That You May Know

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” - 1 John 5:13

How confident are you in your God? Is he trustworthy? Is he worthy of your affection? desire? love? We see in 1 John that he is writing “these things” that we may KNOW we have eternal life. Are you struggling with doubt? Is it hard for you to accept forgiveness? Do you think you have sinned so bad that God can’t forgive you? 1 John 1:7 says that is we walk in the light the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sin.

Many of us struggle with assurance of salvation, we constantly strive to be “good enough” for God. This is chasing after the wind because we will never be “good enough.” It is not possible, as much as we strive to be good it doesn’t change the fact that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

God deals with absolutes. When he says all he means all. Our lives should be lived in thanksgiving. When we truly realize that we don’t cut it, that we are not good enough for God, that we need help then transformation really starts to happen. This is why our need for Christ is essential, we needed his righteousness to save us. Jesus Christ came so that we may KNOW that we have eternal life in him.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9

Further Reading: 1 John 1, Romans 3:9-31

The Patience of Faith

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers is one of my favorite devotionals. If you don't have a copy of it you need to grab one. I want to share with you part of the devotional from May 8th.

"Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs where there is not that mental poise which comes from being established on eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life; you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.

God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee." The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvelous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power."

Are you established on eternal truth?

Do you walk with reckless confidence on God?

This may seem like it describes a radical Christian. You may think I know only a few people with that type of radical trust and faith. The question is do you want that type of radical faith and trust in God? Are you willing to ask God for it because he wants to give it to you. It may be radical but it is also Biblical. Today ask God for a robust, vigorous confidence in Him!

But, Jesus...

I have been reading and thinking about Mark 6 recently. There is a lot in that chapter but what interests me is when the disciples present a problem to Jesus. The disciples are trying to get the crowds to leave and they come to Jesus and tell him to send them away so they can go to town to get some food. Well Jesus responds by saying, "You give them something to eat." Can you picture this scene? BUT JESUS! You want us to go buy the food? That would be 8 months wages! BUT JESUS, don't you understand how much work this will take? BUT JESUS, what you are asking us to do is impossible. I wonder if Jesus was thinking, BUT DISCIPLES, don't you trust me? BUT DISCIPLES, don't you believe I am big enough to provide?

Many times God calls us to do things. Sometimes they are little things and other times they are bigger. How many times do we say BUT JESUS and start coming up with excuses of why we can't do something for God. The great thing about God is that he is constantly giving us opportunities to trust him. Everyday we have an opportunity to test our faith. I want to encourage you to step out in faith and let God amaze you today!

Thanks For The Bread

I am reading "In The Eye of The Storm" by Max Lucado and this is an excerpt from the book. I pray that it may encourage your heart today.

Dear Friend,

I'm writing to say thanks. I wish I could thank you personally, but I don't know your name. If I knew your appearance, I'd look for you, but your face is fuzzy in my memory. But I'll never forget what you did.

There you were, leaning against your pickup in the West Texas oil field. An engineer of some sort. A supervisor on the job. Your khakis and clean shirt set you apart from us roustabouts. In the oil field pecking order, we were at the bottom. You were the boss. We were the workers. You read the blueprints. We dug the ditches. You inspected the pipe. We laid it. You ate with the bosses in the shed. We ate with each other in the shade.

Except that day.
I remember wondering why you did it.

We weren't much to look at. What wasn't sweaty was oily. Faces burnt from the sun; skin black from the grease. Didn't bother me, though. I was there only for the summer. A high-school boy earning good money laying pipe. For me, it was a summer job. For the others, it was a way of life. Most were illegal immigrants from Mexico. Others were drifters, bouncing across the prairie as rootless as tumbleweeds.

We weren't much to listen to, either. Our language was sandpaper coarse. After lunch, we'd light the cigarettes and begin the jokes. Someone always had a deck of cards with lacy-clad girls on the back. For thirty minutes in the heat of the day, the oil patch became Las Vegas - replete with foul language, dirty stories, blackjack, and bar stools that doubled as lunch pails.

