Are you there God?

I think for me a question that has been coming up in my head through several trials that have been going on in my life is “ARE YOU EVEN THERE GOD”?

Silly right!  As a believer in Christ for about 15 years I have seen God work in many ways in my life, some quickly and some slowly, but He is always there.  Lately, as I grow closer to Him, Satan finds a way to make me doubt and have fear, which takes my eye off the prize.  Well, This is not at all what and who God has designed me to be.  His word tells me that if I “draw closer to Him, He will draw closer to me” (JAMES 4:8) and that He has not “given us a Spirit of fear” (2 TIMOTHY 1:7).

The Holy Spirit has been revealing many things to me over the past few years…almost screaming at me in my disbelief at times.   It seems when I sit down and read scripture, I pray that He would reveal things to me so I can understand what it is I am reading as well as allow me to put it into action, HE ANSWERS THAT PRAYER, EVERY TIME!!!.  After reading it, the next day on the way to work or from work a random radio station Pastor will be explaining the same book, chapter and verse.  Then if thats not entirely obvious to me the Pastor on Sunday will also be on that same book, chapter and verse….ALL UNKNOWN FROM EACH OTHER.  I know this is God working to help me to understand the text I am praying to understand…HE IS GOOD.

Its hard to wait and be patience, especially in our “I need it now” generation, but I know God is there and working in my life even though it is sometimes very hard to be patient.  I have to keep reminding myself that it is well worth the wait when you know the God of the Bible has so much for you and is so good to you.

Just a few thoughts on my life at the moment.

A Walk Through Timothy

As a means for getting back to a fundamental and BIBLICAL approach to life, I am going to blog about two letters, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy.  Over the next several blogs I am hoping to explore the ideas in these texts and see how God uses them in my own life as well as those around me.  So, If you are a reader of this blog and are guided in some fashion by the Holy Spirit as it pertains to Timothy or things that He is revealing to you….PLEASE SHARE with me or someone else!  I feel that much of the Christian walk is cornered in the  “see something say something” theory, which is rebuking, exhorting and genuinely helping our brothers and sisters in Christ be better that what they currently are (which in essence is what sanctification and growth is all about).

1 Timothy 1:12-17
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

The above text, a letter, written to Timothy from the Apostle Paul about how he is supposed to remain aware of ministry detailers and set a few things right in the church as well as layout some of the initial structure, that in which we see in some churches today, i.e. deacons, elders and so on.  He immediately jumps right to the heart of the issue, Jesus Christ!  Paul says that, “I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus”.  As some of you may know, Paul was a chief killer and persecutor of many Christians and was acting ignorantly and was not aware of the truth that came in and through Christ Jesus.  Why would this happen for Gods glory…Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.  God always has a plan, a perfect plan for us as believers, as His children.  God still used Paul’s life even though he had a past that could hardly be forgotten or overlooked by humans standards and minds.  The bible also says that “no one is holy, no not one” and that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”….So, before you get all down in the dumps about things that might keep you away from God…DONT…He wants you just the way you are.  Christ didn’t come into the world to die for those who were pretty good and seemed OK, NO, He came to save everyone!

John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

I love the letters to Timothy they provided such a great and powerful backdrop of how we should carry ourselves as believers and live set apart from the world…..ITS BECOMES ALL ABOUT OUR CHARACTER IN CHRIST.  

Please read through the letters see for yourself about how God will speak to you through them.

Waiting on God-Coffee Houses and New Babies!

I’m learning a lesson in “Waiting on God”!

Recently, I have been praying that God would reveal to me the direction in which He wants me to go.  He has been leading my wife and I to start a small coffee house with the hopes to reach people for Him.  In that search for humble submission, to Him, we have found that He is saying to wait and to be patient.  Well this was hard to hear! Especially when you “feel” like you are ready to move and seek what He has for you (like holding back a kid from running to the sundae bar at a restaurant).  Well, as adults we must wait when He tells us to wait, and not let emotion and personal desire come into our decision to be obedient.

We sometimes never truly know Gods plans for us or how His plans will prosper us in the end, we just trust that they will.

