Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Effective prayer”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “So Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees. Then he said to his servant, ‘Go up and look toward the sea.’ So he went up, looked, and said, ‘There’s nothing.’ Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’ On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming from the sea.” 1 Kings 18:42-43 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Effective prayer is hard work.”

 

During the reign of King Ahab (860 BC) the people of God were unfaithful to Him and they worshipped foreign gods. So God punished them by bringing a severe drought upon the land. It lasted for more than three years and it was devastating. Finally God decided to relent and let the rains come. He used the prayers of His faithful servant Elijah as the conduit through which His power would flow to open the skies.

 

Following God’s instructions, Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel, bowed down, and began to pray for rain. After some time of prayer he looked up to see if there were any signs of rain coming. He didn’t see any and so he sent his servant to the coast to see if there were any clouds forming over the sea. There weren’t.

 

Undeterred, Elijah continued praying. Still nothing. So he took his coat off, rolled up his sleeves, hunkered down even lower, and prayed harder. Still nothing. So he prays more, he prays harder, he doesn’t give up, he sweats, he groans, he keeps praying. Finally after seven times of praying and looking, a small cloud forms on the horizon. That’s all Elijah needed to see. It was a small sign but Elijah knew it was what he had been waiting for. His prayers were answered and the rain was coming.

 

As John Eldredge writes, “Elijah doesn’t just take a quick whack at it; no little “cut flower” prayers here, as Eugene Peterson calls them. No little “Jesus, be with us today” prayers. Elijah is determined to see results.”

 

Do you have an “Aunt Susie” figure in your life? Aunt Susie is a sweet and kind person who prays simple but often superficial prayers like “Jesus, bless everyone, everywhere, always. Amen.” That’s sweet, and I’m sure she is sincere, but seriously, if you’re in great need who would you rather have praying for you, Aunt Susie or Elijah?

 

Yeah, me too. “Brother Elijah, would you please pray for me?”

 

The point is that effective prayer is hard work. Maybe there can be a time when fluffy little prayers are ok, and also spontaneous prayers that just pop out unexpectedly and without much thought, we will discuss those in the days to come; but effective prayer about difficult issues is hard work. It is take off your coat, roll up your sleeves, get down on your knees, pray hard and pray long, hard work. Its Elijah’s kind of praying.

 

I encourage you to become an Elijah kind of pray-er. Work at it. Work hard. Put real effort into it. And don’t stop until the results come.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Effective Prayer”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The prayer of a righteous man (or woman) is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “We all want to be betters pray-ers.”

 

If you’re like most of us then you would really like to be a better pray-er than you are. No matter how experienced and accomplished we become in the spiritual discipline of prayer, we all have times when we feel as if our prayers are ineffective and we find ourselves wishing we could pray better and more effectively.

 

In all my years as a Christian and as a Pastor I’ve never known anyone who felt as if their prayer life was as successful and healthy as they would like it to be. Not one person.

 

I’ve always enjoyed and been blessed by the writing of John Eldredge. He is the author of the best selling men’s book and Bible study series “Wild at Heart”, as well as a number of other very fine Christian books. John and I come from different denominational backgrounds, and therefore there are some doctrinal differences between us, but we’re close enough in that area that I have found his books to be insightful and helpful.

 

His latest book, which I’m in the process of reading right now, is “Moving Mountains: Praying with Passion, Confidence, and Authority.” I’m only five chapters into it but I already know that this is going to be one of those special books that speak deeply to a need in my life at this moment. I want to be a better pray-er, and I’m thinking that statement is probably true for most of you as well.

 

John begins the book by asserting that although all prayer is meaningful and pleasing to God in some way and at some level, some prayers are clearly, obviously, demonstratively, better, more effective, and more powerful than other prayers. In the opening chapters of the book he makes that point convincingly and Biblically. There are ways to pray that make prayer better and more effective.

