Exodus 14:15-16 9/25/2018*

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.”

God had just finished unleashing plagues on Egypt in order to free His people from 400 years of captivity.

The Lord Himself had triumphantly led them out, providing shade by day, and fire by night.  At long last, His people were following God toward the promised land and freedom.

But after they left, Pharaoh changed his mind and the Egyptian army came after them. The Israelites saw the army, panicked, and cried out to God.  

In an instant, things changed from a celebratory parade, to a chaotic assembly paralyzed with fear - questioning Moses as to why he had brought them out to the desert to die.

But when they froze in their fear and protested…God asked why are you crying out to me?... my plan has not changed…. keep walking.

So, the question today is… has your fear caused you to hesitate?... are you crying out to God when He has already told you what to do?

In the middle of your deliverance have you stopped to complain because you are ignoring the miracles He has already done to secure your freedom?

God’s advice to the Israelites is to “move on”.  His advice to you is the same….

Don’t stop in the middle of the exodus to complain about possible obstacles…those obstacles are not your problem.

Your job is to follow Him out.

Pursue God knowing He will lead you to the promised land. Knowing any difficulty is just another opportunity for God to demonstrate His power.  Not only will you not perish in the Red Sea… you won’t even get your shoes wet…God has promised you will cross on dry ground.  

The Lord will deliver you.  But the water doesn’t part until you get to it.  Manna is only supplied one day at a time. Your needs will be met as they become needs… Keep walking.

Do not fear. He is not sending you out. He is leading you out. You are not alone.

Trust Him completely…. take the next step. He knows your destination, and He is going with you.

“You can’t expect God to guide your steps if you’re not willing to move your feet.” – Unknown

Genesis 3:9 9/18/2018*

“Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?”

The first recorded question God ask of mankind is “where are you?” …and it is not because He didn’t know.

He already knows where and why we are hiding. We have been doing it since the first failure. It seems to always be our response to sin.

Our first instinct is to run and conceal ourselves from God because we are sure He will be disappointed, or angry, or both, so we hide.

But God’s response to our sin is to pay for it …in the garden He spilled blood to make clothes to cover their nakedness. On the Cross He spilled blood to cover our depravity.

Sin should make us run… but to God, not away from Him.

He is the only shelter we have… and to hide from Him is the equivalent of the sick hiding from a doctor.  It is counter-intuitive.

Determine instead to run to God with your sin. Decide to come clean with God and leave nothing hidden in your heart. The enemy would have you conceal yourself in darkness, but God would have you run into the light. There is freedom in transparency.

He has made you clean.

God has paid for what you are hiding. He as removed the burden you are carrying.  He has defeated the enemy you are fighting against.

The Cross not only covered your sin, it re-opened the Garden. 

It allows you to walk with your Father in the beauty of His creation and never hide form His presence again.  There is no need to hide when you are holy...and your holiness is permanent.

 …the war is over, you can come out now.

“Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.”
- Zora Neale Hurston

Daniel 2:22 9/11/2018*

“He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.”

Hiding is exhausting, yet we make it our full-time job.

We carefully put on our disguise at home, at the office, and on social media.  Our perfectly crafted image can have no cracks or blemishes as the world must think we are flawless.

But inside we are a mess.  Lost children full of fear and doubt. Completely alone and isolated, believing we are the only person in our circle that is tarnished…and that no one would love us if they knew the truth.

That is a lie.

You are not alone. We are all broken.

The glorious truth is we do not confess our sin to God, so He will know about it….  We confess, to remind us that God is already aware of it and loves us anyway.

He knows the filth. He knows your darkness and yet He cherishes you….

Like fungus…sin grows in the dark. Drag your depravity in front of God because in Him is light…and light kills sin.  Drop the charade. Stop hiding your flaws. Your scars are made beautiful by His scars.

Be who He made you to be... No one loves a work of art like the artist and your heavenly Father could not be more in love with you. That fact allows you to break the chains of pretending and become the masterpiece God intended you to be…The holy light that dwells with God will pierce your night and drive the darkness away.

He knows about everything you have hidden from the world … it is paid for, you are redeemed, and He adores you.

