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Storms Happen!

But So Does God

As surely as the storm reminds you of how small, insignificant and powerless you are, I want to remind you with an even greater surety that your God is bigger than your storm, and he is going to see you through it. Storms happen—but so does God!

Enduring Truth // Psalm 104:7,32

But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight… he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

There is nothing quite as unnerving as the fury of nature. I’ve never been in a massive earthquake, but the minor ones I’ve been in have been enough to make me shake in my boots. I’ve never been in a hurricane, but I’ve been on the outskirts of a small tornado, and its devastation blew me away. I’ve never seen hailstones the size of a softball, but I got caught in a storm that pinged my car with golf ball sized hail, and it was enough to put a sizable dent in my repair bill.

There is nothing quite like the unleashed power of nature to remind you of how small, insignificant and truly powerless you are.

Then there are personal storms! You may be going through one right now. In many respects, the fury of nature is nothing compared to the devastating power of a personal storm. In any given week, a half-dozen people will describe to me their own personal storms—everything from unbelievably huge financial crises to untreatable physical ailments to unrelenting relational disasters to unyielding emotional trauma—truly big, hairy, audacious personal gale-force storms. And for the most part, from what I can tell at least, those storms are not the fault of the ones forced to endure them.

You see, storms happen!

I would rather face nature than to go through what many of those people are are going through. At least a tornado, or an earthquake or a hailstorm comes to an end—and then you can pick up the pieces and begin to rebuild. Most of the time, a personal storm has no end in sight. And when you are in one, you are constantly reminded of how small, insignificant and truly powerless you are.

But there is One who is bigger than the storm. And the psalmist reminds us that, “He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.” (Psalm 104:3-4) If you are in a personal storm, I don’t know how long or how devastating it will be, but I do know that God will make your storm his servant—which means that since you belong to God, he will make your storm servant to you as well. God will work the storm for your good—his promise, not mine!

I don’t mean to minimize the sense of desperation your storm has brought you—I think I understand a little of what you are going through. But as surely as the storm reminds you of how small, insignificant and powerless you are, I want to remind you that your God is bigger than your storm, and he is going to see you through it.

Storms happen—but so does God!

Thrive: Are you going through a storm? Just remember: God is bigger than your storm. And he is over the storm, so call out to the One at whose rebuke the storm must flee.

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If You Play With Fire…

Things That Can Burn Us Beyond Remedy

“Adultery will reduce you to a loaf of bread; sexual indiscretion will prey upon your very life,” according to Proverbs 6:26. In other words, you mess around with sexual immorality (or any immorality for that matter), you’re toast! God never intended for our sexual needs to be in the driver’s seat of our lives. Our brain was meant to occupy that position, and our moral core was meant to be our navigator.

Enduring Truth // Proverbs 6:27

Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?

My father used to say to me, “If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned!” I’m sure his father said that to him, and his grandfather said it to his father. The reason fathers the world over have to say that is that it seems there is just an innate curiosity little boys seem to have with fire. I’m sure even before matches were invented, back when man lived in caves, wore animal skins and first discovered fire, some troglodyte dad was telling his son, “Trog, you poke fire with stick, you get bad burn!”

Okay, maybe it didn’t happen quite that way, but around 3,000 years ago Solomon mused in Proverbs 6:27, “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?” Of course, Solomon’s point is that what is true of physical fire is also true in the spiritual realm—we’re drawn to the very things that can burn us beyond remedy. This chapter in Proverbs mentions three of the biggies:

An unspiritual pursuit of wealth: Specifically, Proverbs 6:1-5 warns us about one of the riskiest, and therefore worst kinds of financial transactions of all: entering into a business partnership without prayerful and careful planning. Solomon doesn’t care whether the business opportunity has great potential or not, he just says agreeing to it apart from God’s wisdom is the height of foolishness. This is particularly true if the business deal is a get rich quick scheme, which seems to be the implication here.

