Day 2 - Week 86 - Psalms 23:1 "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

"Unlike many animals, sheep can't make it on their own.  They can't fight with their hoofs or teeth.  They can't track down food.  They can't run very easily, or dig holes, or climb trees to escape predators.  They can't kick or bit.  They need a shepherd to care for them, just as we do."
     Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart

I'm certainly a sheep!  I cannot make it on my own...I need a shepherd.  And I have one.  The Lord is my Shepherd.  And because He is, I have no wants.  He is my all.  He completes whatever I lack.  He fills every gap in me, and I can rest because He has promised to be with me. 

Lord, when I whine or complain, remind me that You are giving me everything I need...because of You, I lack nothing.  Thank You Lord Jesus for shepherding me and for coming to seek and rescue me when I have been the one that lost its way.

Day 1 - Week 86 - Back...again....

So we begin Week 86 in our 100 week journey. Never would I have dreamed when starting out 86 weeks ago where this journey would take me. Seventeen weeks ago, this journey took a sharp turn and the weeks that have followed have been some of the darkest of my life.  Death brings mortality to you as a stark reality, and I believe God calls us, through our tears, to look at our own lives deeply.

I have found myself much more introspective than usual and with that introspection I have spent much time evaluating my faith, my commitment and my hypocrisy.  It is hard to look at yourself very squarely and see yourself for who you really are.  What I have seen is that while in my life I have greatly proclaimed my faith and my love of Jesus, throughout my life my level of obedience has often been very poor and at times been defiantly rebellious.  I have had to ask, "Why?" And I have not had many good answers to that question, other than my incredible weakness and willfulness.  I have repeated to myself in the middle of the night, "I am still a sinner in need of a Savior.  I have a Savior.  His name is Jesus."  And that is where I stand, and that is where I will stand the rest of my life.  But I pray that in the days to follow in my life that my greater realization of the sinner that I really am, will result in a greater level of gratitude for God's saving grace, and will be manifested in a greater obedience to His directives in my life.

I have been an abuser of grace. I thank God that He forgives, but please Lord, let me always accept your Lordship over my life in the most serious of manner.  Please do not let me think I can decide which days fall under your authority and which days I get to control.  Please let me give myself totally to You, so that in the days to come I will not look back with regret, but with joy over how You have redeemed my life to serve You.

One of the things that I have had to confront is my need for affirmation.  I feel that God is now asking me to allow Him to work through me without any recognition to myself.  While I am committed to completing this blog, I want to make it very, very clear that I do not want any praise for it, or any honor for doing it.  God's Word is wonderful --- He is the One who deserves all praise.  From here on out, my comments on His inspired words will be very minimal, and yet, hopefully, meaningful.

Coincidentally, today is my 57th birthday.  I am so thankful that I have lived most of these 57 years knowing Jesus as my Savior, but I am sad that I have wasted so many of these years not living a life completely "sold out" to His glory. I hate to think of the missed opportunities to bring Him honor or to share Him with someone else. 

Let's go back and review where we left off (after all, it has been a while!), and bring these verses back into our hearts to guide us....

Faith: Trusting God and Resting in His Word (12)
Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift."
Ephesians 2:9 "Not by works, so that no one can boast."
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Colossians 3:15 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
Romans 1:17 "For in it God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith."
Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid, I will trust in You."
2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."
Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

The Great Commission (4)
Matthew 28:18 "Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."
Matthew 28:19 "Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesseses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Our next section is going to be one that many probably already have memorized, but what great verses of comfort...the 23rd Psalm...and this is one that I just have to recite in the King James Version.

Psalm 23:1  "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

With God leading us, what more do we want, let alone need.  Lord, help me to remember that You are my everything...there is nothing else that I could ever need beside You.  I never want to be where You are not, and as long as You are there, then I am satisfied.

Thank You Lord for your miraculous, redeeming love.





 

Day 3 - Week 85 - Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

"Week" 85 has been stretched out a bit through these days of Christmas celebration.  I hope you have had a time of joy in remembering Christ's birth and sharing God's gift with family and friends.  While this Christmas was certainly not one that we will look back on as our happiest, we did have moments of comfort and joy...primarily by knowing that we have a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!  Only because of Him can we know that this life is just the beginning of our eternal existence with Him...Hallelujah!

