Archive for the ‘Devotions / Bible Studies’ Category
Dominican Republic Missions, 2010
July 7th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies, My Life / Family
As many of you may already know, in about eight days, Nancy, Jeffrey, and I, along with twenty-one other people from my church and other St. Joseph area churches, will be embarking for the Dominican Republic to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people living in darkness there. The spiritual needs of the people are large, the trip itself a bit daunting, and the prayer needs great.
If you’re reading this at “Toward the Goal”, it’s probable that you share the hope and faith we have in Jesus Christ. If that’s the case, you’ll completely understand the need for fervent prayer for this trip… Satan is every bit as real as the God we serve, and he’s adamently opposed to people being used by God to reach the world with the hope of Christ. Spiritual warfare is likely, so we’ll need an army of prayer warriors standing behind us as we move to the front lines to push back darkness.
So, please… believers in Christ, pray. We do have a prayer letter to help guide your prayers, so if you’d like to receive that, by all means, contact me.
If you don’t have a faith-based relationship with Jesus, I pray you’d consider his very words:
John 3:13-21
13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
Jesus claimed that He was the Son of God, sent from heaven to reconcile a sinful world to God the Father. He performed miracles, signs, and wonders to prove He was who He claimed… healing people, miraculously feeding huge crowds, even raising the dead. Still, all but a few people of the time did not believe, and He was ultimately rejected and sentenced to death by crucifixion. And then something amazing happened… after suffering, dying, and being buried, He rose from the grave, conquering sin and death just as He said He would.
The question before each of us is simply this: do you believe? Will you act upon that belief by submitting your life to Jesus, repenting of sin and choosing to follow Him from that point forward?
Eternity hinges on this response.
Without Excuse…
February 17th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in » Devotions / Bible Studies
Consider the words of Paul today:
Romans 1:20-25
20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.
When is the last time you really allowed yourself to break out of the fog of life and see what’s right in front of you? God’s creative glory is on display everywhere… we can’t deny the beauty and majesty of the creation. We can’t help but be amazed by the complexity of life… the vastness of the universe… the sheer number of the stars that can be seen on a moonless night away from the city. We can’t begin to fully grasp how our minds work… why the laws of physics are what they are… let alone how this entire universe came into being.
When we’re honest with ourselves, we find ourselves in complete amazement of life and all that it entails.
God is. God was. God always will be. And He’s screaming out for our attention. In fact, we can’t help but see Him.
Yet we’re so often willing to worship anything but Him? How?
We’re without any semblance of a valid excuse.
Disbelief and Disobedience
February 5th, 2010 | 1 Comment | Posted in » Devotions / Bible Studies
The past couple of days, I’ve been reading from the book of John (as part of the MVBC 90 Day New Testament Challenge), and have been soaking in the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees accounted there (particularly chapters 7 through 11). It’s very interesting to me.
You see, the Pharisees, despite every reason Jesus gave them, continued to persist in disbelief. Miracles… signs… wonders… none of it was good enough for them to simply believe that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Messiah… the Savior of the world. They continually questioned and criticized Him, investigated His miracles… generally butting heads with Him at every point possible in a feeble attempt to argue against what was becoming clearly obvious to everyone.
With the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, enough had become enough. The Pharisees threw up their hands, in a sense acknowledging that they weren’t going to win. “What are we accomplishing?”, they say (John 11:47). Logic dictated that they couldn’t simply let Him go… He’d win too many converts and they’d lose their place of power. Only one option made sense: kill Him. After all, better to kill one man than to lose the entire nation, right?
Amazing the sheer ruthlessness of it all.
I don’t know about you, but I see a couple parallels here.
How often do we, as believers, struggle with accepting something God clearly lays out for us? Maybe it’s a mission trip He wants us to go on, or maybe talking to that co-worker or family member about Christ. Maybe it’s something even more basic… prayer, Bible study, even attending church? Whatever the case, in those times it’s almost crystal clear what God wants for us and from us. Every evidence points to that thing, every inkling of your heart cries out that it’s right. Yet we fight and fight and fight (a losing battle, mind you) against it?
