Psalm 71 (The Message)

I read this yesterday and came back to it again today.  I’m reminded daily of God’s goodness, His grace, His love, His faithfulness and so much more.  I often don’t live up to all of it, but that’s the great thing about God’s grace.  I’ve been going through a lot in life lately and for the past year in particular, and many times I’ve wondered if God was anywhere around.  I’m sure you’ve been there before.  

Well, Psalm 71 just sort of hit me where I am in my life at the moment.  I know God is always there and that He will never leave us nor forsake us and that is all we really need to know.  I’m trying to learn to just give thanks to God no matter what.  I’m trying to learn to just sit with Him and allow Him to speak to me in any way He chooses and through anything He chooses.  I’m finding that happens in some really simple ways and it’s great.

So, perhaps you’re going through a tough time too.  Perhaps you’ve wondered if God was anywhere around. Well, trust me…He is.  And He cares.

Psalm 71:1-7; 17-24 (The Message)

1-3 “I run for dear life to God, I’ll never live to regret it.  Do what you do so well: get me out of this mess and up on my feet.  Put your ear to the ground and listen, give me space for salvation.  Be a guest room where I can retreat; you said your door was always open!  You’re my salvation – my vast, granite fortress.”

4-7 “My God, free me from the grip of Wicked, from the clutch of Bad and Bully.  You keep me going when times are tough – my bedrock, God, since my childhood.  I’ve hung on you from the day of my birth, the day you took me from the cradle; I’ll never run out of praise.  Many gasp in alarm when they see me, but you take me in stride.”

17-24 “You got me when I was an unformed youth, God, and taught me everything I know.  Now, I’m telling the world your wonders; I’ll keep at it until I’m old and gray.  God, don’t walk off and leave me until I get out the news of your strong right arm to this world, news of your power to the world yet to come, Your famous and righteous ways, O God.  God, you’ve done it all!  Who is quite like you?  You, who made me stare trouble in the face, Turn me around; Now let me look life in the face.  I’ve been to the bottom; bring me up, streaming with honors; turn to me, be tender to me, and I’ll take up the lute and thank you to the tune of your faithfulness, God.  I’ll make music for you on a harp, Holy One of Israel.  When I open up in song to you, I let out lungsful of praise, my rescued life a song…”

in the clouds

I’m in the air somewhere between Atlanta and Chicago.  As many times as I’ve flown (one of my favorite things to do) I’m always astounded by flying through the clouds. It is simply amazing to me. Each time, I’m like a little kid peering through the window with a look of awe on my face. It reminds me of God’s awesome power to create something like that. Then, as the plane climbs higher above the clouds, I notice how the cars, trucks, houses and buildings get smaller and smaller until they all look like little toys. I’m then reminded how teeny, teeny tiny I am in God’s infinitely awesome creation. And, I realize how truly blessed I am that He desires my fellowship…that He created me in His image and for His purpose…and no matter how tough life gets, I know He is in control and He cares about me. Even when I don’t understand. Even when I don’t know what to do. He knows. He’s orchestrating it all. Just like He put those clouds right outside my window. Exactly where He wanted them.

passion atlanta

 

Thanks to my friend Bronson Crawford, Student Pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Athens, GA, I attended Passion Atlanta this past Friday and Saturday.  This was my first Passion Conference and it was everything I hoped it would be.  I’ve wanted to go for years and just never have been able to, so it was nice to finally get to go.  

Being able to see some of my most favorite worship leaders/bands live was a real treat and a tremendous blessing.  The two days were packed with Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall and the David Crowder Band – complete with Crowder’s keytar and Guitar Hero controller…crazy!  Louie Giglio and Francis Chan delivered powerful and challenging talks.  It was amazing to be a part of 9,500 people who are passionate about worshipping Jesus and passionate about making Him known to all.  The entire conference was fulfilling in every way.  I’m glad I had the chance to go.  

what are you listening to?

This was the title of my devotion for today and it really spoke to me. The basic premise of the devotion is based on 1 Samuel 3:1-21 and deals with hearing and answering God’s call. I spoke to this subject in a previous post.  We often allow our doubts, skill sets, experiences, etc. to hinder what God is trying to speak to us.

