Wednesday Thought -- April 30, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

Have you ever thought about what spiritual maturity would look like in your life? Paul’s prayer for the Philippians describes it well! The more this prayer is fulfilled in your life, the greater level of spiritual maturity you will have reached.

Maturity is found in deeper love.

That’s what Jesus said when He spoke about the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love one another. And then He said that all of the Law and the Prophets hang on those two commands. (Matthew 22:36-40)

That’s what Paul meant when he said if you love others you have fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8) and that the entire law is summed up in the single command to love your neighbor. (Galatians 5:14)

The extent that we have grown to love God and to love those around us is the extent to which we have reached spiritual maturity. The result of deeper love is a clearer understanding of God’s will (being able to discern what is best) and a more fruitful spiritual life.

By the way, love is not an emotion. It is a set of behaviors. It is putting the needs and desires of someone else ahead of your own. It is doing what is best for someone else, no matter what it costs you.

Pursue sincere, truly unselfish love, and you will be pursuing maturity.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- April 29, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6-8)

Two things stand out in this passage that speak about Paul’s leadership:

First, the depth of his commitment to the Philippians. “I have you in my heart.” “I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” Those phrases speak of a deep love for and commitment to the people he led and felt responsible for. Paul’s leadership did not come just out of a sense of obligation, it came out of a deep desire to help those he led. That’s the best kind of leadership.

Second, the strength of his confidence in the Philippians. There was no fear in Paul that they would turn away from him or what he taught. Instead, there was a confidence, not in the Philippians, but in God who was at work in them. God’s work in them could be counted on. That’s true in your life, too! God has begun a work in you and God will continue that work until the very end. He’ll never desert you and never let you go. Count on it!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- April 28, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“So the king of Israel brought together the prophets — about four hundred men — and asked them, ‘Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?’ ‘Go,’ they answered, ‘for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’” (1 Kings 22:6)

It seemed like the prophets gave a clear answer … 400 religious men who agreed that God would give victory to Ahab. But there was one more prophet to consult … a man by the name of Micaiah. Here was Micaiah word:

“Then Micaiah answered, ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, “These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”” (1 Kings 22:17)

So, who would you believe, the 400 prophets who said what you wanted to hear or the one contrarian who spoke the opposite word?

Ahab believed the 400. “So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.” (1 Kings 22:29)

And the result … The king of Israel died in the battle and the army of Israel was defeated and scattered. It was just as Micaiah had predicted. The 400 prophets were wrong and the one prophet was right.

The majority doesn’t always have the right answer. In fact, the majority is often wrong. The point is not that we should take a vote and do what the majority think is best, but that we should be careful to discern the voice and direction of the Lord. 400 men speaking on their own have absolutely no wisdom when compared to one man speaking for God.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- April 27, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

King Ahab of Israel was among the wickedest kings in all of Israel’s history. Yet even a king as wicked as Ahab had opportunity after opportunity to see God at work and turn toward Him.

The king of Aram came against Samaria and a prophet of God came to Ahab with this word, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am the LORD.’” (1 Kings 20:13)

The prophet gave instructions to Ahab about how he and his army were to fight this battle. God gave Ahab and the army a great victory over the king of Aram. Then the prophet returned to Ahab to warn him that the king of Aram would return the next spring to do battle again. Sure enough the army returned the next spring.

The prophet came back to Ahab with a word about the new battle. “This is what the LORD says:  ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.’” (1 Kings 20:28)

Again, God did as the prophet had predicted and gave the victory to Ahab and the army of Israel.

Time and again God had provided clear evidence that He existed and that He was willing to come to the aid of Ahab and the people of Israel. Still Ahab walked a path of wickedness and ignored the commands of the Lord.

People don’t reject God because He is not at work in the world. They don’t reject Him because they see no evidence of His existence. He makes Himself known in many, many ways. He gives opportunity after opportunity for people to see His work and to turn toward Him. People reject God because they want to go their own way … be their own king … do what they want.

