If Being a Christian Were a Crime...

A few months ago, someone commented on one of my posts with the question, "If being a Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"

A few weeks ago, that was one of the messages included with a sermon I heard on Sunday morning.

Just this week, a woman is jailed for standing up for her Christian beliefs.

It's tough to put yourself on the line, but that's what we're called to do.  We are called to spread the gospel and to spread God's love.  Sitting about idly doesn't do it.  We are called to take bold steps and to get uncomfortable.

Jesus loved us enough that he died for us.  Do you love Jesus enough to go to jail for him?

Thurs Devo: Confidence in God

Last week we saw how dramatic and irrational the Israelites were. I probably would have gotten very upset with the Israelites and tried to point out all the miracles they had forgotten about. However, it’s not recorded that Moses and Aaron even tried to reason with them. Moses and Aaron didn’t even answer their questions, but instead, turned first to God. That’s what the Israelites should have known to do by now, too.

Numbers 20:6-9  ⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord said to Moses,⁸ “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him.

Moses and Aaron had such faith and confidence in God that they didn’t worry about defending themselves to the Israelites. They humbly went to God before responding or acting. In fact, they didn’t give God suggestions on how to solve the problem. Nor did they assume God would solve their lack of water issue the same way He had in the past.

How much confidence do you and I have in God? Are we quick to defend ourselves or God? Do we give Him suggestions on how to solve our problems? Are we quick to react or move ahead with our own ideas? Or, do we humbly go to Him first before reacting, truly seeking and waiting for His unique solutions?

Alice

Always and Forever

Lord, give me your unfailing love,
    the salvation that you promised me.
Then I can answer those who taunt me,
    for I trust in your word.
Do not snatch your word of truth from me,
    for your regulations are my only hope.
I will keep on obeying your instructions
    forever and ever.
I will walk in freedom,
    for I have devoted myself to your commandments.
I will speak to kings about your laws,
    and I will not be ashamed.
How I delight in your commands!
    How I love them!
I honor and love your commands.
    I meditate on your decrees.  Psalm 119:41-48

Sometimes, life is just tiring!  This past week, our family has been dealing with the failing health of my father in law, and at times, you are weary from the experience.  There are the emotions of sadness, anguish, frustration, and disappointment.  You just want to give up.  However, there comes a point where you realize it is not really about you.  It’s giving thanks to someone who has given you so much.  I understand that now seeing my wife who continually cares for him and loves him.  Seeing her inspires me to push on being there for her.  The twilight of his life has thus become an inspiration for both of us going forward.  Each day, we love each other a little more, and we care for others a little better.  More importantly, we grow closer to God through the experience knowing that He knows exactly where we are and is with us always.

The struggles life puts us through should remind us of God’s unfailing love for us.  The 119^th Psalm of David is long but reassuring of how the relationship between  God and us should always be.  It’s speaks of His unfailing love and our love for Him through our commitments to Him.  In today’s verses, they are tidbits that highlight what we gain in this relationship.  Words include unfailing love, promised, trust, truth, instruction, forever, freedom, devoted, and delight.  These are words of reassurance, and should serve as our inspiration when heavily inundated with the troubles and sorrows in the world.  Some of us might feel like we have not heard from God in a while.  For others, it might be a situation that is hanging over their head.  Maybe you are saddened like our family over the possible loss of someone, or perhaps you might not have ever gotten over the loss of a loved one.  No matter where you are today, know that God is with you.  You may not see, hear, or feel Him, but as today’s verses point out, His love is unfailing.  It never leaves.  It is always the same.  It is always enough, and He is always with you.

It is so reassuring to know we have a God who never fails!  There is a song a group of us sang to our wives at our respective weddings called ‘Always and Forever.’  It talked about us sharing our love for each other today, tomorrow, and forever.  We as Christians may fall out of line with or lose sight of God, but we can always call on Him.  And He will be there for us.  Where do you need reassurance from God today?  How will you move forward knowing He is with you always?  My prayer is that no matter what is going on, we remember God is with us, always and forever.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Speed test, Part 2

Hello,

After last week I did some more looking on fast and slow in the Bible to see other things related to how we are expected to operate – and frankly I didn’t find anything different than last week where we used James 1:19-20 ““This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (NASB)

But, I did notice something else that was very interesting. I found a bunch of references to God and His speed. Many of them were centered on His being slow to anger.