 

As I always do as I near the end of any month, over these last few days I’ve been praying that God would reveal to me what theme he would have me write about in these daily devotional messages for the coming month. Yesterday I felt convicted that if this subject of effective prayer is so important to me, then it is probably also important to many of my readers. And if I am benefiting so much from the insights John is sharing in his book, then probably the readers of these devotional messages would benefit from them as well.

 

So for the month of April I’m going to borrow freely from John’s book. I’m going to share with you many of the insights and illustrations he uses, as well as my own thoughts and observations, and material from other sources too. By doing so hopefully we’ll all learn a few things that will help us to pray more effectively.

 

I look forward to exploring this subject of effective prayer with you.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “God rewards perseverance.”

 

I read an interesting statement the other night which was written by the great Christian theologian Saint Augustine more than 1500 years ago, “Without God, we cannot, and without us, He will not.”

 

What Augustine meant is that God chooses to work in partnership with His people. Although He is all-powerful and therefore can do anything He wants, anytime He wants, in any way He wants, and He doesn’t need us in order to accomplish it, He chooses to work with and in and through us anyway. For the most part, that’s how things happen in the kingdom of God, we cooperate with God and He then works in and through us.

 

That being the case, we as Christians are completely and totally dependant on Him but at the same time, we also have a responsibility to do our parts in achieving God’s intended results. Even though God could accomplish it without us, He probably won’t unless we cooperate and do our part.

 

And that brings us to the importance of the spiritual discipline of perseverance. God wants us to face our difficult circumstances with faith, determination, endurance, and to keep trying. He will help us, and He will work with us as we move forward in our efforts to deal with the situation, but this is not a free ride and the burden is not all on Him. We must lean into the situation and keep moving forward, day-by-day and step-by-step. If we do, in time the results will come. That was Paul’s point in Galatians 6:9.

 

As we conclude this month of devotional thoughts about the spiritual discipline of perseverance I want to encourage you to hang in there. Nothing is over until you give up. As long as you don’t quit the chance for success still exists. But once you quit, the game is indeed over.

 

Galatians 6:9 is a promise you can claim and cling to. That’s the reason God had Paul give it to us. He wants us to persevere, and in His way and in His timing, He will reward us with His desired outcome if we will.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Let God be God”

 

As I write this I’m alone in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee on a short personal retreat for a few days. This is a time for long hikes on mountain trails, plenty of time spent reading good books (and the Good Book), and quiet moments of just sitting, thinking, and praying.

 

I don’t do this enough. Instead I convince myself that there are far too many things that need my attention back home and which prevent me from getting away – family concerns  and church work; mission trips and mowing the lawn (Ok, I don’t actually have a lawn. At the moment it’s just dirt. But that’s another story).

 

The point is that I often fool myself into thinking that it’s impossible to get away for some down time. I mean, if I’m not there to do all of these things then who will take care of this, that, and every other thing? Seriously, the world might stop and civilization as we know it could come to an end.

 

Or not.

 

The truth is that God is God and I am not. It’s God who keeps all things going and holds them all together. It’s true! I just reread Colossians 1:17 to be sure: “… in him all things hold together.” That’s what it says.

 

When it comes to effectively persevering in life, sometimes we have to just slow down, sit down, be still, and let God be God. That’s the point the Lord was making through the Psalmist in Psalm 46:10 when He said, “Be still and know that I am God.” (I know that was written three thousands years before I was even born but I’m still convinced He had me in mind when He said it).

 

It’s also true that you can’t give what you don’t have. If you’re physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained, then you won’t have anything left to give to others. Therefore one of the keys to persevering in life is to sometimes get away for rest and renewal. Jesus Himself did this and He also insisted that His disciples do it as well. In Mark 6:31 He said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

 

Ok, so, I really would like to make this devotional message longer but there’s a trail out there that needs to be hiked, some beautiful scenery to be enjoyed, and I’m sure I can find a log beside a bubbling stream to just sit quietly and enjoy being with the Lord. (And I hope you will do something similar for yourself soon).

