I’ve been reminded many times over the past few months how hard it can be when the theology you have been teaching suddenly becomes something that you have to live out. It is the time when your head knowledge has to grow feet, you have to go somewhere and do something. For example, think about taking a class in sky diving. I imagine (and that is all I will ever do!) that you spend some time in a classroom learning about the mechanics of how to put on a parachute, how the parachute works, when to pull the cord, how to exit the plane…etc. But at some point you are going to get into a plane that you will not be in when it lands. You are going to go up…way up, and then you are going to stand at the open door, look down, and jump!

 A dear family friend gave me a series of books, the first two or three of which are a dramatized story of King Hezekiah’s reign. Hezekiah’s father was an evil king of the southern kingdom of Judah but when Hezekiah became king he led the nation to repent of the idol worship that had taken place. He cleaned out the temple and reestablished the worship of the one true God.  His father had made the awful and sinful decision to align himself and the kingdom with the evil nation of Assyria. Hezekiah knew that this was wrong so he stepped out in faith and believed that God would protect and bless the nation as they obeyed. This was a bold decision but one that did not have any immediate negative consequences. In fact, God honored His covenant and began to bless the nation once again. Several years of prosperity later the Assyrians are on the move and headed right for tiny Judah. They had brutally conquered, pillaged, and taken into slavery every nation that has stood in their path including the northern ten tribes of Israel.

Messengers arrive from Assyria to …..well basically, scare Hezekiah into submitting again to Assyria’s control. Look at 2 Kings 19:1-4 (NASB)

And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD.  Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.  They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.

This is where the rubber meets the road for Hezekiah. Stepping out in faith is one thing but now the lives of the whole nation hang in the balance. But look at the faithfulness of God:

‘Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, “He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it.  By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the LORD.  ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’” Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.  So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.  It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place. (2 Kings 19:32-37 NASB)

That’s the past. In the present there are many who are having their faith tested in a mighty way. I can think of three examples that have recently been in the public eye. First, and most seriously, there is the pastor in Iran who is still in prison and facing execution for his faith.

My second and third examples are not in danger of losing their lives but they do face some pretty public pressure here in the states. Tim Tebow has been incredibly bold about his faith in God. Since signing with the New York Jets, public opinion blogs seem to have almost a gleeful anticipation of him falling into some sort of sin as he faces the big city of New York. Kirk Cameron is another public figure who has been bold in his testimony. After an interview in which he was asked about his beliefs regarding gay marriage and homosexuality, he has been made fun of in a video featuring many other former stars of 80’s and 90’s television programs. They are now beginning to sell t-shirts and videos lampooning him and his beliefs.

These men, as well as many of us, have all come to the point in their/our walks of faith where the rubber meets the road and have found and are finding the Lord to be faithful. Brothers and sisters, we MUST be praying for each other!!

Now for the future, guess what….we will all come to a point where the rubber meets the road in our faith. How will you do? Here are some pointers for you….prayer, Bible study and the accountability found in a Bible believing group of fellow believers.

I mean a LOT of prayer, deep crying out to God to reveal Himself to you each day so that you can be more like Him and bring Him more glory. I mean serious Bible study. An article found today on Foxnews.com mentioned that while 82% of Americans claim to believe that the Bible is a holy and important book, only 46% of them could identify whether a teaching was from the Bible, the Koran, or the book of Mormon….in other words, they aren’t actually READING it!! (I wonder how you would do…I wonder how I would do?) And finally if you aren’t involved with a local Bible preaching church….find one and get plugged in!

Be ready for when….not if…. the rubber meets the road for you!

In Genesis 16 we have the story of Abram and Sarai becoming impatient waiting for God to give them their promised child. Taking matters into their own hands, Sarai follows the cultural tradition and gives her maid Hagar to Abram to father a child with. The plan backfires when Hagar becomes pregnant and begins to treat Sarai badly. Sarai responds with bad treatment of her own and Hagar runs away.

In verse 9 the angel of the Lord tells Hagar to go back to Sarai and submit to her and then promises to bless her child. Hagar then declares: “Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”  (v. 17 emphasis mine)

In Hebrew, the name she uses is El Roi (pronounced EL raw-EE). What a beautiful name…..the God who sees me. Hagar had had it. She took off, not knowing where she was going, just knowing that she had to get away from where she was. I’ve been there……. times where I’ve had it, and am ready to take my ball and go home. But the God who sees me knows just where I am and gently comes along and tells me that blessings await me if I will obey Him, stay in the game and submit to what He has for me.

