Category: Devotion

Taking Responsibility

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During the course of life, situations will not always go as planned or expected. Some events will be insignificant when compared to others that will have an effect on the lives of people. When faced with situations like these, a leader can react in a number of different ways.

  1. Like congress, they can kick the can down the road.
  2. They can run away from the issue.
  3. They can attempt to place the blame on others.
  4. Or they can stand up and admit responsibility for their actions or decisions.

A successful leader will take the latter option.

King David had such a situation arise while he was leading the people of Israel. In Chronicles 21:1, we read that Satan put into David’s mind the desire to take a census. The problem with implementing such a plan involved David’s pride, because the census was meant to determine the size and strength of Israel’s army. David’s commander Joab objected to the idea (1 Chronicles 21:3), but the king’s decision prevailed (1 Chronicles 21:4). God knew that the census wasn’t a good idea and was not happy with David because of it (1 Chronicles 21:7). At this point, David had a choice to make as the leader of the people.

  1. Would he blame Satan for his decision?
  2. Would Joab be accused of wrongdoing?
  3. Would David distance himself from the issue?

Actually, David took none of these actions. Instead, he told God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing” (1 Chronicles 21:8). His admission of doing wrong was costly in terms of human lives, but by standing up and accepting responsibility, he prevented a worse fate.

Men, David’s example offers a good, though costly, lesson. When a situation turns out badly, when you are wrong, don’t run away or blame someone else. Instead, ask God for strength and admit your fault. Realize that others may suffer because of your mistake, but man up and accept the consequences. It’s the responsible thing to do.

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The Meaning of DAD

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There’s an old commercial when I was a kids that begged the question, “How do you spell relief?” Take-offs and jokes were a part of most every area in life. I ask today how you would spell “dad,” and what that really means:

D-Depend on God!
Start each day asking God to give you the wisdom and strength to be the best dad you can be. Never sacrifice your family on the altar of work. Yes, God is first in your life, but your family is second, and work is at best, third. This also means stop looking at your phone during dinner or e-mailing while watching TV. My daughter knows when I’m engaged and when I’m just in the room.

A-Always Love Them!
Give your kids a hug and tell them you love them each and every day. No matter what age, hug them and talk to them. Stephen is 24 now and we still hug. Don’t replace authentic love with texting and e-mails. Use your voice and use your arms to convey love. It will reassure them that they are your priority. If you don’t know the love languages of your kids, learn them so you can connect with them through the way God wired them.

D-Devote Your Time!
Kids spell love T-I-M-E, so make time to be with them. While I’m not perfect in this, find a way to give your kids the best part of your day (instead of the leftovers). I like getting up with Bethany before the day gets started, even though she is not a morning person. The hope is that she will remember that I was there each day getting her breakfast and wishing her well as she goes off to school. Don’t wait until the end of the day. It is too easy to slip into busyness and allow other things to suck your day away. Be deliberate in finding ways to give your kids your time.

I hope these reminders help strengthen your relationship with God and your kids. God gives us the gift of fatherhood (Psalm 127:3-5) and we need to fight to be the best we can be.

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Attachment to Your Family

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Jesus mentions in Luke 14:26 that a disciple of Christ will hate his family. Teenagers today don’t need any more incentive for breaking the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12), so last time I suggested that Jesus was using a literary form called hyperbole (the use of exaggeration). Jesus does not want us to literally hate our closest relatives, but he does want us to be shaken up so that we might see him in new ways and discover what it means to be his disciples. This can lead to new ways of relating to people, including our own family members.

One general barrier to Christian discipleship is sometimes we have too much attachment to family. I think of my own career development (and of my friends who heard the call of God) to serve in a pastoral ministry or when I answered the call to international missionary service. Family can often use whatever means possible to get their loved ones back on a more suitable or profitable career path (perhaps using intimidation, money, shame). Those called by God will find the courage to be faithful to Christ in spite of parents’ disapproval or lack of support. In a sense, we have to “hate” parents in order to be an obedient disciple of Jesus.

I have seen good church-going parents use the “priority of family time” rationale to get in the way of their teenagers’ spiritual growth. Family time would prevent regular involvement of their kids in Sunday School or youth group. Family vacations kept their teenagers from being part of life-changing mission trips. In some cases, the parents who prized family time so much were the same ones who later blamed the church when their children wandered away from Christ while in college. They graduated high school and graduated God at the same time.

