I Was Blind....

 "....One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see."

John 9:25

One of my favorite events in the Gospels is in John Chapter 9. Jesus had healed a blind man, and the exchanges between the Pharisees and this healed man are telling and powerful, even humorous. These religious hypocrites were angry and frustrated as their arguments could not defeat this simple man. This man was able to silence them not with great theological understanding, or debating skills, but with the powerful testimony of what Jesus had done for him. He simply stated "I was blind, now I see". This was undeniable, couldn't be argued with, and baffled the religious leaders.

It is very important to know the foundational scriptures for your faith. It is also very important to know how to share your faith and to have key salvation passages committed to memory so you are ready and able at any moment to point others to Christ. A great reminder we get from the man whom Jesus healed, is that there is also powerful significance to our personal testimony. People can argue evolution and morality, philosophy and ethics, but it is very hard to argue with a changed life. All who have come to salvation in Jesus have a testimony, we all have our "I was blind, now I see" story, and that is dynamic proof of the reality of our Savior.

There seems to be a growing wave of attacks against our faith. These attacks are not new and I am glad for the multitude of great answers to the questions and arguments thrown our direction. And while we should study and know these answers, let's always remember that Jesus came not to win arguments but to change lives. Dust off and add to your testimony and be reminded of His dynamic power in changing your life. All of us can say: "I was lost, but now I'm found! I was dead, now I'm alive! I was blind, now I see!"

Not The Bride Alone

 

"And the Spirit and the bride say, 'come!'

And let him who hears say, 'come!' And let him who thirsts come.

Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely"

(Rev. 22:17).

When I was in my early twenties I felt the call of God to be a pastor. It made sense to me that if I was going to be a pastor I would need a church, so I decided to start one. It began with a home fellowship, and I was confident it would explode into a mega-church.

The fellowship went really well, the people were faithful, sweet and seemed blessed, but there was very little growth. I felt called to be a pastor, but a church wasn't happening so I became very frustrated. One night I let my frustration out on the little fellowship rebuking them for the lack of growth. I still cringe when I think about it. I was being led by what I wanted, not by the Lord, and that very night, after the Lord's rebuke, understood that while I was called to pastor a church, I wasn't ready just yet.

Revelation 22:17 is our church verse. Notice that the church does not cry 'come!' by itself, it is the Spirit and the bride together who call out. I learned an important lesson in that attempt to start a church. I had the desire and passion, I was willing to sacrifice and work hard, but I wasn't being led by the Holy Spirit.

When Calvary Chapel Living Word was started, it clearly was by the moving of the Holy Spirit and we have seen confirmation of that over and again.  Please pray for CCLW in this new year, that we will continue to be a church clearly led by the Spirit of God. May His Spirit freely move among us, and may the fruit and power of the Spirit be evident in all we do.

Resolutions Not Wishes

"Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty.

Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air"

(I Corinthians 9:26)

I go to the gym to give my body a workout...not to seek wisdom. Yet to my surprise the other day, I got some sound wisdom from a poster meant to get people to sign up for a personal trainer. The poster read:

A goal without a plan is just a wish.  The Lord used that poster to bring conviction and remind me about some goals He had put on my heart. Because of the poster, my time of mindless sweating turned into a time of prayer, soul searching and resolve.

I wonder how many thousands of well-intentioned resolutions will be made by people this next week. I also wonder how many people will actually follow through on the resolutions they make. I heard that most resolutions last less than two weeks. If we were to apply the logic of the poster from the gym to these annual resolutions, they shouldn't be called "New Years Resolutions", but "New Years Wishes"....a goal without a plan is just a wish!

I hope you have made some spiritual goals for this next year, and if you did, make sure you also set up a plan as to how you might achieve that goal.

The apostle Paul knew that following after the Lord in this world is not an easy task. He uses the analogy of being in a race or in a fight. Paul wasn't just running around with no direction, he had a clear course and purpose, and he wasn't shadow boxing wasting energy striking at the air, he had Godly aim that he might land blows on the enemy's chin.

I pray we can all seek the Lord for some realistic goals for this new year. As you seek the Lord for His goals in your life, He will give you wisdom to set a plan, and the strength and discipline needed to follow through. Happy New Year!

Make Haste!

 

And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in the manger."

(Luke 2:16)

When our children were young, I don't recall a single Christmas where I had to wake them up. I never had to set an alarm clock in their rooms to awaken them, they got up fine all on their own, and usually too early. Because they weren't allowed to open presents without mom and dad, they made haste and were very zealous to awaken us too.

