When To Say 'When'

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

All of us have heard the serenity prayer, but just in case you do not remember, it goes like this:

God grant me the serenity

             to accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference.

Thinking about this, the struggle becomes where does the wisdom part kick in?  One of the toughest things that we must do as Christians is knowing when to let God take control.  There are relationships that I will fight tirelessly to fix or situations that I spend seemingly endless hours trying to get done.  In my early walk of faith, my belief was if I just willed myself enough, it would get done saying to myself Philippians 4:13 (I can do all this through him who gives me strength).  As my spiritual growth expanded, I learned some situations called on my leaning on God as Jesus in Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  But which one applies when?

One purpose of our journey of faith is learning exactly when to say ‘when.’  One of the great truths that I have learned from leadership is that there are some problems that can’t be solved, and some tensions that are never resolved.  They are situations that must be managed.  Serenity is exactly like this, and wisdom is our experiences that allow for us to know when to drive and when to let God handle it.  Everyone's ability to handle a situation varies.  One person might be better equipped to handle a financial crisis, and another could be more adept at dealing with emotional distress.  It does not matter where you are strong or weak.  It matters to know what your limit is and when to accept God’s handling of it.

God is all knowing, and His wisdom is far greater than our own understanding.  Knowledge of this allows for us to trust Him in all things.  Through prayer, we gain clarity of what God wants for us, and we are able to know when God will either give us strength or require our submittal to His will.  How will your level of serenity grow spiritually?  Which sides of the equation do you need greater understanding; strength or submittal?  My prayer is that we grow with experience to discern when to say ‘when.’  Amen.

Tues Devo: What to stand on

Luke 6:47-49 “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”(NASB)

Hello,

As I look around at people and society, I see people grasping for something to hold onto or stand for. We are quick to run to the newest cause. We sink our time, energy and resources into things which are not tied down to an eternal foundation. As you make a stand – what is that stand really for? Is it just because it sounds good and nice? Is it something that at quick glance feels friendly or tough to argue against?

These things look/sound good – but they are not enough. That which we choose to stand on/for needs to be connected and part of the foundation for everything else. That foundation is the Word of God, and acting on those commands. So, before you stand up for something, regardless of how things sound or feel – check if it is part of His foundation. Those things are eternal – and worth standing for/on.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Created for Holiness! (Part 1 of 7)

Hello Friends!

Welcome to a new 7-part Daily Devotions series titled “Created for Holiness!”

We were created for Holiness! Today we seldom hear preaching about holiness. It is not a popular topic for those preaching a false prosperity “gospel” message, a renewed allegiance with Rome or charismatic witchcraft from the pulpit. However, there is a thirst for God’s Living Waters – His Word – that cannot be quenched by anything or anyone else! Many true Christians lack peace – shalom – in the depths of their souls but don’t quite know what is missing. The answer is… HOLINESS!

Please join us over the next seven weeks as we learn more about this very important aspect of God’s perfect nature.

Created for Holiness! (Part 1 of 7)

What is Holiness?

 

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness – Psalm – 29:2

Digging into Hebrew, the word for holiness is QODESH (pronounced Kodesh). It means something consecrated or set-apart for Divine service. Using the Law of First Mention, Qodesh first appears in the Old Testament book of Exodus in Moses’ Song of the Sea. It is expressed as a praiseful attribute of God:

 

Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? – Exodus 15:11

Holiness is the consummate quality of God. In the Torah, God commanded this word – Qodesh – to be engraved on the gold plate of the high priest’s crown (see Exodus 28:36). 

The New Testament book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ is our high priest:

 

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus – Hebrews 3:1

Holiness is His! As Believers, we have the Holy Spirit to enable us to live set-apart lives:

 

and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead – Romans 1:4

The Apostle Peter teaches us we can be partakers of the Divine nature to be set-apart:

 

by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust – 2 Peter 1:4

But what does that mean in practical terms? (NOTE: This is not referring to Salvation. This refers to how we WALK OUT our Salvation – Sanctification) The Holy Spirit equips us to avoid sin, yes. But what does the Bible teach us about gaining higher levels of holiness, true peace – shalom – spiritual power and true joy? 

Great question! Let’s find out next week…

 

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s continued investigation of God’s HOLINESS!…

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

Blessings!

Shane <><

There Are No Small Parts

3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews. Esther 10

For never having really studied Esther before, digging into the book really leaves me with more questions than answers.  For starters, isn't the book named, "Esther?" Yet, in the last chapter, the title (at least for my version) is "The Greatness of Mordecai."  Mordecai is left with much of the glory, while Esther remains queen.  The last verse that talks about Esther is in the prior chapter, simply to state that she gave a decree confirming someone else's decree about Purim.

God has a plan for each of us.  We all have our parts to play and our involvement and our recognition will vary greatly.  The main story may not be focused on us (or rather, it may not be named after us), but we may have a crucial part involved with it.

