You Hear Me?

1 Corinthians 1:25

 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

 I find it funny that the people at my work have been trying to help me figure out what’s wrong with me (before you go jumping to conclusions…I’m talking about physically not mentally).  The maintenance mechanic is used to figuring out what is wrong with things and fixing it, and he came up to me several times today with different diagnosis’s.  His first theory was that I have “empty-house syndrome”.  I considered that one and said there may be some truth there, but I don’t think that is causing my ear-aches.

Needless to say, I’ve been getting all kinds of different advise at work including changing soaps; taking a shower twice a day and blow drying my hair right away; use the blow dryer to blow into my ear; get my blood pressure checked; don’t use a fireplace (but I don’t have a fireplace); change laundry detergent; don’t eat Dunkin donuts (I didn’t heed that one); that I should get an allergy, skin graft done; get my thyroid checked; and use ear plugs when taking a shower.  As helpful as everyone is trying to be, I realize that these people are not doctors or experts.

I did finally breakdown and go to an ENT (ear-nose-and throat) specialist this week.  When I went, I was following my GPS to it, and found myself pulling up to a really nice brick building right across from the hospital…in fact I think it is attached to the hospital with the overpass walkway.  My first thought was, “Oh no…this is going to be expensive.”

While I was sitting in the room with the nurse, I noticed a sign that said that cell phones must be turned off.  I asked what the motivation behind that sign was…did it effect equipment or did they just not want people to text on their phone during the appointment.  The nurse shared with me that the real motivation was to keep people from talking on the phone and wasting time.  She said that a lot of doctors will automatically end the visit once someone’s phone goes off.  When she told me that, I shut my phone off.  I said that I expected the doctor to give me his full attention, so I better give him mine.

This made me wonder…how often do I not give God my full attention.  How many times do I look to the answers of this world without turning to the expert who knows what is best.  God, help me to clear out the clutter of my mind, my heart, and my life so that I surrender all of my thoughts and desires to you in exchange for your perfect will.

We live in a world of multi-tasking…with the constant beep or buzz of some kind of gadget.  Let’s be sure to take time out each day and put our full attention on God.  Let’s give Him some good one-on-one time with no distractions…He is worth it by far!

-RB

Psalm 19:14

 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Parenting 101

To show partiality is not good,

Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.

 Proverbs 28:21

 I attended the CHAMPS graduation Tuesday.  I was so proud of my oldest son.  He looked handsome up on the stage and was eagerly awaiting the revelation of the winners of the poster and essay competitions that were being announced.  I was so proud of him and admired who he is as a person.  He is just plain excited about life.  To know Paul Robert is to know joy.

I held my younger daughter.  She nibbled on Ritz crackers and kept saying, “Lights, lights.”  She was fascinated with the fluorescent lights hanging in the gym.  I hugged her dearly.  She is the gift that I asked God for the month after the death of my mother.

Luke sat beside me.  Luke is my little elf and my little snuggle buddy.  As I write this, I anticipate he will be coming in at any moment.  He will see me in my fuzzy robe and then proceed to try to get in it with me.  He is a typical little boy, mischievous and silly.  I laugh with him every day.

John David sat quietly in the next chair.  He is my deep thinker.  He will often find me as I work alone during the day, wrap his arms around me, and tell me how much he loves me.  He is sensitive and caring.  He is just what you would call a “good boy.”

Two rows behind us sat my older daughter.  She was sitting with other girls in her Gatekeepers class.  She is much like John David, quiet and respectful.  Her beauty is obvious on the outside, but it’s the beauty that radiates from the inside that takes my breath away.  I am delighted with my daughter, with the lady she is becoming.

Do I have a favorite?  No.  But I will say, it’s only through intention that it doesn’t happen.  As they grow, I might realize that I’m really a lot like this child.  This child has my same interests, my same goals, and my same tendencies.  This child is really easy to love.  Then a temptation arises.

It is tempting to give this child special treatment.  I might be tempted to give special consideration, responsibility, or privileges based on my own interests and agenda.  The Scripture above would remind me that this is a dangerous idea to even consider.