Let’s be honest, that’s hard to do sometimes. But knowing that I serve El Roi is such a comfort. He knows about all of the struggles and the disappointments. Not only does He know, but He cares, He loves, He controls, and He blesses.

I will delight in serving El Roi!

Everyone admires those who have the courage to stand boldly and with integrity for their convictions. It is people like this that Rudyard Kipling described in his famous poem “If”.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son! 

If being unwavering in your convictions is an admirable quality in the world, how much more essential is it that we as followers of Jesus display a steadfastness in our faith?

When the first church was planted in Antioch Barnabas was sent to “encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord.” (Acts 11:23 NASB emphasis mine)

The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to “be steadfast, immovable,…… stand firm in the faith” To the church in Galatia, “keep standing firm”, to Ephesus, “stand firm” three times, and for the believers in Philippi to be, “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together”. He praised the Colossian believers for the “stability” of their faith, and in both letters to Thessalonica he told them to “stand firm.”

James warned against being double-minded and unstable. Peter wrote to be “firm in your faith” and “stand firm in it.” He also warned that there are those who would be “enticing unstable souls” and that those who are “untaught and unstable” will distort the Word of God.

Wow, I guess standing firm in our faith is pretty important!  So how do we do it?

In Philippians 4:1 Paul says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. (NASB emphasis mine)

The “therefore” and the “in this way” show that Paul is about to build on his teachings in chapter 3 which emphasize the believer’s pursuit of Christlikeness…..our goal in this life and our prize in the next life.

In the first 9 verses of chapter 4 Paul adds a few things to the list.

1. Unity in our fellowship with other believers (vs. 2-3).  Anyone else out there seeing the unity of the church come under attack?  2I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.
2. Maintain joy (v. 4). Practice joy….not based on circumstances, but based on the One who is in complete control of all circumstances!   4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
3. Be gracious, humble, reasonable, content…..(v. 5a). The Greek word that is translated “gentle spirit” in the NASB means all of those things listed and more. I must be pursuing those character traits in my life. 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.
4. Peace that passes understanding based on God’s unchanging presence in my life (vs. 5b-6a). Because He is near, I do not need to fear nor will I collapse under pressure and trials. ….The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing…
5. Practice prayerful gratitude in response to trouble (vs. 6b-7). Stepping out in faith with this reaction brings peace to my heart and mind! …..but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
6. Focus on Godly virtues (v. 8). How much of each day do I spend focusing on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise? How many of the things I see, hear, or do pass the test of these virtues?   8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
7. Practice Christlikeness (v. 9). Paul wraps it up by bringing it all back to pursuing the Christlikeness that he talked about in chapter 3.  9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

All of these things come down to spiritual disciplines. I must grow in my knowledge of God, in the depth of my relationship with Him, and in my obedience. Those things don’t happen just because I want them to or even because I know that they should. They happen as I pursue them passionately….. that is my prayer for myself and for you!

Do you ever feel like there is a disconnect between your head and your heart; between your beliefs and your actions? I know I do, and if you don’t struggle with this please get in touch with me and let me in on your secret!

I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home and sent to a Christian school for several years of my education. I didn’t particularly like it when my Bible teacher assigned long passages of scripture to be memorized but I am so grateful for that now! Because of this strong foundation, I can pretty much give a biblically solid answer for a lot of life’s questions. The problem is the ‘disconnect’ that takes place between knowing the right thing to do or attitude to have and actually doing it!

It makes me feel better that the Apostle Paul struggled with this disconnect too.

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. (Romans 7:21-25 NLT)

How do we win this battle with ourselves? I can tell you that the answer is not in having a lot of scripture memorized because if you read Paul’s letters in the Bible you can see that he knew his Old Testament scriptures and he had direct, divine inspiration for a good portion of the New Testament! The answer is not in church attendance or prayer alone either. I’m not saying that those things are not important, in fact, they are vital. But in and of themselves they are not the answer.

The answer is in those things….Bible study, prayer, fellowship and accountability with other believers AND allowing the Holy Spirit to use those things to change you.

We must remember that the follow-through of changing to be like Jesus is key….it’s not enough to just know the right answer. The apostle James sums this thought up.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:22-25 NLT emphasis mine)

I’ll close with the words of David.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
      test me and know my anxious thoughts.
 Point out anything in me that offends you,
      and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT)

Search me, know me, test me….show me where I don’t line up with You and what I need to do to in order to bring You glory! That should be our prayer. 

