Daily Thought: Bring Sin into the Light

However deeply rooted the sin may appear, rooted in constitution and habit, we must cleanse ourselves of it if we would be holy. 'If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.' As we bring out every sin from the inner part of the house into the light of God and walk in the light, the precious blood that justifies will work mightily to cleanse too: the blood brings into living contact with the life and the love of God. Let us come into the light with the sin: the blood will prove its mighty power. Let us cleanse ourselves in yielding ourselves to the light to reveal and condemn, to the blood to cleanse and sanctify.

Andrew Murray, Holy in Christ, Olive Tree Bible Software Edition

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How can I know Truth?

One of the questions that haunts my life is: How do we come to know and understand truth? Jesus told us in John 14: 17 that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. If we are to take Jesus at His word (which I think is a good thing to do) then we are incapable of understanding truth, that is all that Jesus embodied in Life and the doctrines He taught ( This definition of truth comes from Paul Butler; The Bible Study Textbook: The Gospel of John Volume 2, p. 55) apart from the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

That doesn't mean that we don't have a part to play in discovering truth. In John 8:31-32 we read about Jesus teaching a crowd. Butler in his commentary describes the crowd as:

a group of the Jews here at the Feast of Tabernacles who had, in some way, manifested a superficial belief in Him. They wanted to believe in a Messiah, but not the Messiah. They were willing to follow, fight or die for a temporal King, but they would have none of a spiritual King who demanded sovereignty over their motives and deeds. They would gladly serve Him with their lips, but not their hearts. (p. 54)

This was not the most sympathetic of crowds. They were willing to listen as long as Jesus told them what they wanted to hear. So we see this crowd turn from belief to one with murderous intentions (see John 8:59). It is in this context that Jesus makes this statement;  "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32; NLT).

First I need to point out that a disciple of Jesus is first and foremost one who obeys His teachings. This is why in the teaching of the Final Judgment (Matthew 25) God separates the redeemed from the unredeemed based on their actions. A true disciple of Jesus will live out the teachings of Jesus.

This ponder was motivated by the simple word "and".  It seems here that Jesus is saying that through our obedience we gain a greater understanding of truth. Without obedience we cannot hope to know truth. Obey Jesus and know truth.

Aside from intentional time of reading and studying Scripture, our part of knowing truth is found in obedience.  Only through obedience do we experience God's truth as a reality in life. If we want to know truth then we have to actively obey Jesus.

Why would this be the case? I would imagine it has something to do with throwing pearls before hogs (Matthew 7:6). If we are not going to obey the teachings of Jesus that we already know then we are not going to obey a new teaching or truth that the Holy Spirit desires to reveal to us. Such a teaching would be a waste on us.

So the question we need to consider is: Am I doing my part to know truth? If we are struggling to hear from God it maybe because we are unwilling to to do what He has already told us to do.  Obey and allow truth to move from your mind to your heart.

Daily Thought: Having the Light of LIfe

The word of Christ is the Light of Christ; and therefore the Christian Scriptures are the light of the world and he that followeth them shall have the light of life.

Alexander Campbell, The Christian System, Gospel Advocate Restoration Reprints (2001), p. 35

Fellowship with God

Life has been busy...

Last Tuesday my beautiful wife headed to Colorado, and today she begins her journey home.  During this time I picked up a few extra hours at work and have done some additional work outside in the yard.  This has limited my time to write and thus the lack of content the last few days.  Just wanted to let you know that I was still around.  I will have a few new posts coming in the next couple of days so make sure you check back soon.

Daily Thought: Dare Enough to Trust God

At the bar of common sense Jesus Christ's statements may seem mad; but bring them to the bar of faith, and you begin to find with awestruck spirit that they are the words of God.  Trust entirely in God, and when He brings you to the venture, see that you take it.  We act like pagans in a crisis, only one out of a crowd is daring enough to bank his faith in character of God.

