Life Journal 08-28-2008 Just One Thing

Just One Thing

(S) Scripture
Revelation 2:2-4
2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love

(O) Observation
The Lord commends this church for all it is doing right. This is good at doing what it should but is not good at its relationship with the Lord. Things are done out of rote or duty but not out of love for God. The indictment is that they have left their first love and need to return. There is opportunity for renewal here when they are told what to do to restore their relationship of love.

(A) Application
Just doing the right things is not the measure of a persons love for the Lord. Many times we can be doing the right things but our hearts are far from God. We should not stop doing the right things but we do need to renew our love for God. We are to do what we did at first. Remember when we could not spend enough time in with the Lord. We read His word, we prayed, we talked about Him with our family and friends, we did all those things you do when you find real love. That is what the Lord wants us to do continually, to love Him.

Sometimes it is easy for me, a pastor, to get caught up in doing things rather than developing my relationship with the Lord. Today I will focus on renewing that love relationship knowing that it will motivate and empower me to do the right things.

(P) Prayer
Lord I want to do the right things for you but I want to love you more. Renew me today and know that I love you. Amen

Life Journal 08-27-2008 Learning to Live

Learning to live

(S) Scripture
Psalm 143:10-12
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.

(O) Observation
The psalmist in simple terms asks God for His guidance and protection. He asks God to revive him.

(A) Application
This is a good lesson for me. It is God who teaches His will. I seek it but it is God who teaches. It is the Lord who protects me from trouble and those who seek to harm me. Rather than always looking for God's will today I will ask God to teach me His will and to lead me in doing it. It is not as much me finding God's will as it is living it out by faith in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

(P) Prayer
Lord, teach me you will and let me live it out today. Amen

Life Journal 08-26-2008 A Parent's Joy

A Parent's Joy

(S) Scripture
3 John 4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

(O) Observation
As John writes to Gaius he comments on hearing about Gaius' faithfulness and how this gave him great joy. What an encouragement this must have been to both of them.

(A) Application
This is something that I am experiencing this week. I am at the beach with my wife, mother, daughters, son-in-law, and granddaughter. They are each involved in their churches and continue to pursue their relationship with the Lord. I cannot think of anything that could give me greater joy than knowing that they are walking in the truth.

Today I will enjoy the time I have with them as we vacation together. I don't want to miss a minute of this time because you never know when it will happen again.

(P) Prayer
Father, I thank you for my mom and dad and the faith they taught and modeled for me. I thank you for Becky and her faithful walk with you. I thank you for the girls and their faith and for their walks with you. I pray they will experience all you have for them. Hold them close. Let me be a continual example of faith and walking in the truth for them. Amen

Life Journal 08-25-2008 The Command Never Changes

The Command Never Changes

(S) Scripture
2 John 5-6
5Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
6And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

(O) Observation
John writes to a woman reminds her that the command never changes - she is to love God and the other believers. This is not new but it is how we are to live. We show our love by keeping His commandments.

(A) Application
Love is tough sometimes. People are not always lovable. Sometimes they are mean and just get on my last nerve. Some are satisfied with mediocrity and refuse to do their best. I am to love these people by keeping God's commands. I must show them that love by what I do not just by what I say. I must remember that the command never changes even if I wish it would. Today I will try to love people the way God desires because it is what I am to do as God's child and a follower of Jesus'

(P) Prayer
Lord help me to love people today. Make me aware of my selfishness and forgive me when I fail to remember that the command never changes.

Life Journal 08-24-2008 No doubt

No Doubt

(S) Scripture
1 John 5:11-13
11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Concluding Remarks 13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

(O) Observation
John has been describing overcoming the world. He tells us that faith in Jesus Christ is what allows us to overcome the evil one and the sin in our lives. Evidently there were those who thought you could lose your salvation and so John gives this incredible statement of truth for their benefit. Those who believe in God's Son, Jesus, can know they have eternal life. No doubt - can know.

(A) Application
What a testimony for all of us. We can know... In a world with so many doubts and fuzzy things - a world built on emotion and how one feels - this is not emotion but fact. We can know we have eternal life. No doubt - we no longer worry. This motivates us to live for Jesus. We cannot go on living a life of willful sin after being forgiven so much. No doubt in spite of the devil's attacks - we can know - No Doubt.

(P) Prayer
Lord for this security and for your love that empowers it, I thank you. Let me live for you today without doubts. Amen

Life Journal 08-23-2008 Returning Home

Returning Home

(S) Scripture
Jeremiah 31:21
"Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to your towns.

(O) Observation
Jeremiah is telling the people how to turn their mourning into joy. Here he reminds them to mark the way they are going so that they can find their way home.

(A) Application
This reminds me of the story of Hansel and Gretal. remember, they dropped the crumbs of bread so they could find their way back home. On our honeymoon Becky and I stayed at Blackwater Falls State Park in the mountains of West Virginia. One evening we took a walk and were still in the woods when darkness came. It was so dark that you could not see your hand in front of your face. we longed for a light. The only way to get back to out cabin was to walk along the road with one foot on the berm and the other on the pavement. I would trace the numbers on the posts marking each cabin until we got to ours. Not knowing how to get home was somewhat unnerving. Today we met our daughters and my mom at Myrtle Beach. Sarah and Ryan drove and used a GPS to get here. Bethany used mapquest to map out the way here and the way home. Becky and I arrived by plane. Those driving wanted to know how to get home and so they took the necessary measures.
Jeremiah tells us to do the same spiritually. Watch and mark the way so when you need to come home you can. When you lose your way the way home is marked. I want to always know how to return to the Lord when I have gone the wrong way.

(P) Prayer
Lord keep me close and show me the way. Help me to keep watch and to take note of the way so I can come home. Lord, I never want to stray from you. Your promise is that your word would be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Let me walk in that light. Amen

Life Journal 08-22-2008 Seeking God

Seeking God

(S) Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

(O) Observation

In God's message through Jeremiah to the exiles He tells them that they will find Him when they seek Him with all their heart. This is not a casual seeking but one that involves the whole of our being. Anything less and we will not find the One we are looking for.

(A) Application

Half-hearted effort doesn't get it with God. Many times I am less than whole-hearted and it shows in my attitude and spirit. I am compelled to seek after the Lord with all that I am if I want to experience all He has for me. If I am to be the person He has called me to be and wants to empower me to be then I must seek Him with my whole heart. It is my desire to do just that today and every other day.

(P) Prayer

Lord, I want to seek after you with all that I am. Make me aware when I am less than that. Keep me close. Forgive me when I pull away from you. I want to live for you and experience the power of the Holy Spirit in my life every moment of every day. I give myself to you. Use me today and thank you for your love and care and provision. Amen