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God, Make Me An Earthly Conduit of Heavenly Generosity

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

When it comes to your giving, just remember, God has given you the freedom to determine your own level of generosity. But also remember that God has promised to outmatch your self-determined level overflowing grace. When you understand that, and step out in faith to become a conduit of ceaseless generosity, you will enter the divine cycle of Kingdom abundance. You will find that the more you give, the more God gives you to give.

A Simple Prayer To Be Ridiculously Generous:

God, make me a conduit of ceaseless generosity! All that I have is yours; it is from you and for you. The time on my calendar, the energy in my body, the possessions in my home, and the wealth in my bank are all on loan from you. Teach me to use them as you would if you were in my place: to give quickly and freely, not counting it as loss but as gain, serving you as you deserve, not seeking any reward yet humbly expecting that as I sow generously, I will reap abundance. Cause heaven’s riches to flow to me and through me. Make me living proof of ridiculous generosity in my generation. For your glory alone, I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
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The Crazy Cycle of Sin

Repentance Is Always Met By A Restoring God

Haven’t you found that sin always leads to suffering, but repentance always leads to God’s restoring grace? Wouldn’t it be so much easier to skip the sin and suffering part and simply live in the restoration of a repentant lifestyle? Francis Schaeffer said, “No price is too high to have a free conscience before God.” He was right, no price is too high. So with God’s help, today, let’s refuse sin and choose obedience to his loving ways.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Judges 2:10-16

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel…They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him…In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them…. They were in great distress…Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.”

Judges—the seventh book of the Old Testament—stands in stark contrast to the book of Joshua, which tells the story of a courageous leader and a faithful nation conquering their Promised Land through their trust in, dependence on and obedience to God. Sadly, what you see in Judges is what happens when a nation, void of godly leadership, disobeys and strays from the call of God. And it ain’t a pretty picture!

In Judges we find several distinct cycles of sin to salvation and salvation to sin, repeated over and over again from the time of Joshua’s departure to the arrival of the great judge and prophet, Samuel. As you read story after story, you will feel like someone has pushed the repeat button as God’s people keep following this pattern:

  • Disobedience: Israel wanders from obedience and falls into idolatry, corruption and other patterns of waywardness.
  • Discipline: After a period of time where God gives Israel a long leash, he begins to discipline them through the cruel domination and subjugation of other nations. Under the yoke of oppression, Israel finally begins to cry out to God in repentance.
  • Deliverance: God raises up military champions who lead Israel to victory over their enemies. These military leaders then rule or judge Israel during their lifetimes, restoring the nation to pure worship and obedience to God.

Unfortunately, the people of God are slow learners, continually trading in obedience to God and the freedom and prosperity it brings for “that which is right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25) So God punishes his people by letting them fall again into the hands of oppressing nations. And once again, Israel cries out to God in repentance, so he raises up a military champion to deliver them. Yet they fall into sin again, and so on the sad cycle repeats itself. As you read Judges, you get this same song, second verse deal happening all the way through the book.

Theologically, however, this otherwise depressing account show a couple of very important truths:

One, sin always leads to suffering. That message was seen before Judges, and you will run into it again all the way forward to Revelation. We need to remember that sin always has devastating consequences. But on the other hand…

Two, repentance always leads to restoration. Even though we might be faithless and disobedient, God is covenantly faithful—always—lovingly and longingly ready to restore the truly repentant. Every time Israel humbly and authentically repents, God patiently forgives and graciously restores.

I suppose the story of Judges is really the story of your life—and mine. Don’t we, too, fall into that same cycle of disobedience, discipline and deliverance? Haven’t you found, like Israel, that sin always leads to suffering, but in repentance, you always meet a restoring God? And wouldn’t it be so much easier to learn from Israel’s story and break that crazy cycle by wisely skipping the sin and suffering part and simply living in the restoration of a repentant lifestyle?

I think that’s why we have Judges. That’s what God wants us to know.

Thrive: Take an honest look at your life: Are you in the crazy sin-cycle of disobedience-discipline-deliverance? Wouldn’t it be so much easier, and wiser, to simply live in the restoration of a repentant lifestyle?

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21st Century Demons

Driving Out Demons is Still a Sign That We Believe

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight. (The Screwtape Letters)

Enduring Truth // Focus: Mark 1:23-26

Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit began shouting, “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One sent from God!” Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.