Now, going back to our Great Commission as given to us by our Jesus...we are to go, we are to teach, and we are to do it with power, the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.  When we try to do God's work within our own strength, our own power and our own design, we will never accomplish what He has planned for us. 

Read what A. W. Tozer has to say about Acts 1:8

"Ye shall receive power."  By those words our Lord raised the expectation of His disciples and taught them to look forward to the coming of a supernatural potency into their natures from a source outside of themselves.  It was to be something previously unknown to them, but suddenly to come upon them from another world.  It was to be nothing less than God Himself entering into them with the purpose of ultimately reproducing His own likeness within them...

This power is to come upon powerless men as a gentle but resistless invasion from another world bringing a moral potency infinitely beyond anything that might be stirred up from within.  This power is sufficient; no additional help is needed, no auxiliary source of spiritual energy.
 

Do we, as Christians living in 2012, now about to be 2013, have the promise of this same power? I most certainly believe we do.  I believe that the Holy Spirit gives us exactly what we need, when we need it, to further the Kingdom of God.  Not anything more, not anything less.  If we need a miracle for His glory or for the saving of a soul, I believe He will empower us with miraculous abilities.  If we need to be able to speak to a group of people that in normal circumstances we would have nothing in common with, I believe He will give us supernatural insight into a commonality in which we can approach them that will enhance our ability to share His good news.  I believe that when we truly empty ourselves of self and allow His Spirit to fully move within us, we are amazed at what can happen...and, sadly, I believe that we don't allow that to happen nearly often enough. 

More often, we charge ahead working "for God" within our own power doing what we see needs to be done, rather than allowing the Spirit to move us so that we can work with God in the divine providence of His plans.  When we do so, we can never expect the supernatural results that would be in store under the Holy Spirit's direction.

The disciples waited and the promise came true.  They, under the Holy Spirit's power, rocked the world with the message of Jesus Christ.  They preached in Jerusalem, they preached in all Judea, they preached in Samaria, and through their devotion and dedication the message is still going throughout the world...to the ends of the earth.  Who would have thought that a mismatched group of twelve largely uneducated and impoverished Jews would be able to accomplish such?  Truth is, they didn't...God did.  His Holy Spirit empowered them to do the work that was needed...they just surrendered and allowed Him to have total control over their lives. 

What could happen if we did the same?  We often think our world is too far gone, too out of control for true revival...when we think such things, what are we saying about God's power?  God's power turned the world upside down 2,000 years ago through one group of twelve...

Let's get serious about our commitment, let's get serious about surrender, and let's join with God in the things He is going to do in the coming year.

Day 2 - Week 85 - Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

"Acts 1:8 is the key that unlocks the door of Acts and the gates of Christian history."  - Robert J. Morgan

The Book of Acts, most often thought to be authored by Luke through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the book that documents the first days of the Christian church.  It is a fascinating account of how a band of few revolutionized the world by the message of grace and hope brought by Jesus Christ. 

Robert J. Morgan in 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, shares some wonderfully insightful thoughts about Acts 1:8:

Acts 1:8 represents the last known words of Jesus during His earthly ministry.   Verse 9 indicates these are the Lord's final words before being "taken up."  Luke 24:50-53 says Jesus ascended to heaven while blessing His disciples, but His words of blessings aren't given.  Acts 1:8 are His final words as they were recorded for us.  Shouldn't His last command be our first concern?

Morgan's last sentence is convicting, isn't it?  "Shouldn't His last command be our final concern?"  How serious do we take Jesus' last words?  Just like in Matthew 28:19 where we are told to "Go", Jesus now tells us to be His witnesses...testify to everything we know about our Jesus.

What do you know about Jesus?  Tell it.  Do you know that He is God's Son?  Do you know that He came as a baby, born of a virgin?  Do you know that He spent 33 years here on earth telling us, and showing us, who our God really is?  Do you know that He took your sins to the cross because He loved you so much?  Do you know that He rose again, proving God's power over death?  Do you know that you share in that resurrection power and that because of Christ's blood covering your sins that you will share eternity with Him in the presence of God the Father? 

