Wherever you are at in your storm, God is there

Posted on March 18, 2014 by | Comments Off on Wherever you are at in your storm, God is there

Young-black-man-with-head-007

This morning as I was doing the daily posts to The Daily Walk‘s Facebook page, a theme began to develop that I have felt led to continue into today’s discipleship study. Today, there are Christians out there who are struggling through the storms, they are wandering through the valleys, or maybe feeling like their entire life is on trial.  It is at these times when we feel the most forsaken, alone, unloved by our fellow Christian and at times, we can even feel abandoned by God.  It’s hard to remember the promise, Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5) when it seems no one cares.

The apostle Peter learned this lesson the hard way and in the storm of his own choosing.  The story begins as Peter and the disciples see  Jesus walking across the Sea of Galilee to meet them as they journeyed across. The account, as recorded in the book of Matthew, tells of the apostles debating if it were a spirit or some other entity and not Jesus.  As Jesus identifies himself to the men in the boat, And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (Matthew 14:28-31).  Although Peter had chosen this trial his own self, he still took his eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and and not depending upon his faith in God, he chose to rely on his own understanding.  It was only when he became broken and cried out for deliverance that Jesus restored him.

It is easy in these times to take our eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost all the storms I have faced in my life since surrendering to Christ has been because I chose the storm or the valley.  At first, I had a hard time admitting that many of the circumstances I found myself in were because of my own doing and not some test or tribulation sent to try my faith. It is too easy for Christians to excuse the consequences of their sins and claim that God had let these things happen as a means of testing our faith.  Yes, as a Christian, God does forgive us when we do fail him; we have His promises: My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (I John 2:1), If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9), and As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us (Psalms 103:12). But just because the sin is forgiven does not mean that we still will not have the repercussions of those sins.  Even though Jesus lifted Peter from the depths of the waves and restored him to the sea’s surface does not mean that Peter’s shoes and clothes were made dry.  He still had to bear the wet clothing that was the results of his doubts.

I am not saying that every storm we encounter is because of choices we have made.  There are some that we will endure that will be nothing more than tests of our faith.  Several are recorded in the Bible – Paul and Silas, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Job, and Abraham all had their faith tested.  Each one was victorious and have something in common – the storm was a test of faith that brought glory and honor to God. We learn not only about ourselves, but we learn that God does not abandon us during our times of need.  He waits for us to call out and look: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalms 46:1). It is during these times of storms and tribulations – ones that were not caused by our indulging of the flesh – that God’s glory is made visible to all. It should be these times that we easily choose to call upon God yet many of us still rather try our own solutions and come to the end of ourselves before we call upon God to deliver us from these times.

Whether it is a storm of our own making or one that is sent to try us, the one thing that is the same is that God has not moved.  He is still there, with an outstretched hand offered to us if we will only reach out to Him.

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Just one hour a week… [the challenge]

Posted on March 6, 2014 by | Comments Off on Just one hour a week… [the challenge]

hour glass

Earlier in January, I was working on our church’s newsletter and needed something to fill a page.  As I was considering what to do with the page, I felt led by the Holy Spirit to share something that has been on my heart for a while. During my days as a volunteer for the Boy Scouts, one of the standby jokes was that “it only took one hour a week” to make a difference in the life of a boy.  Without a doubt there is a lot of truth within that statement.  There is a lot of difference that one hour a week can make if we use it wisely.  For a moment, think of the impact in the community that the church would have if everyone would just spent one hour a week doing something to further the ministry of the local church.

As I was preparing to post this, a thought came to mind – what if for a four-month period, a challenge was made to myself and any others who wanted to see the difference that just one hour a week would add to the local church’s impact on the community.  Please do not take this challenge lightly as it is not something you can pledge to do and then not follow through with it.  If you do decide to take part in this challenge, remember what God has said about making vows: When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5).  If you decide to take part in this, remember your commitment is not to me or this discipleship blog; it is a commitment between you and God. Alternately, remember that if you do make the commitment to spend an hour a week for four months, you should make every effort to complete it.   It’s why David, the psalmist, wrote Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared (Psalms 76:11) and why Jesus taught the crowds during his earthly ministry: And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). Once the commitment to spend one hour a week is made it is something that we must keep doing for the entire four-month challenge.