So what? Well, first and foremost this means that when I am asked to be slow to anger it is so that I better reflect the character of God. Second, this kind of turns on its ear the things we think about when it comes to God and speed. We think about wanting Him to move quickly and do things now….but rather, we should be grateful that He is slow to anger and is willing to be patient with us.

Take some time today to thank Him for His slowness in the right areas!

Psalm 103:8 – “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and bounding in lovingkindness.” (NASB)

Psalm 145:8 – “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” (NASB)

Psalm 86:15 – “But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.” (NASB)

Joel 2:13 – “And rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil.” 9NASB)

Nahum 1:3 – “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” (NASB)

Nehemiah 9:17 – “They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them, so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; and You did not forsake them.” (NASB)_

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Time and Time Again

8 “‘But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt.  Ezekiel 20

I do two different Bible studies on my own.  One study is going through Ezekiel and moves at a chapter a week, which is what I share with you, and the other is currently in Deuteronomy and goes about a verse or two a day.  They both delve into different aspects, and I'm looking at different things with each.  It's normally very easy for me to keep the two studies separate.

Not this week.

Deuteronomy is a recap of the first four books of the Bible.  Where I'm at, it's not pretty.  It's currently recounting the rebellion of the Israelites in the desert - again.  What does this mean?  The rebellion of Israel in the desert after they left Egypt is clearly described for the first time in those first four books of the Bible, again in Deuteronomy, and here we are in Ezekiel and we get it again!  It's also discussed again in Acts during Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin (one of my favorite Bible stories), and it's elsewhere too.

So now I'm at a difficult point.  Two weeks ago, I wrote about how God said that if we accept Christ, he will completely forget all of our sins.  If he completely forgets about our sins, why is the rebellion of Israel brought up so many times?  To go even further, the Israelites didn't only rebel once, but numerous times in those first four books of the Bible, and who knows how many times they rebelled that weren't documented.

The Israelites rebelled, again and again and again.  But, God forgives and forgets our sins if we accept him.  Aren't these two opposing views?

No.  God forgives and forgets each of our sins if we accept him.  The reason that the Israelites and their multiple rebellions are brought up isn't to constantly rehash a bad argument, but to show, "Look at how many times the Israelites messed up.  Look at how horribly they turned from me and rebelled.  And I still forgave them and brought them to the promised land once they accepted me."  

Once we've accepted Christ, nothing we do will be so horrible that if we do not ask forgiveness, God will not take that away.  The story of the Israelites is repeated so many times to show us that no matter how bad we are or that we think we are, God is there for us.  This doesn't mean we can sin without repercussion, but that we can go back to God after ANYTHING, ask for his forgiveness and repent, and he will forgive us and forget our sins.

How to Worship

8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”  Luke 4

Deviating from Ezekiel this week.  I want to talk about worship and serving this week.  It's at the front of my mind because yesterday was my first night back at practice with the worship team at my church in about a year.  I stepped down as I was nearing the end of my pregnancy and haven't felt comfortable making the time commitment away from my family until now.

I missed it!  Music is most definitely how I best worship God.  It's hard to put into words, but to me, it doesn't matter how I sound.  While I'm up there singing to the entire congregation, I'm really only singing for one - God!  In the year when I had stepped away from the worship team, I still sang in my car at the top of my lungs, again to my audience of one.  It's a wonderful way to feel connected to God and it gets me energized.

This isn't the answer for everyone.  My husband hates singing.  He tries, but most of the time during service, he stands quietly.  He doesn't have an ear for it and he'll be the first person to admit it.  That's ok, he has his own ways to worship God.  He attends a men's Bible study group with our church and occasionally leads the group - that's his way to worship and serve God.

God made each of us in his image, but he also made us each unique.  We all have different strengths and passions.  Just like there's no one way to eat a Reese's, there's no one way to worship!

I encourage you, find your way to worship if you haven't done so already.  Follow your passions that God gave you and find a way to use it to worship God.  May you joyfully give that gift back to him!

Thurs Devo: Why??? Why???

Toddlers can ask lots of “why” questions. After a while, it can become frustrating, especially if you’ve answered the same question time and time again! Well, the Israelites were far worse than the annoying toddler.

Numbers 20:2-5      ² Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. ³ They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! ⁴ Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? ⁵ Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

Why are the Israelites asking “why?” If they stopped to think for a moment, then they could answer their own questions. First, God had provided water in the desert multiple times in the past, so they could trust Him to provide this time, too. Second, God brought them into the wilderness to free them from the oppressive Egyptians AND to give them a bountiful country-land of their very own. Third, traveling through the wilderness was the means by which God would prepare them and bring them to the promised land. Fourth, the fact that they were still in the wilderness was not Moses’ fault, but a result of their own rebellion and distrust of God (see Numbers 14).

If the Israelites had stopped focusing on and dramatizing their immediate circumstances and focused instead on who God is and His faithfulness in the past, then I think their attitude would have been quite different. Instead of complaining, passing the blame, and asking “why” questions, they could have asked how and what questions. How would God address their situation? What did God want them to do to participate in the solution?

Are you and I more like the Israelites and annoying toddlers, asking “why” questions when we already know (or should know) the answer?

Or, do you and I truly know God’s character and trust His faithfulness? If so, our attitude and prayers will reflect this.

Alice

Good at Night

 Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me.  For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.”  John 12:44-46

An old saying goes that nothing good happens after dark.  This was something my grandmother would say to me as a young child.  As I have grown, it seems there is a lot of truth to that.  Yes, there are evening baseball games and shows and events that entertain us until late in the night.  However, it seems that bad things always happened to me when night fell.  And yet like many others, we all can be drawn to darkness in some form or another.  It is worthy to note that there is indeed good in darkness.  Without darkness, we would not be able to distinguish light.  Also, darkness reveals our deepest fears and brings out our worst character flaws for us to become aware of.  You might say that maybe I’ve lost a screw upstairs for Jesus is ‘the light,’ and what good could possibly come from a world representing darkness?  Why would darkness be positive?

A fallen world gives us a clear indication whether we are truly serving God or not.  Imagine if you will that you are in a dark room by yourself with no light to be found.  Just pitch black.  As you become comfortable in it, you might be able to see something or feel your way around.  You may even start to notice a figure in the room.  However, you will eventually get to the point that you need a light switch, right?  And once we find it, we feel the relief that comes with it.  There are two things to pull from this analogy.  First, we all lived in total darkness until we found Jesus, and with Him, we are able to understand the difference between our lost selves and our reborn in Christ like image.  Furthermore, someone who becomes comfortable living in darkness will not seek Christ.  This leads me to the second point.  Once we are given the light through His Holy Spirit, we become the light in places of darkness.  We are to shine God’s light wherever we go whether it is at church or at the night club for should we shine His light, it becomes the very light others in darkness will run to.

Jesus is always with us.  Knowing this, the appearance of darkness in our life should not be threatening.  It is an opportunity to show our greatest growth.  Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan after fasting for 40 days and nights (Matthew 4:1-11).  Yet, He gained strength from it to further share the Gospel.  One my favorite authors, Dr. Brene Brown, once said, “Who you are in the space where you can’t see in front of you is where courage is born.”  So darkness can either be the precursor of our demise or if positioned from a Godly perspective, further confirmation of the power of the one true living God.  How can you better appreciate being ‘in the dark?’  What must you do to further exhibit God’s light in places of darkness?  My prayer is that instead of dreading, we are courageous enough to see the good in the night.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Speed test

James 1:19-20 “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (NASB)

Hello,

As the parent of young children I constantly find myself addressing the speed at which things are or are not done. “Slow down, hurry up, move quicker, stop and think” It got me thinking about what the Bible has to say about speed. It is not just about fast or slow – it is about being quick to the right things, and slow to the right things.

So, James gives us a set of speed tests – 1 fast and 2 slow. How are you doing? No, really – how are you doing? I think these are speed tests that we have read so much, we tend to gloss over them – plus really answering them requires some challenging honesty.

Take some time – think through how you are really doing.

Will Hill

Pray so you do not fall into Temptation

Luke 22:39-45

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.  On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”  He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt downand prayed,  “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.  And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.  “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them.“Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Being exhausted from sorrow is certainly something that I can relate to.  I’m sure though that the disciples had a lot more on their shoulders at that time.  They were about to watch Jesus be arrested afterall.  He had already told them of what was about to come and here he was just asking them to asking them to pray that they would not fall into temptation. 

I would have to admit that I have fallen asleep while praying.  I’m not sure if the situation with the disciples was a matter of falling asleep while praying or simply falling asleep but either way, we slip into temptation. 

Today I want to encourage you to think about what temptation you face that you need to pray you will not slip into.

On a funny note, yesterday at church, our 2 ½ year old wanted to sit in church with us and during prayers, I had my eyes closed and all of a sudden he yelled out, “Daddy, Mommy’s sleeping in church.”  It was so hard not to bust out laughing.