Devotional: Encourage and Comfort

Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, compassionate Father, God of all encouragement and comfort; who encourages us in all our trials, so that we can encourage others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (CJB)

The world excels in bringing us to our knees. Unable to stand anymore, we break down. Loved ones die, close friends leave our sides, and our hopes can smash into a million pieces and it can all happen in a blink of an eye. We live in a world of sadness and despair. We can see in the news, nearly every night, that people are hurting. Some hurt to the point where they will hurt others so they can feel just a tiny bit better. People are killing themselves because they see no light. As Christians, it is partly our fault.

From bible.com

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Being sad is not a bad thing. There is a bit of odd joy in it, you will feel better. God is always there to encourage us, He will build us back up every time we break down. Mighty things can happen when we fall to our knees. We rejoice with each other when God brings us back to standing beside him. Some of us do not go out there, like we should, showing the world a God who encourages, and builds. We are the "blessed who mourn." We are those who receive comfort and encouragement so we should be the ones on the front lines of the drug epidemic showing people a God who does care and can make you feel something amazingly grand inside. We should be the first responders when someone is on the edge, thinking they would be better off if they were dead.

God comforts us so we can comfort a hurt and broken world. It is our time step out of the shadows of our churches and step brazenly into the darkness as beacons. We can take whatever the world throws at us for we have Christ backing our every move.

Heavenly Father, God of all encouragement and comfort, set me ablaze with your light and push me out into the depths of the darkness in our world. Let me be the evidence of what your Grace can do for this hurting world.

Devotional: Bring me Joy

From bible.com

I cried out, “I am slipping!” but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

Psalms 94:18-19

So many things in our life threatens to bring us down. Maybe it is an ending of a relationship, or failing an exam. Maybe you didn't get that job you really wanted or maybe you feel alone in a world where everyone seems to have someone. Maybe your family seems to have raised against you. Maybe you feel like God has abandoned you out in the wilderness, like a malformed wild animal. Sometimes that firm foundation you are standing on is slick from rain and if you even breathe you might slip and fall into the cracks, be lost forever in the darkness.

It is natural to feel like this sometimes. But God is always near by. When we feel broken and falling into the depths, God is right below us to catch us. In every dark moment in life, God will send a light for you. He will fill your heart with hope and cheer. The psalmist said The LORD is our fortress so when times are hard, we can fall back into his strong arms deep inside His fortress and be safe. When the storms hit us, the winds break even the strongest of trees, laying the country side in ruins, we can rest assured that God has his arms around us. He will whisper his love into your ear, filling you with comfort only He could give.

Lord, renew me with your hope and cheer. Fill me with your unfailing love and remind me to fall back into your fortress when times are hard.

Sermon: Strangest Day

I've really been struggling to get any ideas down on paper or screen. Every time I think of something and start talking it out in my head, or out loud to myself if no one is near by, I don't have the means to put any of it to letter. It's been a while since I have been struggling with this, so-to-speak, writers block as you can tell if you read my blog posts here. They have been rather few and far between.

Things have been stirring in my head though, recently I talked to the Superintendent of the district our church is in about becoming a local pastor. It's a step and I have another step coming up for which I am pretty nervous. But all of this has got me thinking, how strange it is to be on a journey which I know not the destination.

For so long I, and I imagine many other Christians, have been comfortable where we are. But it doesn't mean it is doing any of us any good. I think we have lost sight of the goal, what we want when we turn to the cross each Sunday morning. What we all should be striving for each day. What we have to simply remember, Jesus. We have grown deaf and dumb to all that is around us. The hurt the world is in. Maybe it is too much for our minds to bear, but it is still there. Maybe we aren't even awake yet.

We are here in this long long story of God. This story started long before time existed, before any bang ever happened, in the infinity stretching back to always. We are here for God. It is rather hard to understand, I think I even confused myself a little bit there. I often wonder why God even wanted to make us, what was the point, what was the thinking. Then I think of all the stuff mankind has done. Look at our imagination and the thinks we have dreamt of in movies, books and our dreams. Look at the accomplishments man has made, we have left the confines of our planet and walked on the moon. We have stared so deeply into space that we have seen things hundreds of thousands of years ago. We have computers that rival the power and depth of our own minds. (Thankfully we do not have AI running amok yet.) We have art, music, and capacity for great love. We manage to capture a tiny, tiny speck of the abundance of all that God is.

Yet we hold on to ourselves. We cling tightly to all that we can do, because what we can do is really great. I like to think that when God said "Let us make man in our image" he completely meant all of the stuff we are capable of such as arts, sciences, maths, love. I feel like those 4 things are really important to humanity, but this isn't about those. This is about letting go of all we know.

