Inviting God Into Your Marriage - 8/15/2016

Inviting God Into Your Marriage

Ecclesiastes 49-12 NIV

August 15, 2015

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:  If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

This passage can have so many uses, but the one I'm reminded of today is the strength that a husband and wife can have when they invite God into their marriage. That is because Diane and I are headed to our nephew’s wedding today.

Long before I knew this passage I learned how to make rope as a Boy Scout. We'd start with three  stands of twine, twisting them together. Depending on how thick the rope was going to be you would keep twisting three stands together. I still have some that rope all these years later and the are still strong as when they were made.

When Diane and I made the commitment to invite God into our marriage things changed. We realized that He had been waiting for us. That is very comforting but for me there was regret. Regret that we had not done it sooner. To say that things changed is an understatement. No longer were we chasing happiness, God showed us what happiness really is. The “fun” that we used to think was fun was just a way to try and fill a void. The more we chased it, the more we had to chase it.

Now there is a contentment with life. While many of my co-workers are struggling with their morale at work I'm content. Do I have the hours that I want? Not really, but I am convinced that God has a plan in it. And that provides strength for Diane and I.

Just like any relationship it takes work on our part. Daily we are praying, reading and studying God’s Word and doing other devotionals. In doing that we are leaning more about God and each other. What an amazing journey that has been and continues to be. Things that used to cause both of us a lot of stress don’t. Don’t get me wrong there are still stressful moments, but their intensity have diminished greatly. It really helps knowing that God is walking the path of life with us.

Doing life together is wonderful. And with God I not think there is anything that we cannot overcome. Our prayer today is that Spencer and Allyson will have this relationship with each other and with God.

Loving Father we thank you for all the blessings You have brought to our lives and to our marriage. We pray those same blessings for Spencer and Allyson as the commit to one another today in front of You and our family and their friends. Father watch over them. In Jesus Amen!

We Are Not Alone - August 14, 2015

We Are Not Alone

August 14, 2015

John 16:31-33 NLT

³¹ Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe? ³² But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. ³³ I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

When Jesus asked them “Do you finally believe?” He already knew the answer. He even told them they would abandon Him. How often have we done that? Professed our faith in Christ and then abandoned Him. One could say that many people do that every week. They profess Jesus’ name at church and then spend the rest of the week away from Him.

We have all kinds of reasons for this. We woke up late. I forgot. I have just been so busy at work, I need time for myself. What? Church again? The kids have kept me running around.

Each of these and more are reasons we do not spend time in prayer or read our Bibles. Yet, God is there, 24/7 for us. He never leaves. He is never too busy.

Here is one of the other thoughts I had. Even though we are surrounded by others, there are a lot of people out there who are lonely. The reasons for this are numerous. Most people do not like to be alone. And some of those who say they do, well I don’t think they do deep down inside. Is it nice sometimes to have a little time to yourself? Absolutely. But for long periods of time, no thank you.

The thing is, we are never really alone. Jesus reminds us that we are never alone when He said, “Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.” And the Father is always with us. He is with us when we decide to have one last drink and then drive home. He is with us when we are sitting alone contemplating ending our life. He is with us every moment. People still ask, where was God on 9/11? He was with each and every person including the terrorists. He was telling the terrorists not to go through with it. He was with the people on each of the plans and in the towers and at the Pentagon hoping they would hear Him calling them to himself.

God was there when I had my last accident. You don’t rear end someone on the interstate and drive away from it. Yet He was reminding me to keep my distance because of the construction and detour. That distance made the difference between cosmetic damage and nobody getting hurt and what could have been much worse. Even the other driver said I must have had someone riding along with me. Amen! I sure did.

So what can we do? We can listen when God tells us to go talk to someone. We can listen when we hear Him tell us to go to a nursing home and visit people we do not even know. I know a wonderful couple that does to a nursing home every Wednesday to spend time with some of the residents. Do they know them? They didn’t at first, but now they do. Never forget that God is always there, through everything. Good or bad God is there. That is very comforting to me. It helps me to get through a lot of situations. The thing is, I know He is there. There are a lot of lonely people out there that do not know God so they do not know He is there. For those of you that know me, that breaks my heart. It also breaks God’s heart. I am in great company.

Father God, thank you for always being there, even when we forget you are there. The hard part for us Lord is realizing that we make choices and that others make choices that place us in some bad situations, but You are still there. Help us to hear You. Help us to show Your love to others so they can hear You too. So they can realize they are not alone. Amen!

Hated by the World - August 13, 2015

Hated by the World

August 13, 2015

John 15:18-19 NLT

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

Merriam Webster defines hate as “intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury.” Hate is a word that gets used a lot. To be honest, I think it is used way too much. People use it because they are mad at someone: “I hate you!” In fact it is used so much, it has lost meaning, just like saying “I love you” or “Trust me.” They are words that get thrown around with little meaning.

