Keep Your Hope Up!

Pause

Last October I ran my first 5K in long time.  I spent weeks training for this run; therefore, I fully expected to do well.  Unfortunately, I did not live up to my expectations. My goal was to be able to run the whole distance, but I was unable to do it.  I also wanted to run it within 32 minutes. Instead, I finished in 38 minutes.  The only goal I met-and I am proud of it-was to run a 5k. So, one out of three goals isn't bad.  

One thing did catch my attention during the race. There was a young lady who passed me during the race.  About every 3 minutes, she would stop running, and walk for another minute, and then run again.  She repeated this the whole race.  I thought that I would eventually pass her, and finish the race long before she did.  I thought wrong.  Her stopping and running enabled her to finish the race several minutes before me. Her taking time to pause during her run did not slow her down, but actually sped up her pace and time.

I learned a valuable life principle from this young lady.  Life is a marathon, and we would do well to pause occasionally. The Lord created this principle when he established the Sabbath.  Most of us are way to busy; therefore, we really need to pause.  When we take regular periods to rest, we will find that they are very useful interruptions.  They will give us time to refuel our relationship with the Lord.  It will renew us physically, intellectually, and emotionally.  In addition, it will give us time to aim our efforts more accurately.   Take some time to pause.

Discovering God's Will for Your Life

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2

Christians need to remember that God is not hiding his will from them.  Therefore, we must get beyond the thought that we must find what God is hiding. Here are some Biblical steps that will help you in understanding God’s guidance in your life, and with making choices that are pleasing to God. You can’t bypass a step when using this guideline!   

First, read your Bible.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105) When you want to know God’s will for your life, always begin with his preceptive will.   What does the word of God say?  This will take daily discipline in reading, memorizing, and obeying the scriptures. 

Second, cultivate a heart for God.  “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)  When you walk in obedience to God’s word and keep in step with the Holy Spirit, you will develop a heart for God.  The Holy Spirit will give you direction. 

Third, you may need to get counsel from godly Christians.  “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” (Proverbs 1:5) When you walk with the wise you become wise.  

Fourth, look for God’s providence.  God will open and close doors of opportunity. “A man makes plans in his heart, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) 

Fifth, use sound judgment.  Sometimes God allows us to use what we call “common sense.” But only after we have made our way through the first four steps. “Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch.” (Acts 15:22)

·      It is important to understand that the key to discovering God’s plan for your life is consistently walking with the Lord on a daily basis.  What are you doing to cultivate a daily walk with the Lord? Are their some things you need to change?

·      With 2012 right around the corner, write down some spiritual goals that will help you cultivate a closer walk with the Lord. 

·      Commit your goals to daily prayer. 

To Dream Again

“Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.” (Exodus 15:22-25).

The Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promise Land is a great illustration for the journey of life.  Life is full of different experiences.  Like the Israelites in the above   passage, some are bitter experiences.  We all find ourselves, at times, at the water of Marah in life. 

Even so, we must remember that no matter how bitter our circumstances might be God is able to make them sweet.  For the Israelites, the Lord told Moses to throw a tree into the water and it became sweet.  For us, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ to hang on a tree for our sins.  Yes, Jesus, the sweetest name I know makes all things sweet.

When we find ourselves in bitter experiences, we must cling to Jesus, and wait        patiently for the Lord to act on our behalf.  Recognize that bitter circumstances make us candidates for God’s blessings.  Notice what happened to the Israelites after the water was made sweet; “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.” (Exodus 15:27)  The next stage after the bitter experience was blessing.

If you are at the water of Marah, hold on, because Elim is around the corner. Your bitterness is about to become blessings.

  

· Take some time and count your blessings.  Don’t forget that even the bitter situations in life can be a blessing.

· Pray for greater faith for your daily walk with the Lord.  Pray for people you know who are currently at the water of Marah.  Ask the Lord to turn their bitterness into blessings. 