That’s the story of Ahab … and the story of many, many people in our day, too.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- April 24, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,’ he said, ‘and then I will come with you.’ ‘Go back,’ Elijah replied. ‘What have I done to you?’ So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.” (1 Kings 19:19-21)

It was time for Elijah to begin to train his successor and Elisha had been chosen by God for the assignment. There are two things that strike me about the call of Elisha.

Elijah knew it was time to train the man who would replace him. Elijah was not bent on retaining all the attention for himself, he was willing to begin to mentor Elisha and groom him as a prophet. For Elijah, the work of God was far more important than his own prestige and position. He knew that he would not continue to serve as God’s prophet forever. There would come a day when he would lay his work aside for another to pick up and he was ready to be sure someone was prepared for the task.

Elisha was ready and willing to leave everything behind and pick up the assignment that God was calling him to accept. Anyone who was at all familiar with the ministry of Elijah … as I’m sure Elisha must have been … would have known that the assignment was not always a pleasant one. Elijah was threatened by the king, pursued by the queen, rejected by the people, and fought by the false prophets. But that was the task to which God had called him and Elijah accepted it willingly. Now Elisha was being asked to prepare to take on that task and he didn’t hesitate … he willingly went with Elijah and became his protégé and successor.

Are you clinging tightly to the assignment God has given to you in His Kingdom … or are you more concerned with God’s work and giving consideration to how it will continue after you must lay it down?

Are you willing to accept, without hesitation, any assignment that God has for you, no matter how difficult that assignment is?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- April 23, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

God has people through whom He can work that we don’t even know about. That was true in Elijah’s day … and it’s still true today.

Elijah ran away in fear and cried out in despair to God, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:10)

Elijah thought he was the only one left who was still faithful to God. He was wrong!

God replied to Elijah’s lament, “I reserve seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18)

There were 7,000 people in Israel who had not bowed to Baal … who were still faithful to the Lord. God had more people in Judah, too. Elijah was not alone. He was not the only one through whom God could or would work.

There have been many other times in history when individuals or groups thought they were the only ones left who were on the right track … who were being faithful to the Lord. But that has never been true. God’s work has never been confined to one person … or even to a group of people. In other corners of society and other corners of the world, God has had other people in every age of the history of His Kingdom.

During the years of the isolation of the church in China the church in the West thought that the Gospel had died there, that there was no witness in China to the true faith. But that wasn’t true. God still had people in China that no one in the West knew about. In fact, the church in China, even during the darkest days of oppression, was still healthy and growing despite the persecution.

Don’t ever despair and think that God’s work is almost extinct and that you or your group are the last holdouts of faithfulness. You’ll be surprised in eternity to discover that God is at work in ways and through people about which you know nothing.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- April 22, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

Elijah had run for his life, afraid of Queen Jezebel’s threat. He was despondent and ready to give up on life. God met Elijah in his state of despondency and God spoke to Elijah with a message of hope.

How would you have expected the Almighty God to speak?

The image of Jesus that the Apostle John received in Revelation chapter one was of one with a voice like rushing water. He spoke with the voice of authority and majesty. That’s how we might expect God to speak.

When Paul describes the Second Coming he says that the Lord will descend from heaven with a “loud command.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) Again, a voice of power and authority.

David mentions the voice of God in one of his psalms … “The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.” (Psalm 18:13)

Each of those passages mention the voice of God in the way we might expect … loud, commanding, like thunder, powerful, authoritative. God can speak that way … and God has spoken that way … and God will again speak that way. But that isn’t the only voice that God has.

God spoke to Elijah in this way … “The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:11-13)

When God spoke to Elijah, it was not the thunderous voice of command that He used. He didn’t speak in the powerful wind … or in the earthquake … or in the fire. When God spoke to Elijah it was in a gentle whisper. It was the voice of comfort … the voice of concern … the voice of love. That is God’s voice, too. That was the voice that Elijah needed to hear.

Sometimes we try to paint one picture of God … show Him the same way in every situation. God is so much more complex than that. It’s not that God changes … it’s that God comes in the way we need Him … in the way that is most appropriate to the occasion.

His, by Grace,

Steve