No Ego

Declare His Glory

Look around. People thrash about in seas of guilt, anger, despair. Life isn’t working.  We’re drowning fast. But God can rescue us. And only one message matters.  His!  We need to see God’s glory.

Make no mistake.  God has no ego problem. He doesn’t reveal His glory for His good. We need to witness it for ours. We need a strong hand to pull us into a safe boat. And once aboard, what becomes our priority?

Simple. Promote God. We declare, “Hey, strong boat over here!  Able pilot! He can pull you out!”

1 Chronicles 16:24 says, “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.” If we boast at all, we boast in the Lord!

Psalm 115:1 says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”

Declare His glory!

He KNOWS

You Matter to God

What matters to you—matters to God! You probably think that’s true when it comes to the big stuff like death, disease, sin, and disaster.But what about the smaller things?  What about grouchy bosses or flat tires?  What about broken dishes, late flights, toothaches, or a crashed hard drive? Do these matter to God?

Let me tell you who you are! In fact, let me proclaim who you are. The Bible says you are an “heir of God and a co-heir with Christ” (Romans8:17). You have “a crown that will last forever” (1 Cor. 9:25). You were “chosen before the creation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

But more than anything else is the simple fact—you are God’s child. 1 John 3:1 says “we are called children of God.  And we really are His children.” I love that:  we really are His children!

If something is important to you—it’s important to God!

Grace

If Only…

Maybe your past isn’t much to brag about. Maybe you’ve seen evil and you have to make a choice. Do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses?

Many choose the convalescent homes of the heart. Healthy bodies. Sharp minds. But retired dreams.  Lean closely and you’ll hear  “If only…”  The white flag of the heart. “If only.” Maybe you’ve used those words. Maybe you have every right to use them.  Perhaps you were hearing the ten count before you even got into the ring.

Let me show you where to turn. Go to John’s gospel and read Jesus’ words in John 3:6, “Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from one Spirit.”

Your parents have given you genes, but God gives you grace. God is willing to give you what your family didn’t.

Search

Stunned by Grace

I’ve never been surprised by God’s judgment, but I’m still stunned by His grace.

God’s judgment has never been a problem for me. In fact, it always seemed right. Lightning bolts on Sodom. Fire on Gomorrah. Good job, God! Egyptians swallowed in the Red Sea. They had it coming.

Discipline is easy for me to swallow. Logical to assimilate.

But God’s grace? Anything but. Do you need examples? How much time do you have? Peter denied Christ before he preached Christ. Zacchaeus, the crook… the cleanest part of his life was the money he’d laundered. But Jesus still had time for him. The thief on the cross, hung-out to die one minute, heaven-bound and smiling the next.

Story after story. Surprise after surprise! Search the pages. Read the stories! Find one person who came seeking a second chance and left with a stern lecture. Search. You won’t find it.

IS!!

God is For You

Paul asks the question in Romans8:31,  “If God is for us, who can be against us?” 

The question isn’t simply, “Who can be against you?” You could answer that one.  Who is against you?Disease, inflation, corruption, exhaustion. Calamities confront, and fears imprison. Were Paul’s question, “Who can be against us?” we could list our foes much easier than we could fight them.

But God is for us.  God is for us.  God is for us! Your parents may have forgotten you, your teachers may have neglected you, your siblings may be ashamed of you; but within reach of your prayers is the maker of the oceans. God!

God is for you.  Not “may be,” not “has been,” or “was,” but Godis!  He is for you. Today.  At this hour.  At this minute. As you hear this, He is with you. God is for you!

I am Fearless

God’s Reward

God rewards those who seek Him! Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus Himself.

And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him.  Can you think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus?

Christ felt no guilt; God wants to banish yours. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to remove yours. Jesus had no fear of death; God wants you to be fearless. Jesus had kindness for the diseased and mercy for the rebellious and courage for the challenges. God wants you to have the same.  Isn’t it just like Jesus!

Love

Jesus Builds the Bridge

People came to Jesus. My, how they came to Him!  They touched Him as He walked down the street; they followed Him around the sea; they invited Him into their homes and placed their children at His feet. Why?  Because He refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit. He chose instead to be—Jesus.

There’s not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near Him. There were those who mocked Him. Those who were envious of Him. There were those who misunderstood Him. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach Him for fear of being rejected.

Remember that. Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures. Or the next time acidic accusations burn holes in your soul.

Remember. It’s man who creates the distance. It is Jesus who builds the bridge!

Take on His Heart

Becoming Like Him

Healthy marriages have a sense of tenderness, an honesty, an ongoing communication. The same is true in our relationship with God. Sometimes we go to Him with our joys, sometimes our hurts, but we always go. And as we go, the more we go, the more we become like Him. Paul says we’re being changed from “glory to glory” (2 Corinthians3:18).

People who live long lives together eventually begin to sound alike, to talk alike, even think alike. As we walk with God, we take on His thoughts, His principles, His attitudes.  We take on His heart.

And just as in marriage, communion with God is no burden. Indeed, it’s a delight.

The Psalmist says, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty.  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Ps. 84:1-2 NIV).

