I used to fight a lot with my brothers and sister when I was very young. In fact, I can still vividly remember how I used to try to avoid being punished by my parents when I would hurt them.
Whenever they would go crying to mom and dad, I would hide, cover my ears, and sing loud enough to drown them out. I really thought that if I couldn’t see or hear them, neither could my parents.
Guess what? My plan failed. It only took a few attempts at this before I learned that mom and dad could still see and hear despite whether I covered my own eyes and ears.
Justice still came whether I ran from it or not.

So it is with those who try to reject the notion of God or accountability to Him. Like a little ignorant child, they foolishly convince themselves that God does not see, or that God does not disapprove.
We live in a time where our culture is casting off all restraint on moral issues, calling things that are wrong right, and thing that are right wrong. Why else do you think that there is such a push to remove God from the courts, schools, public places, etc? Because the choices we are making as a people and the direction we are heading is in direct contradiction to God’s moral law.
Some claim that God is dead or doesn’t even exist at all, while others boldly declare that God accepts their immoral choices.
We close our eyes, cover our ears, and insist that God doesn’t hear or see. Does He?

Psalm 94 says this,
“1 The Lord is a God who avenges.
O God who avenges, shine forth.
2 Rise up, Judge of the earth;
pay back to the proud what they deserve.
3 How long, Lord, will the wicked,
how long will the wicked be jubilant?
4 They pour out arrogant words;
all the evildoers are full of boasting.
5 They crush your people, Lord;
they oppress your inheritance.
6 They slay the widow and the foreigner;
they murder the fatherless.
7 They say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob takes no notice.”
8 Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
you fools, when will you become wise?
9 Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?
10 Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?
11 The Lord knows all human plans;
he knows that they are futile.
12 Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,
the one you teach from your law;
13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;
he will never forsake his inheritance.
15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
19 When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy.
20 Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—
a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?
21 The wicked band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my fortress,
and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
23 He will repay them for their sins
and destroy them for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will destroy them.”

Trying to resist the authority of God is about as futile as a small child resisting the discipline of the parents.
We can throw a fit, jump up and down, and stomp around all we want and insist and demand freedom to do as we please, but that doesn’t change much.
He’s still the authority, and His judgment is coming whether we like it or not.

Comforting words, if you’re right with God. Scary if you’re not.

A friend of mine has an interesting dog named Harley that is much beloved by his family. What makes Harley so interesting is the way he gets around. I was a bit dumbfounded and amazed when I met him, because instead of running straight ahead, Harley ran around in circles to get from place to place around the yard. He just ran around and around, making a little more progress with each circle.
My friend explained to me that the dog had developed the habit due to the fact that he was blind in one eye.

I had to smile as I watched Harley because I couldn’t help but see human nature in his handicap. For some of us, progress in our Christian walk can seem just like that.
Do you ever feel like you’re running around in circles in life? While trying to look ahead and press forward and grow in Christ, you somehow end up back where you’ve been before. I know I have.
Whether it’s because of old habits that die hard, or the same old mistakes made again and again, I sometimes find myself asking, “Haven’t I been here before?,” or “Shouldn’t I know better than this by now?”
Have you ever prayed, “Well Lord, here I am again,…” for the 2nd, 3rd, 10th, or 100th time?

Poor Harley runs around in circles because he’s missing an eye and he overcompensates, but when you and I run around in circles in our spiritual life, it’s because we’ve taken our eyes off of Jesus and gotten side-tracked. If we lose focus on Christ, we can easily get distracted from God’s will for our lives and end up going backwards rather than forward in our growth and relationship with Him.

Proverbs 4:25-27 gives us this instruction, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet, and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

That’s pretty clear instruction, but for those of us today who would say that we’ve gone backward, and are looking to have our focus renewed or maybe even our relationship with God restored, what do we do?
We simply confess our sins to God and believe according to 1John 1:9 that He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We can pray as David did in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence O Lord, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation”

Whether you need sins forgiven, vision renewed, peace restored, or God’s will revealed, you can return to Him right now, right where you are. He’s only a whisper away, if you’ll call out to Him.
Take a minute to talk to God. You’ll be glad you did!

I was talking with a guy recently who is deathly afraid of flying. I tried to reassure him that flying is perfectly safe, but he just couldn’t put his trust in an airplane.
So I switched gears and gave him some verses about dying, reminding him that God knows the exact day and hour of his death, and that he’s not going to die any later or sooner than the time already appointed for him.
He looks at me and says, “Yeah, but what if it’s the captain’s time?”

