, but I know that He is always there, and He has never let me down.

I thank my God for His Grace, for His mercy, and for His patience as I travel along.

I am just as guilty as the next person of downplaying the real Jesus.  I don’t know how many times I have talked about Jesus as my Savior.  Doesn’t that just sound holy?  But what does it mean?  I have known for a long time that Jesus saved me from hell.  I know that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins.  But, Jesus is so much more than we are taught in Sunday School.  He is so much more than the handsome long haired picture we see.

I am continuing to work my way through the psalms in my devotion time.  I just finished book two of the psalms, chapters 42-72.  All the way through this, I have seen God as a deliverer or rescuer.  So many of the Psalms David is crying out to God to deliver him, and rescue him from his enemies.  The thing that sticks out is the desperation in many of these psalms.  So many of the Psalms David is at the end, he is out of options, he is backed into a corner, and then he cries out for God to deliver his.  He is at a point when God is his only option; it’s either God or death! 

This has shown me that Jesus is my deliverer.  He is so much more than just a savior.  Jesus went to the cross to deliver me from hell, from Satan, and from death.  Without Jesus, I would have no option.  Without him, I would be doomed to suffer eternity in hell, no other option, no other choice, no other out.  But, it’s more than just hell.  Jesus rescues me from myself.

That sounds weird doesn’t it “Jesus rescues me from myself.”  Well here’s the problem I am a wretched, selfish, sinful person.  The real Chad is only out for himself.  I want to do what makes me feel good.  If it were up to me, I would probably destroy myself trying to feel good.  But, Jesus rescues me from myself.  Notice is used the term “rescues” present tense.  He daily delivers me from the desires of my flesh.  If it were not for God and God alone I would not be able to fight the evil desires of my flesh.  I would be doomed to destroy myself.  But, Jesus Christ loves me so much that he continually rescues me when I have created a mess and I have no other option.  It’s time we start recognizing Jesus as the God who reaches down in the midst of the messes we make and delivers us, even when we don’t deserve it. 

If I were an artist this would be the picture I would paint.  I would show Jesus as a man who just risk his life to wade neck deep into a pit of *#$@ (manure) that I willingly jumped into.  I would show him pulling me out of the horrible stinky mess that I created.  I see Jesus picking me up out of the stench and carrying me out covered in this disgusting nasty filth.  Not the pretty picture we see in Sunday School.  But, it is still a picture that shows his great love, the love of a God who is willing to reach out to us when we are disgusting and rescue us from what we have gotten ourselves into.  That’s my Jesus, my savior, my deliverer.

46:1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

(Psalm 46, ESV)

I am starting to see my defenses soften, and my zeal diminish.  I am starting to feel detached from the standards and unresponsive to my current strategy.  This of course is no time to quite the battle, this is the time to change my outlook and implement new tactics.  Over the next couple of days I will be focusing on the process of identifying weak areas and ways in which I can increase my enthusiasm for purity.  I will be looking for new ways in which to flame the passion for God and keep Him a centerpiece in my daily routine.  This blog will remain a focal point of that.