Class Elections and Popularity Contests

When I was growing up I used to love watching shows on Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel. Saturday mornings with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other cartoons were one of the greatest days of the week! There were so many good shows! In fact, shows like Boy Meets World were so good they are now having sequels or being remade! Sometimes there would be shows that held “class elections.” It was like a kids take on politics. A student would get up and promise all of these things, like more candy in the vending machines, longer recess, and no homework.

Inevitably these kids won the election, but they were never able to deliver on their promise. These promises were made because they wanted to make people happy and get everyone on their side. If they could promise the most popular things, they were almost guaranteed to win.

Translate this and bring it to a more mature place. Really, these kids were doing something on a silly level that
we sometimes do on a more serious scale. It’s a pretty popular and well-accepted thing to just go along with the crowd; to not speak up or stand out or have an opposing opinion. It requires too much work, too much effort, too much vulnerability to stand up against something. And what if people end up not liking us? What if we are made fun of, laughed at, or pushed to the side and have no friends? What if people talk bad about us?

Luke 12:4-5 talks about the life principle that this kind of attitude comes from:

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”

Do you see it? We too often fear people more than we fear God. We fear someone looking down on us, looking at us like we’re weird or different, and not accepting us. We fear people because we want to belong. So we do what we can to belong and get along. Warren Wiersbe writes,

“When we are afraid of what others may say about us or do to us, then we try to impress them to gain their approval…”

Now, you are not alone. I have done this very same thing. We all have at some point. But the key to remember is that we will be so much more satisfied, so much more fulfilled, so much more fully alive when we fear God more than man. When we care more about what God cares about, and we care more about what He thinks of us, rather than what man thinks about us, our life will be lived much differently.

Today, I pray that you take this as your encouragement:

“Live today more focused on what God cares about than what man cares about.”

Have you ever had one of those days?

Have you ever had everything just go wrong? Maybe you had a day where it seemed like you could do no right. Or a day where things kept breaking all around you. First your car wouldn’t start, then when it finally did, you were late, and your computer froze at work, and then you got pulled over and got a ticket, and you broke your phone because you were so mad you threw it and it busted on the ground even though it had an Otterbox on it. And all that happened before your lunch break.

That’s a pretty awful day. And for the most part, those days are rare, or maybe you’re blessed and you haven’t had a day like that! Either way, I think you can imagine that kind of emotion and just the awful discouragement.

There’s this guy in the Bible. His name used to be Jacob, but now it’s Israel. Yeah, that Israel, the one with the nation named after him. His story is in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Well anyway, he lives a kind of life that feels discouraging and full of negative emotion and loss. He lost one son years ago (Israel thought he had been torn apart by wild animals, but really his brothers sold him into slavery. Whoever said the Bible is boring has never read it!), another son is imprisoned in Egypt, and then Israel’s others sons come back and say a random ruler in Egypt wants them to bring his youngest son so he can be sure the brothers aren’t lying about him. So he sends this son, with much fear and trepidation, only to find out the random ruler in Egypt is his son that was sold into slavery whom he thought was dead!! This story is insane. You should go read it for yourself in Genesis chapters 37 through 50.

We pick up this story in Genesis 46. Israel is afraid and confused. He’s not sure what God is up to. He’s just learned his “dead son” is no longer dead, but is now second in command in Egypt. This is a weird situation with a lot of emotions wrapped up in it. Israel is leaving his home, all of his land, and much of his possessions to go to Egypt, where he is supposedly going to be given land and flocks and herds. God speaks to Israel and says this:

“Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” – Genesis 46:3-4 (ESV)

Whatever is going on in your life, take heart. Know that God is with those who are His. If you are a child of God, one who has placed trust and faith in Jesus Christ, God is with you. His Holy Spirit lives inside of you, guiding, convicting, giving understanding into the Bible.

Trust in God and know that whatever you face today, God Himself will go down with you, will bring you up, and will always be with you. Trust in Him. Lean on Him.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” — Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

Well that was unexpected…

Have you ever had something odd happen to you? Something that you didn’t plan for, not necessarily good or bad, just unexpected? There have been times where I’ve been out to eat and when the bill came, the waiter or waitress came over and told us that our meal had been paid for (interestingly, this is almost always correlated with praying before our meal and someone commenting on the unexpected witness of that).

There have been other times when I’ve been given an unexpected gift. It wasn’t Christmas or a birthday, but someone simply wanted to be a blessing and gave an unexpected gift.