There are some people who choose worry over peace, and fear over faith no matter how much assurance you try to give them. A person who won’t let go and trust God will always find something to worry about.
Proverbs 12:25 says that “anxiety in the heart of man weighs him down.”
How many times is this true in our own lives? How many times have we been anxious or worried about something, and held onto that worry even after we discovered that it was unfounded?

I know people who are perfectly healthy individuals, but live in perpetual fear of developing some illness or disease. Nobody wants to be sick or die, but living as though you have a disease when you don’t is no way to enjoy life.
Or consider the married person who is constantly paranoid and suspicious of their spouse, even after demonstrating years of loving commitment and faithfulness. This can steal much of the security and fulfillment out of the the marriage relationship.
They say that the vast majority of things we worry about never even happen. But still, for some reason, we allow them to rob us of our joy and our peace.
It’s not God’s will for you to live in fear.

We need to guard our minds against those thoughts that lead to unnecessary worry. We should practice what Phil 4:8 exhorts us to do, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

If you catch yourself allowing your mind to wander and begin worrying about things beyond your control, capture those thoughts by an act of your will, reject them, and choose to have faith over your fears. Take those thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ and use your mind to think about those things that are true.

And pray. Pray, pray, pray. Read and obey Phil 4:6,7, which says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

The peace of God will be like a wall of protection guarding your heart and mind from anxious thoughts when you take the time to lay it out before Him. Surrender to Him, trust Him, and learn to rest in Him.
Jesus said in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
There is incredible peace found in Christ, if we are willing to yield to it.
Will you let go and trust Him?

2 Thessalonians 3:16 “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

Early on in our marriage, my wife used to pack my lunch for work. I loved tuna sandwiches, and she knew it. Every day for over two years, she would faithfully prepare four tuna and cheese sandwiches, along with some snacks.
Eventually, tuna sandwiches started getting old, but I didn’t know how to break it to my sweet, dedicated wife. So, I left the house every day with her labor of love in hand, but I secretly went to the store and picked up something else for lunch. Then, while driving home from work, I tossed those sandwiches in the woods. This went on for several months until one day it was discovered that I had been daily spending money at convenience stores despite the fact that I was bringing home an empty lunchbox. The jig was up.
Thankfully, she responded with a sense of humor over it, but how many lunches do you think she has prepared for me since that episode?
I was relieved that she wasn’t angry with me, but I know she must have been at least a little hurt. She went out of her way to demonstrate her love for me and I took advantage of it.
How would you feel if you made a good nutritious meal for someone and they snubbed it for a cheap, junk food alternative? Suppose you prepared a delicious feast for a loved one, but they decided to go to mcdonalds instead.

Do you ever wonder what God thinks of us when we neglect the sincere milk and solid meat of the Word He’s given us, and in its place we feed ourselves with cheap alternatives? Guess what, we don’t have to wonder. Look what Jesus says in John 14:23-24 “Jesus replied: ‘If anyone loves me he will cherish my word; my Father will love him and we will come to him and make him our abode. He that does not love me neglects my words. Yet the word you hear is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.”

The Bible is a labor of love that God has provided for our daily strength and edification. It doesn’t take a lot of our time to open it up and draw wisdom and good spiritual nutrition each day.
Most of us have things that we make time for each day, like sports, our favorite shows, or even other books that we read. Those things are fine to enjoy, but not at the expense of neglecting time in God’s word.
Christian bookstores are packed with books on a wide variety of topics, but they too are no substitute for actually reading the Bible.
Jesus says again in John 8:31-32, Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Have you been neglecting time in the Word? Is daily Bible reading one of your priorities? Make sure you don’t spurn God’s incredible gift!

ACTS 20:32
“And now I entrust you to God and his care and to his wonderful words that are able to build your faith and give you all the inheritance of those who are set apart for himself.”

My dentist is the best. He and his staff are so gentle and skillful with their equipment, I don’t even have to get the slightest bit nervous about going to see them. I sit back and relax without a hint of anxiety because I am so confident in their abilities. Every trip to my dentist is a pleasant and comfortable experience because he is so good at what he does.
When I speak like that about my dentist, who am I glorifying? Myself? No, I’m giving credit to my dentist, and telling you that he can be trusted.

