Being a Force for Good

Today is the National Day of Prayer. It's also Star Wars Day (may the fourth be with you!). At first, it felt odd and awkward that these two days are sharing the spotlight. After thinking about it, however, I see how it's very fitting.

Every day, we need Jesus more than yesterday. His mercy, grace, joy, and peace are all things that we desperately need; even more than the air we breathe. Without Him, we have no hope...because He IS hope....our "only hope." Ponder these verses from Lamentations 3:22-24:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

 

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

 

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him.”

Let that sink in. Because of His unfailing love and compassion, we are not consumed. The dark side of this world can't eat us alive or rob us of the victory that was accomplished on the cross. Every new day is a fresh new display of His faithfulness and goodness. He renews and restores our souls and gives us our portion of grace for the day; whatever that daily bread looks like, He provides it like He did the manna for the Israelites.

We live in a time where it's easy to become discouraged and depressed. We look at the sith lords in power and feel like we'll forever be dominated by greed, power, and war. Yes, tyranny and injustice is hard to witness; but we do not have to be consumed by it. The previous verses remind us of where our hope and joy is found and Psalm 23 tells us who takes care of us. The government doesn't have our backs (and probably never will) but the Lord, our Good Shepherd, always does!

If we truly want to see change, we have to go to the source: our hearts. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, the ever popular verse for this day, we see how to do that: 

 

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves 

and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, 

then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

 

Don't just glaze over the words here. There is some HEAVY stuff in it and we won't see change until we're truly putting these commands into practice. We need to HUMBLE ourselves; that means surrendering and laying down our pride. We need to pray; opening our hearts listen and obey as we earnestly seek His face. That means, pursuing Him, knowing Him, and obeying Him and His commands. That's where the next part comes in; turning away from our wicked ways (repentance). Only then can He heal our land when we confess and repent of our sins and ask for forgiveness. It doesn't matter what the government makes legal or illegal. What matters is that WE obey God and repent from our own wickedness. If we SEEK Him in prayer and in His Word, we will KNOW what is right and wrong. We will see things change because people will be living according to God's commands even if they're not the "law of the land."

If there's anything that we can learn from Star Wars, it's that there is always going to be evil and conflict in this fallen world. We should keep fighting the good fight until our dying breath (1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7). Jesus already gave us the victory and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). Keep your armor on (Ephesians 6:10-18) and stay connected with other believers; no one is meant to fight alone! To battle the darkness around us, and within us, remember 1 John 4:4: 

 

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, 

because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

 

This One that is in you, friends, is the Holy Spirit! He's always with you and never leaves you. He is supreme, sovereign, perfect, and REAL! He's beyond anything "the Force" could ever be....and He's living in YOU! Isn't that amazing?! Or, if you have yet to know Him (and would like to invite Him into your heart) please don't wait any longer! Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. Accept and believe in Him as your Savior and you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10)! Confess your sins to Him; He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Your name will be recorded in the Book of Life and the Holy Spirit will come to live in your heart right away! He's the deposit guaranteeing what is to come!! You will belong to Jesus and His family! Be sure you contact me (or another strong Christian friend that you know) and tell them about your decision for Christ so that you will have someone to walk with you on your journey and help you take your next steps of faith!

 

Grace and peace to you, my friends! We are a "force" for good in this world when we are living according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-5). Let's pray hard today, and every day; surrendering ourselves to the will of God as we repent and seek His face! Amen!

 

 

The Beauty of Painful Praise

A couple weeks ago, Tony Chaney gave the message at church. I regret that I didn’t get around to blogging it sooner, but I will try to recall as much of the message as possible (I had gotten to church late on top of that as well).

Tony was talking about how to get through the tough stuff and how to praise God when it hurts the most. It reminded me of how Jeremy Camp talked about how he lost his first wife to cancer and God had instructed him to give Him praises there at her bedside after she had taken her last breath. He said it was so hard, but he did it anyways and it was such a beautiful time of worship and comfort.

Jeremy Camp wasn’t the first (or the last) person to experience a terrible loss and then be expected to go on with his faith. Long before any of us were born, there was a man named Job. I think most of us know his story (and it’s all chronicled in the Bible). Tony used Job’s story to drive home the point of making a sacrifice of praise because it’s in those times that it is the most crucial and powerful time to do so (like with Jeremy). Tony said there is great spiritual victory in praising God when we are hurting. We just lay it all down at His feet and in those moments of brokenness and surrender, we heap burning coals on Satan’s head. Can you imagine how frustrated and angry Satan must have been when Job, Jeremy, (and anyone he thinks he’s got broken down beyond repair) praised God and gave Him glory anyways? Satan had had to ask God permission to even touch Job. When God decided to allow it, Satan just had a hay day! Yet, none of Satan’s misery could make Job “curse God and die” (and he can’t make me do it either! ;) LOL).

Tony reminded us that God is so awesome!! Just as God reminded Job in chapter 38, He is sovereign and in control of all things. Regardless of what we THINK we know or understand, there are greater things and a bigger picture that we don’t always see or know about. Often, we don’t understand the purpose of our suffering (or the sufferings of others). God assures us, however, that it will work for good (Romans 8:28).

Regardless of if things are going good or going bad, give God the praise! Tony reminded us to embrace that because praise opens doors for many things. An attitude of thanksgiving and praise goes a long way - why else would the apostle Paul remind the saints to encourage each other, and give thanks and praise to God so often? Praise is powerful (it reminds me of the short little book “Prison to Praise” by Merlin Carothers. Check that one out!).

The message ended by sharing the testimony of a guy many of you may have heard of. His name is Nick Vujicic and he was born without limbs ( you can learn more about him on his website: http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/). He’s a great example of one who has embraced a life of praise by embracing the difficult circumstances he has to deal with. Weaknesses can become strengths if we allow ourselves to accept and deal with the “hard stuff” that happen to us and then glorify God through it all!! I see it every day at my house as I watch Casey deal with his hearing loss. Like Nick, his “disability” is just part of what he has to deal with, but they don’t treat their losses as a handicap. They have both found ways to turn unfortunate complications into strengths and they glorify God and bless others with their lives because they refuse to be bitter and angry about their situations. I can’t even begin to tell you how inspiring they both of them are to me and how my heart melts and the tears well up whenever I think of the beautiful testimonies that they are living out!! Even now as I sit here in tears after watching Jeremy’s video testimony (I cry every time I see it!) my precious Casey is standing by my side and literally wiping away every tear that is rolling down my face. He asked me, “Mommy why are you crying?” and just proceeded to hug my neck, kiss me, and walk to one side of my chair and then the other to make sure he wiped away any tear that he might not have seen. His heart and his compassion blows me away! When he does things like that, it’s like I am actually seeing and experiencing the heart of God; as if God Himself reached out and touched me through the hands and heart of my six-year-old. Father, THANK YOU!!

In closing, remember to live out 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 which says: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.” As hard as that may be sometimes, it’s something that will richly bless our hearts (and the hearts of others) if our souls are overflowing with prayers of thanksgiving and praise!! Grace and peace to all of you!!