King Solomon in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes said this: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." Among the times and seasons that he spoke of is the particularly appropriate statement that there is "a time to mourn."
I awoke early this morning and was greeted by a notification on my cell phone that alerted me about the horrific shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 1. I read several articles and then tuned into the news channels to watch some of the media coverage of the tragedy. As I watched, I wept. I thought of all the families that today are mourning the loss of a loved one; a son, a daughter, a sister, a brother, a grandson, a granddaughter. I thought about the dedicated police officers, fire department personnel, first responders and good Samaritans who tended to the wounded. And I prayed.
In the aftermath of this horrible event, there are nearly sixty people who lost their lives, and hundreds who were wounded and injured. The long and tedious investigation of the shooter has been launched and there are many more unanswered questions than answered ones. What do we do? How do we respond to such a terrible event?
It seems to me that Solomon's words are particularly appropriate for a time like this. It is a time to mourn. When we mourn, we call on our God who is the only one who can bring peace to a tumultuous world. He is the only one who can ease the pain and touch our hearts with true supernatural love. He is the only one who can dry every tear and give us an eternal hope.
This is a time to mourn, a time to pray, a time to come together, and a time to rely on God, the author and perfecter of our faith. It is not a time to cast judgement. It is not a time to politicize the event and make a case for your particular political viewpoint. Our nation belongs to God and he is the one who can heal us. If we can stop arguing long enough to come together under this truth, we can see our nation begin the process of healing. This happens under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who delivers God's love and peace to our hearts.
Let's take one day, just one day to mourn, to pray for the hurting people who have lost loved ones. Let's pray for our nation, our government, our president, our police officers, fire personnel, and our military. Let's thank God for the freedom that we have. This is a time of mourning, a time for repentance, and a time to cry out for God's help.
It is a time for mourning. The time for dancing is just ahead. Let every race, every creed, and every political persuasion come together. Let us speak God's blessing over America.
Monday, October 2, 2017
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
COME ALIVE!
I found myself in the hospital this past summer. I acquired a foot infection and the only solution was to have massive antibiotics forced into my body intravenously. After I had been there for several days, I began to feel better, but the onslaught of antibiotics had to continue. The day before I was to go home, I had an opportunity to read a passage of scripture that had been on my mind for some time. The nurses left me alone for several hours and I grabbed my IPad and began to read Ezekiel 37.
In that chapter, God took the prophet Ezekiel and showed him a valley full of dry bones. I knew this story but I was pressed to read it and listen to what God might say to me. As I read, it became clear that God had something to say. Today I want to share just one of those things.
When God showed Ezekiel the valley, he asked the prophet a question. It was a simple but challenging one. He said, "Son of man, can these bones live again?" I'm sure it caught Zeke off guard. So he answered God in a very safe way that seemed to take the pressure off of himself. He replied, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know." I'm not sure that was the answer that God was looking for, but he moved on and commanded Ezekiel this way, "Prophecy to the dry bones." God certainly is big enough, powerful enough, and loving enough to have spoken to the bones himself to command them to come to life. But he wanted to use Ezekiel to speak His word to the bones.
Through that scripture the Lord began to speak to me in deeper ways than I had heard in a long time. He showed me the dry bones just like he showed Ezekiel. He showed me that these dry bones are Christians that have been hurt by religion, hurt by broken relationships, or are harboring anger toward God for circumstances that have torn apart their lives. As surely as God said to Ezekiel to speak to the bones, I heard the voice of the Lord say, "Son of man, prophecy to the dry bones."
It renewed a call in my life that had lain dormant for a long time. I have always known that my heart and ministry was for the church and He made it clear that he had a group of people for me to reach. So I answered, "Yes Lord, I will do it." I want to speak to people who have soured on Christianity. I want to try to show them the true love of God and draw them back to him. I want to smack the enemy right in the nose and tell him that these dry bones are God's chosen sons and daughters. Though he thinks he has the dry bones right where he wants them, God has a different plan and it involves new life and the very breath of God filling their lungs.