Oswald Chambers; My Utmost for His Highest; Dodd, Mead & Company (1935), p. 151

Daily Thought: Look at Jesus in the Scriptures

They who would live a perfect life must set the life of Christ before them as portrayed by the Holy Scriptures. You can not see much of this perfect life by a passing glance. It is he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues to look that will see the perfect life which it pictures. The artist must look long at the landscape and get it imaged upon his soul before he can produce it upon the canvas. The Bible description of the life of Christ must fill your soul with admiration and with a strong desire to possess it. Your heart must lay hold upon it until that life is focused and printed upon your own soul. It is like the art of photographing. The object must be set before the heart.

Orr, Charles Ebert (2004-11-01). How to Live a Holy Life (pp. 6-7). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Daily Thought: The Fulfillment of Scripture

But if Jesus is raised from the dead, then the scriptures have reached their goal in him, and it's no time for the moment the psalmists and prophets longed to see, when the nations of the earth will bring their treasures in loyalty and obedience to God's anointed king, Israel's Messiah.

N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, HarperOne (2008), p. 237

Faith is Commitment

Wide Awake the Live Blog: Chapter 1

The Artist

I am back and I am finally ready to move on in Erwin McManus's book Wide Awake.

He sits up the tone for the chapter by telling a story of three people he met in Africa, and then he goes on to write:

To create a different world is both a courageous act and a creative act. Life is a work of art.  The canvas you paint first is your life.  Then your life becomes the brush from which you paint that part of the world you touch while you are here on this planet.  You are an artist.  What work of art will you leave behind (p. 4).

This idea connects with the idea that you and I are sub-creators with God.  The quality of our work begins with our character which flows out of our relationship with God.  I am reminded what the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians:

Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames (1 Corinthians 3:12-15; NLT).

The type of building material we use is determined by our character and our character is determined by our faith in God.  If our relationship God is poor or non- existence then our building materials will be poor, but if our relationship with God is on solid ground, then our materials  will be of the highest quality.

The bottom line is that God has created you and me to have a positive impact in this world by ushering in His Kingdom into our little corner of the universe.  This reality begins with the character we develop for our lives.

"There are times you have to see yourself and your future differently than everyone else. You have to be willing to dream of a life that seems unlikely or maybe even impossible" (p. 10).  When we begin to have this conversation about living our dreams and doing something big I think it is important to remind ourselves of the context.  This isn't about finding permission to pursue the dream of becoming a famous, the reality is that many who try to become famous fail because they lack the talent and resources to do so.

This talk about living the life of our dreams is about knowing the call God has placed on our lives and pursuing that even though it might not make sense to those around us.  This is the place Jenny and I are at right now in our lives.  We believe that God has placed a certain calling on our lives, but it doesn't make sense to do and financially it isn't the safe or the wise thing to do. We are often drawn away from the unknown of our call by what is safe, and in the process we miss out on what God desires to do through us.

I think this is a  vital truth for us to remember:

There are dreams we try to recruit God into, and frankly I think he looks at us and says, Not on your life.  God is not going to invest himself in a dream fueled by greed, arrogance, self-indulgence, and self-centeredness.  Jesus spent much of his influence trying to get those who would listen to change what they cared about (p. 14). 

What is important is the quality of our dreams.  It is not enough that our dreams are big, but they must also be aligned with God's character and with what He is doing in the world.  We need to take time to evaluate the quality of our dreams. Are they compatible with God or are they selfish in nature?

God only created one of you, and there is something that only you can do in this world.

"Living wide awake is about realizing that the world needs you to live up to your potential...The future needs you to dream God-sized dreams; these are the only kind God gets involved in.  And if the future needs anything, it is God working through people" (p. 19). 

Amen, and the dream of my life is to empower people to do just that, to live out the God-sized dreams of their lives. I want to help people to live out the call God has given to them.

