Come On Over - 1/30/06

"Come, and go with me

To my father's house

It's a big big house

With lots and lots of room

A big big table

With lots and lots of food

A big big yard

Where we can play football

A big big house

It's my father's house"

Lyrics by Audio Adrenaline

Mas Regalos - 1/28/06

Ephesians 4:11-12,14 "And Christ gave gifts to people - He made some to be Apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God's people. Christ gave those gifts to prepare God's holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger ... Then we will not be influenced by every new teaching we hear from people who are trying to fool us."

WOW! Four devotions in a row. Four. God has been telling me the same thing from different parts of the Bible every time I read, and this verse is just a profound emphasis of the one in 1 Corinthians from the other day. Except this one is in Ephesians. And it's worded the exact same and it was already highlighted in my Bible when I went through it. The exact same theme, I'm in awe of how God is speaking to me - so clearly and so available if I just take the time to listen. He's stressing that:

• God gave us gifts
• Those gifts prepare His people for His holy work, to serve
• God gave us gifts to strengthen the body of Christ (the church)
• And now from this passage, He's added that by serving God, strengthening the body, and practicing using the gifts He gave us, we will be strong and remain true to His way and His truth when the world attacks with its lies.

Like the Voice of Truth - 1/27/06

1 Samuel 17:37 "The Lord who saved me from a lion and a bear will save me from this Philistine."

David was explaining to Saul about his ability to take out Goliath. This wasn't the first time he had been faced with a similar task. He'd already been in practice - training for the main event.

Just before this verse, David was describing how both a lion and a bear had come into David's flock. On each occasion, David chased it, saved the sheep from its mouth, and when it turned on him, he caught it by the fur and killed it. Now, he's giving GOD the credit for his victory.

This is the third time a devotion with the theme "faith with works" has surfaced in my Bible reading in as many days. David believed that the Lord saved him from the lion and the bear. Because of this, he had faith the Lord would save him from powerful Goliath as well.

He had the faith - but then he stepped out on that faith with the works to match it. He stood before Goliath fearless because:

• He'd done similar tasks before
• He knew God would deliver him

So, when we step out on our faith and cede our will to His, He can further His kingdom and our faith is strengthened; our spirit edified. Doing this regularly allows us to strengthen our faith and prepare us for a task. Then, we are ready, willing, and able when God calls us to act on something truly important that He's been training us for.

Then we can boldly stand before a giant, and relying on the Lord's rather than our own strength, conquer that giant for His glory.

His work, not ours - 1/26/06

James 2:22 - "You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did."

This is a verse brought up by my wife at our weekly Bible study. I feel like this is Chapter 2 of the entry from the 23rd - being His hands and feet as the next step after faith. Our next step is to begin works, making our faith perfect and complete by doing what He asks of us.

I saw in 1 Corinthians 12:28 & 31 that we are given gifts. We step out in faith to complete the works Jesus calls us to do, knowing that he has equipped us - gifted to us - the abilities required for our success. The hardest part, a point on which everybody in the Bible study agreed, is to be obedient when we are called to use our gifts. To surrender ourselves and our wills to HIS WILL and His timing for His purpose - not our own. We know what is right to do, what is good, and have seen His work in our lives as a testimony to that, but we still choose to be disobedient at times.

My wife reminded me on Tuesday that the enemy and his followers once worshipped God before Him in His presence and glory, but still they chose to disobey Him by choosing themselves over Him - separating from Him to call the shots for a time even though it ultimately meant failure and destruction. How hard is it then for us as creatures who've never been in His presence to cede control of our lives to His ultimate purpose! But He promised, "abide in Me, and I will abide in you." And I know He keeps His promises - and knowing also that He is good, I'm willing to give Him control in my life. Doing so will prevent destruction and allow me to share in His victory over death and have eternal peace and joy. Not that the problems of my life now will go away by following God, but I'll have the tools to handle them responsibly, and find success through His wisdom in those situations.

Get To Work - 1/23/06

1 Corinthians 12:28,31 "In the church God has given a place first to Apostles, second to prophets, and third to teachers. Then God has given a place to those who do miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who help others, those who are able to govern, and those who can speak in different languages...but you should truly want to have these greater gifts."

Okay, so this morning I opened up my Bible and didn't even turn a page, there was a message right there waiting for me. It turns out this is the third day in a row with a similar theme, so I'm starting a couple days back with the original journal entry to put it in context. This is what I wrote about the above passage on Monday:

The first thing that struck me about this passage is the use of the word "gifts," especially in the last sentence. It is honorable to be a teacher and useful to speak in other languages and powerful to heal, but none of this is of my own ability.

These abilities are GIFTS. I can boast of nothing. I can offer nothing to my God but a willing heart to be used according to His will, and even then I don't always give to Him what is asked of me. "...We are his hands, we are his feet, believers in Jesus, children of the king..."

But if I use my gifts well, I must maintain the perspective of a God-centered, not a Me-Centered life. I must give Him the glory and use this as a reminder to maintain humility -- to humble myself before a God whose eyes see all our righteous acts as filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6 But, His love for us conquered all and because of His sacrifice we can stand blameless before Him.

The second thing about this passage is the Corinthians' comparison between spiritual gifts and ministries. "If we are the body, why aren't His hands reaching, why aren't His words teaching..." The gifts and abilities I have represent the part of the body that I must function under.

The third connection is the "Inspiration" sidenote in my Bible which reads, "When one part of the body suffers, the other parts suffer...when one Christian fails we share his failure and care for his needs. When he is restored to fellowship, we rejoice with him."

Parts of the body - the church - work together. A failing part effects the whole. This tells me that:

1. We should regularly be involved in active fellowship - to join a body
2. We should examine our own abilities and minister to others according to our individual strengths.
3. When a brother or sister stumbles, we are called upon to help restore and edify that part of the body to restore His ultimate purpose, to further the Kingdom, and to thwart the enemy's attempt to neutralize an effective Christian.

Takeoff - 1/24/06

An appropriate picture of myself to mark the beginning of my blog.
This was taken in Guatemala when my wife and I took a zip-line tour of the Rainforest Canopy.

Creo que también, algunas veces, tengo que hacer correspondencias en español. Es importante que la gente quién habla español tiene un periodismo donde yo vivo, y si ellos pueden aprender algo u obtener mas información de su fe entonces es mejor así.