Head on the pillow...

10.19.11

Hebrews 4:9-11

"So then, there remains a Sabbath, rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from His works as God did from His. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest..."

When I was in high school I was a wrestler and I absolutely adored the sport. I devoted my entire heart and every extra second of my time to getting better at the sport. I wrestled during the regular season, but I also wrestled in the summertime in tournaments all over the place. It was very hard to get me off the mat. Some of the best times I had when I wrestled were at Saturday afternoon tournaments.

These tournaments usually started early in the morning and lasted until the early evening. One of the coolest things about wrestling in tournaments was the feeling you got when you signed the paper saying you won the match. The feeling of knowing you accomplished what you had set out to do by winning the match was absolutely thrilling, but you really have no energy left in your body to even lift the pen so you just scribble something on the paper and walk away.

The hard part about these tournaments was the lack of rest between matches. Like I said your body is completely spent and you don't get much time to rest and regain energy. You have to find some way to rest or you will be useless for your next match, and it can truly mean the difference between winning and losing the next match.

Our spiritual lives aren't much different folks. We spend hours and hours on getting ourselves prepared to do the work of the Lord. We get excited when we have a great conversation where we see a life change or if the friend that we invited to church shows up for the first time. We love God with all of our heart, mind and souls and He in turns instills us with a passion to serve Him.

I think we should truly be thankful for how God uses us, but full obedience to God means that we follow all aspects of His teachings. Finding rest in the midst of His work is not something that God suggests or politely nudges us to seek, but it is truly a mandate from Him. The author of Hebrews says that we should strive for rest, not just hope to get it. We need to make finding a rest a priority amidst our service to God.

If we burn ourselves out living our lives and trying to do the work that God has set forth us than it might mean, just like at a wrestling tournament, the difference between winning and losing. Seek to refuel yourself through rest. Seek time alone with God because I believe that is where we get a chance to hear from him the most. If we keep going at full throttle than we may just miss out on hearing what God is trying to teach us. Slow down, rest and hear God's voice in the midst of your busy life and service to Him. He doesn't tell us to think about resting, He tells us we must.

Thought question: What keeps you from truly resting and finding alone time to refuel your spirit? What can you give up to find the time to rest?

40...

10.13.11

Psalm 40:1

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry."

Psalm 40:17

"You are my help and deliverer; O my God do not delay."

Do you think that you could sum up an entire relationship with someone in 17 verses? Isn't that exactly what David does here with His relationship with God? Although David wrote many Psalms, it's Psalm 40 that catches my eye as far as how He feels about God and his life.

He starts out in verse one as someone seeking God and needing to wait patiently for God to answer. From the very first verse of this Psalm we see that David recognizes that there was something missing from his life before God. He also recognizes that he needs God in his life, but why?

As he continues in the Psalm we see that it is because David knew without God he was in a "slimy pit" and the "mud and mire". David describes himself as being stuck in the mud, in a swamp without God in his life. He knew he was stuck to sin without God. When he recognizes what God does for him he says he wants to sing praises to Him. When he sees how God saves him from his sin, from being stuck, He says that God has changed his life and given him a new purpose, or as he puts it "a new song in his mouth".

David then begins to speak of spiritual growth. He talks about how blessed we are to trust in God. In the midst of the psalm we see David's heart for those who are far from God. He recounts the wonders of God. Next he moves to a place of wanting to give everything of himself back to God. To truly make his entire life an offering to God. He gets to a place where he says to God protect me as I stand for You Lord.

Even in the last verse of the Psalm we see David humbly saying I am "poor and needy" and praying for God to remember him and praising God for being his help and deliverer. We can truly see someone who has gone from far from God to praising Him with every ounce of his person.

Psalm 40 paints a great picture of what I wish my life to be. I wish to be able to say that God you have saved me from my sin. Jesus you have changed my life from what it is, to a place of salvation and mercy. I want to be able to sing the praises of grace from my new heart. I want to get to a place where everything I have is a sacrifice back to the God who saves. I want to get to a place where all that I am is for the use of God, for others to see how amazing His grace really is on this Earth.

In other words I would love to make Psalm 40 the story of my life.

Thought questions:

What do you think it takes to get to a place where our lives reflect Psalm 40? Is there something that keeps us from making this the story of our relationship with God?