Then there was that time driving through Canada where I was driving like I would in America, following behind a semi, and I got pulled over unexpectedly for driving through a light that was very much yellow (I in fact never even saw it turn red, because I had already gotten through the intersection!). But this was an unexpectedly expensive experience.

The Christmas story itself is unexpected. Especially for Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus. An angel came to her unexpectedly, and she was “greatly troubled,” as the Bible records. But then, Luke 1:30 records this:

“But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.”

It’s intriguing, isn’t it? An angel just showed up and started talking to you! What in the world?? It’s freaky and unexpected, of course we’d be afraid and nervous and uncertain of what to do!

The first thing we seem to do when something doesn’t make sense to us is to be afraid, or nervous, or overwhelmed… why is that?

God’s encouragement through the angel here to Mary is that even though she doesn’t understand, she doesn’t have the “why,” she has the “Who.” That is enough.

We may not always know the why or the how of something, but we can always know the Who that is on our side, guiding and encouraging and shepherding us. So today, or tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year, when the unexpected happens, don’t go right to fear, but instead go right to faith. God is in control. Rest in Him. Don’t get stuck on the why or the how, but put focus on the Who. It’s all about bringing glory and honor to God.

Take it!

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted about “365 Days Free From Fear,” but this morning continues that journey. We’ve gone through 58 days of freedom from fear, and today marks day 59! So here we go:

There is this story in Mark chapter 6 that describes a situation going on that would really be hard to put into words. I live in Michigan, near the lake, so imagine this going on:

You are on a boat, far from shore, and it’s night time. You aren’t in a fancy speed boat with lots of power and strength, but you are instead in a wooden sailboat. You are trying to get back to shore because it’s dark and time to go home. But the wind is going against you and you aren’t making any headway. You are having a very hard time getting anywhere. And remember, it’s night time. So you can only see by the light of the moon and stars. You forgot your flashlight in your car.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, someone is coming toward you. Not another boat, not an animal swimming through the water, but someone walking on top of the waves. Literally walking on the water.

This is what is happening when the disciples are in their boat on the water at night going against a strong wind.. Jesus comes, and here is what Mark records:

“…because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.'” – Mark 6:50

The disciples were in a difficult situation. They were trying to get to shore, but they were having a very hard time. The Bible says they were “making headway painfully.” Have you ever tried something that was largely unsuccessful? It was really hard on you, really hard to move forward, and the only thing you were able to do is “make headway painfully“?

Imagine, in the middle of your situation, Jesus is walking past and He says to you, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” The thing is, Jesus does say that to you. Wherever you are. Take courage! Jesus is with us! The Holy Spirit lives in those who belong to the Lord, and they have no reason to fear!

You have no reason to fear. Why? Because Jesus is with you in every situation, good or bad. The thing is, you have to take that courage. It doesn’t naturally come, it isn’t always easy to come by. You have to take it.

So don’t be afraid, and forcibly take the courage that is necessary to get through your difficulty. Take it, because it is yours through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. Take courage and rest in the power and presence of God.

Manual focus

When I was younger I had my eyes set on a camera. I really enjoy seeing pictures and taking pictures. I have a desire to be artsy, but I’m not always creative enough. Look at cameras I’ve always been something in the family of the Canon Rebel T3 or something along those lines. I’d see them at Sam’s Club when shopping with my mom. I would look at them on Amazon. I would see others who had them. I just really wanted one, but they were very expensive!

So I made do with what I had. I had a little Canon pocket sized digital camera that worked great and took great pictures, especially action shots. The camera kept the movement in focus and I was always impressed at how well it did. After that I got another Canon that was a little bit bigger and fancier, but still not a Canon Rebel. This camera worked awesome too, and only recently did I stop using it. The reason I stopped using it is because I FINALLY got a Canon Rebel T3i! Connie and I used some money we received as a gift and purchased one to use for our family. It was an exciting day!!

The moment the camera arrived I started playing with it and practicing taking pictures. I had to learn how to use the camera and the different settings and the different lenses that came with it. I didn’t totally understand it, but the lens makes such a big difference. There is a switch on most lenses too which give the opportunity for the camera to automatically do the work, or for you to manually do the work. This picture and the idea of auto and manual focus are what I was thinking about when I read this verse from Isaiah 44:8:

“Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

You see, we have no reason to tremble, to be afraid, when our focus is on God and His power, knowing that He is the One True God. There is no other Rock to stand on or trust in. It is God and God alone. When our focus is there, we have nothing to fear.

The problem is, auto focus doesn’t focus us on God. Our default, our auto focus, is most often and more likely going to focus on immediate problems, stressors, and situations in our world.

