Devotional for Monday November 3rd

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Sexual Ethics”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear …” 1 Peter 3:15-16 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We must speak boldly and confidently, but in gentleness, love and respect.”

 

Recently I attended a conference sponsored by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. The theme was “The Gospel, Homosexuality, and the Future of Marriage.” There were more than two thousand church leaders there from forty-eight states and five countries.

 

As you might expect, the subject that dominated a large part of the conversation was the issue of what is commonly referred to as “The Gay and Lesbian Agenda”. There was much discussion about the changing cultural landscape with respect to sexual ethics, and the impact it is having on society and on religious liberty in our nation.

 

However that was not the only aspect of sexual ethics under consideration by conference attendees. There were also messages and workshops about the state of marriage, no-fault divorce, the explosion in the number of cohabitating heterosexual couples, polygamy, and much more. It was a well-rounded and thorough look at the entire scope of sexual ethics in America today.

 

But what impressed me most about the conference was the tone set by the leaders and attendees. There were no fire-breathing, pulpit pounding, hell-fire and brimstone preachers. There were no angry denunciations, no finger-pointing accusations, no hysterical chicken-little types running around crying about the sky falling. Instead the atmosphere was calm and even upbeat; the conversation was kind, respectful, reasoned, and intellectual; people on all sides of the issue were treated with respect and dignity.

 

This is what Peter was referring to in 1 Peter 3:15-16. We as the followers of Jesus must know what we believe and why we believe it. We must be willing – even eager – to speak-up for Biblical values, but we are to do so in a reasoned and respectful way. This is the way of Jesus. In the Gospel accounts the only time we see Him angry or speaking in a harsh manner was when He was dealing with religious hypocrites. With all others His speech and His manner was kind and compassionate – often bold and direct yes, but kind and compassionate.

 

This is the tone we must achieve as we deal with the divisive and emotional issue of sexual ethics in our nation today. Tomorrow we will explore the issue of attitude and tone a little further. Before we begin a discussion of particular issues within the broad category of sexual ethics, we have to be sure our heart is right.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim
 

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday November 1-2

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Sexual Ethics”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Run from sexual immorality! Every sin a person can commit is outside the body. On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Sexual ethics matter”

 

According to the dictionary an “ethic” is, “A system of moral principles or values.” Therefore a “sexual ethic” is a system of moral principles or values which govern our sexuality. Such a system of principles and values will determine how we think and act when it comes to sexual issues.

 

In the Bible we find the sexual ethic (the system of moral principles and values pertaining to sexual conduct) which was established by God. This sexual ethic started in the creation, it was further taught in the Old Testament, and it was reaffirmed in the New Testament by Jesus, as well as by Paul and some of the other New Testament writers. It is a sexual ethic which applies to all people in all places for all time. In other words, it applies to everyone, always. 

 

However over the last fifty years the world has been caught-up in a revolution, and a resulting evolution, with respect to sexual ethics. Biblical principles regarding appropriate sexuality have been turned upside down. Worse, in recent times the revolution has begun to snowball and changes to time-honored standards are occurring at an ever-increasing rate. Gay marriage, gender identity, cohabitation, a hook-up culture, and much more are all being openly practiced and even promoted as good and normal.

 

How are Christians to respond and act in the midst of this? For those who are determined to remain faithful to the Biblical sexual ethic, how do we stand strong in the face of ever-increasing cultural pressure and even possible legal action? And not only is the question how should we respond, but what should our attitude and demeanor be when we do?

 

All this month we will devotionally explore this very sensitive and divisive issue. We will consider exactly what the Bible does (and does not) say on this issue of sexual ethics. We will discuss the proper attitude with which we are to engage those with whom we disagree, and we will consider strategies for the people of God to navigate this very difficult cultural landscape.

 

On Monday we will begin the conversation with a discussion about attitude.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday October 31st

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!” Psalm 34:8 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Most of us need to slow down, take time, and stay put.”

 

In their book “Slow Church” Christopher Smith and John Pattison explain that taste is the most intimate of our five senses. In fact, our senses actually fall neatly into a hierarchy related to distance and intimacy. The sense of sight allows us to view things from a great distance. We don’t have to be close to something in order to see it. You can stand on a mountaintop overlooking a valley and see for many miles.

