Calloused, yet Tender
I own a guitar, but rarely play! Somehow, it was the 'in' thing in high school to own a guitar. Some of my friends played well, but after giving up hopes of becoming rock stars, I think their guitars became dust collectors!! I did play my guitar quite often in college, but then laid it aside when life became even more busy with a family and full-time jobs!
Recently, I picked up my guitar to play a few chords, but after a several minutes, my fingers began to hurt. Any musician knows that callouses begin to form on the tips of your fingers once you practice guitar. Thereby, one can play without his fingers hurting.
When my fingers began to hurt, the Holy Spirit whispered a glorious truth to my heart. It is - worship will tenderize my heart towards Christ, but callous my heart towards the cares of the world.' Allow me to explain. I use the term 'callous' in a good way. This world is extremely time-sensitive. That is, it is a fast-food culture with quick fixes and long 'to do' lists. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explains that some people hear the Gospel in this manner - "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Mark 4:19). Thus, this world can choke us with cares, but worship will callous us in the sense that we rise above the cares; namely, we are not dragged down by cares.
Worship has a way of quieting our souls. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). This quiet is like a callous on your fingers after playing the guitar. Problems may assail, but a calm assurance that Jesus will prevail becomes your anthem.
When was the most recent occasion that you truly worshipped Jesus in the beauty of who He is? "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). As you worship, the Spirit of God will rest upon your spirit and remind you of truth. May that happen to you today.
Encouragement for a Fading Faith
Often we struggle with faith. A better way to state such a struggle is that we wrestle within ourselves as to whether or not we have 'enough' faith. Who is the judge of 'enough' faith and how can I personally know when I have 'enough' faith? The answer is astounding... you will never know if you have 'enough' faith. We are not responsible for having 'enough' faith but we are responsible for having 'enough' of our circumstances. Allow me to explain.
Let's look at the disciple Peter in Matthew 14. In chapter 14 of Matthew's Gospel, we see the disciples boarding a ship at the Lord's command in verse 22 - this is an important part of the text! We will focus on this as we further study.
As the disciples were on the boat at night, verse 23-25, we see that the Lord came to them on the water. Why night? Because light is best seen in the dark. Jesus Himself stated that He is the Light of the world (Matthew 5:16). As the Light came to them in the night, fear began to envelope their hearts. Jesus assured them that it was Him on the water (verse 27). The disciple Peter then requested the unthinkable. Jesus bring us to the end of ourselves so we have had 'enough' of only the possible. Our hearts long for the miraculous, the impossible, and the unthinkable. Why? We were made for Him who makes the impossible possible!
The disciple Peter steps out on the water and walks towards the Lord. His eyes were never on his faith... his eyes were on Christ. Beloved, when you and I wrestle with a fading faith, it is not that we do not have 'enough' faith, but our eyes are simply strayed from the face of Christ. As long as you and I gaze at Him, 'enough' faith is not an issue. As Peter's eyes gazed at the waves, he began to sink (verse 30). His eyes still had Christ in sight because we hear him call out to be saved! If had no faith at all, he could have never walked upon the water. Even when his faith faded, he did not sink immediately, but 'began' to sink. The Lord's mercies provide for us in such a way that we are not consumed. "Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not" (Lamentations 3:22).
Remember I stated that it is important to note that Jesus led the disciples to the boat in verse 22? The Lord initiated the season of growth in Peter's relationship with Himself because He is the one who commanded the disciples to board the boat. The Lord takes full responsibility for what He initiates and will oversee our faith journey in the process!
Brothers and Sisters, even in faith failures, we are not hopeless cases because the Lord oversees the faith journey anyway!! The Lord compassionately restores faith. The rest of the story reminds us that Jesus saved Peter and they 'both' walked back to the boat (verse 32). Once they came back to the boat, Peter was not exclaiming that he had great faith... only the Lord praises our faith (Luke 7:9). The disciples exclaimed how great is the Lord (verse 33 - Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped Him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.)