To live a life free from fear of God, we really have to take back control and manually focus on God. We have to do the work and the study to know how to focus on God and keep our focus there. It is not easy, it requires continual study and communication, but it will be worth it when our manual focus is placed on God and He replaces our fear with His love.

I’d like to end with a quote I read recently from Oswald Chambers:

“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

A little hope goes a long way

There are many things we hope for. Before I was married, I hoped that I would get married. Before I became a youth pastor, I hoped that I would be able to be a youth pastor. When I was in high school, I hoped I would make the starting team. Now that I’m a little older I hope to become a good father. I hope to become a better teacher. I one day hope to write and publish a full length book. These are some things I hope to do.

This type of hope is a little bit different than hope in a crazy situation, but I think the principle is the same. I hope to become an author, so there is a glimmer of drive and desire to keep pursuing that hope and start writing. Just like in a crazy situation that seems hopeless and full of despair, when hope comes in it is like a spotlight on a dark night and we gravitate toward the hope. We run toward the hope because it is something we can cling to and something that keeps us going. When we have no hope, we pursue hope with reckless abandon when it shows up.

A crazy situation happened in the Bible where a mother and child were feeling completely alone, helpless, and hopeless, but then God, the hope of the world, the light in the darkness, shows up:

“And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast in your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.’ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink” – Genesis 21:17-19

This is a story of hope. Hagar and her son, Ishmael, were at a loss. Hagar had given up and was ready to die. So she laid down her son and went a little ways from him because she couldn’t bear to watch him die. The boy had been crying, so had his mother, and God heard them and offered hope.

God does the same thing for us. He hears our cries. He sees our struggles. He even sent Jesus Christ to earth to share in our temptations and struggles. The Bible says this about Jesus (who is our High Priest), “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
God offers hope. The only really hope is Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:27), who is the light of the world (John 8:12).
Where is your hope? What have you put your hope in? We can put our hope in things other than Jesus, but that hope eventually passes away. The timeless, endless, eternal hope is found in one place: a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. If you haven’t, you should give that hope a try. You won’t regret it.

Belief is a powerful thing

Here’s some Monday morning encouragement for your week. I recently looked up some quotes about “belief.” It was some pretty interesting stuff. Check these out:

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.” — Stuart Chase

“In any project the important factor is your belief. Without belief there can be no successful outcome.” — William James

“The outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs.” — James Allen

Here is what Jesus says to someone about belief:

“But Jesus on hearing this answered him, ‘Do not fear; only believe, and she will be made well.'”

Belief is a powerful thing. Jesus says that if Jairus, the man in this story from the book of Luke, will believe that Jesus is able to heal, his daughter will be healed as he had asked Jesus to do.

What do you believe? Who do you believe in? It’s a big deal. This week, choose to believe in the only thing, the only person, that really lasts and really follows through on promises:  Jesus Christ.

What happens after the storm?

I really like thunderstorms. Most of the time I love the thunderstorm when I get to stay home and relax. Sitting on the couch with a good book and a cup of coffee (with Connie and Molly by me :)) with a thunderstorm in the background is one of the most relaxing things. I look forward to these days, though they rarely happen right now. Even a good snow storm that forces us to stay home and not do anything…those are two of my favorite storms!

But what about storms of life? You go out to the car, put the key in, and nothing happens. You turn on the heat when the weather starts to change and you find out your furnace no longer works and needs to be replaced…and you didn’t have any warranty or protection on it. Or what about a heavier storm? Your children don’t like you or talk to you. Someone you love and have known for years passes away. Storms are not usually things we look forward to, but they are things we can learn greatly from.

For whatever reason, when we are in the middle of a storm, it is much easier to trust God and follow Him. We realize we can do nothing without Him and we rely on His strength and peace and work in our life. But what happens when the storm ends? That is the focus of this post.

Israel had experienced a few storms, mainly as consequences for their lack of following God and their disobedience. Jeremiah 46:27 says,

But you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, and do not be discouraged, Israel, for without fail I will save you from far away and your descendants, from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return and have calm and quiet with no one to frighten him.

Wouldn’t this be a great comfort to you in the middle of a storm? It was to the Israelites. God is going to rescue them! Through the storm it is easy to trust God, but after the storm it becomes harder for some reason. The Israelites trusted God here that He would deliver them, but their dependence was short-lived. Israel notoriously followed God for a time and then walked away.

What if we followed God with the same faithfulness in the storm that we did when the storm was over? Storms would still come, right? The presence of a storm doesn’t mean we are far from God. But when a storm comes, we would be better equipped to get through the storm because of our faithfulness before the storm.