These are the things we can know and that we can testify to because of the Holy Spirit's power in our lives.  He has given the Holy Spirit to us to assure us of everything we know to be true and to empower us to share it with others.

Don't stifle the Holy Spirit's promptings...be Christ's witness just as He asked you to be...to the ends of the earth!

 

 

Day 1 - Week 85 - Are we spreading the Word?

Lots of buzz going round regarding December 21, 2012...just 4 days away.  According to the Mayans, this could be the day that we see an end to the world as we know it.  Personally, I've never been convinced that the Mayans were the most intelligent civilization that has ever existed, so I'm not correspondingly not convinced that they alone, among all peoples of all times, knew the exact day the world would end.  Also, as a believer in the Word of God as revealed in Holy Scripture, there's this verse that keeps ringing in my ear..."But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."  Matthew 24:36.  So, come Friday, December 21, I suspect that we will see the day come and go without anything outstanding occurring.  You see, I figure any day could be the day of Christ's return, other than one that someone is predicting.  Man's predictions pretty much rule that particular date out in my book.  So December 22, December 23, maybe even December 20, I'm not so sure about! 

I've made the comment recently that while we cannot know the day or the hour, it sure seems like the times are giving us signs that we are drawing closer to Christ's return...does that excite you?  It should!  As Christians, we should be anxiously awaiting that glorious day when we look up and see our Savior descending to gather His own unto Himself.  I want to be able to throw my hands up and say, "Take me Lord Jesus!"  Knowing that we will leave this world and all of its uncertainty for an eternity governed by the love of God where we will have no fear, no sadness, and where we will bask in the radiance of Jesus Himself!

The only thing that should keep us praying for the delay of Christ's return is the fact that there are those who we have still not yet reached with the message of Jesus and His gift of salvation for them.  And then there are those who have heard the message, but for some reason or another, have still not accepted Jesus into their hearts as their Savior ready to cover all of their sins with His blood.  Unless we are actively working in one of these avenues, evangelizing those who have never heard or convincing those who have heard of the importance and the urgency of their acceptance of Jesus into their lives, we are not showing that we really love people.  For if we really love people, and we know that Jesus is coming some day, either in the sky or when He calls each of us to come home individually, we sincerely want them to know their eternal future.  Just as John wrote in 1 John 5:13, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

No, I do not believe Friday, December 21, will be the last day of this world of ours...but I do believe that Jesus is coming back, and due to many things going on in our world and how they align with the word of prophecy in the Bible, I believe that time is growing closer.  So we must get passionate about the Great Commission.  We must go, tell and teach! 

Reviewing....

Faith: Trusting God and Resting in His Word (12)
Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift."
Ephesians 2:9 "Not by works, so that no one can boast."
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Colossians 3:15 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
Romans 1:17 "For in it God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith."
Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid, I will trust in You."
2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."
Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

The Great Commission (4)
Matthew 28:18 "Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."
Matthew 28:19 "Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.  And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

The verse we add this week explains how and why we will be compelled to carry out Christ's Commission:

Acts 1:8  "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

The Holy Spirit gives us the power and the pressure to take Christ's message out and into all corners of the world.  Without the Holy Spirit within us, we will have neither the compulsion nor the spiritual wisdom to carry out Jesus' command.  It is His Spirit, living within us, that gives us the opportunity, gives us the ability to see the opportunity, and gives us the compulsion not to let the opportunity pass.  But we must be paying attention to the Holy Spirit's prompting within us, and surrender our pride, our discomfort and our inabilities to His power to do His will.   We need to allow Him to prove His absolute ability to do amazing things through us, despite of us! 

Pray to be used by God, pray for His Spirit to open up opportunities for you to share His Word, to share the story of what God has done for you, and pray not to miss one of those opportunities that may mean another person walking on the streets of gold!
 

Day 3 - Week 84 - Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The Great Commission...so what is it? 

"Go, therefore, making disciples of all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you."