We are all called to spread the gospel and share God's love.  Some people take this to mean that you have to go up to random strangers and talk with them.  A class my husband took in college at our church was focused exactly on that.  It gave people the tools so they could walk up to random people and have conversations about Jesus and what he did for them.  The very thought of walking up to a random person to talk about anything gives me sweaty palms.  However, there's a place for everyone.  I write these devotions on a weekly basis and publish them in three different places to extend to as many people as I can.  They're public, so we don't even need to know each other for someone to read them.  This is much more comfortable for me, and I feel that I'm much better at being able to write something slowly and delete (sometimes many times) rather than being put on the spot to think of things off the top of my head.  And my writings have led me to be able to talk with some of my close friends on an individual basis about my faith and to share more deeply with them God's love.

Everyone has been given different gifts for us to use to further God's plan. Some speak, some write, some act, and some do any number of other things.  The point I'm trying to make is that even though you may not be comfortable taking center stage, that's ok.  Find where you're comfortable and where God's leading you and use that for God's will.

Knowing What Love Is

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”  Isaiah 43:4-7
  
My wife and I have this playful game where I will tell her how much I love her, and she will reply jokingly, “What is love?”  It is not a question that she says with doubt in her mind.  Rather, it is a humorous reminder of the love we share and at times a little jab for me to step it up with more courtesy, affection, gentleness, or anything else that might show outwardly how special she is to me.  I know that God loves me, but I have to admit there are times I am caught up in the ways of the world where it is not at the forefront of my thinking.  Thus, I forget what is God’s love for me.

The truth is there is no love as great as the love God has for us.  Today’s verses are like a short love note for people who openly wonder just how much God loves us.  There are songs written about love that beautifully express that emotion, but when I read the words of Isaiah 43, it leaves little doubt as to just how much God loves us.  The words that hit the mark include precious, honored, give, I am with you, bring my sons/daughters, everyone called by my name, whom I created for my glory.  Wow!  We may not be able to think of a love that rich.  Yet if we love God as He loves us, others will experience God’s love through us.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” (John 15:13)  Then, He did just that for our sins.  We could not have a greater love/friend than Jesus Christ.  If you wonder just how much you are loved, remember the 43^rd chapter of Isaiah, and be renewed by the love God has for us.  How will you open your heart to God’s love for you?  Where can you share God’s love more with others?  My prayer is we can say Forrest Gump once said, “I know what love is.”  Amen.

Tues Devo: Approach to the Bible

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (NASB)

Hello,

As I was reading this verse, I couldn’t help but wonder how we approach our time each day reading the Bible. It is through His word that we improve our fellowship, knowledge, and understanding. If His Word is to dwell richly and product a singing thankfulness in our hearts – then why the drudgery around reading? Why the attitude of “get it done”? Why the rush to get through it and move on?

I know this is short today – but I would challenge all of us to take a few moments and reflect on what our attitude is when it comes to His word.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 5 of 5)

Hello Friends!

Welcome back to the final part of our series ““We love Him because He first loved Us.”

Let’s complete our study with the fifth lesson: THE PERFECTION OF HIS REDEMPTIVE PLAN…

We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 5 of 5)

Here’s our fifth and final doctrinal lesson from this simple verse. Our profound text is a clear statement about the sovereign power of God’s love: “We love Him, because He first loved us.” It is a lesson about the sovereignty of God’s saving purpose. It is a celebration of the glory of sovereign love. The verse, despite its brevity, also turns out to be incredibly rich with meaning.

It also reminds us of the perfection of His redemptive plan. 

Just consider the first two words of our verse: “We love.” Again, that speaks of a totally transformed heart. At first, we didn’t love:

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit – Titus 3:4-5

Here the Apostle Paul speaks once again of that regenerating work that turns our cold, unloving hearts of stone into hearts that are capable of true love for God.

And inherent in the same loving kindness that obtained our salvation is a guarantee that we will persevere in that love to the very end. We love Him. We’re completely free from that sinful enmity that once kept us hostile to Him. And He loves us. He will not permit anything or anyone to snatch us out of His hand. 

Notice these verses from the Apostle John:

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love – 1 John 4:17-18

That love is a fruit of God’s own Spirit, and therefore it is a permanent love. It “casts out fear”; it gives us boldness even in the day of judgment. It will not fade or diminish. Why? “Because as He is, so are we in this world.” This love conforms us to His image, and keeps conforming us to His image, until that goal is perfectly achieved. In other words, the same love that guaranteed our salvation from sin in the first place guarantees our perseverance in the faith.

In closing:

You might be a believer who doesn’t affirm these doctrines of grace. But the fact is, if you are a Christian, you do already affirm the fundamental principle in every one of these truths. You already know in your heart of hearts that you weren’t born again because you were morally superior to your unbelieving neighbors. You were worthy of God’s wrath just like them:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others – Ephesians 2:1-3

Also, according to the Apostle Paul, it was God who quickened you and showed you a special mercy – and that is why you are a believer:

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus – Ephesians 2:4-6

You already know that in your heart. You don’t really believe you summoned faith and came to Jesus Christ in your own power and by your own unaided free will. You don’t actually believe you are morally superior to people who don’t believe. You therefore must see, somewhere in your soul, that God has given you special grace that He has not necessarily shown everyone. 