It’s been said that you are either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or going into a storm. That’s just kind of how life is. What would your life look like if you were faithful in every one of these places? Faithful to God as He walks with you through the storm, faithful to God as He walks with you out of the storm, and faithful to God as He walks with you as you are going into the storm.

Stay faithful to God. Learn His Word and follow it. This will be our breath and strength and food when the storm comes. I am praying for you as you go through this life; that you would trust in God as Savior, and you would follow Him fully every day.

Things aren’t always what they look like

I was driving down the road on a bright summer day. It was a newly paved road and there was hardly any traffic. I was cruising at a speed probably above the speed limit (something about little traffic and a new road just does that to you…crank up a good song and you’re flying before you know it) and ahead of me it looked like water on the road. But as I drove closer and closer to that spot that looked like water, it kept moving further and further away! Have you ever had this happen to you? It’s a mirage isn’t it? A mirage is notoriously talked about with people being stranded in a desert and seeing water that is just over that hill, but really it’s just the sunlight glinting off the ground and there is no water. But it looks like there is water there!

And that’s the point I want to write about today: What we see is really not always what is actually there.

Another way to put it: There is more to it than meets the eye.
There is a story in Deuteronomy 1:29-33 that I want to focus on. Here is what Moses it says:

Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God, who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

This is recounting the story of the nation of Israel spying out the Promised Land. God had promised to give them this land flowing with milk and honey. It was prosperous and they would certainly almost never be in want. So they sent out twelve spies to look at the lay of the land and to get a feel for the current people living there. The spies came back and ten of them gave a bad report…they were afraid because of giants in the land. Okay, I know what you’re thinking, if there was an entire city full of giant warriors, I would be scared too. Yeah, same here. But the thing is, Israel didn’t have just ordinary soldiers. Their leader commands a heavenly army full of hosts and hosts of angelic warriors. And He never loses.

Israel was so focused on the immediate problem in front of them, the size and ferocity of the giants and their warriors, that they could not take their focus off the problem. Problems in our lives can become so big that we lose sight of the bigger picture (I even wrote a blog earlier this year about this, called Tunnel Vision).

Sometimes we just need to take our eyes off of the problem and remember that God is in control.
It may look overwhelming and challenging and impossible. And you know what? By yourself it might be. It probably is. But the Bible says that with God, all things are possible. Jesus says in Mark 9:23 that anything is possible for the one who believes…the one who believes in the God of the Bible, who believes Jesus came and died on a cross, and who believes the Holy Spirit lives inside every disciple of Jesus Christ, empowering and strengthening them in daily life.

So what does a story in Deuteronomy have to do with you or with me?

Put your eyes in the right place. Focus on God. Your problem or trouble or struggle or challenge right now is not exactly what it looks like. There is something more going on there than meets the eye. 

Why does it matter what I do?

There is a short couple of verses in the Bible, tucked into the book of Galatians, that are scary. Why are they scary? They are scary because, as we look at the country and culture we are living in, the principle of these verses is becoming a frightening reality. Here is what the Bible says:

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:7-9, ESV).

Do you see the warning as you read this? Everything we do has consequences–good or bad. 

Every choice we make as an individual, a company, a husband or wife, father or mother, friend, co-worker, boss, nation, matters. What we do every day makes a difference. We will give an account and we will answer for what we do, the good and the bad.

The nation of Israel was experiencing this first hand. The prophet Isaiah was prophesying and here is what he communicated from God in Isaiah 10:24-25:

“Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: ‘O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.”

The reason God’s fury and anger was going on against them is because of what they did. Israel disobeyed God and began worshipping and serving created things rather than their Creator. Their actions had consequences (i.e. they were reaping what they had sown).

It is not popular to be a Christian in America today. Maybe I should re-phrase this– It is not popular to be a Bible-believing, Christ-following, God-glorifying Christian. But following Christ never had as its purpose being popular. Followers of Christ in the Bible never desired popularity or fame or acceptance. They followed Jesus no matter what popular opinion or societal issues there were.

We live in a world where we will increasingly be persecuted for being Christ-followers. We live in a world that doesn’t understand what a Christ-follower actually is, what they actually do, and what they actually look like.

As Christ-followers, disciples and disciple-makers, we have a lot of work to do. But the place that we must begin is in personally experiencing the power of redemption and being born again through faith in Jesus Christ. We must strive to live holy and righteous lives (Psalm 119:9, 11; 1 Timothy 6:11-12; 1 Peter 1:14-16, and many other verses).

What you do matters because you will reap whatever you sow. Guaranteed.