If you’ve entered into a deal without doing due spiritual diligence, chances are, you’re going to get yourself burned! The wisest thing you could do would be to quickly and graciously extract yourself from your foolish partnership and chalk it up to a lesson learned the hard way.

If you’ve gone into hock with your neighbor or locked yourself into a deal with a stranger…Don’t waste a minute, get yourself out of that mess!

An irresponsible approach to success: Perhaps the most common way we play with fire is by rejecting the common sense approach to work and wealth that simply rolls up its sleeves, sees the responsibilities before it, doesn’t over-think what needs to be done, just seizes the day and gets after it.

Solomon describes this approach to life in Proverbs 6:6-11 by illustrating the work ethic, of all things, the ubiquitous ant. More success stories are birthed from the ant’s I-work-hard-for-the-money life philosophy than any other. Far too many people in our day, lured by lust for quick fame and easy fortune, are waiting for their ship to come in. The problem is, they’ve never put their ship out to sea. God will reward you with the good life, but he expects you to get up in the morning, grab your lunch pail, put on your hard hat, and get to work!

A day off here, a day off there, sit back and take it easy—Do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life!

An uncontrolled sexual appetite: Need I say more? Solomon knew from first hand experience what we have observed in the lives of countless high-profile people—men and women—in our lifetime who have crashed once promising careers and have burned sterling reputations by allowing their sexual drives to do just that: Drive their behavior.

God never intended for our sexual needs to be in the driver’s seat of our lives. Our brain was meant to occupy that position, and our moral core was meant to be our navigator. As strong as our sexual drive is, and as susceptible as it is to temptation, just mark this down: If you give in to your sexual desires apart from God’s plan for sexual satisfaction within marriage, you’re toast man! That’s what Proverbs 6:26 says,

The adulteress will reduce you to a loaf of bread, sexual indiscretion will prey upon your very life.

Well, there you have it. You keep poking your stick in those three fires and eventually you’re going to get burned. There’s nothing really profound about Solomon’s teaching here; he’s just telling it like it is. And like that little ant in verses 6-8 which doesn’t need anyone to help it discover the deeper, hidden meaning of life, neither do you. The ant just does the right thing. I hope you will, too!

Now, as someone famous has said, go do the right thing.

Thrive: Think carefully about this and answer honestly: Are you playing with fire by the unspiritual pursuit of wealth, an irresponsible approach to success, or an uncontrolled sexual appetite? Being truthful and accountable in these three areas may mean the difference between a blessed or a cursed life

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God, Give Me Peace!

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

The key to personal peace in the midst of anxiety producing circumstances is to think rightly. That means to deeply, rationally and habitually think about the things of God. That is not referring simply to positive thinking, mere optimism, self-hypnosis or silly mind-games. It is to set what the Bible declares about God as the gate-keeper of your mind. Do that and you will unleash God’s peace to protect your heart and guard your mind.

A Simple Prayer for Personal Peace:

God, in a world that does nothing but promote chaos, anxiety and human striving, I lift the concerns of my life, my needs and desires, to you. I present them before your throne in trust, with confidence, and with thanksgiving in advance of what you are going to do. Now I accept your peace that surpasses human understanding. Cause it to protect my heart and guard my mind in Christ Jesus.

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Taking Care Of God’s House

We live in a day when passion for the physical house of God is downplayed. For many, it is downright unimportant. Now there are some good reasons for focusing on the spiritual house of God over the physical, but still, if the literal house of God was important to King David, and the Son of David, King Jesus, should we have a little passion for the physical house of God, too—or a lot.

Enduring Truth // Psalm 132:3-5

I will not enter my house or go to my bed—I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.

David had a passion for the house of God. He couldn’t tolerate the thought that as king, he would be able to build himself an unbelievably opulent palace while God’s dwelling was just a simple tent, the tabernacle, that had been used since the days of the exodus.

Then there was the time David publicly danced with delight as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem to its resting place at the tabernacle. (II Samuel 6:14) The king’s public display of affection for that which represented the Divine Presence was so extreme that his watching wife despised David for it. But David didn’t care because he was passionate about the house of God.