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Sometimes we have to learn to live with the problem.”

 

The Apostle Paul had a problem he called his “thorn in the flesh”. He never really explained for us what that thorn was or in what way it tormented and limited him (many Bible scholars believe it was bad eyesight. Others speculate that Paul stuttered and was therefore a poor public speaker). All we know is that it was something that he desperately wanted to be freed from and he pleaded with the Lord in prayer to please take it away.

 

But God didn’t take it away. Instead, God worked through Paul’s weakness and limitations. When it became clear to Paul that the thorn would now be part of his life, he adjusted to it as best he could and got on with life under that new set of circumstances.

 

And get on with life he did. Despite whatever thorn in the flesh he had to deal with, Paul lived a robust life of purpose and commitment, and he ended up being the greatest evangelist and church planter in the history of Christianity. He also wrote the majority of the New Testament. Not bad for a man who by his own estimation was physically limited and weak.

 

I’ve always admired people who determine to live life large, to the best of their ability, despite being faced with great challenges. That certainly describes my wife Linda. Despite having suffered a major stroke and having had part of her brain removed, and despite the resulting physical and mental limitations she is now faced with, she never gives up. With her little black walker on wheels (complete with Harley Davidson stickers and flames), she scoots around like the Energizer Bunny, always involved in one thing or another, and always ready for some new challenge. She inspires all the rest of us to try harder and to complain less.

 

While God may not always take away a problem, He will always give us the grace to deal with it well.

 

Hopefully whatever problem you’re currently facing is temporary and the time is coming soon when you will overcome it. But if not, if it turns out to be long-term or even permanent, then I encourage you to do what Paul and Linda did. Make whatever adjustments to your life which are necessary, then get on with life as best you can under whatever the circumstances are. Don’t give-in and don’t give-up. Live life fully, to the best of your ability, accomplishing all that you can for as long as you can.

 

Sometimes we just have to learn how to live with the situation as it is.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God delights in answering your prayers and in meeting your needs.”

 

Persevering through tough times can be especially challenging when your situation includes an important unmet need. It could be a bill you can’t pay, an illness you’re dealing with, a broken relationship which needs to be restored, a new job, etc.

 

The correct way to deal with such situations is of course to first bring it to the Lord in prayer. Then you must also make sure you do your part too so that you’re being part of your own solution. But then what? Once you’ve made the situation a matter of consistent and persistent prayer and you are doing all you can do to be a part of your own solution, what do you do after that?

 

You wait on the Lord. Patiently and in faith you wait on the Lord. You keep praying, and you keep doing your part, and you trust that in His time and in His way God will take care of you.

 

In Matthew 7:11, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds us that God is our good and loving heavenly Father and the He delights in answering our prayers and giving us the things we need.

 

Don’t forget that the Sermon on the Mount also includes that wonderful passage in Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus taught that our Father in heaven is aware of every need we have and He is committed to meeting those needs. For our part we must simply “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:25-34 and Matthew 7:11 are part of the same lesson and they teach the same truth.

 

It would be wrong to underestimate God and the delight He takes in coming through for His children. It’s not greedy or selfish to ask God for the things you need. Jesus encourages us to ask God to help us and to provide for us.

 

The great Christian writer C.S. Lewis once wrote that our problem is not that we ask too much of God, but that we don’t ask enough. He said that he believes we are much too easily pleased and that we usually stop well short of asking for the things God would be more than happy to provide for us.

 

That was Jesus’ point exactly. If human parents know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more is that true of our Father in heaven? The problem isn’t that we ask too much of Him, but that we don’t ask enough.

 

So persevere. Ask God to be active in your situation; talk to Him about your needs; ask Him to provide for you; and also be sure you are doing your part. God delights in answering your prayers and meeting your needs.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “A delay is often just a prelude to something better.”