"Don’t measure God’s love by your feeling. The sun shines as clearly in the darkest day as it does in the brightest. The difference is not in the sun, but in some clouds, which hinder the manifestation of its light."  - Richard Sibbes

Habakkuk 1:5 9/4/2018*

“Look at the nations and watch — and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”

Never mistake God’s patience for weakness.

We tend to believe that God is incapable or uninterested if He doesn’t act according to our timeline.  But God says if we wait He will do more than we can imagine.

God is more powerful than we are able to comprehend and His answer to the prophet Habakkuk’s complaint about evil in the world is simply “hide and watch”. 

At times we focus so much on the love and compassion of God, that we forget His breathtaking power, and tremendous righteousness… We begin to view God as a sweet, feeble old grandfather, and nothing could be further from the truth.

Confidence begins when stand in awe of the majesty and authority of The Great “I Am”, and ask the question, who am I that you even acknowledge me? (Psalms 8:4). When you get a glimpse of God’s magnificence, you stop worrying about Him being ignored, and start worrying about those who ignore Him.

If you find yourself irritated by the grace He shows to those who do evil, you have missed the point. Instead, like Christ on the cross, you should be asking God to forgive them because they have no idea who they are dealing with… they ignore Him at their peril… not His.

God has this…

He is not pacing the floor and His plan is in motion. Stand back and let God be God. You be His child and tell others the good news of the cross while there is still time.

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” -  C.S. Lewis

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 8/28/2018*

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Life is not always easy…it’s not supposed to be.

Paul is describing Christians who have endurance and tenacity. People who confidently walk through life no matter how difficult it gets.

As a society we have lost the maturity described in these verses.  Our acceptance of a victim’s mentality, and self-centeredness has become crippling.

Maybe it is because as children we always got a trophy, we were never allowed to face disappointment …but today, more and more, we see grown men and women go completely off the rails at the slightest hint that they may not get their way.

It is embarrassing and dangerous, and as a society we need to grow up.

Life is not fair.  But you don’t have to be frail.

Walking with Jesus makes you more than a conqueror…. you can take the pressure without being crushed. You can be confused without being depressed.  You can be attacked without being devastated.

Even if you don’t get your way, you can calmly stand your ground because God is still God, and He loves you completely.

One identifying mark of a Christian should be a confidence that springs from the awareness of who you are, and whose you are…

You should have an assurance that is confusing to unbelievers. If you do, it will impact them more than any sermon. If you show maturity and stability, it will be so different from the norm that people will run to you like moths to a flame.

Life can be hard.  Once you have faced that reality without flinching, when you have shown that you can walk through the storm with composure …. only then will you be qualified to help others walk victoriously as well.

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”
- Oswald Chambers

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 8/21/2018*

“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”

Few people would say Ecclesiastes is their favorite book. But the need for it in our generation is indisputable.

The author was the wisest, richest, most accomplished man on the planet. He had already achieved all we yearn for… yet in this verse he says that the things we sacrifice our lives chasing, are meaningless.

More and more we read of the despair and depression of the rich and famous.  While people who haven’t achieved wealth are driven by the anticipation that it will be fulfilling, those who have attained it know it is empty.

It is the big lie. It is the great bait and switch.  Wealth is completely incapable of fulfilling the promises it makes.  You destroy your health pursuing earthly riches that you cannot enjoy as you keep running after more, confident that with just one more dollar you will be secure and happy….it is chasing the wind.  

At the end of Ecclesiastes Solomon makes a telling statement:
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” (Ecc 12:13)

Stop chasing the wind. Stop stressing over your balance sheet. God knows what you need. He has a plan and He’s not worried about how to pay for it. You don’t need to frantically chase assets, instead chase righteousness.

Don’t waste another day pursuing things that don’t last…Be in awe of God, and work for things of eternal significance.

“How many are they who have made a god of their wealth, and in hasting after riches have been drowned by the weight of their worldly substance” – Charles Spurgeon

Luke 11:11-13 8/14/2018*

"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? So, if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Jesus appears to ask this question in frustration over the anxiety we experience because we misinterpret our relationship with God.
Good theology is when we understand who God is, and who we are. Not grasping these two points creates a constant undercurrent of worry that drives us to discontent.