We have a tendency not to make our faith known because we don’t want people to automatically assume we are exceptionally humble, devout, or pious people. We don’t want them to think too highly of us. But what our faith actually says is little about ourselves and much about God.
When you tell the world about your faith in God, it brings glory to Him.
Look at what the Bible says about Abraham in Romans 4:20 “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”
When Abraham believed God, even though everything in his flesh would say this is impossible, it glorified God. He demonstrated that he trusted God’s promise, even though he couldn’t understand how God would do it.

When you and I live out our lives in this present world with faith in God and tell men so, we are telling them that we believe God is worth trusting. Even though we don’t understand precisely how He will fulfill his promises, we believe He will.
We bring Him great glory by trusting His word and believing that what He has promised, He is able also to perform.

The next verse says that Abraham’s faith was imputed to him as righteousness. God considered him righteous because of his unwavering faith in Him.
Then it says this: “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.”
The same faith in God that made Abraham righteous is the same faith that makes you and I righteous.

Do you trust God today? Are you fully persuaded that what God has promised you in Christ, He is able also to do?
I am. I believe He’s telling the truth.
How about you?

I had a brand new home owner call me up and ask why there was no electricity at his house. The first question I asked solved his problem. “Did you call PUD and set up an account?” He didn’t realize that he had to first ask the power company in order to receive power.
Imagine if he would never have called at all and sat content in his brand new home with no heat, no light and no power in his electrical outlets, and never bothered to ask the power company to energize his home. Imagine a person who willingly chose not to use the power available to him.

I see people doing that all the time. Who would do such a foolish thing, you ask? Those who decide to come to church, hear the teaching of God’s word, hang out with Christians, but don’t bother to really come to Christ and ask Him to be born of the Spirit. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Most assuredly I say to you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 There are a lot of people who become church-goers, but who never really become part of the body of Christ through repentance and faith.

I spoke to a man recently who told me that he has been actively going to church weekly with his family for over 15 years, but freely confessed that he had never committed his life to Christ. I know this is a church with biblical teaching, but for whatever reason, this guy is totally content to simply be a church-goer and does not have any intention of ever experiencing the real power of a Christian life that is totally yielded to God.

That’s the equivalent of a person who lives in a house with a good furnace and all the wiring and switches available, but chooses to sit in the dark and the cold, never bothering to call the electrical company and light the power.
Why would anyone play games with church like that? I don’t know, but he’s not alone.

There are also people who are going to church and trying really hard to produce all kinds of good fruit, but realize that their Christianity lacks the true transforming power that the NT promises. Perhaps they have never gone to the true source and asked. Jesus promised us, “Without me, you can do nothing.” It’s true. We can try our best to walk the Christian walk, but without God’s Spirit energizing us and empowering us, we will not bear any good or lasting fruit that will remain.
I know this is true because I tried it for a long time and continually found myself frustrated and coming up short. I eventually came to the realization that I was unable to live like God requires me to. It drove me to my knees, where I surrendered my own efforts and flung myself on the mercy and grace of God.
Then He filled me with His Spirit, and gave me His strength. It’s a whole different life and a whole different Christian experience when you have the true power of the Holy Spirit enabling you.

Luke 11:9-13
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

He never intended for us to do this on our own, friends. He’s got all the power you need available for the asking. Do you trust Him enough to humble yourself and ask?
God is a good Father!

People often ask me to explain how God can be three separate Persons, yet still be One God. How do you explain the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)?
Well, if my kids can get it, so can you.
Today I was sitting at the counter eating hard boiled eggs, and I showed the kids with a couple of simple demonstrations.

First, I put one of the heating elements on high on the stove, and took an ice cube out of the freezer. I asked them what I was holding, to which they replied, “Ice!”
“But what is it made of?”I asked.
“Water”
Then I rubbed the ice cube on the hot stove, and as it melted, I asked what was on the stove. “Water” came the answer.
Pretty soon, the heat turned the water into steam, and as it rose up, I pointed to it and asked, “What’s this?”
Answer: Water!
Even though it can take several different forms, water is still water, whether its ice, liquid, or steam.