David wanted desperately to build God a permanent structure—a temple. He knew God deserved the best. So he located property for the building, but rather than throwing his royal weight around to get a good deal for it, he insisted on paying full price. David wasn’t into immanent domain apparently, like too many politicians today. He said, “I won’t offer the Lord something that has cost me nothing.” (II Samuel 24:24) David had a passion for the house of God.

God had other plans, however, and told David that it would be his son, Solomon, who would build the temple. So what did David do? He set about to make all the preparations for construction in order for Solomon to have a good head start when he was inaugurated as Israel’s king. (I Chronicles 22:5) David was passionate for God’s house.

The Son of David, Jesus, was passionate about God’s house, too. Although he predicted that not one stone of it would be left upon another because of God’s judgment against the impure worship that took place there (Matthew 24:2), he did his best to bring purity to it. He drove the moneychangers from the temple—and not with gentle persuasion either. He made whips—and used them. He overturned the tables they had used to carry out their shady commerce. With an illustrated sermon that no one would ever forget, Jesus cleansed the temple. (John 2:13-16) Jesus was passionate about the house of God!

Of both David (Psalm 69:9) and Jesus (John 2:17), the Word of God says, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

In the house of God there is never ending festival; the angel choir makes eternal holiday; the presence of God’s face gives joy that never fails. (Saint Augustine)

We live in a day when passion for the physical house of God is downplayed. For many, it is downright unimportant. Now there are some good reasons for focusing on the spiritual house of God over the physical, but still, if the literal house of God was important to King David, and the Son of David, King Jesus, should we have a little passion for the physical house of God, too—or a lot.

So how about you? I’m not suggesting you take a whip to worship with you next weekend, but what I do hope for is that the same zeal for God’s house that consumed David and the Son of David will consume you. Me, too!

Thrive: Take some time this weekend while you are at your church to acknowledge before God that it is his house. Then thank him for it, because many believers around the world don’t have what your spiritual family has—a physical place to worship. And many believers don’t have the freedom to show up for worship without the threat of persecution, or even death, for simply worshipping Jesus. Finally, ask God to give you zeal for his house.

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Two-Faced People

Keep Me From Them—Keep Me From Being Them

Hypocrisy is not a crime, rarely is there any kind of sanction for duplicity and for certain, two-facedness carries no real social stigma. Yet here is One who doesn’t keep quiet about their nasty ways. God’s righteous gaze cuts through the syrupy surface of their lives with utter moral clarity and labels the wickedness of their hypocritical hearts, calling them what they truly are: Workers of iniquity. The Bible’s advice about two-faced people: avoid them…and don’t be them!

Enduring Truth // Psalm 28:3

Do not drag me away with the wicked—with those who do evil—those who speak friendly words to their neighbors while planning evil in their hearts.

There is a category of people whose behavior for some reason we seem to excuse—but God doesn’t. He doesn’t find them acceptable; they and the unseen attitudes of their hearts he finds deplorable. Who are they? They are the kind of people who will say one thing to your face, then another behind your back. Even worse to God than what they say about you is what they think about you in their hearts. The psalmist says they speak peace when they are in front of you, but even before you are gone, their minds are flooded with ill will toward you.

We call them two-faced; the Bible calls them hypocrites. And while two-faced people are unpleasant, our culture pretty much excuses their behavior and accepts their ways. Hypocrisy is not a crime, rarely is there any kind of sanction for duplicity and for certain, two-facedness carries no real social stigma. Yet here is One who doesn’t keep quiet about their nasty ways. God’s righteous gaze cuts through the syrupy surface of their lives with utter moral clarity and labels the wickedness of their hypocritical hearts, calling them what they truly are: Workers of iniquity.

Now I realize that at this point in your reading you might be thinking this is anything but an encouraging little devotional thought for the day. And truthfully, it is not. Rather, this is an exhortation. And the exhortation I have for you is twofold:

One, it is most likely that you will rub shoulders today with the kinds of people David describes in this psalm. Be cautious around them. Discern their hypocritical hearts and don’t be tainted by their iniquitous ways. If you allow them into your inner circle, watch out: they will ensnare you. So be careful, be very careful!