The reason I believe that this must be a four-month challenge is because of human psychology.  According to numerous studies, it takes 120 days before anything becomes a habit, regardless of if it is a good or bad one.  It is my sincerest hope that this challenge will not be something that ends once those participating hit the four-month mark, but is something that continues beyond.  I believe that as we strive to make that difference in that one hour a week, God will bless our efforts and we will see fruit as a means to encourage us to continue. Based on my experiences, I know that if we diligently spend one hour a week sincerely trying to expand the reach of the local church’s ministry it will have an impact on our communities.  We will see souls saved, we will see the broken-hearted healed, we will see fellowship restored with members, and we will see families coming together.  I believe that one hour a week will make a difference if we use it wisely.

For many of you who are already facing busy days, you are probably wondering how you can squeeze one more hour into your already busy week.  To be completely honest with you, it would not need be given at one time, nor would it need to be spent doing just one thing. As I was preparing the article for our church newsletter, I thought about how taking the hour and dividing it into six parts, one for each day of the week except Sunday, could be used by even the busiest person to be able to make a difference over the next four months. Think of the difference that one hour could make each week even if divided among six days:

  • Just ten minutes on Monday to call those who missed Sunday morning service. It would let them know that you cared enough to notice they were not there and are concerned for them.
  • Just ten minutes on Tuesday to call the older members from our church who are shut ins. This would let them know that they are not forgotten by their church family.
  • Just ten minutes on Wednesday spent sending out cards to those going through trials and hardships in our church. This could encourage them to keep going, praying, depending, and remaining faithful to God and not giving up.
  • Just ten minutes on Thursday to take cookies to a next door neighbor or co-worker and to invite them to church. We all have neighbors and co-workers that need to have someone reach out to them with the love of God.

Continued on next page.

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Learning from a winter storm

Posted on March 4, 2014 by | Comments Off on Learning from a winter storm

Winter 004

In my hometown of Henderson, Kentucky, we’ve had another round of winter weather.  While the winter storm is long gone, the snow and ice still remain. While many people see the snow and ice as an inconvenience, for me, I welcome the lessons that God teaches me through something as simple as a winter storm.  Being a bit hard-headed in my early Christian walk, I had to learn the hard way that God does not use a loud and booming voice to communicate to us.  In fact, I feel in good company.  I Kings records the lesson that God had to teach the prophet Elijah: And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice (I Kings 19:11-12)

Oftentimes, we miss the methods that God uses to teach us because we are not waiting to hear the still small voice.  We claim that if God would just speak to us, give us some physical sign and with that we would listen and be obedient to Him. Jesus taught on this very thing that big wondrous signs will not make a difference.  In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:27-31). Although Jesus is talking about the lost coming to God, there is still a similar theme to these two passages of scripture.  In both, God loudly proclaims that it is not through great and mighty miracles where He does His work of touching the hearts of people.  Even if He did allow Lazarus to go and witness to the rich man’s family, they would not believe that God had done such a miracle and would demand that God do another.  Look at the number of miracles the crowds saw Jesus doing; look at the numbers of followers that remained near him on Golgotha.

It is through our quiet time that God truly speaks to our hearts.  We cannot expect to hear the still small voice that God chooses to use if we are doing so amid the distractions of the television, traffic, and the other experiences of day-to-day chaos?  Solomon wrote, Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee (Proverbs 7:15). In other words, it’s never going to be during the “normal routine” of the day where we actually can hear the voice of God.  It is only when, in the case of Ezekiel, where we diligently seek to hear his voice that we will find Him. The apostle Paul understood this very thing too, writing to the Jewish Christian converts of his lifetime, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Again, this idea of only through our diligent efforts will we hear God speak and reward us.  In my own experiences, the times where I diligently sought after the Lord, I had to come to an end of my own understanding of the situation and had to truly seek out God’s counsel.

As the winter storm began to hit Sunday morning around 6:30, I began to think how the storm would cause people to slow down; perhaps that was what I and others within the tri-state area affected by the storm needed.  Often times we allow life to run ahead of us and we forget what it is like to simply slow down and wait upon God. David understood this as the Holy Spirit led him to write, Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass (Psalms 37:7). Again, this idea of waiting, of diligently seeking Him and waiting patiently for Him is something that does not come natural to us in this microwaved, smart-phoned, and multi-tasking generation.  We want instant results and when, as in the case of a winter storm, life requires us to slow down and to be patient, many of us have a hard time doing that.  Let the electricity and cable television go out, and our problems are even worse. The lesson from this winter storm:  slow down and enjoy the time with friends, family, and the Lord.

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