Nothing—nothing compares with it!

Greatest GIFT you can give

Study Your Children

Crankcase oil coursed my dad’s veins.  He repaired engines for a living. Dad loved machines.

But God gave my dad a mechanical moron, a son who couldn’t differentiate between a differential and a brake disc. Dad tried to teach me.  I tried to learn.  Honestly, I did. Machines anesthetized me.  But books fascinated me. What does a mechanic do with a son who loves books?

He gives him a library card.  Buys him a few volumes for Christmas. Places a lamp by his bed so he can read at night. Pays tuition so his son can study college literature in high school. My dad did that.  You know what he didn’t do? Never once did he say:  “Why can’t you be a mechanic like your dad and granddad?”

Study your children while you can. The greatest gift you can give your child is not your riches, but revealing to them their own!

F _ _ _ _ H

Fill in the Blank

How would you fill in the blank: a person is made right with God through. . . what?

A person is made right with God through. . .being good. Pay your taxes. Give sandwiches to the poor. Don’t drink too much or drink at all. Christian conduct– that’s the secret.

Suffering. There’s the answer. No, it’s doctrine. That’s how to be made right with God.

No, no, no. All of the above are tried.  All are taught.  But none are from God. In fact, that’s the problem.  None are from God. Who does the saving, you or Him?

Romans 3:28 says, “A person is made right with God through faith.” Not through good works, suffering, or doctrine. Those may be the result of salvation, but they’re not the cause of it.

Salvation comes through faith in God’s sacrifice. In the gift of His Son. It’s not what you do…it’s what He did.

We are all different

Just for You

I’m about to tell you something you may find hard to believe. You don’t have to agree with me, but I’d like you to consider it with me.  Here it is.  If you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evenings and spray light on the desert in the mornings. If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree.

Because He did it all for you.  And He’s waiting for you to discover His gift, for your eyes to pop, your heart to stop. He’s waiting for the moment between the dropping of the jaw and the leap of the heart. For in that silence He whispers, I did it just for you.

Serve repeat Serve

Jesus Came to Serve

God’s cure for the common life includes a strong dose of servanthood. It’s a timely reminder. As you celebrate your unique design, be careful. Don’t so focus on what you love to do that you neglect what needs to be done.

A 3:00 AM diaper change fits in very few sweet spots. Visiting your sick neighbor might not come naturally to you. Still the sick need to be encouraged, and diapers need changing.

The world needs servants. People like Jesus who did not come to be served, but to serve. He chose remote Nazareth over the center-stage in Jerusalem, his dad’s carpentry shop over a marble-columned palace, and three decades of anonymity over a life of popularity.

He selected prayer over sleep, the wilderness over the Jordan, feisty apostles over obedient angels. I’d have gone with the angels, given the choice.

Not Jesus.  He picked the people. He came to serve! May we do the same.

GOD knows

Every Life is Long Enough

We speak of a short life, but compared to eternity, who has a long one?  A person’s days on earth may seem like a thimbleful. But compared to the Pacific of eternity, even the years of Methuselah filled no more than a glass.  James was not speaking just to the young when he said, “Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away.” (James 4:4 NCV).

In God’s plan every life is long enough and every death is timely. And though you and I might wish for a longer life, God knows better.

And this is important.  Though you and I may wish a longer life for our loved ones who have gone on before us, they don’t.  Ironically, the first to accept God’s decision of death is the one who dies.

While we’re mourning at a grave, they’re marveling at heaven. While we’re questioning God, they’re praising Him!

We are not alone

Jesus Knows How You Feel

Remember when you sought a night’s rest and got a colicky baby? Remember when you sought to catch up at the office and got even further behind? And you can add to the list of interruptions sorrow, excitement, and bedlam.  Sound familiar?

Take comfort—it happened to Jesus too. You may have trouble believing that. You probably believe Jesus knows what it means to endure heavy-duty tragedies.  You’re no doubt convinced Jesus is acquainted with sorrow and has wrestled with fear.  Most people accept that. But can God relate to the hassles and headaches of my life? Of your life?

For some reason this is harder to believe. But Jesus knows how you feel. His eyes have grown weary. His heart has grown heavy. He has had to climb out of bed with a sore throat. He has been kept awake late and has gotten up early.

Jesus knows how you feel!

Short Cuts Do Not Work

He Gives Us What We Need

One morning Denalyn was with me in the car.  “I’m about to remind you why you married me,” I told her as we drew near to the intersection.  “See that long line of cars?  See that humdrum of humanity?  It’s not for me…hang on!”  I swerved from the six-lane onto the one-lane and shared with my sweetheart my secret expressway to freedom.

“What do you think?” I asked, awaiting her worship.

“I think you broke the law,”  she responded.

“What?” I asked incredulously.

“You just went the wrong way on a one-way street!” she answered.

I did.  She was right.  I had missed the “do not enter” sign.

Before coming to Christ, we all had our share of shortcuts. What we consider shortcuts God sees as disasters. He doesn’t give laws for our pleasure.  He gives them for our protection. He knows what we need!