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Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

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So, during this time of waiting, I continued to pray as if to change the answer of “waiting” and try to make happen what God was doing.  Well, God wasn’t done working, He was preparing us (slowing us down) for another adventure and blessing He had for us.  It was just not the answer we were waiting on…..A NEW BABY!

Yes, I know, “COFFEE HOUSES AND BABIES” have little to do with each other, at least in our limited minds they do.  But God is good and His will is sufficient for me and my family.  Lord, we will continue to wait and seek the next move you have for us, with humility and obedience!

 

Micro-management perspectives: Prayer

Does a “Micro-Management” style of leadership stifle the self motivator?  Does it tend to cast a negative morale across the workforce and breed a sense of distaste and make the employee question their value to the organization?

Well, I feel like in my profession the employee morale is at an all-time low….and the individual worker is being stifled more than any other time in my duration with this profession.  As a believer in Christ how does this change my perspective?  And more importantly should it?  YES YES and YES it should!

I feel that I have been looking at my work with a unique sense of duality between my work and my faith.  This approach was glorifying God on one side and leaving Him out on the other side….I WAS WRONG…Gods plan is perfect and complete.  There should be no difference between what I do for work and what I do for the Lord…ITS THE SAME!

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How do I/we change this as believers in Christ………PRAYER

I Timothy 2:1-4
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

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Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Am I saying that Prayer is the only answer? Yes, yes I am!  Prayer is the only way that we can stay in constant communion with God while at our work/jobs/profession.  If not we are working to work and ducking our heads as we go through our days and not looking fully for the joy that God had intended for us.

Do you want to make a change at work, be the change and see how God will honor it.  I guarantee that if you looked hard enough you would see that you are the one who needs to change…I know I did!  

 

The Cost

The Cost?  What is the true cost of Discipleship?  What does it mean for us as followers of Jesus Christ to give up all for a life of sacrifice and obedience in Him?

In the Fire Service we have to make split second decisions about life and death.  Risk versus Reward!  Thats what we do, we weigh the risk vs the reward of a rescue or emergency situation to see if it makes “sense” to attempt a rescue.  There is much on the line when this happens, LIFE/DEATH, in essence this is what it comes down to.  The same is true when we assess a life lived outside of the hope and eternal security in Jesus Christ vs a life lived in the world under the control of sin, death and the devil.  We weigh the Risk (an obedient life of sacrifice in Christ-bringing with it hardship and tribulations) vs the Reward (the eternal hope and security in Heaven brought by our accepting the work that Jesus did on our behalf on the Cross).

Ravi Zacharias had a sermon that hit home with me, a few years ago I listened to this after my wife had suggested it.  His sermon was about (Pleasure vs Pain) it is the willingness to take what is hard (or painful) first then reap the reward (or pleasure) after the trial/hardship.  The opposite is where we are as a society now, which is to take what “I” want then pay the consequences for it later, taking the pleasure first and dealing with the painful outcome later.  Harsh lessons to learn, but we all tend to have examples of this in our own lives. DONT WE?

What is the true cost of Discipleship as a Christian Today?  Really look at this, it is more than just saying a few words and going about your life “Business as usual”.  Look at the passage below and see if it resonates with you or any aspects of your life.

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Luke 14:25-33
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.  For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?  Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’  Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.  So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

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1. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple

2. not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

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In summary, we have to renounce all that we have for a life in Christ…..That my friends has to be taken as a serious command or else we don’t fully understand all that Christ is asking of us.  My prayer for us is that the Lord would continue to work and show us His desires for us to live fully in Him.  In addition I pray that we would relinquish, RELINQUISH control and give our lives to Him in a way that answers the commands from the God of the Bible and our Lord Jesus all through our yielding and surrender to His Holy Spirit.  

Big Houses, Vintage Cars and Death!

I ran a call the other day that made me re-examine a few things in my mind and heart.  What do houses and vintage cars have to do with death, well, nothing and everything!

Worldly Priorities vs. Intentionality in Christ!

So back to the call, a man needed assistance (call type-lift assist) from one part of his house to another, since he was living with a (BKA) below the knee amputation, it was hard for him to get around the house usually.  The man was obviously struggling with his new stage of life, and had several relational issues as well, he was hurting and broken.  We all are struggling in the same way, especially without the hope, strength and purpose in a Christ filled life.

