Rest easy. God is watching.

I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. Psalm 3:5

King David writes this as he is fleeing for his life from his son Absalom, who has orchestrated a coup against him. So, David takes all of his court and they run for their lives. Out of this comes what we just read. David says, he rested during this. I have a hard time resting when a few things around the house go undone. I assume that if a family member were trying to kill me, that rest would be hard to come by. But David says, ‘he slept and woke up in safety because God was watching over him.’ Which causes me to ask myself, “Do I believe in God’s watchful protection enough to rest when times are the hardest?” I am not talking about sleep to escape the problems but I am talking about rest, that reminds me that I am under God’s watchful eye. I got a lot of room grow here. May we all rest under God’s watchful eye.

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Good Fruit Filling

March 30, 2009 Daily Bible Verse

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."

Luke 6:43-45

We recently had to get my oldest daughter a new lunch box. I say ‘had to’ because the old one grew a forest full of mold in it. We (mostly me) didn’t take the leftovers out of the lunch box before we began traveling for spring break and poof ‘Chia’ lunch box was created. (Think Chia Pets) What is inside a container is a big deal. According to Jesus as recorded by Luke, the our actions and the words we say are an out growth of what is in our hearts. So, this leads me to think about what is in my heart. Is there anger, bitterness, and envy or is there love, joy, peace, patience and the like. There is only one way for our hearts to be filled with good things. Let’s hand our hearts to God so that he can fill them up with the stuff that produces good fruit. Good fruit filling is what we need. (Ok, that last line was cheezy)

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A Spiritual Workout

My wife asks me the other day, “How can joy be strength?” Which I thought was a good question. ‘The joy of the Lord will be my strength’ is a song Ihave sung and a verse that I have read for years. I sang it with excitement but it is one of those things that if you would have asked me about, then it would have taken some stumbling around in my mind to come up with... “ Uh, I am not sure”. With that said, this is my best shot right now. In Hebrew 12:1-3 it states that Jesus for the Joy put in front of him endured the cross. There seems to be something about going through hardship and knowing that once you get through it everything will be just right, knowing that the when the is over more than you can imagine will be accomplished, and knowing that if you see this through, then the world will be different. I believe those thoughts brought Jesus joy and with that joy in his heart it gave him the strength to bear the sin of all mankind and the death that would pay for it. God has given us all a picture of great joy that is to come with him? Let that joy be the workout the strengthens your spiritual muscles.


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Fill up your hope tank.

Encouragement is the fuel for the car called Hope. Recently, I have had people give all kinds of support, verbal, financial, spiritual and even their mere presence. I feel so much more hopeful than I did maybe a week or two ago. Not a lot has changed except that I have received great support from my friends.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Heb. 3:13

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Congestion

Most people who live in Houston are familiar with congestion and I am not even talking about traffic. I am talking about allergen instigated nasal congestion. You know, the kind where try to breathe  with all your might and you take in less oxygen than a flea. Well, the last few days nasal congestion has been my plight. As I sit here feeling like there is a brick stuck in my nose and trying to come up with the thought of the day, I find myself thinking about my bills, my coffee shop gig tonight, the Conversant Life contest, my kids, my wife, the dog’s health, the phone calls that need to be made etc, etc, etc. My mind is congested just like my nasal passages. Maybe that is why God says ‘Be Still and know that I am God’. He says stop and focus on knowing one thing – “I am God.” I believe this practice may act like a decongestant for our mind and spirit. It clears the way for us breathe in God’s Spirit. Stop and breathe deeply of the Lord.

 

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Need a little Support?

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Exodus 17:10-13>

Have you ever set out to do something significant and as you worked to see it through, you became tired, discouraged, and/or frustrated? It is at times like these that we need ‘Aarons and Hurs’ in our lives to supports us and lift up our weary, discouraged and frustrated hearts. Lately, I have been supported be several people. Many of you reading this have been a great support to me. Thank-you. May we all be like Aaron and Hur to each other. In this way the kingdom of God will see its enemies defeated.


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In Between

In the story where Jesus is walking on the water and Peter comes out to him, we see the faith of Peter when he says, ‘Lord, if it is you tell me to come out on the water and I will’ and then we see Pete’s faith waiver after he has walked on the sea for a while. His faith brought him far enough away from the boat that he wasn’t swimming back and he had not yet reached Jesus. He was in between. While he was in between is when he noticed the waves and wind. The time in between is probably the hardest for us all to navigate. If we find ourselves in between, then it means that we, like Peter, had enough faith to initially step out siply based on Jesus’ word. It seems that when we are walking according to what Jesus has told us, then this is when the real hardship comes. It’s when the finances dry up, someone gets sick, or things just aren’t going as planned and we can’t see answers to those problems. When we notice the storm and wonder how we will get through it, then we have taken our eyes off of the very one who is the answer to the storm. Let’s stick to the faith the got us out of the boat in the first place and anticipate Jesus being the answer to the difficulties while we are “in between.”

Unwrap your gift and use it!

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 1 Corinthians 14:26

When Paul writes to the church in Corinth he shares with all of them the best ways to use their gifts to encourage the church. For many years, I have not considered using my spiritual gifts to encourage the body when we met together, unless my name was written on the program for the day or I had some title like minister, Senior pastor, preacher, etc. I get the sense that Paul is inviting the whole body to be ready to be used by God when the church gathers. Are you ready to be used by God when the church meets? Have you been given a revelation, or word of instruction, tongue or interpretation or maybe some other gift that may give the church strength? Seek God about how to use it. At least, we should start looking for God to use us regardless of our title. Here is a title that you can take with you every where – child of God. That is title enough to be used by God at any given time. Unwrap your gift and use it!


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Wait!

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind. Isa. 40:31 (The Message)

This has always been a encouraging verse to me, because of the fresh strength, soaring and etc. Today, I am noticing the part about waiting. Notice the strength, the soaring and extra energy are conditional on the wait. If you are in a waiting period, like I am, the waiting can seem unbearable but there is hope. See the waiting as labor pains before the birth or as the climb before the view on the mountain peak. Consider this, if times are hard and you are staying your own devices to wait on the Lord’s plan then hope is coming, fresh strength is coming, glorious flight is coming and energy is on the way.

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