I don't think this needs any extra commentary; "Part of the way God works in us is he begins to give us dreams of the lives we could live  or the people we could become if we would trust him and live courageously" (p. 21). When God has blessed us with a dream, now it is time to trust him and pursue it!

These are wise words as we begin the journey of fulfilling God's calling on our lives, the dreams He has placed in our hearts.

Our dreams, the ones God places inside of us, are a foretaste of our destiny.  But there is a danger of wanting that dream so badly that your're willing to sacrifice your character.  God will never sacrifice who you are for what you can accomplish.  We are in danger when " getting there" becomes the most important thing to us.  Even when you have the right dream, you can make the wrong choices (p. 22).

With God it is not just about the end results, the end never justifies the means.  This means we have to protect our character and our integrity.  Who we are matters just as much to God as fulfilling our calling.

A key thought to this chapter: "As we begin to create the life of our dreams, we must answer for ourselves perhaps the most critical question that will direct and shape our future—what are you to embrace? This is a question of passion and compassion" (p. 27).  It is essential that we take time and examine our lives.  The apostle Paul wrote; For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned (Romans 12:3; ESV). As we discover our talents, passions, and desires we begin to receive clarity about our calling and the way we can impact the world.

With this talk about living the life of our dreams the key doubt which comes up is our failure in the past.  We have doubts that we have what it takes to make our dreams become a reality.  I know that I do!

What must you face?  What fears haunt you?  What failures have marked you?  What darkness has consumed you and stolen from you, robbed from you, sucked out of your soul the dream God created you to flesh out?  Maybe there's a dream buried deep inside your soul, and God is waiting to reconstruct it, to put all the bones back together.  He is waiting to put muscle and sinew on it and wrap skin around it (p. 31).

I think for most of us the beginning of living the life of our dreams is being poor in spirit.  It is acknowledging that we don't have what it takes, that we have failed countless times in the past, and that only God has the power to help us.  We give God our doubts, fears, and worries.  We ask God to provide the courage, faith, resources, and strength.  God wants us to succeed!  He desires that we help bring His Kingdom into this world, and that means we can confidently put our trust in Him.

Erwin McManus, Wide Awake, Thomas Nelson (2008)

Living in a Foreign Land

The follower of Jesus Christ is being guided through the dangerous wilderness of this world.  I wonder if we, as the Church, have missed this point.  Our sermons, lessons, and books deal with how we can have our best life now and how to live a life of purpose, but we seldom hear that we strangers in a strange land.  It seems to me that our teachings are designed help us blend into the world rather than empowering us to stand out.

An alien in a foreign land stands out because they are different.  They speak a different language (or at least with an accent), they dress differently, celebrate different holidays, and have different values.  Christians are to live like foreigners in a strange land.  Our goal isn't to learn the language and the customs of this world, but to adopt the customs of the Kingdom of Heaven. The apostle Peter wrote:

Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. (1 Peter 2:11-12; NLT)

How does the apostle Peter want us to live?  As "temporary residents" and "foreigners"! We are displaced.  We are not at home!

I want you to catch this: when we live no differently than the world we are not part of God's Kingdom!  God isn’t interested in people who will merely confess Him and believe in Him.  The Bible tells us that everyone will bow a knee confess Jesus as Lord.  What God wants is a people who will live by faith.  People who will be motivated by a different set of desires.  People who live by a different set of standards.  People who love people no one else will love.  People who will not abandon the customs of their home country, but will teach those customs to others.  By living differently we proclaim to the world that there is a better way to live!