As I shower attention on this one child, then the others begin to feel excluded.  Resentment begins to build.  Anger is right on the heels.  This leaves the “special” child feeling guilty.  Then they get defensive.  Or this child might instead just become a tyrant, strutting around like the head rooster.

Another child that I totally don’t identify with might be relegated to the one who catches all the criticism.  This child then lives with unrealistic expectations knowing that they never can measure up to my ideals.

The Bible warns us against favoritism and tells us how to do this thing correctly.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold

In settings of silver.

 Proverbs 25:11

 Each child should be encouraged and given praise.  As a parent I must seek to build up each child.  I do this by praising their strengths.  I also do this by allowing my children to be different.  I can enjoy this child just as God made him.  I should accept this child based on who she is, not for what she can do for me.

Comparing the children should be avoided at all cost.  That’s a hard one!  You see something good in one and want to encourage the others to follow suit.  But don’t do it!  The result will not be what you desire.

“A parent does well to love equally but appreciate individually.”

 -Women’s Study Bible, p. 820.

-bbm

Through wisdom a house is built,

And by understanding it is established;

By knowledge the rooms are filled

With all precious and pleasant riches. 

Proverbs 24:3-4

Agape

Galations 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life  which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

NKJV

 I have been studying this incredible word Agape.  The more I study agape lave, the more I am amazed at what a radical concept it is.  One such example of this is the found in the life of a young man named Jonathan in the Old Testament.  Jonathan and David, the son of Jesse were best friends.  Who was Jonathan’s dad?  King Saul, the first king of Israel.  Who would naturally take the throne when Saul died?  Jonathan!  But wait a minute!  Who had the Lord anointed to be king?  David!  This seems to me to be the recipe for a jealous fight!  Especially after what Saul said to Jonathan in I Sam 20:30-31: “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?  For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”

Think about it!  How would you feel if your father said that to you?  So what happened, did Jonathan betray his friend in a vicious plot to obtain the throne?  Nope!  Why not?  The key has to do with this radical word love.  Listen to what Jonathan said to David in verse seventeen of I Samuel twenty:  “And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.”  What is the secret?  How could love be so selfless?  The answer is in verse forty-two: “Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.”  Here it is!  Jonathan found his identity in the Lord.  Jonathan was secure in who he was in the Lord.  He said to David, even if I never see you again, even if you are the king and I am not, we have a common bond between us.  What is that bond?  It is the Lord!

You see, if you want to begin to live the radical life of love, you must begin with a conscious decision to be honest about where you have been looking for your identity.  If you want to have victory over pride, arrogance, jealousy, and selfishness; if you want to live a life of agape before a lost and dying world, you have to begin with a conscious decision to be honest about where you have been looking for your identity.  Are you trying to find your identity in a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a job, a salary, a position on the team?  If you are finding your identity anywhere besides Jesus Christ, you are going to struggle with agape, because Jesus is Agape!

-BP

I John 4:8-9

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

NKJV

The SEX Talk

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

 1 Peter 3:8-9

 Last night was a challenge for me.  I stood to teach on the topics of purity and modesty.  I began the class by alerting the ladies of two things I knew:

1.  Somebody in the class would come away from the lesson feeling personally attacked by the lesson, somehow thinking I had planned the content of the lesson specifically for them.

2.  There would be opinions in the room that would differ from mine on these issues.

I also let the ladies know how keyed up I was with having to take the “sex” lesson.  My discomfort was equal to theirs, if their faces were any indication!  I did assure them we would stick to the Scripture and very quickly pass over the more unpleasant parts of the lesson.

I proceeded with the lesson as God and I had planned it out.  In the midst, I tackled some challenging cultural norms.

After class, several older ladies, and Titus 2 women in my life, came to me and affirmed what I had said and the need to continue talking about it.

Sometimes youth workers take heat from other believers when they seem to be “fixated” on sex talks.  No, we are not fixated.  Our culture is fixated.  The devil has had his way and is very impressed with the perversions he has been able to pass along to us as norms.  We have begun to believe in the “new normal” and also we believe that every New York apartment houses one heterosexual woman and one homosexual man.  These slices of our thinking now become our own norms and we are no longer fleeing from sexual immorality.  We don’t flee from it, no; we pull up our Lazy Boy and sip sweet tea as we watch.