You might read that title and say, “Huh?”

That’s what I thought when I read “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it.” (Psalm 119:35 NASB) Why does the psalmist have to ask God to make him do something that brings him delight? I delight in spending time on the beach. (That’s “coast” for my NC friends!) Never in my life has someone had to make me go to the beach….not once.

I think the meaning is more like how I delight in walking in the mornings. Once I am out there walking I love it, and I really delight in the feeling I have when I am done. But when I wake up in the morning, look at the clock and see that it is time to get up and lace up my sneakers….well, I’m not feeling delightful. I usually lay there for a minute or so and think of all the reasons I could stay in bed. But then I force myself to get up and get moving. You know how? By focusing on the delight that will be mine once I begin.

What does the psalmist mean when he says to “walk in the path of Your commandments?” Simply, it means living a life of obedience to the truths of God’s Word. I say ‘simply’ because the concept is simple, but the practice of it can be, oh so, difficult!

God’s Word tells me to be kind. Sometimes I just don’t want to be kind, I want to be mean to someone who was mean to me. We are told to forgive. I rarely delight in the thought of forgiving. We are told to have joy even when times are hard. In our flesh, that’s just crazy to even suggest! Here’s a toughie….we are told to be content in our circumstances. But what if I don’t like the way things are right now. I don’t delight in contentment, and left on my own I will whine, pout, and be miserable.

It seems that the psalmist knew what he was talking about when he asked God to make him walk in obedience. He knew, as we learn when we obey, that there is great delight in living our lives in submission to God’s Word. We need help remembering that. I’m so grateful that not only does God remind me of the delight that He gives, He also gives me the push I need to get out there on the right path.

Dear God…make me the me who brings glory to You!

During the 1952 season of I Love Lucy, Lucy is pregnant but the actual word “pregnant” is not allowed to be used. In the 1957 pilot of Leave it to Beaver the audience was not allowed to see a toilet seat, only the tank. If you watch TV for five minutes these days,  I’m sure you would agree that as the saying goes…”We’ve come a long way, baby!” Actually it would be better said, “We’ve fallen a long way, baby!”

That’s the way sin usually works. It creeps up on you. First, we tolerate it. We don’t like it and might even complain about it but generally we can’t be bothered with making a strong stand against it. The next thing you know, we accommodate it, and gradually we lose our outrage at the wickedness of it. Often around this point we will find that we will laugh at the sin when we see it being made light of on TV or in other forms of the media. Before long we find ourselves legitimizing it, even making excuses for it and defending it. Finally, we are anticipating in it and embracing it.

I came across a quote in my studies this week.

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
                         -Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

Here’s another one:

“At first sin was a fragile as a spider’s thread, and finally as stout as a ship’s hawser; sin arrived as a passerby, next lingered for a moment, then came as a visitor, and finally became master of the house.”
                          -Israel Shenker, Coat of Many Colors, 1985

The apostle James talks about this same thing.

“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.  Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. “ (James 1:14-15 NASB)

Depressing, right? Let’s focus on a few verses in Philippians that give us an upward progression instead.

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”  (1:9-11 NASB)

Paul is praying for 5 things here and they build on each other.

1.)    That God’s divine love will grow abundantly in them, and that this love will be rooted in the truth of His Word and discernment.

2.)    That the Philippians believers (us too!) would build on that love by discerning what is best and excellent, which will result in biblical thinking and living.

3.)    That they will live sincere lives without hypocrisy. This means that their (and our) physical lives are in harmony with our spiritual lives. This means not living one way during the week and another way on Sunday….or differently depending on which friends you are with.

4.)    This will result in good works (fruit of righteousness).

5.)    And finally, the results will be the praise and glory of God.

You could say that in our spiritual lives we are always on a down escalator. In order to go up, we must fight against the downward trend and move forward in our walk, like Paul prayed for the Philippian believers. If we stop moving forward, we start to go down. It’s that simple. So let’s determine to keep moving up!

There’s a dream in my soul
A fire that’s deep inside me
There’s a me no one knows
Waiting to be set free
I’m gonna see that day
I can feel it
I can taste it
Change is coming my way……I was born to be somebody

Those are lyrics to a song and if you recognize them you are almost definitely under thirty, I would even venture a guess that you have not even hit twenty yet. The song is by Justin Bieber (my kids just groaned here). If you are significantly over thirty you may not have a clue who I am talking about….don’t worry, I promise that lack on your part will not affect your life in the slightest!

