A Steady Diet of Jesus
June 29, 2008
This past week Jamie and I went to a pastor’s conference in Pensacoloa Florida where we had the privilege to hear H.B.London speak. One of the issues he spoke about was pastors trying to do ministry under their own steam. It is impossible for the church to build a God honoring ministry based on talent, financial resources, or administrative ability alone. This is where it gets tricky. All of these things are usually factors in a Christ honoring ministry, but they must never be the driving factor. Without the Holy Spirit we have no power to do the impossible. When the Holy Spirit blesses the work nothing can stop it. I hope that makes your soul pant for God.
It is probably easier to put Christ on a back burner in he ministry than any secular vocation. God is honored in your work when you make it your goal to honor Him in it. Found this to be the case when I worked at Warrington Middle School. Galatians 5:16 states, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” We walk in the Spirit when we walk with a continual awareness of who we are in Christ intent on applying the truth we have learned about Christ in our daily lives. Our lives and church must literally become the fragrance of Christ.
The goal of every believer is not merely to act like our concept of what we believe a Christian ought to be but to allow Christ to live through us by way of the Holy Spirit. If you enter a church full of cookie cutter Christians it is usually proof that the Lord is not in it. The men and women of the Bible were very different. Grace, dependent on the Holy Spirit is vital to us serving Christ. “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of host” (Zechariah 4:6) is as true today as it has always been. If we are to please Christ we must make our relationship with Him a part of our daily diet. Learn something new about Jesus and make it part of your life today.
That Seems a Little Out of Place
June 15, 2008
One morning this week I opened the refrigerator door to get a glass of milk and there was a clothes hanger neatly laid between the eggs and the orange juice. There is nothing strange about a clothes hanger until you see one in the refrigerator. I immediately knew that my two year old daughter had put it there. She meant well but simply did not know that it was out of place. There are two obvious lessons in this.
First, even the most common place truths must be taught. As parents we often take for granted that what is obvious to us should be obvious to our children. Ephesians 6:4 states, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Let me expound upon that verse. Parents don’t react harshly to a child for doing something wrong if we have never taught them the right way. If anyone has ever assigned you a difficult job without any training and criticized you when you didn’t get it right then you know how it feels.
Secondly, although the clothes hanger was not bad within and of itself, it took up space where something else was intended to go. Like a refrigerator a Christian’s life should be a source of preservation for a lot of things that would otherwise spoil. When the world opens the door to our lives and looks inside what crosses their minds? I am not saying that what they see is wrong within and of itself, but is it out of place? If it makes the world question our spiritual priorities, then it is wrong for us. What would be blessings have we not made room for them in our lives? Does our society decay because we have filled our lives with things that never should have been there in the first place? Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned; it is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matthew 5:13). Dads, if our children are ever to know these things it will be up to us to teach them.
Living in the Gnat Zone
June 8, 2008
It certainly will not be the first question I ask God when I get to heaven, but I want to know why God created gnats. I used to think gnats lived everywhere. This is not so. There is an imaginary line of demarcation called the gnat line. The northern line runs through central Georgia and Alabama while the southern line runs parallel to the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida Panhandle. It is wonderful to live below the gnat line but it is also wonderful to live in the gnat zone. It would not make much sense if people left this section of country because they did not want to put up with the inconvenience of a few gnats.
People miss out on so many blessings because they refuse to learn to ignore simple little things. We often start the day full of hope for relaxation, only to have it spoiled by a presence of something that could easily be ignored. Let me tell you about a few gnats that are in my face everyday. Rising gas prices keep swarming around my head daily. Now that I think about it the price of everything is rising. The political landscape certainly isn’t shaping up the way I want it to. Think about this. Gnats only bother you when you are standing still. Many of the things that bother us in life will take care of themselves if we learn to count our blessings and enjoy the many things God has given us the opportunity to enjoy. The reality is that problems like gnats won’t go away. We have all been richly blessed by God. Are you enjoying the day God has given you or fretting over the cloud of gnats that are following you around?