1/30/08
My little girl was a week old yesterday. May I say that this experience of being a Father is quite amazing to the point where words fall very short in describing it accurately.
However, yesterday as I was holding Claire I was talking to her. Of course I know that she can’t understand anything I am saying and is much more interested in her next meal than in her fathers voice. But, I have noticed that her favorite position to be held is tight up against my chest with her head against my heart.
I was so incredibly still that I could feel my pulse as my heart continued to beat. I said aloud, “Although you don’t know it yet baby girl, the sound of love is what you’re hearing.” Of course she didn’t understand that, but I pray one day she will.
I began to think of my Savior…and to think he was probably saying the same thing to me (and the rest of mankind) as a matter of fact. “The sound of love is what you’re hearing.” As he washed the disciples feet, as he turned over tables in the temple, as he was silent before his accusers, as he was scourged, as the nails were driven into his hands and feet, as his blood pooled at the foot of the cross, as he took his last breath, as the stone rolled away. “The sound of love is what you are hearing.” And although you might not understand that now, I pray that someday you will.
Overwhelmed,
luke
(Minister to Students - Hillcrest Baptist Church)
However, yesterday as I was holding Claire I was talking to her. Of course I know that she can’t understand anything I am saying and is much more interested in her next meal than in her fathers voice. But, I have noticed that her favorite position to be held is tight up against my chest with her head against my heart.
I was so incredibly still that I could feel my pulse as my heart continued to beat. I said aloud, “Although you don’t know it yet baby girl, the sound of love is what you’re hearing.” Of course she didn’t understand that, but I pray one day she will.
I began to think of my Savior…and to think he was probably saying the same thing to me (and the rest of mankind) as a matter of fact. “The sound of love is what you’re hearing.” As he washed the disciples feet, as he turned over tables in the temple, as he was silent before his accusers, as he was scourged, as the nails were driven into his hands and feet, as his blood pooled at the foot of the cross, as he took his last breath, as the stone rolled away. “The sound of love is what you are hearing.” And although you might not understand that now, I pray that someday you will.
Overwhelmed,
luke
(Minister to Students - Hillcrest Baptist Church)
1/26/08
1/24/08
1/22/08
I hope my Southern Baptist Pastor isn't reading because I am about to start preaching! Here we go ...
God's plan is that those who have received His grace seek actively to persuade others to accept His divine, free, gracious offer to them. If I fail to invite others to be reconciled to God in Christ, I cease to be an agent of reconciliation, and I show signs of having received God's grace in vain.
Therefore, my involvement in evangelism helps me to share the treasure of God's grace. Person-to-person communication of the Christian faith is God's intended way of building the Church; it is the most credible form of demonstrating God's grace. I need to be involved in missions because God chose to send His Son to human beings. When I communicate God's intentions to others, through word and deed, the Good News is personalized, and it ceases to be theory or a set of abstract ideas. People are not born Christian. They become Christian.
Evangelization is the means by which people are introduced to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Christianity cannot long survive without evangelism. This is the logic that the Apostle Paul sought to impress on the Roman Christians: 'How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?' (Romans 10:14, NIV)
Have you taken the call, the command, to share the Good News seriously? When is the last time you shared the message of Jesus Christ with someone? How will they hear if you do not tell the story?
God's plan is that those who have received His grace seek actively to persuade others to accept His divine, free, gracious offer to them. If I fail to invite others to be reconciled to God in Christ, I cease to be an agent of reconciliation, and I show signs of having received God's grace in vain.
Therefore, my involvement in evangelism helps me to share the treasure of God's grace. Person-to-person communication of the Christian faith is God's intended way of building the Church; it is the most credible form of demonstrating God's grace. I need to be involved in missions because God chose to send His Son to human beings. When I communicate God's intentions to others, through word and deed, the Good News is personalized, and it ceases to be theory or a set of abstract ideas. People are not born Christian. They become Christian.
Evangelization is the means by which people are introduced to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Christianity cannot long survive without evangelism. This is the logic that the Apostle Paul sought to impress on the Roman Christians: 'How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?' (Romans 10:14, NIV)
Have you taken the call, the command, to share the Good News seriously? When is the last time you shared the message of Jesus Christ with someone? How will they hear if you do not tell the story?
1/21/08
1/20/08
1/19/08
I still don't understand the full power of God. Every once in a while, I experience that power through the Spirit's work in my life strengthening me for ministry, helping me love others in tough situations,comforting me when I'm broken, giving me insight when I study the Word, and supporting me in the face of temptation. I am humbled, thrilled, and left longing for more. I want others I love to experience this awesome power. I'm sure it's the same with you. So let's join together today and pray for God to empower those closest to us to discover His power and to do great things through His Spirit who lives in them.
1/17/08
But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8
Sanctification is the term that describes the process by which God takes converted sinners and transforms their character. If you're in Christ, that's the program you're on. God is sanctifying you-little by little molding you into the image of His own Son.
Picture a potter's wheel. The potter spins the turnstile and shapes a mound of clay into a vase, a cup, or a dish. By applying the appropriate pressure from his hands, he works the clay into a work of art. Now picture your life on that wheel. God's hand is purposeful, the pressure is the right amount in the right places. Is it sometimes painful? Almost always. Do you want to resist the process? Naturally you do. Isaiah 45:9 addresses that issue: "I, the Lord, have created it. Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker."