To take a stand and talk about things like purity and modesty and holiness is now seen not as edification for the Body, but as an attack against someone’s character, or as being judgmental of their behavior.

Good gracious, church!  We need to wake up and realize that to turn toward evil is sin!  To laugh at evil is sin!  To align ourselves with sinners is foolishness!

Purity is the work of God inside your body.

Modesty is the proof of that work made manifest on the outside of your body.

Holiness is found in that place when the two meet and do not contradict one another.  Let us keep holding the bar high for one another, no matter what!  Let us learn to speak Truth in love, and to receive Truth as it is written in God’s Word.

Trust and obey

For there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus

But to trust and obey!

-bbm

For,

“Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.

They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.

 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?  But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. 

1 Peter 3:10-14a

Thank you for Mercy

Mark 14:48-50

 “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?  Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”  Then everyone deserted him and fled.

 Today, I am reminded of how weak and sinful we as humans are.  A friend reminded me about the disciples leaving Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  These are the same close friends of Jesus who had given up everything they had to follow him.  These are the same men who had seen Jesus heal people, feed thousands with just a few loaves and fishes, and even raise the dead.  These are the same people who got to listen and learn from Jesus directly under his teaching.  These are the same emphatic men who had just proclaimed and agreed that even if they had to die with Jesus, they would never disown him.  However, when the armed soldiers came to arrest Jesus and Jesus refused to fight back, all of the disciples with him fled.

In my Bible reading, I recently read the following verse; Zechariah 13:7–“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the LORD Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered”.

The first thing I notice in God’s prophesy is the Hebrew term used to refer to Jesus as a “man who is close to me”.  This word is not used to describe any other person in relation to God.  The definition according to E-Sword is “from a primitive root meaning to associate; companionship; hence (concretely) a comrade or kindred man: – another, fellow, neighbour.”

The second thing I notice is that God knew beforehand that the disciples would scatter and leave Jesus.  Sovereign God knew that the scriptures would be fulfilled exactly as He had said it would hundreds of years earlier.  (In fact, He was in control of the weapon that was being used to crucify Jesus).

As I think about how unworthy we are of God’s love and mercy, I think about the Apostle Paul who realized after the road to Damascus experience that he would never be good enough to earn salvation, but realized the value of knowing Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:4-9–If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

 Let’s thank God today for His great mercy.  Like Paul, we realize that we have not yet attained perfection, but we must still strive towards it.  Thank you, God, for forgiving us when we fail you even though we don’t deserve it.  Please help us to demonstrate this same mercy towards the people around us for your name’s sake.

-RB

Ephesians 2:3-5

 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Church Problems at Corinth

For we are labourers with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building(I Corinthians 3:9).

The Bible does not say we are labourers for God, but we are labourers(fellow-workers) with God. He has certain responsibilities for each of us, and He has specifically prepared us to accomplish His purposes. Therefore, no one should feel either indispensable or inadequate. The effectiveness of our work in Christ is entirely dependent upon His blessing. We are incapable of accomplishing anything for the kingdom of God unless He blesses our endeavours.

Many who set out on their own without God wonder why their plan did not work. Why is it they experienced failure? Often God’s blessings were never on the plan. Though it might have been a goodly plan, that does not mean it was godly. Sometimes things can be right, but may not be for right now. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any(I Cor. 6:12).

Praise and recognition for all accomplishments should be given to the Lord, who alone has qualified us for His service. This leaves no room for envying another’s ability or usefulness. We can rejoice that we are united in His service as labourers together with God. It is God who calls us to His service. It is God who empowers us to serve. Therefore, if there is any praise to be given, He is the one who is deserving of it. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him(Ps. 28:7).

Jealousy displeases God, dishonors Christ, and destroys the spirit of unity. Each of us is necessary for doing the Lord’s work, and our one goal and one purpose should be to praise and honor our wonderful Lord. We should always be supportive of those who are working for the upbuilding of God’s Kingdom. There is no reason to be jealous. We are all working for the same ending.