· Take some time to call or write someone who needs some encouragement.

Shattered Dreams: Dead-end or Doorway?

“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” (Jeremiah 29:11)

The above passage has been a wonderful promise and encouragement for God’s people throughout redemptive history.  From the very first Jewish audience that heard the words for the first time to modern day Christians, God has assured His people of His plan and purpose for them.   Even so, many believers don’t grasp the significance, because they do not understand the context in which it is given. 

God gave this wonderful promise to Israel, one that would be fulfilled after they experienced God’s judgment.  Jeremiah was sent to Israel to call the Israelites back to the Lord.  They didn’t listen; therefore, God brought destruction upon Jerusalem, the temple, and the people of God.  A remnant of the people was exiled for 70 years.  In other words, their dreams were shattered.  

Nevertheless, in God’s economy, shattered dreams are not a dead-end, but a doorway for God’s grace.  Notice what the verse before the one above says, “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place” (Jeremiah 29:10).  God was going to enable them to dream again.  Shattered dreams are a doorway for God to do great and higher things in our lives.   

·      Think of discomforting times in your life that caused distrust.  How did you respond? What are some of the lessons God taught you?

·      Think of a time of devastation in your life that became a doorway for greater and higher dreams.  If you are a parent, share it with your children and teach them about the forgiveness and faithfulness of God.   

Pray for a greater awareness of God’s activity in the lives of your family. Pray for opportunities to share God’s faithfulness with those around you.

It's Not Easy

The "Just a Minute" focus at First Southern has been very inspiring for me. I know that many think that pastors find it easy to share Jesus with people one on one, but it isn't, at least not for me. It has reminded me that my purpose here on earth is to be a witness to Jesus Christ. Therefore, my focus has been on opportunities to witness.

My first opportunity to share Jesus this week was with a homeless man who came to the church for food. I happened to walk into the church lobby when the man was leaving. He asked me if we had any shoes, then proceeded to show me the whole in the bottom of his work boot. The Holy Spirit told me this was my opportunity, so I loaded the man in my car, and I took him to get some shoes from Payless. On the way I shared my testimony and the gospel with him. He is a recovering Meth addict and has found deliverance in Jesus Christ.

My next opportunity was with a lady who also needed food. I caught her on the way out of the church and introduced myself to her. I quickly turned the conversation to her spiritual life and why God should let her into heaven. Her reply, "I worked hard." She was basing her entrance into heaven on her works. I shared the gospel, but she kindly said no and got into her car.

My third opportunity was once again with a person who came to the church for assistance. He was a believer who needed encouragement. I invited him to church and then prayed for the many things that he was struggling with in life.

I am so thankful that I have a story to tell about Jesus. Many people think they know Jesus, but they don't. It is wonderful to know that you know him. If you don't know Jesus and would like to know more about how you can have heaven and eternal life, leave a comment on this post and will contact you.

Pastor Patrick

More than Conquerors!

I have been spending a great deal of my devotional time reading the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Israel did not believe the warnings of destruction from these prophets if they did not turn from their sin and turn back to God. They believed that God would never destroy Jerusalem or the temple. They found out that you can't hide unholy living behind holy things. God will bring judgment upon ungodliness. Even so, not all destruction that God's people face is on account of sin.

God's people will face suffering and tribulation even when they are being faithful to the Lord. Examples of this type of suffering are numerous throughout the Bible. One in particular has caught my attention. It is the innocent suffering of Israel from Psalm 44.

In this psalm, the author writes about suffering even though they were faithful to the Lord, "All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant" (Psalm 44:17). They were trying to make sense of their suffering. It is one thing to suffer because of sin, but to suffer when God's people are being faithful!

Like most of us, they respond questioning God, "Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?" These words are illustrated in the New Testament when the disciples and Jesus encounter a storm at sea, and Jesus is asleep. The disciples cry out, "Lord, don't you care that we are perishing?"