 

Today is Saturday, the day before Easter. On this day Jesus was in the tomb and the disciples were huddled together in a house, afraid and confused. Friday had been a nightmare for them and now Jesus was dead and gone.

 

What those disciples didn’t realize was that that long day of mourning was simply a prelude to something better, something glorious. This gap between the death of Jesus on Friday and His resurrection on Sunday would turn out to be little more than an incubation period. True, the physical body of Jesus was dead and lying in a borrowed tomb, but God was preparing the body for a miraculous resurrection which was soon to happen.

 

But the dispirited disciples didn’t know that. They should have known it, but they didn’t. They knew the promises of God. They had been with Jesus. They had seen the miracles. They had heard His words. Even with the unforeseen turn of events they were now experiencing, their faith in God should still have been strong. But it wasn’t.

 

The phrase “We live by faith, not by sight” was a favorite theme of Paul’s. He used it here in 2 Corinthians 5:7, and again in Romans 1:17, and also in Galatians 3:11, just to name three. In numerous other places in his writings he expressed the same truth indirectly and in different words. Other Biblical writers in both the Old and New Testaments also refer to it. So the lesson is pretty clear – despite how our current circumstances appear, we are to live by faith not by sight.

 

This period of confusion and uncertainty which we see the disciples living through, between the death of Jesus on Friday and His resurrection on Sunday, is illustrative of what also happens in our lives. Very often we experience the tragic events of a Friday, and then the long Saturday of grief and regret (which may go on for weeks, months, even years). However, Sunday coming. Just like for them, it turns out for us also that the long Saturday of delay is simply an incubation period as the Lord prepares us for what’s coming.

 

But also just like them, we sometimes don’t realize it’s coming. We should know. The Lord has promised to walk through the dark times with us and to get us through them. But often in the middle of those long Saturdays of delay, between Friday and Sunday, we lose sight of the truth that God isn’t done yet; the final word has yet to be spoken; and the story is not over.

 

I’m going to preach about this in my Easter sermon at Oak Hill Baptist Church tomorrow. I encourage you to join us for our Easter Celebration Service at 10:00.

 

In the meantime, if you are currently experiencing a long Saturday of delay between the tragedy of Friday and the glorious deliverance of Sunday, I encourage you to live by faith not by sight.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “…who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Persevere because it’s the right thing to do, and then trust God for the outcome.”

 

As I write this it is Good Friday morning. This is the day above all others throughout the year when we as Christians pause to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross.

 

It’s instructive and helpful for us to remember the amazing degree of perseverance required of Jesus in order to get to, and through, this day. And let’s also remember that through it all the eventual outcome appeared to be questionable. The three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry produced some success stories to be sure, but there was even more opposition, resentment, disappointments, and betrayals. Now this is the way it ends, with torture and death on a cross?

 

Last night I read a brief summary of the life story of the great composer of classical music Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was a musical genius as well as a deeply committed Christian man. He believed that the true purpose of music was to bring glory to God. In the margins of his musical manuscripts he always penciled the initials “J.J.” which stood for “Jesu Juva” which means “Help me, Jesus”. At the end of every manuscript he always jotted the initials “S.D.G.” which stood for “Soli Deo Gloria”, which means “To God alone the glory.”

 

The interesting thing about Bach is that during his lifetime his music received very little attention. Although he produced a lot of it, and it was all very, very good, people didn’t seem to care. But then again, Bach didn’t care that they didn’t care. He was writing his music for God not for them. It was only many years after his death that his music was rediscovered and celebrated. Today he is known as one of the greatest composers of classical music of all time.

 

During His years of ministry on earth, the work of Jesus seemed to have only minimal impact, and then it ended badly. But, He carried-on in His ministry anyway. He did it faithfully and He did it well. He persevered because the motive force driving His life was to obey the will of the Father. Jesus was determined to bring honor and glory to God and to help fulfill His plan for the human race.

