You Will Win!

God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.  This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people.  For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect[g] in their relationship to Christ.  That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.  1 Colossians 1:25-29

At Sunday service, my pastor challenged the congregation with something that seems simple but was one of those ‘you really don’t know what you are getting into until you are actually into it’ moments.  He asked us that when facing trouble with a person to pray, “God, help me to represent you well today.”  It sounds easy enough, and when you say it, there is a level of both calm and confidence that comes with it.  However once we get to that situation, we struggle with the infamous hijacker of many of our faith based ambitions known as ‘That Person in the Mirror.’  As one of my favorite contemporary Christian songs says, “Left to myself, I realize I am the maker of my own demise.”  My fears, reservations, and doubts slowly creep in and try to dig in their heels.  Before I know it, I am in the midst of the storm.  Keep in mind this is the storm before the actual storm.  Is it any wonder that we fail before the fight has begun?  It’s not that our faith is not strong.  However, we are already battle weary such that when the real storm hits, we are unable to fight anymore.  So how do we prepare to win the battle?  How can we combat an enemy that is as great as we are because in essence, the enemy is us?

The key to victory is not realizing Christ is not only just with you but also within you.  Today’s verses provide encouragement to the battle weary reminding them that though the work and struggle may be hard, we are assured of glory in Heaven through Christ.  Our past struggles and transgressions may tell us we are not deserving of such love, grace, and power.  But if Christ is within us, we know with certainty and assurance as written in Romans 8:37 that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  We all go through stretches where we are battle tested but often battle weary.  No one does well having to constantly fight for if you are constantly fighting everyone and everything, your hands are always clenched and closed.  However to receive God’s love and mercy our hands must be up and open.  God wants us to open our hearts to Him, and through Him, we will find a reserve that is liken to God Himself; omnipotent/all powerful!

We can always see victory if our perspective is Christ-like.  Yes, there are times we will not see the end of our suffering, but we must have confidence that God is not only with us but within us.  We can answer the enemies of self-doubt and fear with the words of David saying, “The Lord is my light and salvation – whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1a – NIV).  What fears and doubts have settled in to your mind that God can remove today?  How can you remember to recall God’s strength in you when you are battle weary?  My prayer is that when you are weary from the battle, remember God is both with and within you.  You will win!  Amen.

Tues Devo: Take a breath

Proverbs 25:6-10 “Do not claim honor in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of great men; For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,” Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen. Do not go out hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor humiliates you? Argue your case with your neighbor, And do not reveal the secret of another, Or he who hears it will reproach you, And the evil report about you will not pass away.” (NASB)

Hello,

“knee-jerk reaction” – a phrase that represents what someone does quickly and without thinking deeply. Culturally, we have it engrained to quickly make ourselves known. We are encouraged to look for ways to promote ourselves instead of waiting. It Is also common for us make our disagreements and discussions public  – whether that be court of law, or the court of social media – rather than handle them in private with patience. I like the connection here between these instructions in this Proverb, you see the warning about initiating attention towards ourselves.

We take quick action to put ourselves in the spotlight, but doing so hastily and out of selfish desire will be seen through eventually – and we will have to endure some shame in being put in our proper place. We move too quickly and in doing so, show that we don’t trust God. If we are to be promoted – He will let that happen when it should.

If there is a disagreement, if we are too worried about ourselves and quickly rush to point out the wrong that happened to everyone else. But what if we don’t have all the facts? What happens then? Again, not letting God fight for us and not showing patience will find us on the receiving end of what we tried to initiate.

Should you be in a higher position? Did someone wrong you? In either case – take a breath! Let God’s timing work through and be sure that you are not driving decisions through selfish behavior.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Learn from the past.

Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

In everything we do, we should learn from the past.  This morning I had to run the webex for the annual kick-off meeting for the Tax & Accounting segment.  This isn’t something new, I’ve been doing it for a few years.  It was nice to feel very prepared this year and confident as we have really worked out a lot of kinks in years past. 

Of course once we go into the meeting, I realized I forgot to turn off the peeps from the webex as people entered and exited.  I now have a note for future meetings to remind myself.  We must use the past to teach us for the future.

The Bible has many lessons that we can lean on to learn from so as we move forward in life, we do not have to make the same mistakes.  We can be encouraged that by what others have been able to teach us from going through the same things.

Today I encourage you to learn from the past so you don’t have to go through the same things.  Use the Bible as the ultimate example to learn from.

Thurs Devo: Heaven's war

Who is the ruler of Heaven?

Who is the ruler of this world right now?

Revelation 12:7-12    ⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
    who accuses them before our God day and night,
    has been hurled down.
¹¹ They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens
    and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
    because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
    because he knows that his time is short.”

Knowing Satan rules this world, helps explain a lot of things, doesn’t it? Remembering this, reminds me not to pursue or look for earthly success and security. It is deceptively alluring. It will all be short-lived. I think Satan uses it to distract us from focusing on God, His promises, and His truths. As powerful as Satan is, his time of rule will end. He’s already been defeated!