In his book The Barbarian Way, Erwin McManus wrote:

From the moment we become citizens of the kingdom of God, we become aliens and strangers in a world that chooses to live absent of God.  From the first step taken to follow Jesus, we are out of step with the rest of the world.  Once your life is in sync with the story of God, you become out of sync with any story that attempts to ignore or eliminate God.  You are a stranger to them, an alien among them, a nomadic wanderer who, while refusing to be rooted in this life, seems to somehow enjoy this life most. (p. 93)

Are you walking out of step with the world?  My great concern is that we are not.  I know that many of us have an issue with the morality of the world, but our hopes and dreams are wrapped up in the very same things the world hopes and dreams for.  Our dreams and desires center around success, money, happiness, and love.  The list could go on, but the point is that while we are morally different from the world we are not spiritually different from them.  That my friends was one of the problems Jesus had with the Pharisees.  They looked good on the outside, but on the inside they were filled with dead men’s bones.  White washed tombs.  We need to quite fooling ourselves that to be different from the world is just about having the right moral standard.  Being different from the world primarily has to do with our desires, dreams, attitudes, and thoughts. It is about the direction of our lives and what we are willing to give our lives away to.

I am coming to believe that one of the ways we truly begin to live differently than the rest of the world is to begin to desire the New Creation God has promised His children.  A temporary resident doesn’t put down roots in the land he is living.  Instead he hopes and dreams for his home and thinks of the day when he will finally go home.  How can we think about settling for the things of this world when God is offering us so much more? How can we think about being like the citizens of the world when God is calling us to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven?  Since this world is not our home let us live like citizens of Heaven.

Daily Thought: Marriage Was God's Idea

Marriage was his idea, after all. God created marriage, and put the desire in our hearts. However else it is you think you came together, what other forces you think were at work, the hopeful truth is that marriage is something God cares deeply about—including your marriage.  When through the prophet Malachi the Lord God of Israel says, “I hate divorce,” we hear it with a shudder. But it ought to be with a surge of hope—the passion conveyed in those three words reveals how deeply he loves marriage, how strong his vested interests are in its success.

Eldredge, John; Eldredge, Stasi (2009-12-09). Love and War: Finding the Marriage You've Dreamed Of (pp. 17-18). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Daily Thought: The Side of Victory

No, the believer who knows what Christ is as the Risen One, approaches death, the crucifixion of self and the flesh and the world, from the resurrection side, the place of victory, in the power of the Living Christ. When we were baptized into Christ, we were baptized into His death and resurrection as ours; and Christ Himself, the Risen Living Lord, leads us triumphantly into the experience of the power of His death.

Murray, Andrew (2009-10-04). Holy in Christ: Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is Holy (p. 119). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Worship and Intercession

Daily Thought: Focus on Your Strengths

In other words, be aware of your strengths.  When you teach, do people listen?  When you lead, do people follow?  When you administer, do things improve? Where are you the most productive?  Identify your strengths, and then—this is important—major in them.  Take a few irons out of the fire so this one can get hot.  Failing to focus on your strengths may prevent us from accomplishing the unique tasks God has called us to do.

Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus, Word Publishing (1998), pp. 96-97

Daily Thought: The Message of Worry and Stress

Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives.

Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it’s okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we’ve been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won’t be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God’s strength, our problems are small, indeed.

Chan, Francis (2010-01-01). Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God (p. 40). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.

Letter to the Editor: The Bible still has a Role

Since I only got two hours of sleep last night and because my thoughts today are centered around the loss of my Grandpa I won't be able to do live blog Wide Awake today.  Instead I want to share with you the letter to the editor that I wrote which was published in the Austin Daily Herald yesterday.  To be fair I will post a link to the the letter I was responding to: Message was OK.


Here is the unedited version of the letter.  The newspaper did make a couple of changes, but nothing of importance.


The Bible Continues to have an Important Role

I am writing in response to Darya Gemmel's May 4 letter to the editor titled, “Message was OK.”

It is crucial for us to remember that a message is greater than its content. The message of a speech is also tied to things like word choice, body language, and tone. All these parts combined form the actual message of Dan Savage's speech: It is okay to bully people who believe “b***s***.”