 

You and I know how it turned out. We know that His death on the cross wasn’t the end of the story. He arose from the grave; He appeared to and inspired His followers; He prepared the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit; the church grew like wildfire; over two thousand years untold millions have come to faith in Christ and gained eternal salvation as a result; and today there are more Christians on planet earth than at any time in history.

 

There’s a lot to be gained from perseverance. Even if you aren’t seeing many results at the moment and even if you aren’t sure of what the outcome will be, persevere for God. Seek to know His will and then be obedient to it. If your focus is simply to please Him and to fulfill His purposes, everything else will fall into place in God’s way and in God’s timing.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” 1 Corinthians 14:58 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Structure and order helps us to persevere.”

 

I thrive on structure and routine. I’m a little OCD by nature to begin with, but then there are those twenty-one years of military discipline and training …

 

This morning I was reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and I came across those two verses which are music to the heart of an OCD former military officer and current pastor: “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” 1 Corinthians 14:40, and “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” 1Corinthians 14:58

 

God is a God of order and structure. We can see that in the amazing and beautiful complexity of creation. The more scientists are able to unravel the mysteries of the universe the more they discover the intricate manner in which creation is planned, structured, and woven together – right down to the molecular level.

 

All of creation is ordered and structured, that’s what makes it so efficient and effective.  To a large extent we are to be too. Human beings thrive on order and structure. That’s why we tend to be creatures of habit. Of course there is something to be said for spontaneity and creativity too, but there can be much advantage to regularity and routine – and that is especially true when we’re attempting to persevere through hard times.

 

For instance, when a person has lost a spouse one of the most helpful things they can do to help them progress through the stages of grief and adjustment is to establish a daily routine and then stick to it. Get up at the same time every morning; pray and read your Bible at the same time and in the same place everyday; have a plan for daily activities and make yourself to stick to it; go to bed at the same time every night; etc.

 

When it comes to successfully persevering at anything it is often simply a matter of having a clear plan for each day, putting one foot in front of the other, and then just continuing to move forward. Order and structure, plus a clear plan and a resolve to stick with it, goes a long way when it comes to persevering.

 

To a very large degree God is ordered and structured; His creation is ordered and structured; and we tend to be at our best when we are too.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But godliness with contentment is great gain; for we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Learn to be content”

 

Sometimes perseverance involves settling-in, settling-down, and being content with what we have rather than constantly striving for more and more and more. The opposite of being content is being discontent, and discontentment is a serious spiritual malady in our society today. We’re conditioned by our culture to always want more and more. No matter what we have, we believe we need more, and that we are entitled to more.

 

Whereas contentment with a spirit of godliness is the sign of a spiritually mature person and leads to a happy and peaceful life, perpetual discontentment is a sure sign of spiritual immaturity and leads to all sorts of problems in life.

 

For one thing, it’s the primary cause of the rampant indebtedness that is so pervasive in our society. The reason people go so deeply into debt is because they don’t know how to be content with what they have.

 

Discontentment also shows itself in numerous other areas of life, from the job we have to the person we’re married to; from the car we drive to the house we live in; from our physical appearance to which version of the iphone we have; and on and on it goes. When we’re easily discontented we manage to find problems with everything, nothing is ever good enough.

 

People with a spirit of discontentment live unhappy lives. They often feel like they’re being cheated out of something and they’re frequently in conflict with others because of it.

 

Paul’s prescription for discontentment is to settle-in, settle-down, and be grateful for what you have. Because if you don’t, what you “have” can quickly become what you “had”. Whether we’re talking about your job, your marriage, your friendships, your home, your financial security, or whatever, be content with and be grateful for what you have because discontentment and ingratitude lead to conflicts, insecurity, bad decisions, and often, bad outcomes.

 

Sometimes persevering involves nothing more than being content with what we have – and then remaining content with what we have.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim