Pointing In The Right Direction

Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Deuteronomy 9:6 (ESV)

You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people. (NLT)

Recently, I was talking to a group of people and started telling a God story. A God story is a story where you get to see God move in your life or in someone else’s life. It’s where it was totally obvious it was him and no one else. I love God stories!

As I started to tell the story, I left out a part that pointed to God and his greatness. When I inadvertently did that, the story became more about how God did this for me. Which ever so slightly shifts the glory from who he is to who I am. Luckily, a friend in the group reminded me and I adjusted.

Now, I didn’t purposefully leave that part out. I always want to give God the glory. But, we are human and I wonder if sometimes we speak too quickly before we think of the ramifications of our words. Who are they pointing to? Who gets the credit? Who gets God’s glory?

I felt convicted after this and I’ve been talking to God about it. I don’t ever want to put myself on a pedestal. I want so much to always point to him. A few days later, I was driving and listening to my Bible app in my car and I heard today’s verse. God was very clearly telling the Israelites that their gift of the Promised Land was not because they were good, but because God was good.

We can definitely apply this to our lives. God still does work miracles. He still shows up. As I ponder this, I want to make sure that in everything I do, in all my words and actions, I am pointing to him. Because I am not good. He is.

A Minute In It - Who Is God?

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the texts below and then answer the questions at the bottom of the post.

1-2 I love you, God—
    you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet,
    the castle in which I live,
    my rescuing knight.
My God—the high crag
    where I run for dear life,
    hiding behind the boulders,
    safe in the granite hideout.

3 I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty,
    and find myself safe and saved.

4-5 The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat;
    devil waters rushed over me.
Hell’s ropes cinched me tight;
    death traps barred every exit.

6 A hostile world! I call to God,
    I cry to God to help me.
From his palace he hears my call;
    my cry brings me right into his presence—
    a private audience!

7-15 Earth wobbles and lurches;
    huge mountains shake like leaves,
Quake like aspen leaves
    because of his rage.
His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke;
    his mouth spits fire.
Tongues of fire dart in and out;
    he lowers the sky.
He steps down;
    under his feet an abyss opens up.
He’s riding a winged creature,
    swift on wind-wings.
Now he’s wrapped himself
    in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.
But his cloud-brightness bursts through,
    spraying hailstones and fireballs.
Then God thundered out of heaven;
    the High God gave a great shout,
    spraying hailstones and fireballs.
God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!
    He hurls his lightnings—a rout!
The secret sources of ocean are exposed,
    the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered
The moment you roar in protest,
    let loose your hurricane anger.

16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
    from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
    the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
    but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
    I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

20-24 God made my life complete
    when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
    he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
    I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
    I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
    and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
    when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

25-27 The good people taste your goodness,
The whole people taste your health,
The true people taste your truth,
The bad ones can’t figure you out.
You take the side of the down-and-out,
But the stuck-up you take down a peg.

28-29 Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;
    I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!
I smash the bands of marauders,
    I vault the highest fences.

30 What a God! His road
    stretches straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested.
    Everyone who runs toward him
Makes it.

31-36 Is there any god like God?
    Are we not at bedrock?
Is not this the God who armed me,
    then aimed me in the right direction?
Now I run like a deer;
    I’m king of the mountain.
He shows me how to fight;
    I can bend a bronze bow!
You protect me with salvation-armor;
    you hold me up with a firm hand,
    caress me with your gentle ways.
You cleared the ground under me
    so my footing was firm.
Psalm 18:1-36 (MSG)

How does David describe God?
What are the character traits that stand out to you?
Do you see God this way?
What character traits would you use to describe God?
Are they similar to David’s?
Why or why not?

Obeying In My Corner

I said, “Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah 6:8 (NLT)

Have you ever read Isaiah 6? Isaiah comes face to face with God’s glory. He’s caught up in the praise and worship and responds by surrendering to God when God says “Who will go?” Have you ever done this? Been so moved by the awesomeness of God, so infected with his love that you tell him you’ll go anywhere or do anything. Send me! Send me! I’ve asked God to send me. I am sure you have too!

BUT

When God asks us to go talk to our neighbor, we offer excuses. “God, I don’t know them. I’m not good with strangers. I don’t want to intrude.”

When God tells us to go visit someone in the hospital, we say things like “God, I’m not good with sick people. They might not want visitors. They might want privacy.”

When God says go spend time with your friend today, we think of all the things we have scheduled and how long it will take us and we opt not to be sent.

If we won’t follow his leading in our community, how do we expect to be willing to “be sent” on bigger missions? If we won’t walk next door, how will we move to another state or another job?

I really, really want God to send me. I want to be on mission for him. But I am coming to realize that first I need to surrender to what he has for me to do today. When he says go, I need to go. No excuses.

My mission needs to start in my own little corner of the world. It needs to start by obeying God wherever and however he sends me. Each and every day.

How Salty Are You?

You are the salt of the earth.  Matthew 5:13 (NLT)

Let’s talk about salt.

I have a pot of food cooking on the stove and decide it needs salt. There are a couple of scenarios that can play out.

If I take a box of salt and pour it out on the plate next to the pot, will the food on the stove taste any better. Definitely not. Salt only works if it is mixed into the food.

If I instead decide to pour the entire box into the food, will it taste better? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, it would be revolting.

And if the salt is really stale and has no flavor, will it help? Nope. It would be the same as adding nothing.

What if we acted like just the right amount of fresh salt in our world? Not too little, not too much, adding value. We can be too little when we isolate ourselves from others instead of mixing in. We can move ahead of the Holy Spirit and try to change things that are not ours to change. We can be too overpowering. We can become stale when we stop seeking God every day and renew our idea of who He is.

Salt is used to enhance what’s already there, to bind together and preserve. What if we as Christians, using the guidance of the Holy Spirit, shared just enough of our saltiness with the world? We could enhance the flavors of relationships, bind together hearts and preserve the love that Jesus shared with all humanity.

What if?

Seeking Through Surrender

O my son, give me your heart.
    May your eyes take delight in following my ways. Proverbs 23:26 (NLT)

Today my church kicks of a 40-Day Fast. We are seeking to hear what God has to say about the direction he is giving us. We can fast in a variety of ways. In short, you can do a food fast which is fasting from all food or a specific food or a soul fast. A soul fast is giving up something in your life that may be a distraction from hearing God’s voice (i.e. social media, games on devices, etc.) The purpose of a fast is not just to give something up but to add more of God in.

I decided to give up TV. Now, my schedule is such that I don’t get to watch TV every day. I don’t think I am addicted to it. But, I felt God saying this is what I have to fast from. I have to be honest. I was struggling with this. I couldn’t figure out why I was reluctant. I spend a lot of time with God; doing God-type things. I don’t spend a ton of time watching TV. What’s the deal?

I started praying about this yesterday, as I lamented not watching TV for 40 days. I came to the place where I realized that TV is my “comfort food” for my brain. It’s where I go to forget. It’s where I go to totally turn off and ignore everything around me. I decided that this was probably why I was struggling.

This morning, every place I turned in my worship was about surrender. It dawned on me that maybe God asked me to do this particular thing because it was the one thing I didn’t want to surrender.

I can eliminate any food from my diet. Been there done that.. There are a lot of mind over matter things I can accomplish. For some reason, this is different. And honestly, I don’t know why. But God does. And because he is asking, I am going to do it. I am going to surrender this.

I know in the process I will learn something about myself that i did not know. But more importantly, I am going to learn something about God that I did not know.

What is it in your life that God might ask you to surrender? Are you willing to do that so you can see him more clearly?

And All God's People.....

I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. John 10:16 (NLT)

This week I was blessed to be able to go to a church conference. The theme of the conference is based on discipleship and investing in people the way Jesus did. I am also blessed that my church invests in the mission of Jesus with their finances and support.