What does it means to quarrel with God? Isaiah continues . . . "Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no handles'?
Like a Disney cartoon come to life, Isaiah imagines a vessel on the potter's wheel screaming, "Get your hands off me, I don't want a handle there!" Isaiah illustrates how silly we sound when we try to direct God's hand. Look at the verse 9 again "Woe to the one who quarrels with His Maker." This is the place where most people struggle spiritually. God has allowed something in your life. Maybe it's your work situation. Maybe it's a marital struggle, or a prolonged health crisis. You could be facing a profound loneliness that won't go away. The choice is easy to understand but tough to make - either I will get bent and eventually bitter or I will allow God to be God.
I know these questions are not easy but you need to answer them for yourself. Am I going to embrace my life situation as something that God is using for good? Or will I fight and resist and spend my whole life wondering why I can't be the lady across the street? Will I trust that He will bring a good result through my yielding to Him?
Will you let God shape you into the person He dreams you can be?
What is the Lord working on in your life right now?
Sanctification is the term that describes the process by which God takes converted sinners and transforms their character. If you're in Christ, that's the program you're on. God is sanctifying you-little by little molding you into the image of His own Son.
Picture a potter's wheel. The potter spins the turnstile and shapes a mound of clay into a vase, a cup, or a dish. By applying the appropriate pressure from his hands, he works the clay into a work of art. Now picture your life on that wheel. God's hand is purposeful, the pressure is the right amount in the right places. Is it sometimes painful? Almost always. Do you want to resist the process? Naturally you do. Isaiah 45:9 addresses that issue: "I, the Lord, have created it. Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker."
What does it means to quarrel with God? Isaiah continues . . . "Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no handles'?
Like a Disney cartoon come to life, Isaiah imagines a vessel on the potter's wheel screaming, "Get your hands off me, I don't want a handle there!" Isaiah illustrates how silly we sound when we try to direct God's hand. Look at the verse 9 again "Woe to the one who quarrels with His Maker." This is the place where most people struggle spiritually. God has allowed something in your life. Maybe it's your work situation. Maybe it's a marital struggle, or a prolonged health crisis. You could be facing a profound loneliness that won't go away. The choice is easy to understand but tough to make - either I will get bent and eventually bitter or I will allow God to be God.
I know these questions are not easy but you need to answer them for yourself. Am I going to embrace my life situation as something that God is using for good? Or will I fight and resist and spend my whole life wondering why I can't be the lady across the street? Will I trust that He will bring a good result through my yielding to Him?
Will you let God shape you into the person He dreams you can be?
What is the Lord working on in your life right now?
1/16/08
Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." -- Ruth 1:16
God loves loyalty and bestows his blessing and favor when we are loyal to others. In an era where people are thrown away as readily as paper plates and napkins, let's remember that loyalty is a quality that God not only loves, but it is also a quality that he defines for us in Jesus. So let's see loyalty to friends, to family, and to other followers of Jesus as a crucial commitment.
God loves loyalty and bestows his blessing and favor when we are loyal to others. In an era where people are thrown away as readily as paper plates and napkins, let's remember that loyalty is a quality that God not only loves, but it is also a quality that he defines for us in Jesus. So let's see loyalty to friends, to family, and to other followers of Jesus as a crucial commitment.
1/15/08
1/12/08
1/11/08
1/9/08
1/7/08
Someone has said that we must study doctrine in the light in order that it would sustain us in times of darkness. In a world where "truth" is often only as real as one's "experience," this is excellent advice! It is absolutely essential that we who claim to know Christ choose to ground ourselves securely in the sound teaching of Scripture.
1/5/08
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. -- 2 Peter 1:5-7
Mold me and make me, Father, more perfectly conformed to your will and more perfectly consistent with your character. I do not pray this for my glory, but so that you can more effectively use me to share your blessings and grace with those around me.
In Jesus 'name I pray. Amen.
Mold me and make me, Father, more perfectly conformed to your will and more perfectly consistent with your character. I do not pray this for my glory, but so that you can more effectively use me to share your blessings and grace with those around me.
In Jesus 'name I pray. Amen.
1/4/08
1/3/08
1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
When we try to figure out what it means to be holy, we think of many things that we do which we shouldn't. Our minds fill with 'thou shalt nots' and we promise ourselves that we will do better. Our minds should not be so filled by the bad things we have done; we should focus on the good things we can do. Certainly, the Christian walk requires sacrifice, but the benefits involved far outweigh the costs. Our focus must be on what we receive rather than what we must do without. Christianity is not turning from what we shouldn't do - it is doing what God calls us to do.
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
When we try to figure out what it means to be holy, we think of many things that we do which we shouldn't. Our minds fill with 'thou shalt nots' and we promise ourselves that we will do better. Our minds should not be so filled by the bad things we have done; we should focus on the good things we can do. Certainly, the Christian walk requires sacrifice, but the benefits involved far outweigh the costs. Our focus must be on what we receive rather than what we must do without. Christianity is not turning from what we shouldn't do - it is doing what God calls us to do.
1/1/08
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