All In

Philippians 1:15-18

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is at the center of the Christian life (Romans 1:16-17). Out from that flows so much more that leads to fulfillment in our minds and spirits, like ripples in a pond (Galatians 5:22-23, Jeremiah 17:7-8).

The Christian life is far from easy. Unfortunately, a lot of other things come with being a Christian, chief among them are mockery, persecution and a whole host of attacks from the enemy (Matthew 10:16-22, Ephesians 6:10-12).

There are those who use the gospel as a means to become wealthy and to lead people astray (Matthew 7:15). They attempt to make a mockery of God and His holy Word. But it will backfire on them. No one is capable of outsmarting God (Galatians 6:6-8, Psalm 73, Isaiah 55:10-11).

So let them mock. Nevertheless, Christ is preached.

God is AWESOME!

The New Song

Psalm 33:1-3

Music can affect us in many different ways. It often has a soothing effect (1 Samuel 16:23). As followers of Jesus Christ, we have our moments when we think about all the benefits we have in Christ, we cannot help but worship and sing praises to our Savior (Psalm 5:11).

King Solomon, in his great experiment that he documented in the book of Ecclesiastes, concluded that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But in Christ Jesus, there is newness (Revelation 21:5). One of the things He made new is the song He put in our hearts and minds (Psalm 33:3; Psalm 40:3; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9).

The new song puts joy in our hearts and on our lips, so much so that we must express it openly (Psalm 35:27; Psalm 47:1).

Sometimes this newness gives us a joy so profound that we have no way to express it other than being silent and worshipping our great God. The Apostle Peter said it best in his first letter (1 Peter 1:8) "...joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory."

God is AWESOME!

Our Only Righteousness

Hosea 10:12

The prophet Hosea said to sow for ourselves righteousness. He said to break up our fallow ground and seek the Lord and He will rain righteousness on us.

God told Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars and Abraham believed Him. God counted it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:3-6).

Seeking the Lord and believing Him is key. The problem is that our sinful, wicked and deceitful hearts will not seek God (Jeremiah 17:9 Romans 3:10-11 Psalm 14:1-3 Psalm 53:1-3).

Then there was our Savior, the Lord Jesus the Christ. He raised up for Himself 12 Apostles and He laid down His life and bore on Himself God's wrath (Luke 22:47-70 to 23:1-46). And then, in three days, He took up His life again (John 10:17-18) and after appearing to the disciples, He gave them the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-22) and He is the one who convicts people of their sins and causes them to seek the Lord. He breaks up the fallow ground of our hearts and replaces our hearts of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

Christ Jesus covered us in His blood and rained righteousness upon us.

God is AWESOME!

Running Into Grace

Jonah 2:1-10

In the book of Jonah, God called Jonah to go and preach repentance to Nineveh. Jonah ran (I think deep down Jonah knew that trying to run from God is a bad idea).

Most people know the story of Jonah being swallowed by a big fish (Jonah 1:1-17). I was struck and inspired by Jonah's prayer while he was in the belly of the fish.

So many people in the bible have cried out to God in their distress. They weren't in the belly of a giant fish, but distressed none the less. We see it all through the book Job, the Psalms are riddled with songs written by King David and Asaph telling about their times of anxiety and dispair and how they cried out to God. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth told about asking God to remove the thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

I noticed that all throughout scripture, the desperate cries to God turned into beautiful worship.

In the end, God's grace and His mercy brought them through and His purposes were achieved in the lives of those who cried out to Him.

Just like the people in the bible, those of us who have had occasion to seek the Lord and cry out to Him have benefitted from His intervention, and it is in hindsight that God's grace is truly understood.

God is AWESOME!

Only The Weak

2 Corinthians 12:9

In the past few years, I have had to learn some hard lessons. I used to be a musclebound guy with brute strength, then I got sick. I was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease. The more kidney function I lost, the weaker I got. It was a hard pill to swallow, going from the strongest guy in the room to needing help with almost everything. It is a humbling experience.

Fast forward a year and I went blind in my right eye as I was getting ready to train for home dialysis. Fast forward another two years and I had developed some major blood flow issues in my legs and had to have my right leg amputated below the knee. To say it was a low point is an understatement.

I dug my heels in and said I was going to trust God no matter what. In my mind, I repeated one of my favorite bible verses: Jude 24. To paraphrase, God is strong and is able to keep you from falling and can bring you into the presence of His glory with no wrong in you and give you great joy. And I remembered that it is only in the strength of Christ Jesus I am upheld.

It is amazing how God's word can refresh your soul and replenish your strength (Philippians 4:10-13).

The peace that Jesus brings to even the most turbulent times is beyond our understanding (Philippians 4:4-7 and John 14:27). The peace that comes from abiding in a Holy God, even in the worst of circumstances is demonstrated in 1 Kings 19:1-12. A gentle whisper.

In our weakest moments, beneath the noise and the pain, there is a joy that keeps us from surrendering to the temptation to turn away from God. A joy that causes the paradox of strength in weakness (Nehemiah 8:10).

In our weakness, God's immense power can be seen (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 and 2 Corinthians 12:9).

God is AWESOME!

A New Reality

A little over a month ago, I lost my right leg. I have had to come to terms with my new reality.

Throughout the scriptures, we see people dealing with drastic changes in their lives. Adam and Eve disobeyed and were cursed and sent out of the Garden (Genesis 3).

Noah and his family faced some very radical changes (Genesis 6, 7 and 8). Abraham and his wife saw some major changes in their lives as they gave birth to a whole new nation (Genesis 12-22).

The writers of the Gospels tell about the biggest shift in reality ever. The birth of a King who would grow up and save the whole world (Isaiah 52:13-53; 1 Peter 1:10-12). Christ Jesus gave His life for us and He took it up again and assumed His rightful place seated on a throne at His Father's right hand.

He will return one day and His chosen people will recieve new bodies and we will see our God for the first time and will be eternally in awe. And that will be our new reality.

God is AWESOME!

Longing for Home

Job 19:25-27

In Matthew 24, I find great encouragement in Jesus' answer to His followers when they asked him about the end of the age. His answer is a little unnerving, but encouraging. To put it simply, if the ones claiming to Him don't come in the clouds, it ain't Him. When He returns, there will be absolutely no mistake as to who He is. The strength to endure everything that comes our way is found only in Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit wherein lies our salvation (Matthew 24:3-14).

Things will get much worse before the end (Matthew 24:36-37). I went to Genesis 6 to see what it was like in the days of Noah. In Genesis 6:5-7, it says of man that the intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Wow. Then there was a "but". Verse 8, "But Noah..."

Our wise Father spared future generations for the sake of one man. We see this over and over again throughout scripture. All the while pointing toward the One Man, the Final Priest, the Savior King (Psalm 110).

We all, from time to time, grow weary of the struggle between fighting the desires of the flesh and the temptations of the enemy. We wish the Lord would get here quickly and long for it all to be over (Revelation 21:1 and Revelation 22:20).

This is why it is vitally important that we gather together on a regular basis and encourage one another in our faith (Hebrews 10:23-25 and Proverbs 27:17), So we can run this race together and endure until the end.

God is AWESOME!