I Corinthians is the Apostle Paul’s letter to a church in chaos, a church that has gone wrong. It’s an instruction manual for how a messed up congregration, full of petty and immature individuals, can get back on track. It is a guide for the believers to live in unity and love so that the world is compelled to see the power and majesty of God. When the people of God live for the glory of God, God’s glory shines even brighter in a dark world, drawing others to worship Him. The closer God’s children get to Christ, the closer they are drawn to one another.

Thus Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace(Ephesians 4:3).

-sbc.net devotion

Thought for Today:

Our love for others must exceed that of the world, who only love those that love them.

Blessed to Stressed

Philippians 4:6

 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (NLT)

 Today I had a stressed moment.  I was driving in Atlanta traffic with my husband and Hope (our GPS).  As I was driving down the road…getting off of an exit around the spaghetti junction…my sun visor all of a sudden fell down into my face and was hanging by the electrical light cord.  My husband was on the phone at the time while I was trying to hold the visor up out of my face and still drive in the big swarm of traffic.  My concerned husband got off the phone and then had to lean over across my face trying to push the visor back into place.

During the whole ordeal, somehow I turned the wrong way from the direction that Hope was telling me to go.  I had been trying to get on I-285E and somehow I ended up driving down I-85 South.  Therefore, I had Hope yelling at me telling me to turn around.  I finally got off an exit and turned around to go in the opposite direction and back towards I-285.  As we were approaching I-285, Hope is telling me to turn.  This brought me to my stressed breaking point.  The GPS settings had been changed about a year ago and now she is more informative.  She doesn’t just tell us to turn, but she lists all of the names for each road.  Therefore, getting ready to turn at the Spaghetti Junction, she was talking for about five minutes saying the road name that I needed to turn on.  This resulted in me letting out a disgusted grunting noise while quickly turning the GPS off at the same time.

I’m sure many people can probably relate to being stressed today.  Does it seem strange to anyone else that we have a holiday that celebrates being thankful which is immediately followed by people pushing and shoving insides stores in a greedy, selfish fashion?  After I had my little fit of anger, my husband looked at me strange and gently patted my leg to tell me to calm down.  We joked it off by saying that I needed an “I’m stressed” sign that I can hold up for the cars around me to see.

I haven’t been able to confirm that it’s true, but my brother who is in the National Guard had told us recently that the military now has these stress cards for people in boot camp to help protect them from medical problems from too much stress.  He was joking around when he told us, because he was picturing someone actually standing in front of a screaming officer and holding up a stress card.  What happens after that?  The angry officer is still there staring at you.  How much relief could that little card bring before the yelling starts again?

In Philippians 4, Paul is reminding us that we need not to worry or be anxious about anything.  Let’s not be thankful to God for “all he has done” on Thanksgiving alone, but let’s live our entire lives in a spirit of thanksgiving; and experience God’s peace.  “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” Colossians 3:15.

We still live in an imperfect world with a sinful flesh and we are going to experience times of stress, but let’s turn to God during these times.  His peace is one that goes beyond our human comprehension.  It is a peace that is not temporary like holding up a stress card, but it is a peace that lasts.

-RB

Philippians 4:7

 “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (NLT)

The “Broken” Drawer

“Well, I think that’s about all we can salvage” my wife said after about an hour of sifting through little broken pieces of toys, tea set dishes, and knick knacks. You see, over the past 10 years, when things would get broken (which happens often with 5 children) we would put all the broken pieces in a kitchen drawer to the right of the sink. Over time that drawer filled up and we had to begin using the drawer next to it. For some reason, I decided I could no longer deal with the frustration of looking for things in those two drawers full of broken clowns, bears, and ballerinas.  So there I stood with superglue in hand for well over an hour gluing dishes, animals, knick knacks, and even little glass people back together.  After an hour, we had been able to salvage about ten items (the trick was finding all the pieces amidst all the cough drops, pumpkin seeds, and other miscellaneous items!) Each of the salvaged items, now had at least one very distinct “superglue scar” across it, but at least it was back together!