So far, in the few tiny steps I have made, I feel there is a change occurring inside my head and my heart. I feel that God is rearranging me for his goal. It's a very small change, and one that I often overwrite in an attempt to hang on to me. But I am trying to let go, giving up me, for Christ. And when I manage to let some of it stick, it is beautiful. When someone does something stupid, like driving 3 miles an hour under the speed limit, I think, "This guy should not be allowed on the road," then I think, "but God loves him, that is good enough for me."

It is a strange feeling, loving someone even when you don't want to and it shows us how much more to life there is than we can ever know. We might not see the seed we planted turn into anything, but knowing we planted it, it feels great. I find it hard to love people when I am at my best, but with each little thing I give to God, I find it easier to love, easier to live and to trust. It is easier to have faith and say, "Here I am, Send me."

I was a child the first time I heard the song "Here I am Lord." But it is a song that has always stuck in my head. I feel like it was the first song God used to call me to be a pastor. The chorus is so good in its few lines. "Here I am Lord," Right there, the singer is acknowledging that God is calling us. God is calling each of us into a journey with him. He is calling us to do something, anything, that he will use for the continuing of his Glory. For some it is pastoring (Pastorizing anyone? eh?), some it might be mentoring, others to be teachers, some might just be to lend an ear, or offer words that someone needs to hear at that moment. But we have to first answer God, Here I am, Lord.

"Is it I, Lord?" Now we question if we are able to do it. Alone we can't, but God is going to be right there so I think we can. In the readings I have had to go over, and what I am building up to at the end of the month, it talks about being able to discern what God is calling you to do, for me it has always felt that God is calling me to be a pastor, but maybe it will change a little and maybe its more of a specialized place that he has in mind, who knows? I don't but I am going to sit with God and a group of people I don't know and figure things out. I hope.

From bible.com

Then in the chorus "I have heard you calling in the night," We are now realizing that he has been calling us from the day of our birth, into something that is almost like a birthright. That place he had picked out for us so very long ago. Then we finally do it, "I will go Lord, if you lead me, I will hold your people in my heart." We answer that call of the Lord. Sometimes I wish it was an audible one like Samuel or Isaiah. But even if it was, I think I am too deaf to hear him, so he uses people, songs, anything he likes to call us.  We can go do it, I can go do it, if we let Jesus lead us, we can learn to love when we don't want to. It would be such a great joy to be fighting about who is going to go out into the darkness outside, spreading Jesus to the world, instead of fighting about the color of the curtains or how much it is going to cost.

When we let go, and follow Jesus like he asks us to, it will feel like a mistake, we will worry about the money, how we could manage do whatever it is we are doing, and we will worry greatly over all the smallest things, but nothing will prepare us when God will make all things clear. We will break out of our anger and grumpiness, break out of our worry and fear, and it might feel like a very strange day, but it will be just the start of an even more amazing life. We can break out and shout "This is it, it's what we are waiting for, so here I am Lord, send me!"

So I ask you, What has God been calling you to do? Have you shared it with anyone? Have you had support in your calling? A comfrimation? Will you support others as they are called? Will you work together in many callings to spread the word of the Lord to everyone, everywhere?

Devotional: The Good Spell

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-the Jew first and also the Gentile.
 Romans 1:16 (NLT)

The Gospel, as we often call it, literally means "good spell." This does not mean spell like something in magic. Spell is a story, a message. Think of someone says to "Sit down for a spell." They are not talking about casting some magic but sitting and sharing stories, telling tales, history, commands and news. The Good News we share, the Gospel, is what God did, and is doing, to bring salvation to the whole world.

Paul told the Romans that it is "the power of God at work..." We have to keep in mind that the gospel, is working now, is as relevant now, is as important now, as it was two thousands years ago. The whole world can receive this salvation if they believe in Jesus. Currently there is so much anti-Semitic hate in the world. In the news, in jokes, and worst of all in the church. But God chose the Jews to be HIS people. He chose to bring salvation to the world through this people that he loves. How can we hate a people who God chose over all the other people of the world to bring His son to the earth through.

From bible.com

We should never be ashamed of God, of what he did, and should embrace it and share it with all the world. It is a wonderful thing to share because we can see it at work still. God is always working and someday we will get the honor to stand witness, with his people, of the completion of his plan for mankind.

God, I am not ashamed of your Good News about your son. Help me to show the world your power at work for all the nations.

Devotional: A Little Me Time

In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right.

Isaiah 26:9 (NLT)

Do you have a routine that you do daily? Maybe you get up at a set time, spend a few minutes on the internet before you shower, then go to work. Maybe when you are preparing for bed, you hit that game up again, just to relax, or play a podcast or listen to music right before bed. We all have things that we do every day, a little bit of ME time, as part of our continuing daily routine. God wants to be our ME time. He wants you to come to him and spend time with him and you, in intimacy. No matter the time of day, we should be searching for God in all we do.