As far as the world is concerned Justin Bieber has managed to fulfill his dream of being somebody. According to his website he is a self-taught musician who plays the drums, piano, guitar, and trumpet. He started singing at the age of twelve and after winning a local talent contest began posting his song videos on YouTube. He was discovered in 2008 and by June of 2011 he was ranked number two in earnings of musicians under thirty. (Yes, I went on his website and yes, I now know more than I need to or want to about the boy…I did however, refrain from joining Bieber Nation or purchasing his new fragrance Someday…”the new fragrance for her that gives back”….what does that even mean?)

I believe that God places in man’s heart a desire to “be somebody,” to be significant. I looked up the word “significant” in a couple of different dictionaries. Basically it means “having meaning,” “having or likely to have influence or effect,” “important or of consequence.” What a blessing the” significant” Christians that God has brought into my life are to me. By the world’s standards they wouldn’t amount to much, but they have had “influence or effect” on me. They have most definitely been “important or of consequence” to me.

I have spent a lot of time recently thinking and praying about why some Christians are significant and some really are not.  While some of those who have been significant to me have been pastors or teachers, many of them are just regular sit-in-the-pew Christians. One thing stands out in the lives of these “somebodies” and that is they all have disciplined their lives to do the main things really well. They have made it a priority to spend time in the Word, in prayer, in witnessing, in giving, and in being accountable to fellow believers. Those are just the basics but they do them really well. In the book of Acts we have recorded a short instruction that Barnabas gave to some new believers….it sums it up quite well.

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose (11:23 ESV emphasis mine)

“Steadfast purpose.” What does that mean?

Steadfast carries the meaning of being unmovable and unshakeable. It is someone who stands firm in their faith no matter what circumstance comes their way. A purpose is an end to be attained. So someone with a steadfast purpose moves forward no matter what because they know that their eternity is secure.  Their faith is so deeply rooted in the reality of who God is, what He has done for them, and His immeasurable love for them that they simple stand firm come what may. These folks are usually highly significant to those around them

A believer without “steadfast purpose” has a tendency to live their life like a pinball game. They simply react to what happens around and to them. Their walk goes up and down based on circumstances and feelings. When things go bad they will initially run to God, begging and pleading for the bad things to stop happening. If things get better, their faith walk slips back into neutral. If things don’t get better fast enough they get frustrated and think that God must not love them enough or be powerful enough to help them. With no discipline to stand firm and no clear focus on an ultimate purpose, they flounder. Sadly, these people are rarely significant Christians.

I want to be somebody, I want to be significant, not by the world’s standards, but by God’s. I want to have influence and be of consequence in other believer’s lives and the lives of those who need to hear the gospel. In order to be significant, I have to discipline myself to do the main things really well. I must “remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.”

Dear Lord, I want to count in other’s lives for You!

“Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives.” Those words opened the soap opera my Grammy watched a long time ago. Sometimes when I was sick and couldn’t go to school I would stay with her. We would watch game shows and then her soaps while she fed me. Grammy wasn’t a big believer in the whole “starve a fever” thing. Unless you had a major stomach ailment she figured every illness could be helped with food! I miss her….
That opening line came to my mind as I read Psalm 90. Moses is the writer here and he starts with the eternal nature of God and goes quickly into the frailty and hopelessness of man. In verse 12 he asks God to, “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”  I’ve been pondering what Moses meant by numbering our days and what does a heart of wisdom look like?  I just celebrated my birthday, so it’s fresh in my mind that we number our years. But Moses, having just talked for the last 9 verses about the sad state of man, is asking God to keep him focused on the shortness of his time here so that he will be gain a wise heart. What does a wise heart look like? The answer is found in the following verses. 
1.       We will look forward to eternity (v. 13 Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!),

2.       We will be drawn into a more intimate relationship with God (v. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.),

3.        We will long to have the hard times swallowed up in the joy of being with Him (v. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil ).

4.       We will desire to see Him come through in a mighty way (v. 16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
   and your glorious power to their children),

5.       We will want our time here to be fruitful (v. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
   and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!).

So this week I’ve been asking God to help me to number my days. I don’t know how long I will be on this earth or how long God will use me in any one particular place or way. But I do know that I want to fruitful. I want to be focused on eternity and a longing to see Him work in and through me.

I hate to sound cliché, but today really is the first day of the rest of your life. We can’t get back any time that we have wasted. But we can strive to make sure that we “number our days” and make each one count!