Fear

Luke 8

25. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

Too many times in my life I have mistaken fear for worry and worry for fear. I know the meaning of words is simply semantics by definition, but definitions and understanding what words mean are important to what you believe.

Fear is respect or awe for someone/thing; unpleasant feeling in the presence of danger

Worry is the feeling of apprehension

The bible commands us to not worry (be apprehensive) about things to come, but says that it is good to fear (have respect for) God. Knowing what I know now about the definitions of those two words, it is easier for me to understand where the bible is coming from in this passage and in others that speak about fear and worry.

Bottom line: Because God is awesome, we and respect Him. Because we do not see everything that our life has planned, we do not get the luxury of being apprehensive of what we cannot see, BUT because we fear God we trust that what He has planned is the BEST.

He calmed the storm.

Becoming Like the Teacher

Luke 6:39-40 NASB

And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

In today’s devotion I read and learned about the calling of Abram to become Abraham (father of a multitude) and the teaching of the beattitudes by Jesus.

In the verses above we are confronted with a pressing challenge: to not simply follow the teachings of Jesus but to become like Him.

It is an old cliche in Christianity today that we are striving to become more like Christ, but too many times we get caught just saying that we want to be more like Him and don’t do anything about it.

I pray that Got would wrestle me into obedience so that I may become like my Teacher; who’d to speak with confidence in the gospel.

Getting back on the Blog-Wagon

So, it’s been awhile, I had almost forgot that I had a blog. Not many people read this thing anyway, but it worked just as good as my journal did in the past. I’ve decided to try and keep up with this for a while and use it as a journal to use as an example for the OBC youth group and the monthly challenge that I have issued to them.

Today I read in Luke chapter 5 and re-learned about Jesus’s beginning of ministry and the calling of the first disciples. Today I would like to focus on just a few verses:

8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Alright, let’s walk through this:

V. 8 the “that” that Luke is writing about is the miracle that Jesus performed, though the power of Jesus and the willingness of the disciples God allowed the disciples to catch A LOT of fish from the wrong side of the boat.

V. 9 Simon-Peter was in total disbelief because something happened that, one – doesn’t normally happen, and two – happened because a man said it would.

V. 10 Jesus essentially points out, “You think that’s great? Wait until you see Me do things of that power with the souls of men.”

 

Moral of the story?

If we follow the urgings of Christ in our lives we will see the power of Christ in our lives. If we see the power of Christ in our lives we will want to see more of “that” power.

I Do Believe

Mark 9:23-24

“‘If I can?’ said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for Him who believes.’ Immediately the father exclaimed, ‘I do believe, help my unbelief.’”

Mark has a keen sense of what was wrong in the eyes of the disciples. Here we see the stark contrast between this man of a demon possessed child and the ideals of the disciples. Mark chapter 9 contains 5 separate passages on the transfiguration, this passage about the healing of the demon possessed child, Jesus’ teaching on the greatest, Jesus’ teaching on allies in Christ, and Jesus’ teaching on causing others to sin.

In this particular passage, we can see the struggle of the disciples to drive out the demon. First, we see that the disciples are rebuked and shown the way to true faith by really believing. Second, we see the desire of the father to believe more. Third, and lastly, we see that the key to more belief is prayer (v. 29).

The two separate reactions from the disciples and the father point to the fact that we must communicate with God to truly believe in the power of God. The disciples responded to this miracle of Jesus by arguing about who is the greatest in the Kingdom. The father responds by apologizing and asking for forgiveness from Christ. How many times, when things don’t go our way, do we look to ourselves for the answer? When we should look to Christ.

Prayer

Hey all you readers out there, today I present to you a prevalent issue that plagues Christians lives and has become the topic of several sermons here recently: prayer. We are coming close to the time of the annual trip to Barbados and the Faith Factor event to Greenville.