A line from the devotion says,  “We push God aside and settle for the voice that speaks to our perceived limitations, fears, worthy commitments – and even our laziness.”  Wow!  If I look inside myself, I can find all of those things – hopefully not too much laziness – but certainly things that I may tend to listen to.  Things that may keep me from listening to God’s voice.

Particularly at this point in my life, I am on a quest to hear God’s voice – His call – and answer it.  I don’t want my perceived limitations, fears, worthy commitments – or laziness! – to keep me from hearing and answering Him.

gimme, gimme…i need, i need!

One of my favorite movies is What About Bob, starring Bill Murray.  My two best buds and I watched it quite frequently in college and every time, we’d end up rolling in the floor with laugther.  Bob was a needy guy and when I started to write today, I couldn’t help but remember one of his lines from the movie, “Gimme, gimme…I need, I need!”  Ever feel like that? I find myself “needing” a lot of stuff quite often.  I “need” to go to Starbucks.  I “need” that new Macbook.  (I really do.)

But, what do I REALLY need?  In order to live, I need air to breathe.  I need water to drink.  I need a little food for sustenance.  Apart from those basic essentials to human life, there’s not really much more that I MUST have…or need.  

Maybe I just “want” to go to Starbucks.  Of course, I do.  Maybe I just “want” that new Macbook.  You bet I do!  And, I’m sure I’ll get it.  But, all I really NEED is Christ.  He is the source of everything I need.  He’s the source of that air, water and food I need.  Nothing exists that doesn’t come from Him.

We did Charlie Hall’s tune “Center” in church yesterday including a little segue into “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  I was reminded that He is all I really need and when I focus on Him, the things of this earth really do grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. 

the moses factor

One of my recent devotions was about when God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and told him to go to Pharaoh and basically demand the release of the Israelites from Egypt. First of all, it’s hard to get past the burning bush scene. For me, the whole point of it is to demonstrate that God will often use miraculous, extreme, and unordinary things to get our attention.

Once God had Moses’ attention, He laid out His plan to use Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Immediately, Moses began to try to get out of it. Ever been there? He tried every excuse in the book. “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3: 11) “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” (Exodus 4:1) “O Lord, I have never been eloquent…I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:10) It seems Moses was trying as hard as he could to get out of this mission. He obviously thought he was the wrong person for the job.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced situations like this. I know I have. Many times, I have felt inadequate, lacking in skill, unworthy, etc. Sometimes, I’ve just been plain scared! But, just like in Moses’ case, God has always given me exactly what I needed to accomplish the job He called me to do. God so often uses the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary. I believe it further demonstrates how awesome, marvelous and miraculous He really is. He is able to accomplish amazing things through not-so-amazing people like me.

I’m grateful that He has chosen me to serve in His mighty Kingdom. The next time you feel that God is calling you to do something and you’re not quite certain you’re the right person for the task, just remember Moses and so many others who God has used to get His work done.

resolutions

As I write, I’m a week into 2008 and I’m thinking about new year’s resolutions. Many people have already started their resolutions.  Others haven’t made any and some don’t plan to make any at all.  Whether or not you make them, you can’t help but at least think about resolutions at this time.  I haven’t researched it enough to know when the whole idea got started, but making new year’s resolutions is a huge part of our society.

 

I guess you could say I make new year’s resolutions, although I don’t usually call it that.  I always have specific goals I want to accomplish during the year, both personal and professional.  And, the beginning of the year just sort of lends itself to a fresh start in a lot of ways.