You also believe God is absolutely sovereign over all things, because you lean on the promise from Romans:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose – Romans 8:28

And that promise would mean nothing if God were not in control of every detail of everything that happens. If He is not in control of all things, how could He work all things together for good?

Furthermore, you pray for the lost, which means in your heart, you believe God is sovereign over their salvation. If you didn’t really believe He was sovereign in saving sinners, you’d quit praying for the lost and start doing everything you could to buttonhole people into the kingdom by hook or by crook. But you know that would be folly. And you pray about other things, too, don’t you? You pray that God will change this person’s heart or alter the circumstances of that problem. When we go to God in prayer, we’re expressing faith in His sovereignty over the circumstances of our lives. 

You even believe God operates sovereignly in the administration of all His providence. You say things like:

If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that – James 4:15

Why? Because in your heart you believe that God works all things after the counsel of His own will and nothing happens apart from His will:

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will – Ephesians 1:11

Nothing is more Biblical than these doctrines that we have discussed and are the very essence of what Scripture teaches – throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. The very gist of these Biblical doctrines is nowhere more clearly stated than in the simple words of our study verse:

“We love Him, because He first loved us.”

Amen!

Thank you for reading! It is my hope that you now have a better understanding of these very important theological doctrines which are rooted in the Word of God.

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

 

Blessings!

Shane <><‏

The Harm in Doing More

16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. Esther 9

The narrator states in multiple places that the Jews did not plunder when the raid occurred.  Why is the narrator so emphatic about this point?  You need to go back to 1 Samuel to find the comparison.  God had told the Israelites to destroy the Amalekites.  They did that, and then they plundered.  God wasn't pleased with this, and Saul lost his kingship as a result.  He went beyond what God had instructed him to do.  He did something for the purpose of benefiting himself, not benefiting God.

We are all given direction and instruction from God.  We have specifics direct from God.  He has a narrow path for us to follow.  Yes, it is difficult and there are temptations along the way, but God only wants us to do EXACTLY what he wants us to do.  There are multiple passages in Numbers where the Israelites are passing through various territories and they request passage, stating, "We will not stray to the right or to the left."  It's the same concept.  They're doing exactly what God had told them to do.  They stayed focused on the path.

I see various ad campaigns now that focus on "Do More."  I argue that we shouldn't do more, as it may not be in God's will.  Instead, we should "Do God's Will."  That will suffice, and nothing more will be needed.

Gifts vs. Commitments

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:1-4

Most people know that I spend a lot of my time focusing on the development of others’  strengths much like focusing on spiritual gifts spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12.  Listening to a pastor last week, he spoke of something that is often mistaken as being a spiritual gift; humility.  He made this statement; “Humility is not a gift.  It is a choice.”  This was truly revealing because I thought this was one thing others got a pass on because they were simply not capable of it.  The truth is we all are capable of this and other things that we can simply choose to do.

We must remember not to confuse our gifts from God with our commitments to God.  Many times, we look at our own abilities, and say we are not capable of doing certain things.  Everyone has an ‘I can’t _____’ statement.  Here’s the thing.  God gives us love, grace, and a rebirth.  All of us were unworthy of such, but He made a way for us through Jesus Christ.  What if God said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t forgive you,” or “You know?  Let someone else take care of you?”  How would that work?  There are things we do through the gifts God gave us, but there are also things that are non-negotiable.  We must be willing to dig through our own barriers and ugliness to say ‘I can’ to a worthy and awesome God.

Jesus Christ gives us clarity of our commitment to God.  He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as  yourself.” (Matthew 22:37, 39)  These are not gifts we are blessed with.  These are choices that we must be willing to live by, and we must never accept that we are incapable of doing something God expects from us.  What will you commit to God that you have not before?  My prayer is that we are given wisdom enough to discern God’s gifts from our commitments to Him.  Amen.          

Tues Devo: Does it matter?

Psalm 119:1-2 “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.” (NASB)

Hello,

We like to have out choices! Restaurants tout their choices and customization, Coke has those crazy machines to mix flavors up. We can shop online and customize colors or patterns of clothing. We look for services like phone/cable where we don’t have to have a long term commitment. We like our way, but with the option to change what that way is at any point. Trouble is, God doesn’t work this way. He wants our obedience fully and for the long run. The commands of the Lord are not part of the Burger King menu – it is His way not our way. We don’t get to just pick the things that appeal to us, or our comfortable with our personal desires. We are also to be in it for the long haul, not just today and then when we feel different we step away.

So, does it matter? Yes it does! 

Will Hill