In the middle of such a game, you approached us. I thought you had a job for us that couldn't wait another few minutes. Like the others, I groaned when I saw you coming.
You were nervous. You shifted your weight from one leg to the other as you began to speak.
"Uh, fellows," you started
We turned and looked up at you.
"I, uh, I just wanted, uh, to invite..."
You were way out of your comfort zone. I had no idea what you might be about to say, but I knew that it had nothing to do with work.
"I just wanted to tell you that, uh, our church is having a service tonight and, uh..."
"What?" I couldn't believe it. "He's talking church? Our here? With us?"
"I wanted to invite any of you to come along."

Silence. Screaming silence. The same silence you'd hear if a nun asked a madam if she could use the brothel for a mass. The same silence you'd hear if an IRS representative invited the Mafia to a seminar on tax integrity.

Several guys stared at the dirt. A few shot glances at the others. Snickers rose just inches from the surface.
"Well, that's it. Uh, if any of you want to go . . . uh, let me know."

After you turned and left, we turned and laughed. We called you "reverend," "preacher," and "the pope." We poked fun at each other, daring one another to go. You became the butt of the day's jokes. I'm sure you knew that. I'm sure you went back to your truck knowing the only good you'd done was to make a good fool out of yourself. If that's what you thought, then you were wrong.

That's the reason for this letter.
Some five years later, a college sophomore was struggling with a decision. He had drifted from the faith given to him by his parents. He wanted to come back. He wanted to come home. But the price was high. His friends might laugh. His habits would have to change. His reputation would have to be overcome.

Could he do it? Did he have the courage?
That's when I thought of you. As I sat in my dorm room late one night, looking for the guts to do what I knew was right, I thought of you.
I thought of how your love for God had been greater than your love for your reputation.
I thought of how your obedience had been greater than your common sense.
I remembered how you had cared more about making disciples than about making a good first impression. And I when I thought of you, your memory became my motivation.

So I came home.
I've told your story dozens of times to thousands of people. Each time the reaction is the same: The audience becomes a sea of smiles, and heads bob in understanding. Some smile because they think of the "clean-shirted engineers" in their lives. They remember the neighbor who brought the cake, the aunt who wrote the letter, the teacher who listened...

Others smile because they have done what you did. And they too, wonder if their "lunchtime royalty" was worth the effort.
You wondered that. What you did that day wasn't much. And I'm sure you walked away that day thinking that your efforts had been wasted.

They weren't.
So I'm writing to say thanks. Thanks for the example. Thanks for the courage. Thanks for giving your lunch to God. He did something with it; it became the Bread of Life for me.

Gratefully,

Max Lucado

Swine Flu

Isn't it crazy how a virus strikes fear in people all over the world? Texas has canceled all sporting events until May 11. Egypt slaughtered 300,000 pigs eventhough they didn't have one single case of swine flu in there country. Britian, which has had 5 cases of swine flu has ordered 32 million doctor's masks. President Obama has said over 132,000 schools have been closed for some period of time due to the virus.

The steps people and governments have taken out of their fear of Swine Flu are crazy. They have done radical things because this virus has the power to take their life. This begs the question, why don't they fear and respect the Author and Perfector of Life?

"The fear of the Lord is the beggining of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."
-Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is a good thing. It is an understanding that God can give life and take it away. It is knowing that you are not in control, the one who is seated on the Heavenly Throne runs the show. Isn't it refreshing to know that our Father in Heaven is in total control and one day we will be in his presence. The Swine Flu has really got me thinking. If the fear of a Flu Virus (understanding its power to take life) causes people to do crazy radical things, why doesn't the fear of the Lord cause Christians to do crazy radical things for Jesus? Why do we worry about everything instead of being confident in our Creator? I challenge to trust in the Lord today, ask God to increase your faith so you may move on toward perfection.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6