Refining Fire....

10.11.11

Zechariah 13:9

"...I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God."

Is hindsight truly 20/20? Do you ever take the time to look back at what has happened and realize that you and your life were remarkably changed by the circumstances that surrounded different situations in your life?

If we think back to when we were children and teenagers we can not help but notice that the things that happened to us shaped who we are today. For some of you it may have been a conversation with someone significant to you. For others it may have been an event that changed the way you looked at someone or something. It doesn't always have to be a HUGE event or conversation but a simple phrase or word of encouragement.

In our life times we are going to constantly go through things that shape who we are, how we look at certain things and how we react to things. Sometimes these things aren't always easy, but that doesn't mean they are not worth the ride. The question that we have to ask ourselves is are we willing to look at the things that we go through as stuff that God uses to shape and mold us into who we are as disciples of Christ?

We have got to get to a place in our discipleship where we allow God to use the flames of the fire to refine us into what HE wants for us to become. This isn't to say that the flames won't hurt, but are they worth it to you to be exactly what God wants for you to be and further more how He wants to use you?

Will you allow yourself to be refined by God? Are you willing to sit in the refining fire in order to burn away the things that get in the way of being a true disciple of Christ? Will you allow God to mold you into the person that can proclaim as Zechariah says 'the LORD is my God'?

Thought question:

Have you ever felt like God was refining you? Have you ever taken the time to look back at how God has shaped and molded you, how He has refined you? What events, in your life, is God trying to use to make you a creation that exclaims how powerful their God is?

LOST....

10.08.11

Luke 15:4

"Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?"

A few years ago I started doing something because I have a horrible memory. I started carrying around my keys, wallet and cell phone and anytime I would put them down I would always put them down together. I did this because I knew that I couldn't go anywhere without my keys and as long as my wallet and phone were with my keys than I would never risk the chance of losing them. God help me if I ever misplace my keys.

I want to give you all some freedom right now. If you are reading this and you are like me I am going to give you the freedom to admit that you flip your lid if you lose something. If you lose your keys or your wallet or even some piece of paper that holds value. Some of you right now are reading this and raising your hand where you're sitting because you know that's you. WE ALL hate to lose things, and furthermore it's in our very nature to tear things apart until we find them. Do a little experiment with yourself next time you lose something. Don't see what you will do to find that item, see what gets broken in the process of trying to find it. Notice the chaos and disorder that ensues to find that item. In fact I'll go as far as to say that you will probably lose something else in the process of trying to find the first item.

It's amazing the lengths that we will go to in order to find something we've lost. We will invest our time, efforts and most importantly our heart in order to find it. And this usually involves something as simple as our keys or TV remote. God forbid we lost the TV remote.

In the Luke story Jesus is addressing the pharisees when he asks them a very simple question about going after lost sheep. He asks them wouldn't it be worth it to go after just one lost sheep? Jesus knows that this means leaving the other ninety nine behind but wouldn't it be worth it to find just one LOST sheep? In fact, Jesus wants to know, isn't it worth it to celebrate it when you find that one lost sheep?

Jesus knew what it meant to know something is lost. He pursued the lost with every thing he had, including his very life. He did what ever it took to make sure every lost sheep had a chance to come home. Everyone that we come into contact with matters to the Father. Every single person means so much to the Lord. He gave His son to prove how much each and every lost sheep matters.

Think about the amount of heart we will put into the finding of our car keys. Think about how much you want to find your TV remote when it's lost. Imagine how many people would come to know Jesus if our hearts bled for the lost sheep like Jesus wants for them to. We should be doing everything in our power to make sure that not one sheep, NOT ONE goes lost.

John 3:16, one of the most popular Bible verses, says "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son...". God's heart is for this world. God's heart is for the lost, those far from Him. He wants to use us reach the lost. My challenge for you, my challenge for myself is that we would have a heart that wants to make sure that not one lost sheep stays far from the Father. NOT ONE!!!!!! Pursue the lost with the heart to reach them for Jesus. Not to prove that we are right and they are wrong, but a heart that truly wants them to experience the warm tender embrace of a Father's grace. Don't leave the lost sheep out in the wilderness.

Thought question:

Who has God put into your life that is far from Him? What would pursuing them with love look like in your life?