If we comprehend the supremacy of God and His amazing love for us, how can we worry about the outcome of situations over which He has complete control?
This is the constant theme of Jesus when He discusses our anxiety.  His continuous refrain is that we are loved, and God is good and faithful… 
Why can’t we see that our position of value, and His position of power eliminates the need for fear? 

It is not a matter of believing that things will go the way I want - but believing that things will go the way God wants… and in the long run God’s will is the best thing that can happen in my life.

Worry is a choice, and not worrying is a discipline. 
Choosing faith is a decision to impose facts upon your emotions. The fact that God is God, and you are His child gives you the right to ignore fear.
Let’s strive to remember that even sinful men know how to take care of those they love…how much more will God take care of us?

Choose faith over worry and see how it changes your life one day at a time.

“The very essence of worry is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting of ourselves into His place, to do for Him that which we dream He either cannot or will not do!”
- Charles Spurgeon

1 John 3:18 8/7/2018*

“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.”

What actions do you have planned today to show your love for others? 

Where is “kindness” on your to-do list this afternoon?

Our worship rightly consists of honoring God with our words. But that cannot be the end of it. That is simply vocalizing what our activities should constantly reflect. Our love for the Father should be visible in our actions toward His children.

Let me challenge you to amend your schedule today.  As you prepare your calendar, intentionally set an action point to be kind to someone for no other reason than God told you to…

Be creative….Have fun with it.  Amaze someone today with your compassion and they will then be receptive to your truth.  We were created to love each other, and you will never feel more fulfilled then when you do so with your activities.

God didn’t just love us with words…He took action… difficult, expensive, sacrificial action…we should do the same.

It is your choice…. Today can be just another day… or you can choose to bless someone and make this day extraordinary for both of you.

Don’t just agree with the idea … do it.

I dare you to, on purpose, be a blessing to someone today.  I guarantee when you bless them, it will splash out all over you.

“Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” - Scott Adams

2 Corinthians 3:17 7/31/2018*

“…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

How long will we continue to daily put on the chains of sin and call it freedom?

Why do we listen to the lie that God wants to take away our liberty when His desire is to do the opposite?

We live in a world of bondage, obsession, and addiction… and only the Spirit of God can free us… only those that God has liberated are truly free.

The definition of frustration is to fight against something you cannot defeat…Without Christ you cannot defeat sin.  You can make resolutions, talk about change, go to church and determine to improve…but without Jesus you are a slave. 

The blood of Jesus is the fuel in the engine that sets you free. 

If you are living a life of frustration maybe it is because you are out of gas. You have built a fine religious vehicle, but it won’t run because you are trying to power it with your own works and have neglected the Cross.

Understand that you can be free today. Receive the gift that Jesus offers and walk out of prison.

It is not a process … it is a moment of acceptance, a change of position, and a lifetime of freedom.

Stop trying to be better, and allow Jesus to make you new… you have been redeemed at a great cost…and that redemption has opened the door to your cell. 

Where His Spirit is there is freedom.

“God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate."

- Oswald Chambers

James 3:7-8 7/24/2018*

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Do you ever think of your tongue as a restless evil?

We treat it as our ally, but this verse would indicate it can be one of our greatest advisories.

How many times has this “restless evil” poisoned my life, yet I continue to give it free reign from day to day?

I continue to think it can boost my position and give me advantage. When, in reality, it is responsible for much of the heartbreak in my life.

As a society we have abandoned any thought of taming the tongue and instead seem to encourage reckless abandon when it comes to speaking. There is no thought of truth or wisdom as we vomit out anything that might help our side win.

That should not describe children of God.  We should be different.

Animals that cannot be tamed are kept in a cage.  Do that to your tongue today.  Treat it like a dangerous animal.  Watch it carefully and never let it get in a position to hurt you…. because if it has the chance it will.

Be slow to speak and quick to listen and understand that you carry a poison in your mouth capable of destroying friendships, families, and yourself…

Never trust your tongue in the moment.

You cannot tame it, so determine today to watch it carefully and keep it in it’s cage.

“What you may not realize is that the words you say, and the words you hear from others have the power to change your entire life.”
― Alex Uwajeh