How will you and I rejoice in God’s power over Satan, and pursue eternal success and security? We may need to first ask for God’s help to identify areas where we have fallen for Satan’s deception and lies. Then, we can triumph over Satan, in God’s power!

Alice

All of You

While he was still speaking to her, a messenger arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. He told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed.”

When they arrived at the house, Jesus wouldn’t let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, James, and the little girl’s father and mother.  The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said,“Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died.  Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, “My child, get up!” And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up! Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.  Her parents were overwhelmed, but Jesus insisted that they not tell anyone what had happened.  Luke 8:50-56

We all desire to do our best.  My father use to tell me if you are going to do something, do it well.  My mother would work me on detail tirelessly to make sure I did everything to her satisfaction, and trust me when I say that was never easy.  I did not want to do that as a young impressionable child.  However, they instilled in me this determination to go the extra mile and do what was necessary to ensure things were not just done but done well.  This left me with the thought of serving God when you really don’t want to.  We serve Him willingly.  We love Him, and sing His praise in church and beyond.  However, one has to ask the question which none of us really likes to answer; do we really serve Him with all our heart when we don’t agree?  Do we give Him our 100% when it gets difficult or when God asks us to do something uncomfortable do we hedge our bet?  I know that I fail this sometimes, but when I trust Him, I find something rather amazing.  He always gives me something where I grow in faith and learn more about His plan for me.

Learning to give your all to God takes practice.  It is not a given.  Many of us find ourselves where we believe in God and all He has done for us.  However, we are often challenged to where we cannot see the possibility even as God has given us the vision that it would happen.  Let’s look at this story of Jesus bringing the little girl back to life.  This one resonated with me because of all of the naysayers.  “There’s no use troubling the Teacher now,” and, “the crowd laughed at Him because they all knew she had died.”  How often have we heard these words in our lives?  Of course they do not sound like that verbatim, but how about, “No use putting forth any more effort into pursing that dream!”  How about when you share what God wants you to do, someone answers, “That’s funny!”   We should remember who we serve, and to see God’s work in our lives, we must first be willing to give our all to Him.  That means not 70 or 80%.  All of us must be given for His will to be done.

God wants all of us.  One of my favorite songs has a chorus that goes:

And He says love me, love me with your whole heart
He wants it all today
Serve me, serve me with your life now
He wants it all today
Bow down, let go of your idols
He wants it all today.

There is so much to be gained from our giving ourselves utterly and completely to God.  To achieve it, we must tune out the voices that say it is not possible, and then trust in Him.  What part of your life are you holding back from God?  How can you display a greater trust in God when things don’t seem to be going your way?  My prayer is that each of you is able to give God all of you.  Amen.

Tues Devo: The comparison

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (NASB)

Hello,

Recently I have been frustrated by a couple different things. One of them is physical with my foot. I get irritated that I can’t do what I want to right now around the house or with the kids. The other is social – leaving me frustrated with some communications/understandings between some of my friends. Both of these items I know are not world ending, but they affect my life. If I am not careful I can let these things and the rest of life’s struggles and battles take ownership of my mentality, joy level etc. We have to keep in perspective the eternal spectrum, and what is really coming in the end. In the end, the good side wins. In the end, we as followers of Christ eternally partake in that victory.

Tough now? Sure. But compared to what? We tend to compare against each other – whoops….we need to compare against the end, not against one another!

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

RLD Week 7 - A closer look at the reproducible process

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12

The biggest takeaway of going through this book has been that discipling is a guided process.  You don't pick someone and throw them into the river and hope they know how to swim.  You take your time, you work with them slowly, and you teach them differently at each point in the process.

Look at how Jesus responds to any number of people he encounters in the gospel books.  It can almost seem like he isn't the same person in each encounter.  Take a closer look at each person, and you'll start to see that each person is at a different stage of their spiritual journey.  Jesus tailored his response to each of them based on that information.  Now, Jesus could see into each of their hearts to know where they were in their journey, but we don't have that ability.  While we don't have x-ray vision into their heart, there are clues all over to help you to see that information.

People love to share about themselves, but most people get funny when you bring up God and religion, especially if they don't know you that well.  You can't come right out and ask where they are in their walk with God.  Look for the signs, and change your own responses accordingly.  You're not changing the message, you're only altering the delivery, just as Jesus did.

For those that are spiritually dead or infants, we are to share the gospel and what God has done in our lives.  

For the spiritual children, we are to get them connected to the body of Christ.  Find a small group for them.  Find other believers in the same stage of life as them, such as college students, new parents, or retired.

For the spiritual young adults, we are to train them for ministry.  Find ways for them to lead, whether it's leading one person or a group.

Finally, for the spiritual parents, they have begun leading others, and we are to release them to become further disciple makers.  At this point, they can take someone else through the same process, and continue the ministry.

Even if people aren't wearing signs around their neck to identify what stage they're in, you probably can think of someone in each of these stages.  Where do you fall?  Can you think of which stage other people around you are in?

Above the Clouds

Today's devotion comes from a devotion book called Loved Beyond Measure

Psalm 103:11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.

"Are we there yet?"  If you've ever traveled with young children, you've heard this question.  Maybe you still ask it sometimes yourself!

Most of us would ask it more than once if we were to leave Planet Earth to traverse our solar system.  Distances there lie almost beyond our ability to fathom them.  For example, it takes eight minutes for the sun's light to reach our planet.  If the sun were suddenly to stop shining, no one on earth would know it for eight full minutes!

It's not exaggerating to say that our sky stretches quickly up and then out into the enormous expanse of outer space.  When David wrote Psalm 103, he drew on this fact to make a wondrous comparison:

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.  Psalm 103:11

Stop for a moment.  Go to a window.  Look out - and up!  Take in this jaw-dropping truth.  God's steadfast love toward you in Christ is as vast as the cosmos!

In particular, our Lord's immeasurable love belongs to those who "fear him."  This "fear" is not terror; far from it!  Instead, it's the heart attitude of those who cling to God's Word in faith.

Think of this "fear" in terms of "awe."  It's the orientation of those who dread doing anything that would dishonor their heavenly Father..  It's the focus of those who rely on the cross of Christ Jesus for personal and perfect pardon.  It's the obsession of the Father's dearly-loved children to do only and always what makes him smile.

This faith-filled awe is your Savior's gift to you.  He gives it because he wants you to experience the peace of relying on God's rock-solid love.  So go ahead.  Ponder it.  Claim it.  Imagine a love that stretches above the clouds and extends into all eternity.

Lord, teach me to fear and trust you in his way...Amen.

Thurs Devo: Childbirth Concerns

My youngest sister, Mary, is about to give birth to her first child. She’s due on Monday! As exciting as it is, there are still fears and concerns over the many unknowns. When will she go into labor? How bad will the pain be? Will there be complications? Will it be a girl or a boy?
Well, take a look at this delivery situation pictured in Revelation 12: 
Revelation 12:1-6     A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. ⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
It’s a terrifying picture. There are enough concerns and pains during delivery, without having the added worry that someone is waiting to snatch your baby away. However, God took care of both the baby and the woman! (The baby probably represents Jesus the Messiah and the woman could represent the nation of Israel (inclusive of Mary) or more broadly the people of God). The dragon (definitely Satan, from vs. 9) is no match for God.
This encouraged me to remember that no matter how bleak a situation may seem, God will accomplish His purposes. He sees everything and Satan can’t do anything unless God allows it.
Also, God takes care of His own. Our times in the “wilderness” may be for our protection, and our times of pain may be necessary for the times of blessing to follow. I hear the pains of childbirth are often quickly forgotten when you hold the new precious baby in your arms! (Remember that this coming week, Mary!)

What other encouragement do you and I take from all this?  
Alice

Embracing 'The Hard'

“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.  You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.”  Luke 6:35-36

The other day, I was struggling with a situation between colleagues.  We agreed to disagree on a topic, and my frustration grew because this had created friction between us.  Speaking with my wife about it, she told me to say a prayer and God would guide me through it.  My passion was such that I did not want to heed those words, but my mind knew it was the right thing to do.  As I did so, my anger subsided and I began to sort through a better path toward resolving the rift between my colleague and me.  Soon, my heart kicked in, and I began to feel God’s grace for me and in turn mine for my colleague.  This reminded me that spiritual growth always occurs when pushed to do what does not come natural or easy.

God asks us to trust both Him and His teaching above what we would want to do.  The story of Jesus asking us to love our enemies has to be one of the most difficult concepts to embrace.  There can be nothing more difficult than for one to be forgiving of another who had done them wrong.  That’s the beauty of these verses because when faced with such a situation, Jesus asks us to remember our very own circumstances.  We once were the unthankful and wicked rebelling at times against God, and yet, our Heavenly Father was compassionate to us in spite of our being undeserving of it.  Jesus still went on the cross for our sins.  Therefore if we have a true understanding of this compassion, we are able to show love for those who would not ordinarily deserve love.  We able to ‘turn the other cheek’ and ‘do unto others as you would have do unto you.’ (see Luke 6:29-31) 

Our journey of faith was never meant to be easy.  One of my favorite quotes about difficulties comes from the movie ‘A League of Their Own.’  In one of the final scenes, Tom Hanks, who played a washed up baseball player that becomes an inspirational manager, answers one of his players when asked about the difficulty of playing baseball saying:

It’s supposed to be hard.  If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it.  The hard is what makes it great.

Jesus says something very similar to this saying, “But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (Matthew 7:14).  Let us embrace those hard lessons for what we gain in the end is worth our temporary feeling of self-righteousness.  Where can you be more merciful toward those you disagree with?  How can you show God’s love for one you would prefer to be distant from?  My prayer is that when challenged to do something by God, we remember the saying, “The hard is what makes it great.”  Amen.