I often think about what it means to live a missional life.  What does that even mean to live a missional life?  To live a life that is missional focussed, means to live a life with everything, everything focussed back on the purpose and values of your life.  But you have to know what that purpose and values are.  Many people have values, or value things, but they don’t view it through a God lens.  What is your focus and values? Do they lie where your heart is? YES, and YES, but what would happen if you value the wrongs things?

We often find our hearts are leaning towards the world, towards selfishness and no where close to a heart that desires God, but one that desires and serves self.  A missional life is one that honors the life of Christ and puts God above all else, NO MATTER WHAT.  Your heart is what chooses;  either God or the World.  Choosing the things of the world over the things of God brings about an outcome like any choice…..Its one I don’t what to find out.

James 4:7-10
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

My prayer for us as we move forward in Christ, is to seek Him fully in all that we do.  Resisting the devil and resisting the World and drawing closer to that in which God desires for us will align our hearts to Him in a unique and awesome way!

The Tongue

It has been a long time since my last post, sorry!

This blog post is to address an important and current issue at work.  Recently a comment was made from a co-worker on social media about those who are rioting in B-more, MD.  All rioting events are a direct result of the sad and tragic police related death of one of her citizens.  I am not addressing the hype around it, nor am I addressing the death specifically.  Generally I will say that we live in a fallen world and as we get closer to the end of it we are going to see more and more events that point to the same, “brokenness” “sin” and “evil”.  The fact remains that we are living in sin when we are living apart from God, that is what makes the Lord Jesus Christ so important to us as men and women….He provides HOPE and eternal security through His work and blood shed on the cross.

As I mentioned “sin” we live in a sinful world (Romans 3:23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God).  The characteristics of this world is that of separation from God and eventually death (Romans 6:23) especially without Christ.  But as believers in Jesus Christ, and followers of the Truth, we should not be shocked when we see sin in its rare form.  We should be ready to combat the sin with the Word and be ready with every good word from our mouths to lift each other up and stand firm on the Word of God and not on our own understanding.

Comments made that “tear down”, “cut” and “hurt” are all about the world and comes from an unbridled tongue of sin.  The book of James tells us that the tongue is a “restless evil full of deadly poison” and that “no one can tame the tongue”.  We as believers need to be in check with this as well, for we are not exempt.  The tongue as it is also described in James, “with it (the tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people in the likeness of God”.  It ultimately becomes a heart issue, we must remember that the tongue and its poison comes directly from a poisoned heart.  So if the heart is sinning and far from God then we will see the restless evil being spewed out…PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN CHANGE HEARTS in those who need HIM.

Three verses I will leave with you:

Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

I Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Leviticus 19:18

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

BUMPER STICKER BATTLE

GAME ON!  Its a bumper sticker battle!  Today on the way home I saw something that made me chuckle at first, but after further consideration it made me really sad to think about.  Two diametrically opposed bumper stickers!

On two different cars I saw two bumper stickers that were saying the opposite things.   I know this happens more that I give it credit for, but I thought in light of our current state of worldly affairs it was very applicable and worthy of a quick note.

On the first car it read: I Love Allah!
On the second car it read: ISIS, Find em’ and kill em’

I know that we live in a democracy, one that allows us the freedom of speech and liberty to do whatever we want in the United States, however, there are many buts to that statement though.  What made me sad about this picture; the two vehicles heading in the same direction, RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER, down the same road at the same time, was exactly that-the SAME.  We are all heading in the same direction, the only difference is whether we are doing it WITH or WITHOUT GOD!  I’m not a political man by any means, but I think we are viewing this current political atmosphere as an agenda for HATE and not a potential for advancing the kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I do believe that we should combat evil and correct some much needed wrongs in the world, but we need to first have LOVE as a platform to stand on, not hate.

What good is our testimony if we are standing in quick sand?
What good is our love if its bathed in hate and dissension?  

Looking through the lens of scripture, I think we can find that God renders His judgment and Justice in ways that we don’t fully understand or can possibly comprehend.   Our job is to trust and have faith that He is working His great will for His purpose ALONE!  There should be no other agenda that we are seeking, except for HIS.

So, as for the bumper sticker-Who is wrong? The first or the second vehicle?  BOTH, both are wrong in the sense of God alone and the love that He requires of us.