When did demons become extinct? What I mean is, we read about them in Scripture and accept that they were part and parcel of Jesus’ war on Satan to bring Planet Earth back under the Creator’s dominion, but we think and act as if they don’t exist in twenty-first century America. We have medical and psychological explanations for everything that ails us these days, and either a pill or a professional to help us cope with our “disorders”. But I get the sense when I read the Gospels that some of today’s disorders are, to a greater or lesser degree, nothing more than demonic influences in disguise.

Now please, please, please, don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not looking to find a devil under every rock. Don’t go flushing your meds down the drain or calling your counselor an idiot. Let’s stay balanced and Biblical as we explore the possibility of demonic activity in your world and mine. As C.S. Lewis warned in the preface to his book, The Screwtape Letters,

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.

Let’s not be guilty of either of those errors! Having said that, I agree with what a twentieth-century English theologian by the name of Ronald Knox said: “It is so stupid of modern civilization to have given up believing in the devil when he is the only explanation of it.” If you didn’t get that, here’s how Martin Luther said it,

Idiots, the lame, the blind, the dumb, are men in whom the devils have established themselves: and all the physicians who heal these infirmities, as though they proceed from natural causes, are ignorant blockheads.

Look, I’m not saying the devil is the cause of every headache you get, or every cussword that slips from your lips, or every nasty thought that ricochets around your brain. Nor am I trying to create fear in you that there are demons under your bed and they’re going to get you tonight while you sleep. What I am saying is that if Jesus faced them—sometimes even in church—then demonic forces are alive and well in people’s lives today, wreaking all kinds of havoc. And if Jesus took authority over them and drove them out with just a word—and if he passed that authority on to us—then perhaps we ought to learn to discern the presence of demons today and boldly use Jesus’ authority to boot them out of town just like he did.

I do recall reading some place that Jesus said driving out demons was a sign that we believe.

Thrive: There is obviously a great deal of competing information today on demons and demonic activity that feed the two extremes Lewis warned about: disbelief in their existence and unhealthy, excessive interest in them. To learn more—which every Christian should, since Jesus said the demons had to submit to us—let me suggest the following plan: First, study the Scriptures—especially the Gospels—to gain a foundational understanding of the devil, his demons, how they operate, and how Jesus dealt with them and how Jesus didn’t deal with them. Never go beyond what the Bible says in forming your theology. Second, I would encourage you to download and read the position paper entitled “Can Born-Again Christians Be Demon Possessed?  Third, let me suggest this book to help fill in some of the details regarding the subject of demons: “Sense & Nonsense About Angels & Demons”.

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God, Help

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

Do you ever feel guilty about the brevity of your praying? Do you feel like you’re short-changing God by shooting up “quickie prayers?” Let me relieve your guilt: Whether they’re long or short, God loves heartfelt prayers. Here is one of the shortest but most powerful prayers you can ever pray: “God, help!”

A Simple Prayer for God’s Immediate Help:

God, help! I’m facing challenges that will overcome me without your protection, guidance and favor. I don’t know all that is before me, but what I do know is that you are already there. So I simply ask you to guide me into the victory that you have already secured. For your glory alone, I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen!
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Storm Sleepers

God’s Care and Competence Makes the World Perfectly Safe for You

Jesus slept through a raging storm because of what he knew about life in God’s hand: That given the care and the competence of his Heavenly Father, the world was a perfectly safe place to be, including the back of a boat in the middle of a storm. When you live in the predetermined assurance, as Jesus did, that you are always safe in God’s hand, you can, too.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Luke 8:24

The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm.

Jesus and his disciples were in the boat in the middle of a lake when a fierce storm hit, threatening to capsize the craft and drown them all. Understandably, the disciples were frantic, but Luke says that Jesus was sleeping—snoozing away in the midst of a raging storm!

Now that is an interesting detail the writer throws in. So just why is that bit of information so important? I believe it is because Luke wanted us to know what Jesus knew about life in the hands of his Father: That given the care and the competence of his Heavenly Father, the world was a perfectly safe place to be, including a boat in the middle of a storm.

A raging storm is about to sink their boat, and the disciples are screaming and struggling for their very lives. They think they are going to die. But Jesus is living with a full assurance that had been settled long ago in his mind that his Father was both caring and competent, so therefore he has no problem sleeping right through this storm. In their frantic state, the disciples cried out to Jesus for help. They had faith in Jesus—and that is a very important thing. But what they didn’t have, not yet anyway, was the faith of Jesus. They did not live in the predetermined assurance, as Jesus did, that they were safe in the hands of God.