Then I held up one of the eggs. I explained how the egg was made up of three distinct parts. The shell, the yolk, and the white. If I took out the white and the yolk, and held up a round shell, they would agree that its an egg. If I took off the shell and pulled the white off and only held the yolk, its still an egg. Similarly, the white is still an egg even without the yolk or the shell.
But when we put them all together, how many eggs do we have? One.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons, yet we believe in One God. Simple, yet often we can’t wrap our minds around it. Even though my examples are insufficient to explain the depth of the reality of the Triune God, they do help our minds grasp the concept of three being one.
Hope this was beneficial to you today.
Be blessed

My four-year-old son was all ticked off this morning, explaining that he does not want to go to heaven because there may not be electronics and video games there, and how is he supposed to play Sonic every once in a while when he wants to? He’s a funny little guy.
He can’t imagine anything better than his favorite thing, and he doesn’t want any part of going anywhere that doesn’t have video games.

You and I laugh because we know that life has so much to offer beyond video games.
In fact, I remember telling my kids to get in the car to go bowling one Sunday afternoon. You would have thought I suggested we go to the morgue. None of them wanted to leave their beloved tv shows or wifi to go try some boring adult game.
You know what happened? Turns out, they discovered that they loved bowling and now it’s one of their favorite family activities. The same thing goes for skating, fishing, etc.

You and I may have our list of favorite things to do on earth, and we can’t imagine doing without them in heaven, but God has things prepared for us that will make even the most fulfilling earthly pleasures seem dull, dry and boring.
He has new sights, sounds, tastes, and amazing new experiences that will make even the best of earth pale in comparison.
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1Cor 2:9
That means that even if you and I sat down together and tried to come up with ideas on what kinds of incredible things God could have in store for us, our minds are incapable of imagining what those things may be. We simply cannot fathom the depths of His creative ability. Heaven is a place that is really beyond your wildest dreams! What does that tell you about how awesome eternity will be?

With those thoughts in mind, isnt it just as silly for you and I to be so attached to earthly things, that, like my son, we aren’t looking forward to heaven because we would rather hold onto something in the world?
Doesn’t matter if it’s simple things like video games or if it’s a job, a house, or something else we deem so important. Don’t let anything here hold your heart.
God has so much more prepared for you!

I took my son hunting on Saturday morning, where we approached a pond that was filled with hundreds of ducks. It isn’t waterfowl season, so we couldn’t shoot them, but I wanted to try out my duck calling skills.
“Watch this,” I whispered as we crouched behind a bush. Then I let out my very best duck quack. Immediately, every duck in the pond went from casually feeding and bathing to swimming quickly and nervously away from that strange sound. I tried again, hoping to calm them and get a response, but it only got worse. In fact, some of them flew off. We realized the jig was up and stepped out from our hiding spot, and all of the sudden there were hundreds of ducks in the air.

I used it as an opportunity to teach my son about how important it is to know the voice of God. There are all kinds of voices in the world trying to tell us how we should live, and many of them claim to be from God. Even in contemporary Christianity, there are counterfeits who want you to think they speak for God. They want to lure you in and control you, or, as Peter puts it, “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” In other words, they manipulate God’s word to get money or something else out of you. Have we not all seen this type of behavior?
That’s why each of us needs to have a real relationship with God where we are immersed in His word and we have the Holy Spirit within us who leads us into all truth.
When we have a healthy relationship with The Lord, He leads us in right paths, and we won’t be deceived by false teaching.
Jesus said this in John 10, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Do you know Jesus’ voice? Can you distinguish His leading as you live out your life? You should be tight enough with Jesus that you know His voice when you hear it, and you can easily recognize a phony.
Hear what He says again in John 10, “But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

I may have thought I was doing a pretty decent job of impersonating a duck, because I don’t hang around ducks all the time. But every duck on the pond knew something was wrong as soon as I opened my mouth, and they swam away even though they couldn’t see us.
False teachers and those who don’t spend time with God in prayer and in the Word may think that false teaching sounds pretty good and right, but those of us who know The Lord and the Bible know immediately when we are being fed mistruth.
Sometimes false teaching is immediately obvious, and other times you’re hearing a teaching somewhere, and you may not even be able to put your finger on it right away, but something within you knows that something about it isn’t right. Then somewhere in the teaching the jig is up as you recognize something that contradicts the scripture.

You’re not going to be able to discern the voice of God unless you are spending time with Him. Each of us must have a relationship with God that is personal and real, where we spend time with Him and He continually transforms us more and more into people who know and follow His voice.
Do you know the Lord?