On February 24&25, we are having a conference called, Come Alive. It is a time designed to simply tell the Good News of God's love once again. A place where the hurting Christians are filled with the very breath of God. I invite all who feel you are like the dry bones. If there is some dry area in your life that you can't get over, this is your time. There is healing, there is hope, and there is always God's love to carry you. Come and let God do his incredible work in your life. For my part, I'm going to "Speak to the dry bones" with everything I have.
You can learn more, get all the details and register here: Come Alive 2017
I found myself in the hospital this past summer. I acquired a foot infection and the only solution was to have massive antibiotics forced into my body intravenously. After I had been there for several days, I began to feel better, but the onslaught of antibiotics had to continue. The day before I was to go home, I had an opportunity to read a passage of scripture that had been on my mind for some time. The nurses left me alone for several hours and I grabbed my IPad and began to read Ezekiel 37.
In that chapter, God took the prophet Ezekiel and showed him a valley full of dry bones. I knew this story but I was pressed to read it and listen to what God might say to me. As I read, it became clear that God had something to say. Today I want to share just one of those things.
When God showed Ezekiel the valley, he asked the prophet a question. It was a simple but challenging one. He said, "Son of man, can these bones live again?" I'm sure it caught Zeke off guard. So he answered God in a very safe way that seemed to take the pressure off of himself. He replied, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know." I'm not sure that was the answer that God was looking for, but he moved on and commanded Ezekiel this way, "Prophecy to the dry bones." God certainly is big enough, powerful enough, and loving enough to have spoken to the bones himself to command them to come to life. But he wanted to use Ezekiel to speak His word to the bones.
Through that scripture the Lord began to speak to me in deeper ways than I had heard in a long time. He showed me the dry bones just like he showed Ezekiel. He showed me that these dry bones are Christians that have been hurt by religion, hurt by broken relationships, or are harboring anger toward God for circumstances that have torn apart their lives. As surely as God said to Ezekiel to speak to the bones, I heard the voice of the Lord say, "Son of man, prophecy to the dry bones."
It renewed a call in my life that had lain dormant for a long time. I have always known that my heart and ministry was for the church and He made it clear that he had a group of people for me to reach. So I answered, "Yes Lord, I will do it." I want to speak to people who have soured on Christianity. I want to try to show them the true love of God and draw them back to him. I want to smack the enemy right in the nose and tell him that these dry bones are God's chosen sons and daughters. Though he thinks he has the dry bones right where he wants them, God has a different plan and it involves new life and the very breath of God filling their lungs.
On February 24&25, we are having a conference called, Come Alive. It is a time designed to simply tell the Good News of God's love once again. A place where the hurting Christians are filled with the very breath of God. I invite all who feel you are like the dry bones. If there is some dry area in your life that you can't get over, this is your time. There is healing, there is hope, and there is always God's love to carry you. Come and let God do his incredible work in your life. For my part, I'm going to "Speak to the dry bones" with everything I have.
You can learn more, get all the details and register here: Come Alive 2017
Monday, October 10, 2016
POLITICS AND PRAYER
POLITICS AND PRAYER
I realize that God has given me but a small voice in the world and for that matter, the church. But with the voice He has given me I am compelled to speak. I have heard many folks talking about the upcoming election with frustration and confusion. They don't like either presidential candidate and making a godly decision in voting seems impossible to them. With these frustrated people in mind, I want to offer a few words that I pray may relieve a little tension.
I am a Christian, a 'little Christ.' Although we may seem to represent a minority in our country, we are a powerful force in the kingdom of God. So powerful in fact, that our prayers have significant impact on current events and situations as well as eternal impact in the presence of God. Revelation 5:8 says it this way, "And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people."
My prayers make a difference. They are a fragrant incense before the God of the universe. My prayers have more influence than anything else I can do or say. In the book of Acts, a man named Cornelius, a high ranking Roman official, prayed regularly to God. He didn't fully understand the impact of those prayers until he received an angelic visitor who explained to him that his prayers had come up as an offering before God. That encounter resulted in the entire gentile world being invited into the church for the first time. Pretty big results for a few prayers from a faithful man, don't you think? Our prayers make a difference. Let's pray and see what God will do.