Being two-faced is not a crime in our culture; there’s not even any real sanction for relational duplicity or social stigma for being hypocritical. But in God’s eyes, people who say one thing to your face and another behind your back “talk a good line of peace then moonlight for the Devil.” (The Message)

Be careful around two-faced folk, and most importantly, don’t be one!

And two, don’t be one of them. It is so easy to fall into this kind of two-faced living. Ask God to keep you from hypocrisy. Don’t fall into the trap of saying one thing but thinking another in your heart. Ask God for integrity of word and thought.

That’s what David prayed: Keep me from them, and keep me from being one of them. I hope you will pray that too!

Thrive: Try praying another prayer of David found in Psalm 139:23-24 with the specific motive of cleansing your life of hypocrisy: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

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God, Heal Our Land!

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

Are you broken over the violence, disgusted by the wickedness, fed up with the corruption and hopeless over the divisiveness in America these days? Are you demoralized by the moral decay in our nation? Does your heart break that “men have forgotten God.” Does the condition of our culture turn your stomach? It should! But it shouldn’t stop there. Let the turning of your stomach turn your heart to God in intercession for a spiritual awakening once again in our land. Never get used to sin. Rather, let it provoke an urgency that leads you to humble yourself before the Lord to acknowledge sin—yours and ours—that we might repent and turn to the Great Healer for the healing of our land.

A Simple Prayer for National Repentance:

God, hear our cry, forgive our sin, and heal our nation! Cause us to lament our sinfulness, not the least of which is turning from you. Forgive our waywardness and our wickedness. Cleanse of from evil and impurity. Put an irresistible passion in our hearts to humble ourselves and fully return to you. Restore us, O Merciful God.

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Tears In A Bottle

Spilled Tears Are God's Reminder That He Cares

What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that is making you feel such deep sadness? Entrust those tears to God. And let the very next tear that fills your eyes and spills down your cheek be a reminder that your tears never really just dry up and fade into a painful memory, they go right into the bottle of that One who truly cares!

Enduring Truth // Psalm 56:8

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book

Aren’t tears a mysterious part of what it means to be human? It is strange that we have the capacity to cry—to expel water from our eyes when we are sad. It seems to serve no real purpose—although science can explain the physiological “why” and mental health experts can explain the psychological “why”.

That still leaves the question of “why” tears—why were we created with that capacity?

Perhaps this psalm provides a clue. Maybe they are to remind us that God cares about the things that make us sad enough to shed tears. So much does he bear our sorrow that he collects our tears in a bottle, as the New Living Translation says, or as other versions put it, “he records them in his ledger.” In other words, God takes note—implying that he is not only aware of our sadness, but he will not forget it.

What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that you feel such deep sadness over?

It is likely that no one truly knows the depth of what you are feeling right now. Maybe no one will ever see those tears that have rolled down your cheek—and the intense hurt that caused them. Even if they do see your tears, how sad it is that long before your pain is healed, people will forget and move on.

But there is One who sees…and One who cares…and One who never forgets…and One who will never move on! And He wants you to know that, my friend. And that One, your Heavenly Father, simply asks you to take comfort in His compassion for you:

The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13)

And that compassionate, loving Heavenly Father likewise asks you to place your trust in him. In fact, so strongly does he desire your trust, that he extends the invitation twice in Psalm 56 just to make sure you really know his heart for you:

In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56:4,10-11)

I hope you will do that. Entrust those tears to God. And let the very next tear that fills your eyes and spills down your cheek be a reminder that your tears never really just dry up and fade into a painful memory, they go right into the bottle of that One who truly cares!

Thrive: What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that you feel such deep sadness over? Why no other human being may know how deeply you feel, or if they do know, they may not care all that much, just remember, there is One who is collecting those tears as you lift your brokenness to him.