The Apostle Peter, who was in that boat, came to know what Jesus knew. He later wrote in I Peter 5:7, “cast all your anxieties upon him because he cares for you.” He too, had come to know that when your life is in the Father’s competence and care, this world, no matter what is going on around you, is a perfectly safe place to be.

Do you realize that the Father cares for you? Sure you do! So why not practice a little casting today—especially if you are in the middle of a storm. Cast your anxieties back to the One who cares for you, and don’t be surprised if you fall asleep in the middle of your storm.

Thrive: Offer this prayer of surrender: Lord, you care for me more than I will ever realize. And you are competent to take care of all of my needs. So I cast my anxieties back to you, and in exchange, I receive your peace.

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The Greatest Virtue

What God Will Never Despise

The next time you see an arrogant religious leader in action, turn off the TV or turn around and walk away if you are in his or her presence. Next time you see a person humbly appeal for help, turn toward and humbly serve them as the Servant of All would. And the next time you’re tempted to think, feel, act or speak in any manner other than true humility, go back and review the life of Jesus, your Great Example.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Mark 7:33-35

Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said … “Be opened!” Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

It would be normal for us to focus on the unusual healing methods Jesus employed to heal this man with deaf ears and tied tongue. What a strange thing—Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears, then apparently, removed them, spit on them and then touched his tongue.

Yikes! I’m glad Jesus wasn’t setting a pattern for praying for the sick today. What Jesus did for this man—or more accurately, how Jesus prayed for this man—has nothing over some of the strange antics and overt showiness of some of today’s so called faith healers.

But don’t miss the first thing Jesus did when this poor man’s friends brought him to Jesus for prayer: He pulled the man aside so he could minister to him in private. Obviously, Jesus didn’t want his methodology to be the thing the crowd focused on. Nor did he want to turn this man into a sideshow or use him as a trophy that could build a greater following for Jesus. The Lord never used people in that way, so he simply, quietly healed the man in the most respectful way possible.

So why the weird methods? I’m not really sure, since Jesus could have simply spoke a word and the man would have been healed. But he had his reasons, and the bottom line was a man who had been victimized by this horrible physical bondage was miraculously, fully and gratefully set free.

Nor should we miss the greater message behind this event. It is a message, in fact, that runs throughout the entirety of Mark 7. What is that message? It is that God values “humility”. It is the lack of humility that frames the opening encounter between the religious elite and Jesus. When the scribes and Pharisees criticize Jesus and his disciples for not observing the man-made minutiae of the Jewish Law, Jesus rebukes them for their arrogant, manipulative and abusive misapplication of God’s true law.

On the other hand, it is the presence of humility that moves Jesus to respond to the woman who comes to him to get her daughter delivered from a demon. Jesus initially puts this Syro-Phoenician lady through her paces in order to bring out her faith—actually telling her she doesn’t deserve to be healed (really—check out Mark 7:27, NLT). But the woman, who is from a much wealthier, more prestigious culture than this simple, uncouth Galilean, won’t take “no” for an answer, so she humbly makes her request of Jesus, who gladly grants it.

Then, as we have seen with the healing of the deaf man with a speech impediment, Jesus rejects any form of showiness by doing in private what God does—restoring not only hearing to deaf ears but dignity to the human soul.

Nothing turns God off like arrogance. But there is nothing God treasures like humility. That is because nothing is closer to the core of God’s character than humility, which the Apostle Paul reminds us of in Philippians 2:1-11 through the example of Jesus. That is why humility is arguably the greatest virtue.

The next time you see an arrogant religious leader in action, turn off the TV or turn around and walk away if you are in his or her presence. Next time you see a person humbly appeal for help, turn toward and humbly serve them as the Servant would. And the next time you’re tempted to think, feel, act or speak in any manner other than true humility, go back and read Mark 7.

Thrive: Ask God to reveal any form of pride that may reside in your life and remove it from you. Then humble yourself before him and ask for his help in exhibiting the attitude of humility exemplified by Jesus.

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God, Everything Thing I Do, I Do For You

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

What if you did everything for one week as if you were doing it for Jesus? What do you think would happen? Do you think your life, and the lives of people who interact with you, would be different? Better? Changed for the good? The quick and easy answer is yes, you, others and the world would be better by miles!

A Simple Prayer for Giving It My Best Shot:

God, in everything I do this week, I will give it my best shot. I will love you more freely, encourage others more fully, fulfill your purposes more diligently, and work at all times more excellently. I will do it for you, because it is you I am serving.