I’ve heard many people say “the world hates me.” When they are saying this it is rarely for the same thing as what Jesus is talking about in this passage. Usually it is because they feel left out, or they think that they do not have friends, or possibly any number of other reasons. By no means am I trivializing those feelings because those feelings are very real. Do those feelings need to be acknowledged? Absolutely. People matter. Jesus taught us to love everyone, including our enemies.

The hatred that Jesus is talking about is one that is because of Him, not us. People hated and still do hate Him. So, Jesus wasn’t throwing around words. When He said that people were going to hate the disciples because of Him, he meant hate in the truest sense of the word. Think about the “intense hostility” that was shown towards Jesus by the Jewish leaders of the day. They did not talk about exiling Him or sending Him to jail, they wanted Jesus dead. It was with a great sense of intensity that they looked for a way to accuse Him of a crime that would be fitting of a death penalty.

Jesus was not politically correct. This was part of the hatred. He taught things that went against the Jewish leaders. He called them out. Their faith had become about the rules and not about God. Many were in it simply for what they could get out of it. We see that a lot today. People use other people to get what they want. If you get in their way they will do what they have to move you out of the way. This plays out in our daily lives all the time.

The thing is, Jesus has the cure for the human condition. We are His messengers. How often are we afraid to share that message? More than we care to admit. There are things that the Bible teaches that we ‘sanitize’ because we fear what others will think rather than what God thinks. We have become so politically correct that now there are calls to ban the POW/MIA flag because it is offensive to some. Everyone finds something offensive. Think about this … just because I do not agree with you on something doesn’t mean I hate you! We are so afraid of what others think we are keeping the light of Christ hidden. Jesus taught that ¹⁶ “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.” (Luke 18:16 NLT)

We need to shine the light of Christ. We need to live like and love like Jesus. When we do this we will be called out by people. They will hate us for what we believe. In a lot of countries around the world that means death for Christians. Those Christians know what Jesus was talking about when He said the world would hate us because of Him. They still choose Jesus. Do you?

Heavenly Father thank you for the example that Jesus gave us. We know the world will hate us because of you, because of Jesus. Help us to overcome that hatred, even if it means giving our lives. Jesus gave His life for us, we need to be willing to give ours to Him. Amen!

Heartbroken - August 11, 2015

Heartbroken

August 11, 2015

Jeremiah 8:18-19 NLT

¹⁸ My grief is beyond healing;
    my heart is broken.
¹⁹ Listen to the weeping of my people;
    it can be heard all across the land.
“Has the Lord abandoned Jerusalem?” the people ask.
    “Is her King no longer there?”

“Oh, why have they provoked my anger with their carved idols
    and their worthless foreign gods?” says the Lord.

We have all been heartbroken over something or someone in our lives. The loss of someone by an accident, a disease or even old age is never easy. We get attached. We love. Maybe it was a relationship where a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a spouse left. Maybe it was you that left. The pain is still there.

Other times it is the loss of something. I remember many years ago when the Winnebago Council, BSA was making the difficult decision to close one of the camps that they operated. Financially this made sense. The discussion around it was heated. Those that lived near and typically went to one of the two camps were very adamant about ‘their’ camp staying open. I started to get pulled into that discussion because I was on staff at both camps for a number of summers. Fortunately I was able to pull myself away and look at it objectively. Yes, I did have a favorite. It was not based on location, but on other reasons. I was devastated when I found out that my favorite, Winnebago, would be closed. At the same time I was excited for the possibilities for Camp Ingawanis. More money could be funneled to the camp that stayed open providing even better service to the boys attending the camp. It was a hard decision and I know that it was not made lightly.

Jeremiah is heartbroken for Jerusalem, Judah and the people. They have abandoned God and still expect the same treatment from Him as if they had not. To answer the question that the people had about whether or not God had abandoned Jerusalem and whether He was still their king the answer is no. God did not abandon them. He was still their king. But just like any parent He was disciplining His children.

Think about it. There are consequences for our actions. During the week they would worship the gods of the nations around them. Then, on the Sabbath they would go to the temple to worship God. Oh, wait. People still do that. They live their lives the way they want to 166 of the 168 hours each week and still have the same expectations of God as if they lived His way all day, every day. Doesn’t that seem a bit mixed up? Praise God for 1 or 2 hours a week and then bash on others, treat people poorly, sin. That is not a bit mixed up. That is really messed up. God sent Jesus to be our example. Jesus taught us how to live, love and serve. He did it every waking hour of His entire life. Let’s assume he was awake 16 hours a day for 33 years. That means Jesus was our example 5,840 hours per year. Multiply that by 33 year and He was at it 192,720. God is there for us 24/7 for the approximately 7.125 billion people that are living right now, that doesn't include all that went before us and that will come after us.