We see Christian leaders calling out both candidates for their faults and failures. Granted there are plenty of those to go around. But God has an eternal purpose in what he is doing. He makes it clear that he appoints kings and leaders for us. If you take a look at God's Word, you will find that he often appointed kings that were violent, hostile toward his people, and generally bad guys. He did this because he had a greater purpose than the people could fathom. The same is true right now. God can use people, no matter how evil they may look to us, to accomplish his will on earth. That is a fact supported by history. Although we don't understand, in the end it is His will, His purpose, and His plan.
It seems to me that we have a great privilege. We can pray and we can vote. If our prayers rise up as incense before God and if those prayers can change things, then a vote supported by the prayers of a righteous person can also change things. It is not about who you may support. It is about the God who will ultimately call the shot that leads our nation into the destiny he has already created for it. The upcoming election is not about a candidate, it's about God and his will for our nation and the world. Pray, cast your vote, and watch as God wills his kingdom into our nation.
God can use Donald Trump and he can use Hillary Clinton. I've decided which one I will support with my vote. I'm making that decision by spending time putting it before God. I trust Him to make the difference. These are unprecedented times and it is an unprecedented election. Rather than focusing on the negatives of the candidates, let's focus on the eternal God and watch him do it. So pray, vote, and believe God. This is true faith and God will respond.
I realize that God has given me but a small voice in the world and for that matter, the church. But with the voice He has given me I am compelled to speak. I have heard many folks talking about the upcoming election with frustration and confusion. They don't like either presidential candidate and making a godly decision in voting seems impossible to them. With these frustrated people in mind, I want to offer a few words that I pray may relieve a little tension.
I am a Christian, a 'little Christ.' Although we may seem to represent a minority in our country, we are a powerful force in the kingdom of God. So powerful in fact, that our prayers have significant impact on current events and situations as well as eternal impact in the presence of God. Revelation 5:8 says it this way, "And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people."
My prayers make a difference. They are a fragrant incense before the God of the universe. My prayers have more influence than anything else I can do or say. In the book of Acts, a man named Cornelius, a high ranking Roman official, prayed regularly to God. He didn't fully understand the impact of those prayers until he received an angelic visitor who explained to him that his prayers had come up as an offering before God. That encounter resulted in the entire gentile world being invited into the church for the first time. Pretty big results for a few prayers from a faithful man, don't you think? Our prayers make a difference. Let's pray and see what God will do.
We see Christian leaders calling out both candidates for their faults and failures. Granted there are plenty of those to go around. But God has an eternal purpose in what he is doing. He makes it clear that he appoints kings and leaders for us. If you take a look at God's Word, you will find that he often appointed kings that were violent, hostile toward his people, and generally bad guys. He did this because he had a greater purpose than the people could fathom. The same is true right now. God can use people, no matter how evil they may look to us, to accomplish his will on earth. That is a fact supported by history. Although we don't understand, in the end it is His will, His purpose, and His plan.
It seems to me that we have a great privilege. We can pray and we can vote. If our prayers rise up as incense before God and if those prayers can change things, then a vote supported by the prayers of a righteous person can also change things. It is not about who you may support. It is about the God who will ultimately call the shot that leads our nation into the destiny he has already created for it. The upcoming election is not about a candidate, it's about God and his will for our nation and the world. Pray, cast your vote, and watch as God wills his kingdom into our nation.
God can use Donald Trump and he can use Hillary Clinton. I've decided which one I will support with my vote. I'm making that decision by spending time putting it before God. I trust Him to make the difference. These are unprecedented times and it is an unprecedented election. Rather than focusing on the negatives of the candidates, let's focus on the eternal God and watch him do it. So pray, vote, and believe God. This is true faith and God will respond.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
LOVE...Honestly
It's easy to talk about God from a safe place. You know, a place where you don't have to be really honest. You just talk about him and the things you know about him. It gets more difficult when you're forced to be perfectly honest about what he's doing in your heart. This is the place where I find myself right now.
I've been a Christian for forty years and in ministry for thirty five years. After all that time, I haven't stopped learning new things from God. Some of those things are stuff I should have learned a long time ago, but I found it difficult to change my way of thinking and my attitudes to really learn the basic lesson. I'm talking about a very basic Christian value taught by Jesus, in fact commanded by Him. I've had to come to grips with the fact that I'm not good at loving people.