May our praise be on how great our God is, not how great is our faith; this takes the pressure off of having 'enough' faith. I can have 'enough' of the possible in order that I am prepared to watch God do the impossible and simply enjoy and worship Jesus in the beauty of who He is!
Delayed Obedience verses Disobedience
If both were boxers and in the ring, each would have knocked out the other!! "...to him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17) There is the sin of commission (the willful act of choosing to do evil) and the sin of omission (the willful act of refusing to do good). For instance, have your parents ever told you to do a chore and you said no? If so, you disobeyed. Have you ever done something that was evil, like a lie or, you fill in the blank? If so, you disobeyed. Choosing evil (like lying) as well as refusing good (doing chores) are BOTH disobedience. Better stated, delayed obedience is wrapped in a heart that was disobedient to the original command that God told you. God will honor obedience no matter what, but delayed obedience often has consequences as a result of the delay. Need a biblical example? I would love to share one.
Do you recall King Agag? Let's refresh our memories - And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. (1 Samuel 15:7-9). Saul was commanded of the Lord to wipe out the Amalekites. He freed Israel from the Amalekites and had captured their king so what was the big deal? The big deal was that God did not say to capture the king and destroy everyone else, but to destroy everyone!
Saul disobeyed, thus his obedience was incomplete and delayed. It was delayed in the sense that he did not fully carry out God's original command. The result? You and I have the book of Esther in our Bible. Esther and the Israelites were in exile and were in danger of being destroyed by Haman. Who was Haman? He was an Agagite, a descendent from King Agag! Had Agag been destroyed at the time of God's original command, there would have been no Haman and no danger of the Israelites being destroyed while in exile. You see, beloved, God loves obedience in a prompt manner. May we be about prompt obedience.
Have you ever been there? I sure have.... and more times that I like to remember. Here is my encouragement: When God tells you to do something, do it promptly, swiftly, unreservedly, passionately, and do not look back! "But Jesus said to him, 'No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'" (Luke 9:62)
I have always loved Christmas, but this year it has been extremely different. Rather than focusing on what I 'want,' I have found myself learning to focus on what I 'need.' Family time is extremely important and the real meaning of Christmas has been at the forefront of my mind more than ever. Gifts are not meant for us to add more stuff to our collection of stuff! Gifts are meant to remind us of the gift of Christ bestowed upon us. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).
As a teenager, I wanted a pair of Timberland boots for Christmas. For a tenth grader at Piedmont High School surrounded by country boys and who was one himself, it was always appropriate to wear Carhartt's and boots; that was my attire and I loved it... and still do! Well, in tenth grade, I received my wish; I was given a pair of Timberland boots by my parents. I literally wore them out. Since then, I have gone through numerous boots and this year, my Mom and Dad gave me a new pair of Rockport boots. Do you know why I love this gift? It was not because I necessarily needed a pair of boots, but the gift reminded me of those Timberlands in tenth grade. I suppose it was a feeling of nostalgia. Of course, I loved the Rockport boots and plan on getting a lot of use from them as well.
So, why all the talk about boots at Christmas? God has given us His Son, Jesus Christ, the greatest gift of all. Every other gift in this life is to point us back to Jesus. What 'gifts' have you been given this year? It may have been a trial... a trial? Yes, a trial! I know I have walked through several trials this year and each one may have not been requested or that enjoyable, but they all pointed me back to the greatest gift, intimacy with Christ. And guess what? I cherish those Rockports simply because they point back to that time in my life when I wished for a pair of Timberlands as a high schooler and received them. Beloved, cherish your trials as gifts from God to point you back to a loving Lord who gave His life for you. "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (various trials); knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:2-3).