 

Hearing comes next. Although hearing generally is not as far reaching as line of sight can be, it can still be effective over long distances. However, although fragrances can waft through the air, they do dissipate quickly and so the sense of smell requires us to be closer than seeing or hearing. We do have to be very close to an object to touch it, or for it to touch us, although this is still a sensation external to us – it is only surface to surface.

 

But taste – in order to taste something we must allow it to become internal. It must dissolve on the tongue, wash over the taste buds, and linger in the mouth. We have to savor it.

 

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” We have to savor God. We must take Him in, savor Him, and allow Him to linger with us. To taste God in this way is to come to know Him in all His goodness.

 

Unfortunately this is difficult for modern-day Christians. Many of us are in such a hurry all the time that we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy God like that. The majority of professing Christians do not have regular extended times of prayer and Bible reading. For many more, participation in the life of the church involves little more than semi-regular attendance at a one hour worship service each week. Or, they change churches so often that they don’t stay in one place long enough to really get to know people.

 

David Rast, a Benedictine monk once wrote, “Tasting what dissolves on our tongue dissolves the barriers between subject and object. What we have tasted we know “inside and out.” In other words, you cannot really know anyone until you have lingered with them, savored their presence, shared experiences, and established true relationship.

 

That’s true with respect to God and it is also true with respect to other Christians. We need to slow down, settle down, and spend some time. We cannot develop a deep relationship with God if we don’t spend extended quality time with Him. Likewise, we will not have deep and meaningful relationships with other Christians unless we spend extended quality time with them.

 

In the hustle and bustle of our highly caffeinated on-the-go world, this may be one of the most difficult areas for us to obey God. We feel the need to go, go, go, but He calls us to slow down, sit down, and stay awhile. As we end this month of devotionally considering the theme of obeying God when obeying isn’t easy, I want to encourage all of us to intentionally slow down and spend some time – spend some time with God and then with each other.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday October 30th

Good morning everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I commanded you.” John 15:13-14 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Serve Him with your life.”

 

In John 15:13 Jesus wasn’t necessarily talking about physically dying for someone. He made that clear in verse 14. Instead, He was calling His followers to lay out their lives for Him in big ways and in small. “You are My friends if you do what I commanded you.”

 

What are the things He commanded us to do? To care for the sick and the needy; to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit those in prison. He commanded us to live lives worthy of God and to be His witnesses in places near and far. He wants us to give our hearts completely and without reservation to God.

 

When Jesus speaks of someone laying down their life for a friend the friend He was referring to was Himself. He calls us to lay it out there, all of it on the line, in big ways and in small, for the sake of His Kingdom. Oswald Chambers explained it this way:

 

“God saves a man and endues him with His Holy Spirit, and says in effect, ‘Now it is up to you to prove it, work it out; be loyal to Me while the nature of things round about you would make you disloyal. I have called you friends, now stand loyal to Your Friend.” Chambers concludes: “His honor is at stake in our bodily life.”

 

Doing the things Jesus commanded us to do is frequently not easy or convenient. But this is where the rubber meets the road; it is the real test of discipleship. Will I lay my life down for Him in a thousand different ways, big and small, on a daily basis? “You are My friend if you do what I commanded you.”

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday October 29th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen … These all died in faith without having received the promises.” Hebrews 11:1;13 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God calls us to be faithful not successful.”

 

One of the hardest things you will ever have to do is to remain faithful to what God called you to do even when there is no observable evidence of success from your efforts. This seems counterintuitive in the success-oriented, bigger is better world of modern day life.

 

Our culture admires and celebrates observable success which is usually measured in big numbers – whether those big numbers apply to a bank account, a batting average, or big audiences. Big is good, bigger is better, and small is a problem.

 

However by that measure, two of the biggest failures who ever lived were Noah and Jeremiah. Noah preached for 100 years and had no observable impact on anyone. Jeremiah’s message was completely rejected. Jonah on the other hand would have been acknowledged as a great success because a large crowd responded to his short message. But while Noah and Jeremiah are remembered for their admirable faithfulness in difficult circumstances, Jonah is remembered as a whiny and reluctant servant whose story ends with him pouting.