Jesus told us to love one another so that those who are not believers will know that we are followers of Christ. The apostle John said "In this world, we are like Jesus." It is absolutely a foundation of the Christian faith to love one another. Yet I struggle with it. But God in his faithfulness comes to me, touches my heart, and shows me once again that I am in great need. My need is to love others as Jesus has loved me. After all my years of loving Jesus and doing his will, I must be honest and say that I don't understand how to love even my brothers and sisters in Christ, let alone my neighbors and my enemies.
I know that I am to love others by laying down my life as Christ has laid his life down for me. But it seems so difficult. Would I actually die for a friend? But when I really look at it, Jesus laid down his life for me in many ways. He taught the message of love and lived it all of his days on earth. Even when he wanted to be by himself, he was compelled to touch people with the love of the Father. On the day when he ended up miraculously feeding five thousand men along with their families, he was actually trying to get away to be alone. But when he saw the crowd, he loved them. Compelled by that love, he taught them, fed them, and showed them the personality of the Father.
I think laying down my life for others may be a simple matter. Maybe, like Jesus did, if I could allow myself to be inconvenienced and interrupted by people, I could actually show love to them like Jesus did. I'm always focused on the task, dead set on following my agenda. What if I just let myself get interrupted? What if I allowed people to be more important than my plan? Maybe then I would actually be like Jesus, laying down my life in my community and my church.
When the folks in the world look at the church, I think they wonder what this is all about. They see factions, arguments, holier than thou attitudes, hypocrisy, and general weirdness. What if we came together and just loved each other? What if we served one another out of the love that God has placed in our hearts? Do you think others might notice and think that it's good? I do! When we strip away all the stuff that we think is Christianity, it boils down to this simple truth; Love each other. I think it's the truth for me anyway...honestly.
It's easy to talk about God from a safe place. You know, a place where you don't have to be really honest. You just talk about him and the things you know about him. It gets more difficult when you're forced to be perfectly honest about what he's doing in your heart. This is the place where I find myself right now.
I've been a Christian for forty years and in ministry for thirty five years. After all that time, I haven't stopped learning new things from God. Some of those things are stuff I should have learned a long time ago, but I found it difficult to change my way of thinking and my attitudes to really learn the basic lesson. I'm talking about a very basic Christian value taught by Jesus, in fact commanded by Him. I've had to come to grips with the fact that I'm not good at loving people.
Jesus told us to love one another so that those who are not believers will know that we are followers of Christ. The apostle John said "In this world, we are like Jesus." It is absolutely a foundation of the Christian faith to love one another. Yet I struggle with it. But God in his faithfulness comes to me, touches my heart, and shows me once again that I am in great need. My need is to love others as Jesus has loved me. After all my years of loving Jesus and doing his will, I must be honest and say that I don't understand how to love even my brothers and sisters in Christ, let alone my neighbors and my enemies.
I know that I am to love others by laying down my life as Christ has laid his life down for me. But it seems so difficult. Would I actually die for a friend? But when I really look at it, Jesus laid down his life for me in many ways. He taught the message of love and lived it all of his days on earth. Even when he wanted to be by himself, he was compelled to touch people with the love of the Father. On the day when he ended up miraculously feeding five thousand men along with their families, he was actually trying to get away to be alone. But when he saw the crowd, he loved them. Compelled by that love, he taught them, fed them, and showed them the personality of the Father.
I think laying down my life for others may be a simple matter. Maybe, like Jesus did, if I could allow myself to be inconvenienced and interrupted by people, I could actually show love to them like Jesus did. I'm always focused on the task, dead set on following my agenda. What if I just let myself get interrupted? What if I allowed people to be more important than my plan? Maybe then I would actually be like Jesus, laying down my life in my community and my church.
When the folks in the world look at the church, I think they wonder what this is all about. They see factions, arguments, holier than thou attitudes, hypocrisy, and general weirdness. What if we came together and just loved each other? What if we served one another out of the love that God has placed in our hearts? Do you think others might notice and think that it's good? I do! When we strip away all the stuff that we think is Christianity, it boils down to this simple truth; Love each other. I think it's the truth for me anyway...honestly.