From bible.com

Or you can look at it like this, in the night, when things are dark, hard to see, things coming after you, beating you down over and over. Troubles, seemingly unending, hitting from all sides, we need to turn to God to make it through. In the morning, when things are calm, the rapids have given way to a peaceful current, and we can relax and recover, we should turn to God.

When we follow God in every step, dark or light, night or day, troubles or peace, we will show the world a peace that could never come from man made treaties. No political party could ever bring a peace so complete and good as the peace God can bring. But until God comes back to judge the earth, putting all things right again, we will have tides of night and day and we can face them all if we seek God with our whole hearts.

God, teach me to search for you at all times of the day. Teach me to put you at the center of my ME time and the center of my troubled times as well.

Devotional: Love it Up

Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
Romans 13:10 (NLT)

If you have played a modern survival game, or nearly any game at all, you know will understand the long list of requirements involved to get anything done. Find some plants to make a fiber rope, then find some sticks to make the handle, find a good stone to use for the blade, and you can make yourself an axe. You can use it a few times and then it will break and you need to make a new one, or find better materials to make a better one. Some mobile games task you with building this building before you can build the one you want to build. Some games require you to kill so many enemies, or gather so many items to progress further. Anyway you look at it, games have a lot of requirements to fulfill to complete tasks. God also has many laws you have to obey to be with him.

From bible.com

We have the ten commandments, a list of laws that if we break, will remove us from God. we break the laws we will stand condemned. But God knew we would break even the simplest of these, so he sent his son Jesus to redeem us, to purchase our lives so we can live forever with the Father.  Jesus came because God loved us. The price of redemption was a love overwhelming, a love so deep that it died on our execution stake.


With our souls purchased, it is for us to take the deal. Once you have, our only goal should be to show that same love God had for us, to the rest of the world. Love will fulfill any requirement of law or life we can face. You won't steal if you love with your whole heart. You won't hurt someone else if you love like Jesus. And you can change the world if you give every ounce of love you have like Jesus. Love is always the answer.

Lord, help me to love in every circumstance, in every trial or while I rejoice. Help me fulfill your laws to the fullest by loving everyone I met today.

Devotional: Every Path

From bible.com

For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes.
Proverbs 5:21 NLT

Remember when you were a kid, you could be hundreds of yards from the house, but when you did something bad, your mother new about it. You could be surrounded by tress, in a dense forest, and you did something you shouldn't have, mother knew about it. Whether we called that the eyes in the back of her head, or what, mothers knew more of what was going on that they should have. God also knows what bad things you have done.

 It doesn't matter if you try to hide your wrong doings in the darkest of rooms, or miles underground, God will know. God sees so much he can see the path you are headed down to the end of the line. He knows what you will do and when. He knows every possible outcome of your life, even if you don't know what tomorrow will hold.

None of us know the future. We can't tell if we will be hurt tomorrow or if we will be doing the hurting. We are stuck in the here and now. But we can face each day as if we did know. If we are wronged we can forgive them for it because we know God already has. If we do the wronging, we know that God will forgive us, even if the other person won't. We can try and make amends with the knowledge that we are forgiven. 

We should go and face every day as the best we can be, because the best there ever was was sent to forgive our wrongs. We should face each day with strength and courage, it might be our last. We should face each day with the love of God for everyone out there is a child of the Most High.

God, give me the strength to face each day with confidence and love as I follow you down the path of my life.

Devotional: Godliness

Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin.   -Proverbs 13:6

I once read a story in the news, it had a picture of a car half in a lake with a headline, "Woman followed GPS and drove into a lake." How does one not see a lake a head of them and drives into it. Surely people have enough intelligence to realize they aren't on the road any more. See the difference between a dock and a road. Sadly, sin blinds us to troubles and sometimes we can find ourselves sinking in a lake wondering how did we get here.

Sin leaves us blind to many things in our lives and in the world. Sin causes us not to have a heart for the broken, lost and used people out there. Sin tells us that because that person has a different amount of melanin in their skin, they aren't as good as we are. Sin says because they do not believe the same as me, or wear different clothes as me, they are horrible people, cretins and deplorables. Sin leaves us lost. But when we live in God's love and follow is commands, we will start to see how wonderful these differences are.

When we live a life close to God, doing our best to be like him, we begin to love more and are willing to embrace even our most feared enemy. So let's start letting love lead our lives, be more like Jesus, and live godly lives. The -ness in godliness means an action, quality, or state of whatever it is attached to. So in this case, Godliness means we are acting in a manner that is God like, or have a quality of God. And since God is love in all its forms, then being godly should be being overwhelmingly loving. And when we love, our path will be lit with the biggest and brightest light, and our road will be straight and clear. We will never find ourselves lost, and have that feeling deep in our guts wondering how we will get home from here.

From bible.com

Lord, when my road starts to get dark, be the light and make it bright to me. Help me to love everyone out there as you do.