 

Likewise, in Luke 21:2 it was the small offering of the poor widow given in faith that impressed Jesus. In Hebrews chapter eleven, “The Faith Hall of Fame”, many of those whose faith is celebrated never experienced any observable success by worldly standards and yet, in the economy of God they were superstars.

 

What difficult situation does God have you in today? Are you struggling to hold a marriage together, trying desperately to guide a wayward child, persevering in a difficult ministry setting? I encourage you to remember that God calls us to be faithful not successful. Stick with the thing He has called you to do regardless of whether the world would judge it a successful endeavor or not. The approval we seek, and ultimately the only approval that really matters, is from our Heavenly Father.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim
 

Devotional for Monday October 27th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But we encourage you … to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with our own hands …” 1 Thessalonians 4:11 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Many of us need to simplify and downsize”

 

The poet J.W. Goethe once wrote:

 

“To live within limits. To want one thing. Or a few things very much and love them dearly.
Cling to them, survey them from every angle. Become one with them – that is what makes the poet, the artist, the human being.”

 

Goethe’s words echo what Paul was expressing in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, God calls us to a quiet and simple life that honors Him – a life with which we are content. This is a theme which is repeated many times in the Bible. Jesus Himself, in Luke 12:15 cautioned us that the true value of our lives is not measured in the multitude of our possessions but in the quality of our relationship with God. Solomon also, in Ecclesiastes 2:24, urged his readers to find joy and satisfaction in the simple things.

 

But this is a problem for many of us. Our culture celebrates and encourages larger, bigger, better, more, and faster; rather than quietness, simplicity, and contentment. For many people their life has become too big, too cluttered and demanding, and, sadly, less satisfying rather than more.

 

I think Christopher Smith and John Pattison nailed it in their book “Slow Church”. They wrote, “In an age of consumerism, economic imperialism and what Martin Luther King Jr. called “jumboism”, the sacrificial way of Jesus may be calling us to forsake the supersized life.”

 

Most of us would be better and happier, and the quality of our lives would improve exponentially, with less instead of more – less work, fewer activities, fewer possessions (and consequently less debt). Interestingly, the only upward mobility the New Testament calls believers to pursue is to be upwardly mobile out of this life and into the next. While we’re here on earth we’re to be simple, modest, and content.

 

Pursuing such a life is counter-cultural and therefore not easy. But it is what God calls us too and therefore it is what’s best for us – even if it doesn’t seem that way from a human perspective at the moment. This is something I have struggled with for years and there’s a good chance you do too. I encourage all of us to consider if perhaps God might be calling you to a simpler and quieter life.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday October 25-26

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “He comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 1 Corinthians 1:4 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We are to obey God by caring for others just as He has cared for us.”

 

In his book “Keeping Ex-Offenders Free” Donald Smarto writes of how important it is to quickly help ex-prisoners to get involved in activities focused on helping others. The reason is that ex-prisoners, especially those recently released, tend to focus almost exclusively on themselves and on their own problems. They get completely wrapped-up in their own situation, to the point of becoming self-absorbed. Smarto’s advice to Christians who are attempting to help those ex-prisoners with their transition into a productive and law-abiding life, is to help them get involved in doing things for others. When we take our eyes off of ourselves and put them on other people, it helps to put our own problems in a better perspective.

 

This is an important lesson for all of us. If you have been a Christian for very long, then God has already used other Christians to be a blessing to you. Now you are to turn it around and be a blessing to others. This is especially true for those who may be dealing with the same kind of issue that you dealt with. Since you have that similar life experience, you are strategically prepared to be used by God to help others in a similar situation. That’s exactly what Paul was getting at in 1 Corinthians 1:4.

 

When we’re going through tough times it’s easy to turn our thoughts fully upon ourselves. But that is usually the worst thing to do. Although it can be difficult to do, going out of our way to help others while we ourselves might be struggling, can actually be very therapeutic. God will bless and minister to you as you are blessing and ministering to others.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday October 25-26

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God wants us to rely upon each other.”