Friday, February 26, 2016
LEARNING HOW TO FEAR GOD
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is from the profit Malachi. Just before the transition to the New Testament, these short four chapters are packed with good news-and possibly some not so great-for us to take in and digest. I learned something recently from there that speaks to me about my own life and my need to learn to fear God in a genuine way.
When I was in my early twenties, I had only known Jesus for a few short years. But I was diving into the Word and learning as much as I could. It was my passion and I couldn't get enough. I remember the day. It was a moment I will never forget. I had just finished studying when I leaned back in my chair and said out loud, "I think I'm getting this all figured out!" Immediately the thought came to me: That wasn't good. Watch out! I now know this was the voice of the Holy Spirit, but in those days, I hadn't really learned to distinguish the voices. What followed were months of spiritual struggle like I had never experienced before.
There have been many years since then and many new and wonderful things have happened. But there have been some bad times as well. I learned a lot about myself and my relationship with God, but I'm not sure I've ever understood what it means to fear him. In the third chapter God says through the profit Malachi, "You have spoken arrogantly against me." As I look back at that time years ago, I get it. That's exactly what I did that day. This arrogance has to do with elevating myself above my dependence on God. I think I can do it on my own and for most of my life that is exactly what I did.
Arrogance against God can be a number of things. Maybe I give up on my Christian life and think it just really isn't worth the struggle. Maybe I look at people who don't know God at all and see that they are doing just fine. In fact they are doing great. This serves to push me off-track in my pursuit of the kingdom of God. In the end, it is futile to look anywhere else but to God for my strength, health, hope, joy, and love. Malachi spoke God's word and it hit me right between the eyes.
But there is a redemption from my struggle. Malachi 3:16 says this: "Then those who feared the Lord met together and talked, and the Lord listened and heard." (NIV) There is a value that can only be given us through times of meeting together. When we sit down together and talk about life with one another, it is prayer. It brings a unique fellowship with each other and the Holy Spirit that is life-giving. This helps me to understand why the writer of Hebrews cautions us to never forsake meeting together.
What I've learned is this: The opposite of arrogance is humility. Therefore living in the fear of the Lord is living in humility. I find myself praying regularly asking God to help me be humble before him. Really it's my own choice, but God is interested in removing everything that hinders my love relationship with him. I won't get closer to him by being arrogant. I will learn to love him, serve him, and be his kid through being humble and always acknowledging him as MY Lord. He draws near to the humble, but resists the arrogant. I want to be humble.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is from the profit Malachi. Just before the transition to the New Testament, these short four chapters are packed with good news-and possibly some not so great-for us to take in and digest. I learned something recently from there that speaks to me about my own life and my need to learn to fear God in a genuine way.
When I was in my early twenties, I had only known Jesus for a few short years. But I was diving into the Word and learning as much as I could. It was my passion and I couldn't get enough. I remember the day. It was a moment I will never forget. I had just finished studying when I leaned back in my chair and said out loud, "I think I'm getting this all figured out!" Immediately the thought came to me: That wasn't good. Watch out! I now know this was the voice of the Holy Spirit, but in those days, I hadn't really learned to distinguish the voices. What followed were months of spiritual struggle like I had never experienced before.
There have been many years since then and many new and wonderful things have happened. But there have been some bad times as well. I learned a lot about myself and my relationship with God, but I'm not sure I've ever understood what it means to fear him. In the third chapter God says through the profit Malachi, "You have spoken arrogantly against me." As I look back at that time years ago, I get it. That's exactly what I did that day. This arrogance has to do with elevating myself above my dependence on God. I think I can do it on my own and for most of my life that is exactly what I did.
Arrogance against God can be a number of things. Maybe I give up on my Christian life and think it just really isn't worth the struggle. Maybe I look at people who don't know God at all and see that they are doing just fine. In fact they are doing great. This serves to push me off-track in my pursuit of the kingdom of God. In the end, it is futile to look anywhere else but to God for my strength, health, hope, joy, and love. Malachi spoke God's word and it hit me right between the eyes.