Maybe it’s even the struggle the Pharisees had. Every evidence is pointing to you that Jesus is the Christ. That faith in Him is the sole path to salvation from sin. That loving and serving Him is all that really matters. You know you’re losing the battle with disbelief, so you throw up even more walls to “save” yourself?
What’s the point? Is the struggle (whether with belief in Christ alone or simply with obedience) really worth it? Is upholding your pride that your way is best really worth the misery of fighting a losing battle against God’s calling? What if submission to God’s way really is the only true path to peace and joy?
Think about it.
Believe.
February 2nd, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in » Devotions / Bible Studies
Day 2 of the 90 Day New Testament Challenge. Reading from John 3 through John 6, one common message arises: believe.
Check it out.
In John 3:16-18, we find Jesus speaking with Nicodemus. After Nicodemus clearly fails to understand what Jesus has to say to him regarding being born again, Jesus says:
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
At the end of John 3, we find John the Baptist teaching his disciples, testifying that Jesus is the Son of God. He clearly reiterates the teaching of Jesus:
36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.
In John 4, we find Samaritans coming to belief, following Jesus’s interaction with the woman at the well:
39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
41And because of his words many more became believers.
Later in John 4, we find Jesus admonishing the royal official at Cana who has come to him pleading for healing for his son:
48“Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
After Jesus heals the officials son, we find belief embraced:
53Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed.
We see belief in the invalid healed at the pool in Jerusalem (John 5:1-15). We see Jesus sharing with the Jews residing in Jerusalem that the must believe in him for salvation (John 5:16-47). And we see Jesus sharing hard teachings regarding belief with the masses following him after the feeding of the five thousand (John 6).
Believe.
If the Scriptures are a reliable source of information for answering the most basic questions of faith we humans have, we’re faced with a critical question that provides the answer to our ultimate outcome.
What do you believe about Jesus?
Come and See…
February 1st, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in » Church Stuff..., Devotions / Bible Studies
Today is the first day of the 90 Day New Testament Challenge for the men’s ministry at my church, Missouri Valley Baptist. We start our reading of the entire New Testament together with John 1 and John 2. As we’re reading Scripture together, my prayer is simply this:
Lord, show us something we’ve never seen in your word today.
For me, it’s summed up by three words, “come and see”.
We see the phrase twice in the first chapter of John. In the first instance, John and two of his disciples see Jesus passing by. John points out to them that it’s Jesus, the Lamb of God… the Christ, our Savior. Immediately the disciples jump up and start following Him… literally. Jesus stops, turns around to them, and asks, “What do you want?” Their response was anything but profound… “Where are you staying?” Jesus’s reply? “Come and see.”
With Philip and Nathanael we see a similar exchange. Philip has just come to Nathanael, and told him that they’ve found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael replies, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Philip’s reply? “Come and see.”
Come and see.
Simple, isn’t it? Come and see who this Jesus really is. Come and see just what it is that He teaches. Come and see the amazing things He can do. Come and see the difference He can make in a life. Come and see. Just come and see.
So what do you think? Are you ready to come and see this guy named Jesus? Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve looked at Him, checked Him out, thought about who He is. Maybe you’ve never given Him a thought. Whatever the case, won’t you come and see?
I am. Won’t you join me?
Jesus Doesn’t Want Followers…
July 21st, 2009 | 2 Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies
I know. Controversial title. Bear with me, I get to the conclusion of that statement in a bit.
Luke 8:4-8
4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable 5“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked tte plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Have you heard this parable before? If you’ve been a follower of Christ for long, probably so.
The meaning is pretty straightforward, of course, in fact explained by Jesus in Luke 8:11-15… the seed is God’s word, and the soil types represent people who respond differently to the gospel.
But I have a question (leading to a larger point)… why parables? Why not, as we try so often to do so in today’s churches, simpliify the teaching and get straight to the point? Isn’t is possible Jesus lost some people because they simple didn’t get it?
And why teachings like the following?
Luke 9:57-62
57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”58Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”
62Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Seems harsh, doesn’t it? Drop everything, follow me. Don’t worry about burying your dead father. Don’t worry about saying goodbye to your family. Just come, follow me.
Why?
Is it possible that, as Francis Chan writes in “Crazy Love”,
“… He just wasn’t interested in those who fake it.”
Put differently… Jesus doesn’t want followers that go through the motions.
He wants followers that are serious about their faith, willing to give everything to follow Him. He wants followers that take heed of His words and His teachings and put them into practice in their lives. He wants the kind of followers whom most Christians today would consider “radical” believers… the kind of followers most of us tend to believe either don’t really exist, or whome are so rare you’ll only meet a few in each lifetime.
I don’t know about you, but when I read through the Bible, I find far too many teachings I know to be true… teachings I know I should embrace… yet ones I ignore either completely, or at best, obey only occasionally.
You see, more often than not, our lives aren’t characterized in the parable of the sower as we’d like. We’re not good soil. We’re soil full of thorns… our lives are full of things that distract us from the truth of God’s word. We’re scared to walk by faith, so we structure our lives so we don’t need it. We live in comfortable little bubbles… mostly isolated from real difficulty… almost wholly insulated from the world God wants us to engage and bring His hope to. We’re terrified of living lives filled with the joy and meaning that can only come from doing that which is most uncomfortable to us… following God wholeheartedly.
Think about this statement again… Jesus doesn’t want followers that go through the motions.
Are you tired of faking it?
The Kingdom of Heaven is Like…
July 20th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies
Think about this passage today:
Matthew 13:44-45
44The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
By Him and For Him
July 14th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies
Recently, I’ve started listening to Francis Chen’s book, “Crazy Love” (courtesy of christianaudio.com, it’s free this month!), and I’ve been struck by his descriptions of creation and the glory of God. As I’ve thought about this, I find myself dwelling on Colossians 1:15-18:
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
Through Christ all things have been made. All things exist BECAUSE of Him, but moreso… FOR Him.
All things exist FOR Jesus. For His pleasure. For His glory. For His purposes. For His whims. For whatever reason He desires.
Yet most of us live our lives questioning God and complaining about what He allows to come our way…
- Why did you let this happen God?
- What can’t I do this?
- Why do I struggle with this sin so much?
- This isn’t fair God.
- I don’t like this circumstance you’ve placed in my life.
- If you would only do this, God…
We wouldn’t even exist without Him… yet we feel entitled to question His purposes, His judgements, His plans, His rules, His ways.
Our sin nature permeates our lives SO much. Our very perspective on existence is flawed. We seem to think God exists for US… in reality, we exist FOR HIM.
Think about that for a bit and tell me it doesn’t rock your world a bit.
Even if you have knowledge of this fact, I have to wonder… how does it affect your life?
How SHOULD it affect your life?
Tough questions, for sure. But things we definitely need to think critically about.
In Training…
May 12th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies, My Life / Family
This morning, for the first time in what seems like forever, I rolled out of bed early to get some exercise. I rode a whopping 2 miles this morning… but feel like I rode 200. Yes, I’m that out of shape.
It’s amazing how difficult getting in shape can be!
Ever notice how similar our spiritual lives can be to physical training? When we’re undisciplined and lazy about our relationship with God, doing that which we know we ought… prayer, Bible study, Christian fellowship, worship, service, evangelism… even the smallest of these seems incredibly difficult. In those times, we like to claim that God seems distant or that we’re in a spiritual rut, but in reality? It’s generally just that we’ve become spiritual couch potatoes… gluttons of sort, more interested in gorging ourselves with own fleshly needs for whatever.
So far from our calling to be top-notch spiritual athletes!
Remember what Paul says to us in 1 Corinthians 9?
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
If you find yourself looking in your spiritual mirror this morning, not liking what you see… do something about it. Start practicing some spiritual discipline today, that you might get yourself back in shape to make yourself useful to God once again!
Jesus Wants the Rose…
April 8th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies
I don’t generally do a lot of re-posting of things others have shared elsewhere in blogland… but this is a powerful video clip. It’s a short message that Matt Chandler gave called, “Jesus Wants the Rose”… a powerful presentation of the essence of the gospel.
Check it out:
HT: Micah Fries