Pray with Action

"Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;

and I will keep it to the end.

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law

and observe it with my whole heart.

Lead me in the path of your commandments,

for I delight in it.

Incline my heart to your testimonies,

and not to selfish gain!

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;

and give me life in your ways.

Confirm to your servant your promise,

that you may be feared.

Turn away the reproach that I dread,

for your rules are good.

Behold, I long for your precepts;

in your righteousness give me life!"

- Psalm 119:33-40

As I was reading this passage this morning the words that are in bold type are the ones that stuck out to me. When you look at this prayer you see action words. It implies that we need God. We need Him to teach us, give us, lead us, direct us, encourage us, and protect us. How often do we ask for the Lord to do these things in our lives? This Psalm and prayer is a reminder of what our prayers should resemble. A humble spirit who seeks the Lord. So today pray with action words, pray with boldness and confidence, ask God specifically to teach, give, lead, incline, turn, and confirm. Allow God to work in and through you, let God be God today!

We Must Not Bypass the Cross

"From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." - Matthew 16:21

"As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were greatly distressed." - Matthew 17:22-23

"And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." - Matthew 20:17-19

"You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." - Matthew 26:2

When Jesus was being tempted by the Devil in the wilderness he was provided an easy way out. Satan was offering him the world without the cross. Instead, the Lord Jesus resisted the Devil in perfect obedience and choose the way of the Cross. He knew the pain and agony he must face to provide eternal glory for all of his children. We see four times in Matthew were He mentioned His death. He could have taken the easy way out but chose to endure, persevere, and set an example for his children to follow. We must realize that there is a cross involved in our obedience to the will of God. As Dennis Kinlaw said in his devotional, "Before every step of obedience, we will find resistance that must be overcome, temptation that must be fought." We must not bypass the Cross.

Most of us will never have to endure what Christ did, but in our daily obedience to Christ we will face opposition and temptation. How many times have you been invited to church, a retreat, mission trip, or any God centered event that you knew was going to draw you closer to God but the voice in your head told you that you need rest and need to stay home. Or maybe something less important came up at the last minute and you chose to do that. We must understand that the enemy's number one goal for Christians is to make them ineffective and unproductive (2 Peter 1:8). He wants to keep us from the blessings that come from encouragement and growth in Christ. We must not bypass the cross and take the easy way.

"Iron sharpens Iron, and one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17

I have never liked conflict. I don't like hard conversations. I want everyone to get along and just be happy. God has been teaching me the past couple years that I can't have effective ministry by avoiding hard conversations and taking the easy way out. It also hinders my growth in relationships not only with my brothers and sisters in Christ but with my relationship with God. I am beginning to learn that through hard times, through hard conversations, through conflict we can be made stronger through Christ. Jesus knew this, He knew the power over sin and death that would come by not bypassing the cross. If we choose not to bypass the cross in our lives we can experience victory and freedom. We can strengthen and deepen relationships with one another and most importantly our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." - Luke 9:23

Setting the Bar

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." - 1 Timothy 4:12

In Paul's letter to Timothy we find this verse that is encouraging Timothy to be an example and to set the "bar" so to speak. Various studies conclude that Timothy was anywhere between his late twenties to mid thirties at the time. I love the charge Paul gives to Timothy for two reasons.

First of all it brings conviction. Think about it. Can you think of a time when someone younger than you set a better example of Godliness in a certain situation? Maybe you lost your temper and someone else didn't. Maybe you had bitterness & unforgiveness in your heart and you saw someone younger forgive and reconcile a relationship. How did you feel? Did the Holy Spirit bring conviction in your heart? It doesn't matter how young you are or how old you are, the point is we need to set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

Secondly it challenges us to lead. Many of us are afraid to lead because we are afraid to fail. If you are afraid to fail I have news for you, you already have. That is the whole point of why Christ had to come and die. Through Him all things were made new and there is freedom and forgiveness in Christ. We can now rise every time we fall. We don't have to stay down. Through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit we can get back up after our failures, we are forgiven and free and can move forward with what the Lord has for us.

Timothy needed to lead, I need to lead, you need to lead, we all need to lead. We need to set the bar in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. We must not be afraid to fail. We all have people that look up to us in our lives. I truly believe there are many Christians with this intense amount of love, passion, and purpose inside of them and Satan has them bound by fear. The moment you realize that Christ wants you to be alive to shine and you start setting the bar and leading in these areas that bound up passion and desire for Christ will come flowing out. Matthew 6:14-16 sums it up:

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Banana Pudding

"Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." - Romans 12:10

I was blessed to spend this week in southeast Oklahoma with 30 high school students ministering to a Native American community. We spent our days cleaning, putting up drywall, building a fire pit, and fixing a water line. In the evenings we put on a VBS for a local Native American church. One evening at VBS Don had the youth from Ohio meet one of the locals and find out something about them. One student met a man named Charles and found out that Charles's favorite desert was banana pudding. The young man continued to build a relationship with Charles throughout the night. Snack time eventually came and as the young man came to the desert line he saw banana pudding. There was only a spoonful left. As he put the last of the banana pudding in his bowl he then proceeded to find Charles. He asked him if he had a chance to have any of the pudding. Charles's said that he hadn't been through the line yet so he gave him the last of the banana pudding. It was neat to see Charles's reaction when he saw that the young man remembered he liked banana pudding and gave him the last of it.

How do you care for people? Are you listening to them? Are you encouraging them? One thing that God taught me this week is that God doesn't forget about anyone. He cares for everyone everywhere no matter how desolate the place. He also cares that we care. Would I have ate the banana pudding or would I have thought to give it to Charles? I guarantee that Charles's will remember the kindness and thoughtfulness of that young man sharing the banana pudding with him. My prayer for myself and for you today is that we would be children of God who outdo one another in love for each other. That we would encourage one another and care for people.