When the angel announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, the angel never commanded the shepherds to go and find the Baby, it was pretty much assumed that they would just go. The angel told them "you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." They were given no command, no directions, no explanation as to what to do when they found the Babe, just "you will find."

I love these wonderful shepherds because of how they responded to the angel's good news. As soon as the heavenly choir had finished their chorus of praise, like children who don't need to be awakened on Christmas morning, they made haste and found Jesus. They didn't hesitate or discuss or debate, they just went. Think of how busy their minds had to have been with fear, awe, wonder, and questions, yet they made haste. The word "found" gives the idea of giving diligent search, so they weren't casual in their pursuit of Jesus, they knew they were on an important mission.

We ought not have to be commanded to find Jesus this Christmas. No alarm clock is needed nor angel to announce. He is the gift, He is the joy, He is the song we sing, make haste you will find Him, and you will have a very Merry Christmas indeed!

Peter Moments

 

Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke him saying,

"far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to you!"

Matthew 16:22

Peter is one of the men of the Bible that so many of us can relate to.  There are times when he shows great wisdom and courage, and other times where he fumbles and falls on his face.  He gets things so right and then turns around and gets it so wrong.  We look at ourselves and say 'that's so me'!

The above verse is one of the times that Peter stumbled and bumbled and fell on his face.  I cringe as I read that Peter actually rebuked Jesus and then in the midst of the rebuke calls him Lord. The wonder of our Lord is that as many times as Peter failed, Jesus restored and continued to use him.

We live under such amazing grace.  The Lord knows our frailty and faults and bears with us. He never wrote Peter off or fired him, but kept drawing him back and giving him more chances and more grace. 

We all have our 'Peter' moments that require the Lord's rebuke and correction.  You will no doubt get discouraged, but don't remain there.  Jesus extends to you the same grace he did Peter.  Let His grace humble and mature us into men and women of great use for His kingdom.

Let's See

 

Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, 'Come let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few'"

I Samuel 14:6.

I just love Jonathan's "let's see" attitude. He knows that God is on the side of Israel, he has faith that God will be mighty on behalf of Israel no matter how few in number they may be. And though it was only Jonathan and his armor bearer, he was bold enough in trusting the Lord that his heart said, "let's see" what God might do!

I have a friend who has the same heart as Jonathan. He just steps out to see what God might accomplish. While doing missionary work in Nairobi, Kenya, he would listen to the Christian radio station. He felt the Bible teaching on the station needed some help so in faith he brought his collection of teachings from Pastor Chuck Smith to the station. The station manager put the teachings on the air and there was a great response. Because of the great response, the station called my friend and asked him if might go live on air after Pastor Chuck's teaching to answer Bible questions. Little did he know that taking one small step of faith would lead to him being the Bible answer man of Nairobi! He had not planned on getting his own radio show, he just had a heart that said "let's see" what God might do.

This same friend is now in Samoa trusting the Lord in the same way. His latest step of faith is trying to reach students by opening a shave ice shop across the street from a local college. His simple attitude of faith is always an encouragement and challenge to me.

We serve a big God who desires to accomplish much through His people. I believe God would desire to stir in all of us the heart of Jonathan. May we all lift up our eyes and see people and circumstances around us and say "lets see" what God might do!

A Gentle Prod.....Be Thankful

 

"And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: 

For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel. 

Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid"

(Ezra 3:11).

The Lord gave me an important reminder through one of the children at church. I had just handed him a snack and he turned to run off, he got a few steps when his mom stopped him and explained that he needed to say thank you. The little guy acknowledged his mom, started running again, and gave a quick and less than heartfelt thank you.

I wasn't bothered at all by his response, his mom did the right thing and he was just being a child, but the incident was like a mirror of how we too often thank the Lord.  I think when it comes to thanking the Lord we regularly act like this little guy. We have to be reminded to give thanks, and when we do, too often it's a quick and less than heartfelt thanks while running through our busy lives.

The above verse describes a day somewhat like our Thanksgiving, it was a day that all the people were called together to celebrate and give corporate thanks to God. The foundation of the second temple had been laid and the people knew it was accomplished only by God's power and grace.

The whole passage tells us that the people put a good deal of effort into giving thanks to the Lord. We are told that the Levites brought out trumpets and cymbals and the people were singing and shouting, giving thanks to the Lord. They were in the midst of an important work that was being accomplished by God's hand and they were thankful, so they let God and everyone else hear it! 

God has blessed us all so very abundantly, let's stop and reflect and be specific in our blessing the Lord. Let's put more effort into thanks than cooking and eating! It's not turkey day, it's Thanksgiving day, so let's give our hearts in thanking our wonderful gracious God loudly and boldly that all may hear.