 

In my journey with Christ, I’ve learned that it’s important to make daily resolutions.  The resolution to spend more time in His Presence.  The resolution to hear His voice more clearly.  The resolution to submit my life to Him…every day.  I want Him to reveal Himself to me in new and fresh ways each day.  I know that resolving to grow closer to Him just once now at the beginning of the year will probably not be enough.  I need to renew that resolution every day throughout the year.  I’m excited to see what He does in my life this year and to hear about what He does in yours!

thanksgiving

Earlier this week I got an e-mail with the subject line, “Jay Leno’s Perspective.” I’ve always been more of a Letterman fan; although I’m rarely up late enough to watch it anymore, but I was a bit interested to see what the e-mail was all about. The body of the message was a quote from a Jay Leno monologue, which, as it turns out was actually written by Craig R. Smith, except for the very last sentence, which were the actual words of Leno himself. He said, “With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mudslides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?”

Smith’s monologue written for Leno, pointed out that supposedly “67% of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69% of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3’s of the citizenry just ain’t happy and want a change.” The monologue goes on to point out that we Americans actually have a great deal to be thankful for and spend too much time complaining. It really got me thinking as we approach Thanksgiving. It got me thinking about all I have to be thankful for. Sure, there are always plenty of things that could be changed for the better, but, all in all, I’ve got a lot of things to be thankful for. Here are just a few of them…

I’m thankful for a wonderful, loving, and supportive family that God has blessed me with. I’m thankful for great friends who I can call on day or night. I’m thankful that I have a place to live, clothes to wear, food to eat, and clean water to drink. So many people in the world don’t have any of those things. I’m thankful that I live in a country where I have the freedom to come and go as I please and have the freedom to worship Almighty God. I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to serve in the Kingdom of God alongside my Christian brothers and sisters at Grace Fellowship Church along with the global body of Christ. Most of all, I’m thankful that God sent His only Son, Jesus to die for my sins and, because of His death, burial, and resurrection, I now can have eternal life with Him and live a victorious life until He returns. Happy Thanksgiving!

contentment

In Habakkuk 3:17-18, Habakkuk speaks of barren fields and crops, dead flocks and empty cattle barns. Most of us today don’t deal with any of these things, but one thing we do have in common with Habakkuk is the choice to be content. Not only can we choose to be content, but we can choose to rejoice in the Lord no matter what our circumstances are. We can always find a reason to rejoice.

Fanny Crosby, the American hymn writer of around 8,000 hymns found countless reasons to rejoice. When she was about six weeks old, she became very sick and began to lose her eyesight. After receiving some ill-advised treatment, she lost her eyesight permanently. As she grew older, she learned what other children were able to see, but rather than become bitter, she “made up [her] mind to store away a little jewel in [her] heart which [she] called “Content.” At age eight, she wrote this song:

O what a happy soul am I!

Although I cannot see,

I am resolved that in this world

Contented I will be.

How many blessings I enjoy,

That other people don’t.

To weep and sigh because I’m blind,

I cannot, and I won’t.

It is often easier to become bitter and complain about our circumstances. Let’s face it, sometimes life just isn’t fair. But, if we look around long enough, we will find that God is always faithful even in our darkest circumstances. We, like Habakkuk and Fanny Crosby and countless others, must choose to be content and to rejoice and give praise to God, because He is always worthy.

what is worship?

A very simple definition that Louie Giglio offers in his book, The Air I Breathe: Worship As A Way Of Life says, “Worship is our response to what we value most.” Giglio expands this definition throughout the book, but I would agree that, bottom-line, worship is our response to what we value most. Whatever we value most will receive most of our time and attention. And, as Christians, I would say that most of the things we value are good things…jobs, spouses, hobbies, etc. However, when we place anything or anyone above God, there’s a problem. God wants all of our worship, not just part of it.

1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us that whatever we do, we must do it (all) for the glory of God. All is everything. So, every part of my life should give glory to God. God wants and deserves more than just the hour or so I give Him on Sunday. He wants and deserves my worship in everything I do every day of the week, every minute of the day. Does that mean I have to go around singing “worship songs” all the time. Of course not. Worship is much more than songs. (More on that later.)

I can give glory to God with my attitude, finances, thoughts, desires, choices I make, relationships, etc. Not to mention spending time with Him in His Word and in prayer. I can also not give glory to God with all of those things. The choice is up to me. So, as I continue to seek to grow in my relationship with Christ, I want to do everything I can to worship Him in every area of my life.