….MORE TO COME

Faith and Shoe Treads

I was reading a story the other day, one that I have heard and read so many other times before.  However, this time it struck a different cord, made sense in a different way.  

Many of you have probably heard the same story: Peter walking on water towards Jesus.  Well, where I am in life right now may be where Peter was in this story.  Thats how God works right, taking a story we have glossed over so many other times and now making it bounce off the page as though it were written for us at this moment in time.  its like its saying HEY MIKE READ THIS, APPLY THIS!!! 

Matthew 14:25-33
And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

It all begins where Peter calls out to Jesus when He sees Him in the water and says, “Jesus if that is really you then call me to come out to you”.  The Bible tells us that we will do greater things than these in the name of Jesus if we believe and walk with the Spirit in confidence.  WELL thats exactly what Peter does, he steps out of the boat in confidence knowing that the Lord will work, that God will provide, that the Holy Spirit’s leading is correct and perfect in his life.  HE’S WALKING.  He’s doing it, walking on water by the power of almighty God, BUT, then FEAR, DOUBT and LACK OF FAITH creep in and he begins to sink and, game over, Jesus pulls him up out of the water and rescues him.

I feel like in so many ways that God is crying out to me to do the same and to just step out of the boat and live out my faith with confidence.  He’s crying out to me, so I will say, “Lord I will submit everything, EVERYTHING to you and have you guide me without boundaries, without hesitation”.  What is the difficulty with this?  I have the same fears that Peter did, but I also think of the growth that must have taken place in Peter’s heart after this event.  It must have felt great to know from that specific trial and experience, when applied to future trials, made him stronger in faith and in the Lord.

I pray for greater tread on my shoes, greater resolve when it comes to my faith, and greater obedience to be the one who stands up on the boat and says “have me come to you Lord”.  The specificity of prayer and communication with God in this passage tells me that we need to do the same as Peter did.  PRAYER WITH CONFIDENCE, AND MOVE WITH ACTION AND PURPOSE.

Do You Know How I Know: The Still Small Voice

I know that the Holy Spirit is working and speaking into my life because of His still small voice and the connections that He is making in my life, faith and family.  What do you mean, Mike? Well, let me tell you a little story about how I have been experiencing God these days.  Stay with me for a bit!

Its not just coincidence!  ITS GOD!  Its how He reveals himself to us, through nature, The Bible, through other people, all of the experiences that lead us to a greater understanding of Him, and in a deeper FAITH relationship with Him.

For what can be known about God is plain to them (unbelievers), because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they (those who reject Him) are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20)

I worked on Sunday, “B” Shift at the Fire House, (also happened to be SuperBowl Sunday) now I am not much of a football guy, so this is not a football story (sorry).  We had a good day, not too many calls, no one got injured and we all went home the next morning.  So whats up, Mike?  I came home the next morning, Monday morning, and I encouraged my wife to go out and take some time for herself at one of the local coffee houses in our city.  Having three kids is demanding on her, as well as our time together, so it was good for her to get some time to decompress by herself.  Throughout the day we were trying to have a conversation about church on Sunday (that I missed due to work) and the message our pastor preached, but like many conversations around our 4.5, 3 and 1 year old children, it was foiled.  BUT, at night when we were reading the Bible to our children I flipped to a story from the Bible about “Doubting Thomas”.  RANDOM?  No, it was the same story that the pastor was preaching during the sermon I missed, and I did not know what the sermon was about specifically, because I wasn’t there and I hadn’t yet spoken with my wife about it.

Most of you are probably saying the same thing right now, “whatever”, “totally coincidence” or “thats a loose connection”!  Well, I DONT THINK SO.  I think this is how the Holy Spirit works in our lives sometimes and our growth of faith and obedience is determined by whether or not we are sensitive enough to hear what it is He is saying to us.  Walking inline with the Spirit of God is a command in the Bible and it is one that we should all be striving for.

I know He is working in my life, because I see the strings that He ties everything together with, in a very clear way.  I know He’s at work, and I know I WANT MORE OF HIS WORKING IN MY LIFE.

My Prayer:
Lord, work more, and make me more open to seeking you and walking inline with your Spirit.