But there is a redemption from my struggle. Malachi 3:16 says this: "Then those who feared the Lord met together and talked, and the Lord listened and heard." (NIV) There is a value that can only be given us through times of meeting together. When we sit down together and talk about life with one another, it is prayer. It brings a unique fellowship with each other and the Holy Spirit that is life-giving. This helps me to understand why the writer of Hebrews cautions us to never forsake meeting together.
What I've learned is this: The opposite of arrogance is humility. Therefore living in the fear of the Lord is living in humility. I find myself praying regularly asking God to help me be humble before him. Really it's my own choice, but God is interested in removing everything that hinders my love relationship with him. I won't get closer to him by being arrogant. I will learn to love him, serve him, and be his kid through being humble and always acknowledging him as MY Lord. He draws near to the humble, but resists the arrogant. I want to be humble.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Yes and Amen!
"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God."
2 Corinthians 1:20
I am confident that all of us have many promises that God has given us. Of course every promise in the Bible is for us, but beyond that, we have all received promises regarding our future, our circumstances, our relationships with others, and more. Over the course of time, our faith may waver because we don't see the promises becoming realities. So the entire purpose of my words today is to remind us that every promise of God is still true.
God gives us the promises. I know that you have received promises from Him that are very personal. They may have come through a person who shared with you what God has spoken to them about you. It may have come through spending time in the Word and prayer. If the Holy Spirit gave you the promise and gave you the awareness to realize that God was the author, then the promise is still 'Yes.' God does not change his mind. He does not withhold his promises because we have done something wrong. What God promises is not dependent on what we do. They are given to us purely out of His incredible love for us.
I know that our faith wears thin sometimes. As time passes, it is more difficult to stand firm in God's promises. I know people who have written down promises years ago, but have yet to see them. Does this mean that God is a liar? Not at all. His promises are still 'Yes.' God's timing is his alone. We cannot force him to move. We must realize that the promises God has given us were set in place before the creation of the world. They were already a part of our destinies before we were born. In that fact we take courage and comfort. God's words are true and have been set for us in advance.
There remains but one thing to do: We must speak the 'Amen' to all of God's promises. By doing this, you are simply saying, "God, I agree with your promises for me." Too many times, we have tried to do things to earn the blessing of God. This never works. Instead, it usually binds us to self-imposed rules. All God asks of us is to simply agree with his plan. This is faith. It takes faith to say, 'Amen' to God's promise. But if we do, we are sustained until the fulfillment. Be encouraged today. In God, all his promises are "Yes and Amen!"
2 Corinthians 1:20
I am confident that all of us have many promises that God has given us. Of course every promise in the Bible is for us, but beyond that, we have all received promises regarding our future, our circumstances, our relationships with others, and more. Over the course of time, our faith may waver because we don't see the promises becoming realities. So the entire purpose of my words today is to remind us that every promise of God is still true.
God gives us the promises. I know that you have received promises from Him that are very personal. They may have come through a person who shared with you what God has spoken to them about you. It may have come through spending time in the Word and prayer. If the Holy Spirit gave you the promise and gave you the awareness to realize that God was the author, then the promise is still 'Yes.' God does not change his mind. He does not withhold his promises because we have done something wrong. What God promises is not dependent on what we do. They are given to us purely out of His incredible love for us.
I know that our faith wears thin sometimes. As time passes, it is more difficult to stand firm in God's promises. I know people who have written down promises years ago, but have yet to see them. Does this mean that God is a liar? Not at all. His promises are still 'Yes.' God's timing is his alone. We cannot force him to move. We must realize that the promises God has given us were set in place before the creation of the world. They were already a part of our destinies before we were born. In that fact we take courage and comfort. God's words are true and have been set for us in advance.
There remains but one thing to do: We must speak the 'Amen' to all of God's promises. By doing this, you are simply saying, "God, I agree with your promises for me." Too many times, we have tried to do things to earn the blessing of God. This never works. Instead, it usually binds us to self-imposed rules. All God asks of us is to simply agree with his plan. This is faith. It takes faith to say, 'Amen' to God's promise. But if we do, we are sustained until the fulfillment. Be encouraged today. In God, all his promises are "Yes and Amen!"
Monday, November 19, 2012
Death to Life
"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness."