Finally my wife said, “Well, I think that’s about all we can salvage.” After she said that, I was able to find one more critical piece to repair a tiny plate from a tea set. I then took both drawers full of broken people and things and dumped them into the trash because I simply could not put them back together. As I dumped them, I thought about our great God and all the broken people in the world…myself included. I’m so grateful that God doesn’t dump broken people into the trash! Sometimes we look at our lives and feel like things are broken beyond repair.  Satan wants us to believe that God can’t find all the pieces, but that’s simply not true. God knows where every piece is!  God is so big and so good, He can even use our “superglue” scars for His glory! There were many times in King David’s life when his life appeared to be broken beyond repair, yet each time God proved otherwise. Trust Him my dear friend, He can put the pieces back together! – BP

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

I Sam. 30:6 KJV

Food For Thought

John 6:32-35

 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

 As I’ve been finishing up reading the Old Testament, I am finishing up reading the entire Bible which I’ve been working on since God saved me.  (I read the New Testament first).  Now I’m an expert on everything in the Bible and I am done reading it…right?  NOT!

Sometimes I believe that there is nothing more that I could write a devotion about; however, God still speaks something new to me every time I open up His Word…it truly is alive and active and cannot be exhausted!

I like the way Louie Giglio’s sermon describes how rich the Bible is.  He starts off by describing density and says that he loves astronomy.  He mentions neutron stars which are the result of a collapse of a massive star in which the neutron star pulls itself back together and is incredibly dense.  “Neutron stars are possibly the most dense things there are.  Scientists say that if you take a teaspoon full of a neutron star, and just scooped out one teaspoon of the star, that teaspoon would weigh one billion tons.  Don’t drop that on your foot!”

Louie reminds me that the Bible is not a casual book that we just pick up and read.  It’s not something that we can skip over parts or skim read.  “Every time that we’re coming to the living pages of this scripture, we must understand that the scripture is a neutron star.  It is incredibly dense.  This Word of God is full of God, and because of that, the density of scripture is far greater than anything we can imagine.  What I mean by that is, you can take a teaspoon out of the Word of God, and the weight of that teaspoon could hold you for the rest of your life.”

Let’s meditate on God’s Word.  I imagine that a lot of people will be eating a lot of food today…probably way more than we need to.  Many people will eat sweet potato soufflé or sweet potato pie, but there is something that is sweeter.  “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Psalms 119:103.  Let’s not neglect the most important food that we need.  Let’s chew on the Holy Scriptures…don’t forget your daily teaspoon!

-RB

Psalm 63:2-5

I have seen you in the sanctuary

and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life,

my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live,

and in your name I will lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Guard Your Heart

Mark 12:29-31

‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:29-31 (ESV)

             My dad taught me how to shoot and hunt. So far this season, the Lord has allowed me to harvest 2 deer (sorry if you are the anti-hunting type…you might want to skip this devotion and search for one a bit more environmentally friendly).  In 30 years of hunting, I’ve probably harvested 40-50 deer or more.  Only twice in 30 years have I not been able to locate a deer that I had shot. Both deer that I harvested (politically correct way to say “shot dead”) this year never took another step and neither deer suffered even for a second.  Why is that?  The reason is because my dad taught me where to aim.  I have learned how to shoot just behind the shoulder and hit the deer in the heart without damaging the shoulder roast.  I know what you’re thinking…where on earth is this gruesome devotion going?

I’ll tell you where I’m going. Did you know that deer hunters aren’t the only one’s aiming for the heart? The book of wisdom, Proverbs, commands each of us to guard our hearts above all else!  God knows that once something or someone captures our heart, we won’t take another step for the Lord until we give Him back our heart. You see God wants our heart.  He alone deserves our heart. He will not share our heart with anything or anyone. As a youth pastor and father of five, it grieves me to see young people give their hearts to so many different things instead of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Young people are not the only ones who find themselves “taken out by a heart-shot.” The hearts of many adults have been hit by the trappings of this world…money, cars, hobbies, sports, fame, status, image, title, lust, food, alcohol, bitterness, revenge, and the list could go on and on.

Take some time and think about your heart.  Are you aware that the enemy has a target on your heart? Is he having victory, or are you being successful to guard your heart? A great way to discern the condition of your heart is by considering how you spend your time, how you spend your money, and what consumes your thoughts.  Take some time and ask the Lord to search your heart.  Guard it with all diligence!  -BP

 Keep your heart with all diligence,

For out of it spring the issues of life.

-Prov. 4:23 (NKJV)