According to Dan Savage we can ignore the words of the Bible because “the Bible is a radically pro-slavery document,” and “because the Bible got slavery wrong.” While it is true that the Bible makes allowances for slavery, it is hardly pro-slavery. We must remember that the Bible was written within a certain cultural context, and within that context slavery was a normal, acceptable, and some may argue, necessary part of life. As we interpret what the Bible says about slavery we have to keep this social context in mind.

While Dan Savage can conveniently look back on ancient history and pass judgement, he fails to appreciate precisely why he holds the position on slavery that he does. While he might call it “the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced,” his position is actually the minority position. Not only has slavery been acceptable throughout human history, it is still very acceptable throughout the world. If National Geographic is correct in its September 2003 report then “there are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.” Even today people are getting the “easiest of moral questions” wrong.

Why do so many of us in the Western World get this moral question right? The answer is the Bible. It is true that the Bible outlined rules for the fair treatment of slaves, yet it is also true that the apostle Paul planted the seeds which revolutionized the way people viewed slavery. Commenting on Colossians 4:1 historian and theologian N. T. Wright writes; “Paul does not protest against the institution of slavery. That would be about as useful, for him, as a modern preacher fulminating against the internal combustion engine. His approach is subtler. He has found a fixed point on which to stand, from which to move the world: slaves too are human beings with rights.”

Slowly the world did begin to move. The first sign that these seeds Paul planted were germinating is seen in 379 during Lent when Gregory of Nyssa preached a sermon condemning the institution of slavery. A person will search in vain to find a similar sentiment expressed at that time in the ancient world. It was a slow, especially by our standards, process, but as Christians meditated on the teachings of Christ and the teaching of Paul they began to realize that this culturally acceptable institution was not acceptable to God. Eventually people like William Wilberforce, who were influenced by this vein of Christian thinking, appeared on the scene and fought to end the practice of slavery. This is a fight that continues today.

To say that the Bible got slavery wrong is to ignore the role the Bible played in bringing the Western World to the understanding we have today: that slavery is an immoral practice. We must remember that when handled correctly the Bible continues to play an important role in influencing the morality of people.

Paul Steele, an imperfect disciple
Austin

The Hope of a Garden

{Hebrews 12:1; NLT}

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

This morning I received word that my Grandpa Huff has joined this huge crowd of witnesses of what it means a life of faith.  I am so thankful that I was able to know this man and have him influence my life.

So what do I think my Grandpa Huff would have me share about what it looks like to live a life of faith?

The first truth would be that a life of faith is an active life.  James wrote; So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless (James 2:17; NLT). Grandpa understood that true faith was more than just what you believed, but it was also about what you did.  He as involved in the local church, in various different ministries, and with the Boy Scouts.  Until his body began to give out on him Grandpa tried to be as active as he could in the mission of the Church.

A second aspect of faith I think my Grandpa would want me to share is humility.  I remember having a two or three conversations with Grandpa Huff, my brother, and I as we talked about the church and ministry related issues.  One of the things which stood out to me was his willingness to step aside and allow his preferences to be overlooked in order to reach new people.  This attitude requires humility because one has to be willing to lay aside their rights and their likes to do what is best for the Kingdom.  The apostle Paul wrote;

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being (Philippians 2:5-7, NLT)

Following Jesus requires humility.

A third mark of faith would be taking time for people.  One of the best memories I have of my Grandpa Huff is that as I prepared to go to my first year of Boy Scout Camp I really wanted my Grandpa to go with me. He came up to Iowa from Kansas to spend a week with me at Boy Scout camp.  His willingness to do that meant a lot to me.  I am so thankful that even thought traveling was difficult for him that he made the trip to Austin for the wedding last summer.  Being a person of faith requires making time for people in the busy and hectic schedules we call life.

I am saddened my the passing of my Grandpa, but I also have hope.  During my time of reflecting on the life of my Grandpa Huff God gave me an image of Grandpa in his garden.  This image caused the tears that had been welling up in my eyes to come streaming down my cheeks.