Romans 6:13
One morning recently, I was praying. It occurred to me that our God of resurrection. He brings us from death to life. We are so conditioned to view our lives as ones that are passing from life to death that we forget this important truth. While the world is passing from life to death and our bodies are doing the same, God is doing a miracle in our behalf. He is leading us the other direction into eternal life. So I wondered, why can't I apply God's way of death to life in every area of my own life?
I already know that I have passed from death to life. I was dead in sin and now I am alive in Christ. This is the foundation of the Christian life. But the reality is this: Where I live, in a world that is sinful, and in a body that is slowly dying, death seems to be in control. So I asked God how it works. How do I apply his way of death to life to every situation? The answer is found in the instructions of Jesus. When he taught us to pray, he told us to say this: "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Through this I know that I am to pray the kingdom of heaven into every area of my life. I am even supposed to pray the kingdom into the world around me.
God's kingdom is all about life, not death. I saw part of a movie recently. In one scene, the characters found themselves in a place where everything was backwards. Gravity drew things up instead of down. Plants grew down from the top of a cave, instead of up from the ground. The only things that were still under our laws of nature were the people themselves. They were in awe of this magical place. The same is true of my life. I am subject to the laws of the natural world. My body is dying and death is imminent for every living thing. But I also live in a kingdom where all the laws of the natural world are reversed. His kingdom is full of opposites to the world I live in. There is life there, not death. There is health there, not sickness. There is prosperity there, not poverty. There is the presence of God there, not the curses of the enemy. His kingdom is like the magical place in the movie. Everything is opposite.
So the way for me to apply God's way of death to life is to pray his kingdom into those areas of my life where I am literally dying. If I need life in my finances, I find it in the kingdom of God. If I need life to my body, I find it by praying his kingdom into my health. You see, I understand that I have everything in Christ...in the Spirit. But now I must take what is mine spiritually and apply it to the physical. This physical reality in which I live must be turned upside down by the power of the kingdom of God. As I do it, as you do it, our lives are transformed and everything about us is passing from death to life just as God has planned. Death no longer reigns, but life! And that, even more abundantly!
Romans 6:13
One morning recently, I was praying. It occurred to me that our God of resurrection. He brings us from death to life. We are so conditioned to view our lives as ones that are passing from life to death that we forget this important truth. While the world is passing from life to death and our bodies are doing the same, God is doing a miracle in our behalf. He is leading us the other direction into eternal life. So I wondered, why can't I apply God's way of death to life in every area of my own life?
I already know that I have passed from death to life. I was dead in sin and now I am alive in Christ. This is the foundation of the Christian life. But the reality is this: Where I live, in a world that is sinful, and in a body that is slowly dying, death seems to be in control. So I asked God how it works. How do I apply his way of death to life to every situation? The answer is found in the instructions of Jesus. When he taught us to pray, he told us to say this: "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Through this I know that I am to pray the kingdom of heaven into every area of my life. I am even supposed to pray the kingdom into the world around me.
God's kingdom is all about life, not death. I saw part of a movie recently. In one scene, the characters found themselves in a place where everything was backwards. Gravity drew things up instead of down. Plants grew down from the top of a cave, instead of up from the ground. The only things that were still under our laws of nature were the people themselves. They were in awe of this magical place. The same is true of my life. I am subject to the laws of the natural world. My body is dying and death is imminent for every living thing. But I also live in a kingdom where all the laws of the natural world are reversed. His kingdom is full of opposites to the world I live in. There is life there, not death. There is health there, not sickness. There is prosperity there, not poverty. There is the presence of God there, not the curses of the enemy. His kingdom is like the magical place in the movie. Everything is opposite.
So the way for me to apply God's way of death to life is to pray his kingdom into those areas of my life where I am literally dying. If I need life in my finances, I find it in the kingdom of God. If I need life to my body, I find it by praying his kingdom into my health. You see, I understand that I have everything in Christ...in the Spirit. But now I must take what is mine spiritually and apply it to the physical. This physical reality in which I live must be turned upside down by the power of the kingdom of God. As I do it, as you do it, our lives are transformed and everything about us is passing from death to life just as God has planned. Death no longer reigns, but life! And that, even more abundantly!
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