The reality of walking with Jesus is that we will suffer because we walk with Jesus. We will suffer for being faithful. It is interesting that the apostle Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8:36, "As it is written, 'For your sake, we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." What is encouraging is what Paul says in verse 37, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors."

God's people will suffer even when faithful to God because we live in a world that hates God.

Be encouraged! The suffering we face this side of heaven won't compare to our future glory.

The Call to Ministry

When I first surrendered to serve the Lord in ministry, I said to the Lord, "I will do anything you want, but I don't want to be a pastor." I was willing to go to the ends of the earth as a missionary, but I had no desire to pastor. Of course, I have learned since then that "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps" (Proverbs 16:9).

I was serving the Lord as a youth minister when God called me to be a pastor. The call upon my life came, not at one serendipitous moment, but over a long period of time. It started with my first opportunity to preach at a Wednesday night Bible Study. This opportunity was followed by several more opportunities to preach on Sunday mornings. Over a six month period, the Lord gave me an intense desire to pastor his people and preach his word. The apostle Paul said, "The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task" (1 Timothy 3:1). The desire I had to pastor could only be from God because I had no desire to be a pastor.

I have been serving the Lord for over twelve years as a senior pastor. I have to admit that if I had not been called by God, I would have quit a long time ago. I have to constantly recommit my life to God's call upon my life to be a shepherd of the people whom he purchased with his blood. Paul summarized what it means to be a pastor when he said to the Ephesian elders, "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God"(Acts 20:24). This verse reminds me that I have to commit my life to the priority of God's call.

The Priority of God's Call
A follower of Jesus Christ understands that the God's will is about self-denial and self-sacrifice. This is especially true for the minister of the gospel. God calls pastors to be examples for the flock. Paul said, "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself." Paul knew that following Christ and serving Christ would mean sacrificing his preferences to God's will. There is a great temptation to serve God only if it benefits my life. All pastors would love to be successful and comfortable, but God doesn't call us all to success and comfort. He calls us to surrender our lives to his will, knowing that God honors those who honor him. God's call must take priority over my family, my finances, my future, my fun, my life.

The Perseverance for God's Call
Paul's desire is stated, "if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus." God's call must take priority if you are going to finish the race. Many people get out of the ministry because they are not willing to make the sacrifice. They value their lives more than the call of God upon their lives. I will admit that I have had many times I wanted to give up in ministry. Every minister struggles with perseverance, and the only way to stay with the course is to surrender preference to the priority of God's call, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Purpose of God's Call
The purpose of God's call is a privilege. It is also the greatest motivation for surrendering to the priority of God's call. The purpose of God calling is real simple, "to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." What can be a greater privilege and purpose in the world than to preach the gospel of grace?. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that God's call is the most important call in the whole universe. What really matters to humanity is to know and understand the Lord. The only way a person can know and understand the Lord is through grace of God revealed through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What a privilege to be able to testify of God's grace!

Dear Lord, today, I recommit my life to your call upon my life. I thank you that I can serve you and your people at First Southern Baptist Church. I am thankful that I have the wonderful privilege of sharing Jesus.

"Count the cost of following Christ; and if you cannot bear such a cost as this, turn your backs and perish in your sins!" Charles Spurgeon

Live Confident Lives

One person has said, "confidence is moving forward on a firm foundation." I agree! God's people, of all people, should be the most confident in the world. This past Sunday I shared three truths from Psalm 46 that help us to move forward in this coming year with great confidence.

First, we can live confident lives because of God's proven character. God has proven over and over again that he is our refuge and strength. He will not let us down now!

Second, God's powerful presence is always with his people. We can be confident that Jesus will be with us till the end of the age. He will never leave us, nor forsake us.

Third, we can be confident because of God's sovereign plan. God is bringing history to his triumphant end. When it is all said and done, Jesus will be exalted and God's kingdom consummated.