Now let’s look at ourselves. Figuring on 2 hours per week for God for 80 years ... do the math. We are not living up to our side. God has called us to live and love like Jesus every waking hour. We fall short. Throw on top of that the fact that we worship other gods (money, sports teams, work, people, etc.) and we are not that much different from the Israelites. We need to step up our game. No, we need to get into the game. Let’s live and love like Jesus showed us every waking moment for the rest of our lives!

Father we are sorry that we do not give you 100% of ourselves 100% of the time. Help us to get rid of those other idols and to walk with You. Help us to get past whatever temptation is in front of us right now and to live the life that You have prepared for us. Thank you God that you have not abandoned us even when we have abandoned You. We are eternally grateful, Amen!

Show Me Again - August 10, 2015

Show Me Again

August 10, 2015

John 12:37-43 NLT

³⁷ But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. ³⁸ This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted:

“Lord, who has believed our message?
    To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?”

³⁹ But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said,

⁴⁰ “The Lord has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts—
so that their eyes cannot see,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and have me heal them.”

⁴¹ Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory. ⁴² Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. ⁴³ For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

Show me again, show me again. This is what is often heard from a small child when someone pulls a quarter from behind their ear or some other illusion. We have a hard time believing what we see. We can be right there and still not believe it.

That is what was happening every time Jesus performed a miracle. Some believed and the rest were skeptical. Even Satan challenged Jesus to prove that He is the Son of God:

Matthew 4:5-6

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, ⁶ and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

Recently, Kepler-452b was discovered by the Kepler spacecraft. This planet is about 1,400 light years away from us. Scientists believe that it can sustain life and that it is very similar to Earth. For them to believe that they have to have faith. This faith is based on some similarities between the two planets. They have seen pictures of this new planet. Many would say that this is proof there is not a God. I agree with others who say this proves there is a God. After all, He did create the Heavens and the Earth. This new planet would be part of the Heavens He created.

Faith is defined by Merriam Webster as “strong belief or trust in someone or something.” People have faith that this new planet is like Earth based on some pictures and some similarities. I have faith in God, in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. No, I have never seen a picture. I have read the Bible and other ancient texts. We have the writings of the actual eyewitnesses both in the Bible and in other writings. The ancient texts were written by those who were there at the time but had no vested interest. Josephus was one of those authors. His writing of the history of the time of Jesus match up to the Scriptures.

In our Digging Deeper study at Relevant Life we start by going through where the Bible came from. We discuss the fulfilled prophecies, the archaeological support and the historical evidence that provides the proof of the Bibles accuracy and authority. We have proof, yet people still want God to prove His existence.

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

John 20:29 NLT

Heavenly Father we thank you for all the evidence that you are real despite the rumors of your non-existence. We are so thankful that each day we get to see Your creation. We get to experience you love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. Open people’s eyes and hearts to You Father that they would see all the miracles that You do each and every day. Then we would not hear “show us again,” instead we would all know that You are God. Amen!

Give God the Glory - August 9, 2015

Give God the Glory

August 9, 2015

¹ A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. ² This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. ³ So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

⁴ But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” ⁵ So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, ⁶ he stayed where he was for the next two days. ⁷ Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

John 11:1-7 NLT

Mary and Martha are very distressed and they have sent an urgent message to Jesus that Lazarus is sick. They would not have bothered Jesus if he had a cold. They are obviously scared for their brother’s very life.

They know that Jesus and that He can heal their brother to they sent for Him. Listen to the faith that Martha has in verse 22 – ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” It is that kind of faith that led them to send for Jesus.

Jesus tells us that “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death.” But as we read it definitely does end in death. As far as everyone around Lazarus is concerned, he died and he was buried. Jesus knew better. Just like the Father in Heaven, Jesus knew the outcome. Knowing the reason that Lazarus got sick, Jesus waits for two days before going to see him. The disciples must have really been wondering what Jesus was up to in waiting to go and see a good friend who was deathly ill. Let’s face it, we would have been wondering the very same thing. This shows our shortsightedness when we are not looking to God.

This made me think of a saying that my wife showed me earlier today that said, “When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is, remember the teacher is always quiet during a test.” Mary and Martha were probably wondering where Jesus was and what was taking Him so long to get there. We tend to do that a lot.

The thing that we have to remember is that when God has allowed us to go through a trial there is a reason. We may not understand it. We definitely don’t like it. But it is necessary. God is working on us. He is refining us, removing our sin. We can be glad it is not like refining gold. Did you know that the temperature for refining gold is 840° to 1,380° F.? That is a lot of heat.

To be honest, sometimes we may never figure out why we went through a particular trial, but I guarantee that you did learn something and you were changed. I’m not going to question the Creator of everything. I have a hard enough time trying to figure out some of the day to day things we do. God is in control. He’s got this. What I will do is give God my best and let Him to do the rest.

Gracious and loving Father, help us to be more heavenly minded than earthly minded. When we go through trials, let us be teachable. Let us see the blessing in it. Let us remember what Solomon wrote when he told us to trust in you with all our heart and to not depend on our understanding but to seek you in all that we do. Amen!