Whats the main problem that people have with prayer? The same thing that is the problem with everything else: selfishness! We, as human beings, are selfish people by nature. Since the fall of man, the whole Adam and Eve thing (you know!), we, collectively, tend to look out for #1: ourselves!

Somehow this mentality has even made it into our prayer life. Normally in 2 ways:

1)   The rehearsed prayer: Where you have memorized a prayer and now pray it out of habit, not out of meaning (DOESN’T GOD DESERVE MORE THAN THAT?) How would you feel if the people in your life talked to you like we talk to God?

2)   The Wish Prayer: The only other prayer that we will pray outside of our rehearsed prayers are the ones that ask for things: God heal my puppy. God could you allow me to get the newest gadget. Help me pass this test. God please let her say yes to dating me. God becomes nothing more than a genie in a bottle that we rub when we feel a need.

NEWSFLASH!!!

We are always in need! And when will we realize that we aren’t praying for the things that we really need? What we need is for the God we serve to really start making a difference in our lives! We need revival! So if you want to get serious about praying, just do it! Start praying for the power of God to be in your life and in the life of your friends!

Lastly, I will be heading up a prayer ministry for the trip to Barbados: if you cannot go to Barbados and really want to have a huge part, contact me at (864) 356-7249 … My goal is to have someone praying at all times during the week of March 6-13. Please get involved!

Too many times things don’t happen because we don’t ask for them, so ask GOD to do a GOD-sized work in your life!

God is Still Good

This past week has straight stunk!

1st on Sunday night I hit a deer, causing $2,000 worth of damage to my vehicle. Then on Tuesday, I dropped my phone in the toilet,

yeah I know …

Then  the insurance agent only gives me $1,000 to work with. Then the cell phone company tells me that my insurance company doesn’t cover water damage. Then I have 4 tests, etc. etc …

…

You didn’t think that was it did you?!?

Wake Up People!!!!

God is still good! I am still alive to tell of His great provision for my life! and and and and He died to save me! a pathetic weak sinner!

That is awesome! That is what keeps me smiling! As it should you!

Psalm 66

“8 Bless our God, O peoples,
And sound His praise abroad,

9 Who keeps us in life
And does not allow our feet to slip.

10 For You have tried us, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.

11 You brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.

12 You made men ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water,
Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.

13 I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings;
I shall pay You my vows,

14 Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke when I was in distress”

God is still good! and worth of our praise in all situations! Look at the passage …

Do it again …

What does it mean to you? …

To me it means that if in life I receive blessing, I praise Him, and if i go through trial and fire and whatever the world throws at me, I STILL SHOULD PRAISE HIM!!! So get off your high horse, and give glory to the One who deserves glory!

Think about it: what are your trials in comparison to bearing of your sins through pain and suffering on the Cross and death?!? Your life means nothing without the Cross! So quit complaining and get to praising!

None of this half-hearted junk either! Praise!!!

Psalm 98

4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth:

make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise

See the colon? (…all the earth: make a loud …)

Do you know what that means?!? Loudly, rejoicingly, and with singing!

Go get out there and praise your God! He deserves it!

Prayer

1st Thessalonians 5:16-18 “⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

In this blog I’m going to try and explain the “pray continually” thing and try and propose a way that you can and “pray without casing” thing.  In this passage we normally look at verse 17 and see that the Bible commands us to pray continually, but if we look at  the other verses surrounding it we see that it is not just good enough to pray continually but to have joy in it!

God commands us to “be joyful always” this includes the subsequent verse: in prayer. If we are in the will of God then there will be a urging to communicate with Him and a joy that comes with it, and then thank Him for that will in your life.

In order to try and pray continually I devised a system to try and help my fellow man a little bit. It is pretty simple:

Before everything you do, pray for a minute. When you wake up, pray for a minute for God’s direction in what you are going to do for the day. When you get a shower pray to God and thank Him for the grace that He has extended for giving you plumbing. When you eat, for the food you have. When you work-out, for health and leadership in your excersise  for the day.