Coffee and Jesus help me start the day.....not always in that order :) With that being said, one of my favorite Christmas gifts was... yes, you guessed it, coffee! My bride, Christie, gave me some instant coffee packs, but before you knock instant coffee, let me explain. This coffee taste very close to real, brewed coffee and I would know. Our family has traveled to Georgia this week and in preparation for the trip I packed three packets of instant coffee. Christie's family doesn't drink as much coffee as I do so I wanted to be prepared. As I entered my mother-in-law's kitchen, I saw something that blessed my heart.... a Keurig Coffee Maker! Lisa, my mother-in-law, received the Keurig as a Christmas gift and I have already started using the coffee maker since we have been in Georgia. What about my instant coffee packets? They are still packed away!
The point? Every provision we pack for a journey has already been provided in a better way than we ever could have thought possible. I packed three packets of instant coffee so I could 'get awake' in the morning. Upon our arrival, a Keurig coffee maker was already in place that makes real coffee. You and I often fret about our journey in the Lord Jesus and attempt to 'pack' things for the journey, such as financial provisions, planned out retirements, insurance, vacations, and the like. However, no suitcase is as secure as the one that carries with it the assurance that wherever I travel, He has already been! Every need that we possess drives us to a provision that already existed, much like the Keurig Coffee Maker. "...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9.
"A man's heart plans his ways, but the LORD directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). Beloved, no matter what the concern, Christ your Savior has already provided every sufficiency you will EVER need. Jesus Christ provided everything for us through His death at the cross and we simply need to draw on what He has already deposited in our hearts through an act of faith. May we be about walking moment by moment in the sufficiency which accompanies salvation (Hebrews 6:9).
Come and Go as You Please
Recently, my wife and I completely modified one of the rooms in our house. Our office is a small room in our home where we naturally had a couple pieces of office furniture including a desk that we used everyday. Our little girl, Elizabeth, is getting more mobile and loves to climb almost anything! Our son, Judah, is 10 months old and loves to play on the floor in our living room. Christie and I decided to move out some of our office furniture, rearrange our living room so we could have our desk in it, and use the former office as a play room for Lizzie and Judah. That was a lot of work just thinking about it! Once Lizzie saw some of her toys in her new playroom, she was so excited and walked right in to play. The flip side to all of this is that Christie and I positioned a room gate in front of the new play room so Lizzie could not leave the room; this was necessary for Judah to be able to play on the floor in the living room. Lizzie is still learning how to touch little brother gently and be easy with him. Lizzie loved being behind the 'gate' in her new play room right??? Wrong!!!
So what did we do? We decided to remove the room gate so Lizzie could come and go as she pleased. The result? Lizzie LOVES to play in her new play room!!!! Isn't that strange? When the gate is up, she feels confined and wants out of the room, but when it is down, she loves being in the play room.
My friend, our walk with Jesus is very similar to Lizzie and her new play room. The more rules you and I attempt to follow as Christians, the worse we become. Paul felt that way, too. "For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." (Romans 7:19) He also spoke of this very same issue in Galatians 2:19 - For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God." The more rules Paul wanted to follow, the harder it was to live godly! In fact, he also stated in Romans 7 that evil was present with his desire to live holy and took him captive to the sin that dwelled within him and he sinned! His plea was simply, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..." Romans 7:24-25a.
The room gate in the new play room is much like the law of God or the rules we attempt to live by to be better Christians. There is no such thing, by the way. Christ makes us totally acceptable to the Father so our obedience can flow, rather than come through force. The room gate only made Lizzie more aware of confinement and she simply wanted out. Once the gate was down, she felt free and enjoyed her room! Do you get it? "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." John 10:9 Lizzie was able to go in and out, but chose to stay in and play when she was no longer confined. Jesus Christ has made us free from sin and death, thereby giving no requirements to fulfill whatsoever to be made right with God. As a result, we can enjoy our new playroom! Namely, we can enjoy our freedom and empowerment to obey because the room gate is down. The law of God was fulfilled through His Son. So, enjoy no longer being confined by the law, but empowered to obey because the gate is down.....the law is fulfilled... and you can find pasture!!
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