1.  GO --- requires action.  We can't be isolated, we can't just be "comfortable Christians" going to church and Bible study and never getting outside of our circle of "safe" friends.  We must get out and GO...we may have to stretch ourselves a bit.  GO-ing may mean that we go to events that aren't customary for us; it may mean starting a conversation with someone that we think we have nothing in common with; it may mean really getting to know the people we work with.  GO-ing doesn't necessarily mean making a mission trip to a distant country...it may, if that is where God calls us...but it may mean just opening our eyes to where God wants us to GO tomorrow, even if it wasn't on our schedule...GO-ing may mean "GO-ing" out of our way, or "GO-ing" the extra mile.

2.  Make disciples --- testimony.  This is the hard part...this is the part where we have to rely on Jesus' promise of always being with us.  For we cannot make anyone a disciple on our own.  This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us, and the Holy Spirit at work in the other person.  We cannot convince anyone to accept the good news of Christ's saving work on the behalf of mankind.  It is only through the Holy Spirit prompting us at the right time, and us responding to the prompting to share with the person that the Holy Spirit is preparing to hear our words, that hearts can be open to the invitation to discipleship.  When this happens, we will share the wonderful gift of knowing that Jesus lived, died and rose again...all for us, so that we can know that we have forgiveness of our sins, and with that forgiveness the ability to be presented to God as His children.  As His children, we have a home prepared for us for eternity, a very certain future.

3.  Teaching them to observe everything that Jesus commanded.  The Great Commission doesn't end with just giving people the great news of Christ's forgiveness and our salvation...we are to teach what Jesus commanded.  Why?  If we are forgiven, and if we are saved, what else matters?  Can't we just leave our new convert with the Good News and call it "good"?  I think a lot of "discipleship" has ended there, without any subsequent teaching of what constitutes a true disciple of Christ.

What did Christ command of His disciples? 
John 13:34  "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
John 15:12 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
John 15:17 "This is my command: Love each other."

And as Paul summarized in Galatians 5:14, "The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

True Christian discipleship is an exhibition of God's love for people.  We must love others, sacrificially, as Christ did.  We must be ready to give up our comforts to show others that there is something more important to us than "us".  This is where Christ-followers truly become counter-cultural --- if we are following Christ, people are our treasure, materialism loses its power.

Go - share in the power of the Holy Spirit - teach...

...let's do it!  Empower us Lord Jesus to go out and share You!

Day 2 - Week 84 - Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

We attended a special Holiday Memorial Service at our church this evening, designed to comfort families who have lost loved ones through the year and who will be facing the holidays confronted with the sadness and emptiness that such loss brings.  We wondered if we could do it, if we could sit and hear our Michael's name called out, without breaking down into tears.  And we started not to go...but we did...and our daughter-in-law did, and our grandchildren did, and our other children did...and we all honored Michael with our presence and thanked God for the comfort that we received from those around us.

Was it difficult?  Yes.  But the songs, the prayers and, I think, most importantly, the hugs from those who pastor us and from others who are going through similar times of hurt and grief, made it a very good evening for all of us.  We left knowing that we are cared for, by God, and by God through people.  His love for us was truly felt.

I couldn't help but think, "You are always with us."  Even when we feel separated, even when we feel disconnected, God is with us....always.  Satan will try to tell us He is not....He is.  Satan will try to tell us that God is through with us....He isn't.  He is with us, always.

I need to hear this, and I thank God that He reminds me.  I need to feel this, and I thank God that He puts arms around me, arms of fellow Christians who are moving at His prompting to let me know, He loves us.

Our valley is deep, and it seems a long journey.  But I know He is walking with us.  And God is letting me know that He is never leaving, and that this journey will bring growth and insight.  I am praising Him in advance for what will come...maybe one of the lessons to be taught is that we are to always remember that He is with us, always. 

Hanging on to Him, He carries us through.

Quoting David Livingstone one more time,

"For would you like me to tell you what supported me through all the years of exile among people whose language I could not understand, and whose attitude toward me was often hostile?  It was this, 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.' On those words I staked everything, and they never failed."