 

Author Philip Yancey writes of the time he visited and Alcoholics Anonymous meeting with a friend. His friend was a professing Christian but did not attend any church. He told Philip that he considered is AA group to be his church family. He explained that his AA group was able to provide an important aspect of church life that no church he found had been able to give. Philip was surprised and asked for more of an explanation. Here’s what the friend said:

 

“None of us can make it on our own – isn’t that why Jesus came? Yet most church people give off a self-satisfied air of piety or superiority. I don’t sense them consciously leaning on God or on each other. Their lives appear to be in order. An alcoholic who goes to church feels inferior and incomplete.”

 

He went on: “It’s a funny thing; what I hate most about myself, my alcoholism, was the one thing God used to bring me back to him. Because of it, I know I can’t survive without God. I have to depend on him to make it through each and every day. Maybe that’s the redeeming value of alcoholism. Maybe God is calling us alcoholics to teach the saints what it means to be dependent on him and on his community on earth.”

 

That man’s story is a powerful lesson for all of us. We need God and we need each other. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that celebrates independence and self-sufficiency. Dependency is often portrayed as weakness – but not so in the eyes of God. God wants us to lean on Him and on others, and He will often use our times of trial and great need to draw us out of ourselves and to Him and to others. One of the hardest lessons we have to learn is to allow others to help. This is an area where many of us disobey God the most. We try to do it all ourselves.

 

I encourage you today to not only help others to carry their burdens, but let others help you to carry yours.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

 

Devotional for Thursday October 23rd

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding.” Isaiah 40:28 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Rely on the Lord and in His strength.”

 

From time to time we all come to the point where we are just bone-weary and we feel like we can’t go on. There are times in all of our lives when we feel as if we just don’t have the strength or the energy to do the things we know we have to do. How do we keep going? The Old Testament prophet Isaiah had some thoughts about that.

 

Isaiah chapter forty is all about God providing comfort and strength for His weary people. For twenty-seven verses he makes the case for a Sovereign God who is strong and mighty and who has absolute power over all creation. Then in verse twenty-eight, almost in an incredulous tone, he challenges his tired and discouraged readers to consider if perhaps they had failed to hear about this mighty God who is constantly working on their behalf. “Do you not know? Have you not heard?” Then he offers this advice:

 

“He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31 (HCSB)

 

If today you find yourself weary and feeling as if you just don’t have the energy or strength to do the things you need to do, then I encourage you to spend some extra time with the God who never grows weary, the One who is never lacking in strength. He will lift you up and strengthen you, He will renew your energy and help you to do what needs to be done. 

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday October 22nd

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

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

 

Our thought for today: “Being still is sometimes harder than being busy”

 

As we’ve been learning all this month, obeying God when obeying isn’t easy usually involves doing things which are hard, and which we would probably not do. But sometimes obeying God involves not doing anything. Sometimes we are called to simply be still and to sit quietly before Him. And for many of us, that can be much harder than being busy for Jesus.

 

We live in a busy and fast-paced world. Most of our lives are filled to the brim with activities and demands and expectations. Even church life can become a never-ending cycle of programs and events and work to do. Canadian journalist Carl Honore once described modern life as a “cult of speed”. He wrote:

 

“Fast and slow are not just rates of change. They are shorthand for ways of being, or philosophies of life. Fast is busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality. Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity.”

 

God doesn’t require us to be constantly busy. In fact, being able to live with passion for the cause of Christ has its origins in the quiet times of prayer, meditation, and Bible study. It’s out of the quiet times that our sense of purpose and direction grows. It’s only then that we can effectively be on-mission with Jesus out in the world. Otherwise, we can easily go shooting off in all directions, unfocused and ineffective; busy, but to no good purpose.

 

Unfortunately many people have difficulty being still. We’ve become accustomed to noise and activity and we’re therefore uncomfortable in the quiet times of stillness. For many people this call to stillness and quietness is where obeying God becomes most difficult, and therefore this is the area which requires the most focused discipline and resolve.

 

It’s true that being still can often be harder than being busy, but effectiveness in the busy times is directly tied to the quality of the quiet times. I encourage you to have some extra quiet time with God today. You’ll discover that the rest of your day is better as a result.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim