February 27, 2006 HIS PRESENCE
As I read through the Bible, I come to
the part about Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses
didn't ask for this job. God gave it to him. It was a very difficult
job. The people were a "stiff-necked," complaining lot, making God want
to give up on them and causing Moses to stick up for them before God.
This reminds me of a quote from the Jewish
Holocaust survivor Ellie Wiesel. He wrote a best-selling memoir about
his experiences called Night. In a recent issue of Time
magazine, they did a short 10-question interview with him. One question
was "Do you have a favorite Bible hero?" His answer:
"Moses was the greatest legislator and the
commander in chief of perhaps the first liberation army. He was a
prophet, God's representative to the people and the people's
representative to God. And he never had a good day in his life. Either
the people were against him, or God was against him."
I found that interesting. "Either the
people were against him, or God was against him." It sure must have
seemed that way to Moses.
But
there was this one thing that Moses enjoyed that probably made up for
the bad days: the presence of God. The
Bible says, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man
speaks with his friend." And the Lord told Moses in one of their
sessions that His presence would go with him. Moses
replied, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up
from here....What else will distinguish me and your people from all the
other people on the face of the earth?"
As for me, this is the kind of
relationship I desire with the Lord, that He would speak to me
friend-to-friend. And that His presence would be with me wherever I go.
I know that as a Christian, He lives inside
me and goes where I go. But I'm talking about His tangible presence. The
kind that people notice and that changes you and others. "What else will
distinguish me from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
February 22, 2006
WISDOM IS SUPREME
The Lord
once told Solomon He would give him anything he asked. Solomon asked for
wisdom. He got it, and he also became the richest king ever to live.
Many people, if God were to ask the same
question, would ask for riches. Somehow we think money will solve all
problems. God says WISDOM is supreme. In all your getting,
GET WISDOM, He says.
The
thing about getting wisdom is that in getting it, everything else comes
along for the ride.
"I [Wisdom]
love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are
riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better
than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way
of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing wealth on those
who love me and making their treasuries full." (Proverbs
8:17-21)
Proverbs 3:13-16 says, "Blessed is the man who finds wisdom...long
life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor."
In getting wisdom, we get all things that
pertain to life and godliness. All things that pertain to LIFE. Long
life, riches, and honor. Can't beat that.
February 21, 2006
HAPPINESS
Read
this.
February 20, 2006
HE'S EVERYWHERE
Here's
something we all know: God is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient
(all-knowing), and omnipresent (all-present). I want to zero in on that
last aspect for a moment--God is omnipresent. That means He is
everywhere all the time. There is nowhere that God isn't. The
Psalmist said, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee
from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make
my bed in the depths, you are there."
However, God doesn't just fill all space;
He fills all time. He is the
Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the
end. He is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. He knew no beginning and He will
have no end. He always
was, He
is, and He always
will be. He is in the past, present, and future at the same time
because He encompasses all time. He is infinite in space and time. He is
indefinable, uncontainable, without measurement, degree, or size.
Now think about that aspect of God--his
timelessness--as it relates to you. We already know that He knew us even
in our mother's womb--we are fearfully and
wonderfully made. He puts
callings on lives even as the life is still forming in the womb. But
think of this: He already knew everything you would do before you ever
were born. OK. You knew this already. But I'm getting to something here.
I'm going to try to take a stick out of the devil's hand.
Many times we do things that fall short of
our own expectations, and the devil tells us (or we tell ourselves) that
because we've done that particular thing, God can't use us. Maybe the
thing(s) you did was before you got saved,
maybe it was after. But I'm here to tell you that nothing you have
ever done or ever will do will take God by surprise. He can't be
surprised! He already knew it! That didn't change the fact that He has a
divine
plan and purpose for your life. NOTHING can thwart that plan but
your refusal to walk in it, whether you refuse out of disobedience or
ignorance. When
Dr.
Jeff Thompson came to our church a couple of weeks ago, he said,
"There is nothing in your past that disqualifies you for your future."
One disclaimer: this doesn't give us a
license to sin. "I know this is wrong, but God already knew I'd do it,
and I can repent later, so here goes." NO, NO, NO! God expects us to
walk in holiness and obedience to His Word.
February 12, 2006
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
Back in 1952 a man by the name of Norman
Vincent Peale wrote a book that would eventually sell over 5 million
copies. You probably know the name of the book:
The Power of Positive Thinking. It includes such chapter
headings as "Expect the Best and Get It," "I Don't Believe in Defeat,"
and "Inflow of New Thoughts Can Remake You." I'll admit, I've never read
the book. But I do believe in the concept.
Have you ever been around someone who
is consistently, persistently, constantly negative? Maybe you work with
them, you live with them, or you ARE one! Negativity is really a downer.
Reminds me of the quote by, I don't know--that "Unknown" person: "A
negative attitude is like a flat tire. You're not going far until you
change it." Problem is, negative people usually don't see themselves as
negative. They call it being "realistic."
I'm not one to deny reality, but I am one
to believe that present reality can change! Brings to mind another
quote, this one by Jim Rohn: "Everything changes when you change."
You know, it's really all in how you see
things. That's called your perspective. The old "Is the glass half-empty
or half-full" concept. It's also called attitude. Remember this old
quote? "Your attitude determines your altitude." Corny, but true.
I agree with these people:
"Outlook determines outcome."
--Warren Wiersbe
"We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are."
--Anais Nin
"As a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he."
--Proverbs 23:7
"Perception is merely reality filtered through the prism of your soul."
-- Christopher A. Ray
"You can
complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns
have roses."
--Ziggy, character in a comic strip by Tom Wilson
"I have not failed; I have just found
10,000 ways that don't work."
--Thomas Edison
"To expect defeat
is nine-tenths of defeat itself."
--Francis Crawford
I could go on
and on, but it's late, and I have to get up early to go to my wonderful
job that I love.