My Heavenly Father is a Gardener.  When the earth was wild and untamed God parceled out a section of land, irrigated it with four rivers, and planted a garden.  God then created man to care for that garden, to be a good steward of what He had created. While we have not done a very good job at it God's promise is that He will make all things new.

Grandpa Huff is a gardener and at the resurrection he will be placed in the glorious new Heaven and new earth to act as a steward and a caretaker. As beautiful as his garden was it will be nothing compared to what it will be.  Even now I can picture him at work in the great magnificent garden God has prepared for him. Part of my hope is to work side by side with him in that wonderful place.

Daily Thought: Strive to Learn from God

He [Paul] insists that this special teaching is not the product of the intellectual activity of men; it is the gift of God and it came into the world with Jesus Christ.  All our discoveries are not so much what our minds have found out as what God has told us.  This by no means frees us from the responsibility of human effort.  Only the student who works can make himself fit to receive the real riches of the mind of a great teacher.  It is so with us and God.  The more we strive to understand, the more God will tells us; and there is no limit to this process, because the riches of God are unsearchable.

William Barclay, DSB: The Letters to the Corinthians, The Westminster Press (1975), p. 27

Wide Awake the Live Blog: Introduction

Awaken

It amazes me to think about this, but Erwin McManus has been an influence in my life for nearly a decade.  I first heard him at the National Youth Leaders Convention in 2003.  Since then I have read the majority of his books and have listened to his sermons via podcast.

So as I start this new venture of  live blogging a book it seemed like a good idea to begin with one of his books.  I will be blogging through Wide Awake, which is the one book of his that I have only read once. This is an experiment, the idea comes from Jeffery Tucker, which means I am making this up as I go along.  The plan is to read a chapter and interact with the thoughts immediately.  This should be very stream of consciousness, as something catches my attention I will take some time and jot down my thoughts. Since this is an experiment, one that I hope will be beneficial to you, I would appreciate whatever feedback you can give to me as I go through this process so I can produce something that is enjoyable for you to read.

The book begins with a few lines of dialogue from the movie Unbreakable.  These lines are used to get us to examine our lives so we can identify with the problem the book attempts to answer: waking up with sadness in our hearts.  The conclusion is that this sadness is the result of us not doing what we are created to do.

”There is nothing like feeling fully alive and dreaming wide awake" (p. xi). Rather than waking up with sadness in our hearts we should be waking up excited because we are able to live the lives of our dreams.

I wonder if this type of thinking isn't counterproductive.  There is no doubt that many of us live far below our potential.  I know that I do, but I also know that such sentiment can be very demoralizing to a person who has worked their tail off and still find themselves trapped in what seems to be a mediocre life.

”...even the best of us can find turning our dreams into reality elusive and overwhelming” (p. xii). As my wife and I begin to pursue our dreams this is the reality that I need to remember.  Just today I told Jenny that I felt overwhelmed with all that is before us.  It is good to be reminded that this is normal.

”The world needs you at your best. This planet is made better or worse by the people we choose to become” (p. xiii). I think this is an important truth to remember. It lines up perfectly with the fact that God created us to be stewards of His creation.  As we choose to follow Jesus and to influence those around us through love, truth, grace, and holiness we begin to usher in God's Kingdom and make this world a better place.

”Very few  are meant for a life of notoriety, yet all of us are meant for a life of significance.  We should never confuse fame with greatness” (p. xiv). In our fame addicted culture this is crucial to remember.  Even though I am an introvert I still long to be able to walk into a room and have people recognize me and thank me for the positive difference I have made in their lives.  I want to be famous, yet being known by thousands of people does not equate into truly influencing people.  It is through influencing people that we can truly bring positive change to the world.

