Soul lifting - Devotion for 7/16/07

Soul lifting – Devotion for 7/16/07

Each morning I sit down to do my personal time of devotion, and in my devotion time I utilize a book called A Guide to Prayer, which gives me a theme for the week, a Psalm for the week, daily scripture assignments, and assorted writings to read. Many times the theme for the week really is on target with where I am at that week, and that is truly the case this week, as the theme for this week is “Patience.”

Yesterday was a very difficult day for me. Yesterday we took our sons Jacob and Aaron to camp for the first time. The boys have both talked about how excited they were about camp, and I was out at the camp with them last Thursday night as I preached at the camp worship service that night – and that service made the boys even more excited about going. When we got to the camp yesterday, both guys seemed great, and Jacob quickly was off and running making friends (I’m not sure he even knew we were still there). Aaron, however, was a different story. Granted, Aaron is a couple of years younger than Jacob, but he was much more concerned about staying at camp. He was very reluctant to stay, and more than once said to us that he wanted to just go home with us. Eventually I was able to get Aaron playing with a couple of other little boys, and eventually he began to act like he was having fun. I walked over to him to speak to him about us leaving, and he grabbed hold again and expressed his desire to go home. It really was heart-breaking for us, but Jenn and I knew that for many reasons it was best for Aaron if he stayed. We said our goodbyes, and he went off and played some more while we stood off in the distance watching him to make sure he was going to be OK. By the time we left, we could see Aaron was beginning to be himself and was starting to have fun as he goofed around with the others, and Jacob even came over and was playing with him some.

Last night Jenn and I both felt extremely melancholy. We both just kept worrying about Aaron. Is he going to eat? Is he going to sleep? A thunderstorm came up, and is he going to be OK? The camp had asked me to come out and preach Tuesday night and Thursday night, but Tuesday is our 14^th wedding anniversary, so I had told them “no” for Tuesday night – would they now let me come on Tuesday? I told Jenn that this was going to be the longest week of our lives as we are filled with worry over our boys. And now I come in to my devotion time and read about patience.

Isn’t it amazing the way God comes to you at just the right time? Today, the first passage of scripture that I read began, “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust” (Psalm 25:1-2a). That meets me exactly where I am at – I am in a point where I just need to lift up my soul to God. I am finding such peace this morning in just being reminded that God can lift us up just as He lifts the sun every morning. I am finding such peace in being reminded that God will use this week to shape and form Jacob and Aaron, and they will receive so many valuable life lessons this week. And I take great joy in knowing that God ordained it to be such a time for me to reminded that I can trust Him, and that I should have patience in His time. As Carlos Carretto says in The God Who Comes, “God comes like the sun in the morning – when it is time. We must assume an attitude of waiting, accepting the fact that we are creatures and not the creator.”

Running the Race - Devotion for 7/12/07

Running the Race – Devotion for 7/12/07

Back when I was in high school I was a runner. I ran track and cross country, and I was not great, but I was good enough to earn a walk-on spot on the cross country team at Campbell University (which really isn’t saying all that much). I always enjoyed the fellowship of running with other guys, and although it is an individual sport, there is great satisfaction when done as a team. When I started running with the cross country team early in my freshman year at Campbell, I began to understand the true diligence that I had to maintain to be a successful runner – eating right, sleeping enough, keeping up my grades so that I could stay on the team, etc. It didn’t take me too long to realize that being a part of the cross country team was way more of a commitment than what I wanted to make, and so I quit before we even had our first meet. I quit because I didn’t want to have to maintain the diligence necessary to be competitive. In short, I quit because I was lazy.

I believe Paul addresses spiritual laziness in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. In this passage, Paul uses the image of runners who run in a race, but he reminds them that only one runner wins the prize, and then he encourages the people of Corinth to “run in such a way that you may win” (1 Corinthians 9:24). He’s not saying that only one person will receive a heavenly reward, but he is encouraging all to run as if that was the case. “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Cor. 9:25). He wants us to run the race of life with due diligence, as if to run to win, instead of just finishing the race. Sometimes in life we become spiritually lazy. Sometimes we just don’t want to have to maintain the effort to continue to grow in Christ. Instead of running through life to win, we just sort of “slog” (slow jog) our way trying to get to the end. Listen to Paul today – run this life as if to win. Maintain the self-control he speaks of; train diligently studying the word of God and maintaining constant communication with God. At the end of the race, let’s not look and just say that we finished. Let us look back and say that we gave God our best.