We’ve been on this journey with this same group of people over the last year. We’ve gotten together for three cohorts and discussed, worked through, listened to each other as we’ve talked about God’s kingdom. What are the steps forward? What should it look like? What are some of the obstacles we encounter and of course, how is God working?

The totally amazing thing is we are all from different denominations, different races, both sexes. And we all face similar challenges. But our one goal is the same. Share Jesus. He is our one true love. During this journey together, we’ve shared lots of praises and lots of heartaches. I have come to truly care about this group of people and their journey.

The last day at this conference, our leader gathered us together and we had communion. Words cannot explain how beautiful this was to me. We stood in a circle sharing the bread and the wine as we sang a hymn. Then we prayed. We prayed for God’s kingdom, for the journey he had us on and that his name would be glorified.

Friends, this is what God’s kingdom should look like. This is “My kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” All of God’s people working together for ONE goal. That goal is for all of God’s church (read people here) to love each other and work together so others can love Jesus as well.

Let’s put aside our differences. Deep down we all want the same thing. To love and honor Jesus with our lives. We will do this best together. I pray this weekend you too can connect with someone and know the bonding that comes from hearts reaching toward God.

Focus and Run

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. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)

What slows you down? Seriously. Is it a co-worker that just doesn’t work fast enough? Is it a family member that maybe cannot keep up? Or are there things in your life that if you let them go, you’d be able to run?

You know, things like intentional sin. At this point a lot of us check the box and say “Nope, I don’t do that.” But, maybe that’s not true. I don’t think I have intentional sin in my life either but every time I do something that I have felt convicted not to do, that’s intentional sin.

On the outside it can look really innocent. And all of our stuff looks different. What I am being convicted of is very different than what you are being convicted of. And I am going to make a bold statement; each and every one of us is being convicted about something.

Maybe the Holy Spirit is whispering that you spend too much time on social media or watching TV. Maybe he’s whispering about your diet or health. He could be talking about the worry you carry around or the need to be in control. He may be asking you to be kind to others and less critical. The list could go on and on.

God is talking to us all the time. He wants us to strip off, let go, drop the things that are keeping us from a deeper walk with him. At first glance, these things may not seem like such a big deal but he knows our hearts. He knows what trips us up. And he knows that if we would just let it go, we’d be able to run like the wind.

How do we go about doing this? Keep our eyes on Jesus. We can’t change or be changed by looking at the very thing that snares us. We have to look at Jesus. When we focus on him, suddenly our perspective changes and there is a clarity.

So focus. Focus on Jesus and keep your eyes glued to him. When you look back at your life, you’ll see how he changed you from the inside out.

Live A Questionable Life

And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.  But do this in a gentle and respectful way. 1 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT)

This Bible text is interesting. “If someone asks you about your hope as a believer.” When was the last time that happened to you? I’m not talking about when we go up to people and try to tell them that we believe in Jesus. I’m talking about when someone comes up and because of the life we live asks us sincerely, why are we different.

You know why I don’t think people ask? Because we, as Christians, don’t look and act differently than everyone else around us. We don’t stand out.

We buy similar houses.
We do our jobs the same way everyone else does.
We drive similar cars and do the same things as all the other people.
We donate to charities and serve in the community the same way as folks who don’t believe in Jesus.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with these things but I do think we are called to be different. Not separate, different. We are supposed to be part of the world we live in but when people look at our lives, there is supposed to be something that stands out.

Something that would make them ask questions about what motivates us.

The early church did weird things for their day. They fed strangers, helped people they didn’t know, they shared their resources with others. This made other people ask “What is it with those people?” And when folks asked, they could tell them about Jesus. And more and more people learned of Jesus’ love.

Today, let’s live our lives differently. Let’s live lives that are questionable so then we can (gently and respectfully) tell others about who motivates us to be different..