”There is a future that needs to be created, and it is waiting for you and me to wake up and get out of bed.  The alarm has sounded, and it is time to shake off the slumber” (p. xv).  In the immortal words of Van Halen:

Don't wanna wait 'til tomorrow
Why put it off another day?
One by one, little problems
Build up and stand in our way, oh
One step ahead, one step behind it
Now ya gotta run to get even
Make future plans, I'll dream about yesterday, hey
Come on turn, turn this thing around
(Right now)
Hey! It's your tomorrow
(Right now)
Come on, it's everything
(Right now)
Catch your magic moment
Do it right here and now
It means everything

Right now is the time to act! If our dreams are going to become a reality we cannot put them off until tomorrow, we need to start taking the steps today that will turn them into a reality.

Daily Thought: Humility Requires Self-Awareness

Humility's closest attribute is honesty. Humility doesn't require us to be self-deprecating. Humility is not about having a low self-image or poor self-esteem. Humility is about self-awareness. It is important to be self-aware in relationship to our gifts, talents, skills, and intellect, but in regard to our spiritual health, it is far more essential that we are self-aware in the arena of personal character. If you see yourself for who you are and embrace it honestly, humility is the natural result.

Erwin McManus, Uprising, Thomas Nelson (2003), p. 47

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Daily Thought: God is Bigger

Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating, but it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending. What a stunted, insignificant god that would be! If my mind is the size of a soda can and God is the size of all the oceans, it would be stupid for me to say He is only the small amount of water I can scoop into my little can. God is so much bigger, so far beyond our time-encased, air/food/sleep–dependent lives.

Chan, Francis (2010-01-01). Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God (pp. 29-30). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.

Believe God's Promises

Daily Thought: Suffering Educates

Suffering educates sympathy; it softens the spirit, lightens the touch, hushes the tread; it accustoms the spirit to read from afar the symptoms of an unspoken grief; it teaches the soul to tell the number of the promises, which, like the constellations of the arctic circle, shine most brilliantly through the wintry night; it gives to the spirit a depth, a delicacy, a wealth of which it cannot otherwise possess itself. Through suffering he has become perfected.

F. B. Meyer, The Way Into the Holiest, Olive Tree Bible Software

Daily Thought: A Supernatural Religion

The religion of Jesus Christ is a supernatural religion from start to finish, and we should live our lives in supernatural power, the power of God through Jesus Christ, and we should perform our service with supernatural power, the power of God ministered by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ.

R. A. Torrey, The Power of Prayer, Olive Tree Bible Software Edition

Daily Thought: Practicing Heretics

Fear whispers to us that God is not really big enough to take care of us.  It tells us we are not really safe in his hands.  It causes us to distort the way we think about him...There is no limit to his presence.  There is no place where we can go, no activity we can engage in, where he is not watching over us.  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you."

But fear tries to convince us it is not so.  Fear has created more practicing heretics than bad theology ever has, for it makes us live as though we serve a limited, finite, partially present, semi-competent God.

John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk On Water, You've to Get Out of the Boat, Zondervan (2001), pp. 130-31

We Have Been Promised Life

A truth that is essential for us to remember is life has meaning.  It is difficult to remember this reality because the world elevates certain skills, careers, and achievements as important leaving most of us wallowing in a sense of meaningless.  We will spend our day living our lives through the achievements of others as we try to grab bits of meaning that we can.  I would bet that you have been in that place, just as I have, where you ask the question: Why am I here?

It is my belief that each and everyone of us has a purpose for our lives.  This purpose is discovered in the context of the great purpose God created humans to enjoy: to be stewards of His creation.  It is connected with the commission Jesus gave His followers: to go and make disciples.  It will flow out of our identity since it is linked to our passions, talents, and resources.  Make no mistake about it you and I have a purpose for our lives.

The apostle Paul understood that there was a purpose for his life.  This purpose is what drove Paul.  It was the reason that he endured hardships and faced persecution.  The purpose that Paul lived was to take the Good News of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.  This is what Paul told the elders of Ephesus:

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God (Acts 20:24; NLT).