Climbing Lighthouses - Devotion for 7/11/07

Climbing Lighthouses – Devotion for 7/11/07

I love lighthouses. There is just something beautiful about them to me, and I especially like to see them at night. I guess for me a lighthouse is a simple image of what our life as Christians is supposed to be – shining the light of God into the darkness to help others. Living in North Carolina, we are particularly blessed with a few beautiful lighthouses, including the tallest lighthouse in the nation – the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. One of my particular favorites in North Carolina is the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, located on the Outer Banks at Corolla. The Currituck Beach Lighthouse is distinctive because instead of being painted white and black, it remains simple red brick. The lighthouse is still in working order and in good repair, so unlike some of the others in NC, visitors are allowed to climb the stairs to the top of the lighthouse. There are a total of 214 steps as you wind around the lighthouse to the top. A few years ago my family and I visited the lighthouse, and the boys wanted to see the view from the top, so we decided to do the climb. As we were progressing up the first level or two of the steps, my youngest son was having trouble with the steps, and each step was quite steep, and his little legs just couldn’t keep up. There began to be a bit of a crowd behind us and Aaron was slowing down the whole group, and I could sense everyone was becoming impatient, so I picked up Aaron and carried him to the top. By the time we got to the top, I was completely exhausted (I wasn’t working out at the time). We had to stay at the top deck admiring the view long enough for me to catch my breath before we headed down, and of course, Aaron wanted me to carry him down.

As tired as that whole episode made me, I was able to do it because I was bigger and stronger than Aaron, and so I was able to help him. Now if Aaron was 18 and weighed more than me, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to carry him (I’m looking forward to payback in a few years – when he gets bigger, I’ll let him carry me to the top!). This whole episode also illustrates what our lives are to be about as Christians. Romans 15:1 states, “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.” Verse 3 of that same chapter reminds us that “For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.’” Christ took picked up our weakness, and He carried that weakness to the top of the tree to which He was nailed. Having been helped to the top by Christ, who are we to not pick up someone else struggling along in the world? Who do you know right now that you need to help carry? Whose weakness can you bear?

Who do you trust? - Devotion for 7/10/07

Who do you trust? – Devotion for 7/10/07

Are you the type of person who is willing to trust people easily? If not, what are some of the characteristics that make you trust someone? I think we begin life as very trusting – trust our parents, our teachers, other authority figures in our lives. But over time, once that trust has been betrayed a time or two we begin to trust less and less. You know the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Trust is an incredibly important thing that is a part of our everyday lives. We trust our children’s teachers and/or caregivers – trusting that they will provide the necessary care for our children in our absence. We trust our spouse – entrusting them with our love and care, and trusting that it will be returned to us likewise. We trust our banks – trusting that the money we put into their hands will be taken care of safely and wisely. We trust the restaurants that we eat at – trusting that the food has been cooked properly and not tampered with. Whether we notice it or not, even the least trusting person lives a life based on trust – even if it is just placing trust in the drivers who are on the same road as you, trusting they will not get into your way. We have to learn to offer trust to people, even the ones who may potentially betray that trust.

One of the images of that life of trust is found in Matthew 10. In this chapter Jesus summons the twelve disciples and gives them “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and very kind of sickness” (Matthew 10:1). He appointed them to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). Jesus is sending them out as his emissaries – his representatives – and he is giving them powers that previously only he held. He is trusting them with his name. He is trusting them with his power. And one of the ones that he is trusting is none other than Judas Iscariot – “the one who betrayed Him” (Matthew 10:4). That really gets me! Knowing that one day Judas would betray Him! Knowing that Judas did not have the right intentions in following Him. Knowing that Judas would literally one day sell him out. But Jesus entrusted him with his name, his power. Jesus even trusted Judas. Could you?

Hit the showers - Devotion for 7/9/07

Hit the Showers – Devotion for 7/9/07

Have you ever had an animal die in the wall of your house? Seriously, has a squirrel or a mouse died while it was inside of the wall of your house? We had a mouse or something die one time, and the odor becomes something awful as the animal is decomposing. We could light all the scented candles we wanted, and that would mask the odor for a while. We could spray all the stuff in the air to try to hide the odor, and that would for a little while as well. But ultimately, neither the candles or the sprays could completely hide the odor – and we ended up with a “fresh pine/rotting mouse” scent in the house. It is kinda like when you encounter someone who apparently is having difficulty with personal hygiene, and the aroma they are producing is . . . interesting. Sometimes as they try to hide this “interesting” aroma, they attempt to trick your olfactory receptors with plenty of cologne or perfume, but ultimately you can still detect that significant whiff of B.O. No matter how hard you try to hide these two types of odors that I’ve mentioned, there is really only one way to get rid of them – get rid of the thing producing the smell. Get rid of the odor-producing carcass (the mouse or squirrel, not the person). Take a shower.