Paul derived his sense of purpose and meaning from the call Jesus had placed on his life.  This calling caused Paul to see himself as both God’s servant and Christ’s apostle.  Those are the titles Paul used when he wrote a letter of encouragement and instruction to his student Titus.  This is what Paul writes:

This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began. And now at just the right time he has revealed this message, which we announce to everyone. It is by the command of God our Savior that I have been entrusted with this work for him. 

I am writing to Titus, my true son in the faith that we share. 

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace (Titus 1:1-4; NLT).

Being a slave and an apostle Paul saw that his job was to help Christians to mature in their faith, to instruct them on what it means to live a righteous life, and to remind them of promise of God—eternal life. Before the world began God promised that those who follow Jesus will have eternal life. What a wonderful truth to remember: God has promised us life!  Not just existence, but life, eternal life.  This reality should fill us with hope.

Remember God has promised us eternal life and not eternal existence. Eternal existence does not inspire hope. We sometimes confuse the two, but existing isn't the same thing as living.  Why would we want an eternal existence of sickness, hardship, bills, confusion, fighting, and a host of other problems that crowd our days?  We wouldn’t.  Eternal life is much more than just passing the time from one day to the next.  To fill us with hope eternal life has to be more than just existing in time and space. We need to find hope in the promise of eternal life.

We don’t have a description of eternal life in this paragraph for Paul's letter to Titus, but Paul does say that eternal life is a promise from God.  A promise is only as good as the integrity of the person making the promise.  Why can we trust this promise?  We trust God's promise because He has provided evidence of this promise.  The message of eternal life, Paul says, had been entrusted to him.  This message Paul proclaimed centered on God’s grace as found in Christ Jesus.  Remember God's promise to Israel was that He would send a Messiah and that Messiah would set them free.  Thousands of years past between God’s initial promise and the coming of Jesus, but in His timing God did exactly what He promised He would do.  Jesus is the evidence we need so we can know that God will keep His promise of eternal life.

It is important for us to reflect on the promise of God and the life of Jesus.  The difficulties of life, even the mundane routine of life, have a way of robbing us of the hope of eternal life.  We can wonder: “Where is this eternal life?  If I am a new creation, why do I still feel like the old creation?”  Reflecting on God, His Word, His Son, and His promise will reorient our lives and fill our hearts with hope.  We need hearts full of hope if we are going to survive this life of existence with our faith intact.

Point to Ponder: Jesus is the evidence we need so we can know that God will keep His promise of eternal life.
Passage to Remember: Titus 1:1-4
Prayer to Pray: Father in Heaven, help me not to surrender to the despair of daily existence, but fill my heart with hope as I am reminded of Your great promise of eternal life found in Your Son Jesus.

Daily Thought: The Habits of Sin are Hard to Kill

Old habits of sin are hard to kill. We seem to have killed and buried them; but do you not sometimes hear a knocking beneath the ground? do you not feel the dead thing turning in its coffin, and see the earth moving above its grave? This is the penalty of the days given to the flesh. Till his dying day the man who has been a drunkard or a fornicator, a liar or a swearer, will have to keep watch and ward over the graveyard in which he has buried the past.

Stalker, James (2011-03-30). The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ: A Devotional History of our Lord's Passion (p. 17).  . Kindle Edition.

The Journey to Freedom

Daily Thought: Pray for Strength to Do God's Will

We tend to pray only for what we want and give little thought to what God wants of us at a particular moment. I sometimes think God would answer our prayers sooner if they were directed more to doing his will, and if our hearts were moved by the good spirit to ask what God wanted. Let me say it like this: God needs us every day – he needs people to carry out his will – so we should not pray for what we would like, but rather ask for the strength to do what he would have us do.

J. Heinrich Arnold. Discipleship: Living for Christ in the Daily Grind (Kindle Locations 174-177). Plough Publishing.