However, many times we live our lives as Christians as if we are trying to cover up the odor of our lives. God speaks of this when He spoke to the prophet Isaiah: “Bring your worthless offerings no long, Incense is an abomination to Me” (Isaiah 1:13). God is condemning for the variety of ways they try to cover up the odor of their disobedience. Worthless offerings, incense, calling of assemblies, festivals and feasts – all ways that Israel would try to cover the offensive smells of their sins before God. But God wanted something different that just something to cover the odor. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good; Seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16-17). God gives them the prescription to get rid of the odor – “wash yourselves, make yourselves clean.” Get rid of the sin in your life – no amount of offerings, worship services, prayers, or even good deeds will cover up the sin if you allow it to remain. And in the place of that sin fill it with the good stuff, as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.”

I don't mean to brag . . . - Devotion for 7/5/07

I don’t mean to brag, but . . . – Devotion for 7/5/07

Growing up listening to my daddy preach, I got many good lessons on God and how we should live our lives through my dad’s sermons. Many times his sermons would have a little personal story within them – something that had happened in his life that was relevant to the message that he was giving. So when I began serving as a pastor while I was in seminary, I pretty much delivered sermons similar to my dad’s – which included some personal stories that were relevant to the message. I think it was after I had been serving the church for a year that I finally took a preaching course, and one of the first things that they taught us there was that we should not talk about ourselves in our sermons. I didn’t know what to do! All my life I had heard sermons that included some element of personal testimony, and now I was being taught that we should not talk about ourselves! We were told instead to research further, and if we needed something to illustrate the point, we could certainly find materiel in someone else’s book. I didn’t understand that then, and I’m not sure I do now either. They were instructing us to tell someone else’s story instead of our own? In a court of law, telling what you have heard from someone else is “hearsay.” Telling what you have seen and experienced is testimony.

2 Corinthians 12:1 begins, “Boasting is necessary though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.” Paul goes on to describe his personal testimony - his own experience with the Lord. As he continues on, verse 6 states, “For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.” I do understand that we shouldn’t brag, and that is something I have had to talk with my sons about (however, Jacob did have the highest math score in the 3^rd grade, and Aaron was the starting 1^st baseman on the All-Star team!), but I do believe that it is necessary for us to “boast” as Paul did in giving our personal testimony of what God has done. Too many Christians walk around giving “hearsay” instead of testimony – telling what God has done in someone else’s life instead of their own; telling someone else’s story instead of their own. I believe that we all should be able to boast about what God has done in our lives, and I believe it is necessary (as Paul would say) to testify to these things. Do you give hearsay? Do you give testimony? Or are you a silent witness?

Everyone's invited! - Devotion for 7/2/07

Everyone’s invited! – Devotion for 7/2/07

Before I moved to Fayetteville I had heard all about the special Fourth of July celebrations that were held out at Ft. Bragg. I had heard about the special music guests who would come, and I would see some of the celebration on Good Morning America. It looked like lots of fun, but I knew that because I am not a soldier, nor am I a veteran, that I could not attend – I was not invited to the celebration. So instead, I’d run around in the backyard with my boys with sparklers, which was fun, but nothing compared to the hijinks that would be going on over at Ft. Bragg. But the first summer when we moved here to Fayetteville, one of the soldiers at the church (who is presently in a location that I told you where he was I’d have to kill you – Hi Duane!) called me and invited me to come out to the Fourth of July celebration at Ft. Bragg with his family. My wife and kids were out of town for the weekend, so I was excited to have something to do, because running around with sparklers all by yourself isn’t as much fun and the neighbors think you’re weird – trust me on this one. I also was incredibly honored to get to be going to a place that I knew that I didn’t belong, because I am not a soldier or a veteran. We got out there and I had so much fun getting to hang out with this family, and then we even met up with some other families from the church, so I got to know some of them even better. We had a great time watching the Golden Eagles parachute team. We had a blast listening to the 82^nd Airborne Band play. It was awesome to hear the power of the Howitzers give off a salute for all the states and territories of the US. And the fireworks were awesome!

At some point in time during all the fun I made mention of how grateful I was that I could come with them, since I would not otherwise be allowed to come. They then let me know that everyone is invited, and that you don’t have to be a soldier or a veteran to go the Ft. Bragg celebration, although that does make it easier to get onto base. I thought about all those years that I could have taken my family to the celebration, but I never knew that we could go. Yes, now I know that it is publicized that the community is welcome to go, but somehow before I knew that, I had never heard it. There was a huge party going on, and it was a party I didn’t even know that I could go to. And even though a huge general invitation had been sent out, I never went until one man called and invited me.

Paul says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The power of God for salvation is an invitation that is extended to everyone. Yet there are people in the world who do not know that it is for them. There are people who are trying to find satisfaction in life by “running around with sparklers,” when they truly are invited to the biggest celebration of them all – they just don’t know it. Even though a broad and general invitation is cast, somehow that still gets missed. Every church wants to think that “everyone knows they are welcome to come here.” We cannot be ashamed of the gospel. Who can we call and invite to the party?