I realize that there are times when parents rightly choose to have their children involved in family events rather than church events. But as a parent, I know how easy it is to choose what feels best for me without considering what’s best for my kids and their spiritual growth. I want to encourage parents to take a fresh look at family relationships in light of their primary commitment to Christ.

Parents can often help their children grow in their discipleship, rather than stand in the way of it. If we model sold out commitment to Christ in our lives, our children will be encouraged to imitate our example. No matter what we say, our actions will speak loudly and clearly of what authentic discipleship is all about.

Application: Can you think of adults whose example of faithfulness to Christ has influenced you? Are there people in your life who are being influenced by your discipleship? Do you ever find a tension between your personal discipleship and your family relationships? Recognize that there may be times when we feel torn. Other times, we know what discipleship requires, but we may not be sure we want to do it. Seek to set an example of faithfulness for your children. Live in such a way that they are encouraged to pursue Jesus above everything else in life.

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Why Hate Your Family?

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There are a ton of commands that we find in the Bible; statements that tell us to do this and not do that. The Bible says to love one another (John 13:35, Romans 13:8, Galatians 5:13, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 4:19, Hebrews 10:24, 1 John 2:7, 3:11, 3:23, 4:7, 2 John 1:5-6), and Jesus said we should even love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-44), so this line always caused me to take a second look at the words of Jesus.

“If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison, your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

Let me begin with a couple of confessions. At first, I am tempted to avoid this verse altogether. I could have easily skipped Luke 14:26, but to do that would have been to dismiss the tugging of the Spirit in my heart.

My next thought is, perhaps I wish Jesus didn’t say what he did in Luke 14:26. Verses like this are so difficult to understand, much less explain. They’re the sort of thing that opponents of Christianity drag out to make Jesus look both contradictory and cruel. It gives teenagers a biblical excuse to hate their parents. The one who told us to love our neighbors and even our enemies now wants us to hate our closest relatives. What sense does this make? To follow Christ is a contradiction and the Bible cannot be trusted to be accurate or true.

How do we make sense of this teaching? If we’re going to be fair in our reading, then we have to be wise interpreters. This means that we recognize when Jesus is speaking hyperbolically. Hyperbole is what we informally call exaggeration. It’s a way of communicating that uses bold overstatement and embellishment.

Hyperbole, which was common among teachers in Jesus’ culture, is not meant to be taken literally. If I say to you that I’m so hungry I could eat a horse, I would be distressed if you actually slaughtered a horse and prepared it for my dinner. What I mean is that I am feeling very, very hungry. So, given everything else he said and did, we can be sure that he was speaking hyperbolically when he said that to be his disciple we have to hate our families and even our own lives.

Yet, there is a danger in identifying hyperbole in the teaching of Jesus. It’s the danger of dismissing both his point and his urgency. If we think to ourselves, “Oh, Jesus didn’t really mean that,” then we run the risk of missing what he wants us to hear. It’s no longer a question of interpretation, but rather an indictment of the state of our hearts. When we encounter a biblical text that is unsettling to us, are we open to hear what God is really saying? Are we willing to have our comfortable life disturbed by the Word of God? Will we let the hyperbole of Jesus shake us up so that we might be more truly and fully his disciples?

Application: Let me encourage you to consider the last three questions when you read Scripture:

  1. Are you open to understanding the deeper meaning of the words of Jesus?
  2. Are you willing to make adjustments once you understand them?
  3. Will you let the hyperbole of Jesus shake you up, and rouse you out of your comfort zone?

God wants not only to instruct me, but also to stir me up, to create within me a crisis of understanding. God wants to break through my defenses and self-serving assumptions. God help us to be wise interpreters of the bible. May we learn to read attentively. May our hearts be open to God and his Word, ready to receive even that which unsettles us.

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The Secret of Healthy Fathers

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I always want to offer helpful ideas, stories and suggestions to help us all become better husbands and fathers. Check out this story I read about this week.

A young man once told about an unusual present he received from his father. As a young boy, he peeled back the layers of wrapping paper from a tiny box. Inside the box he found a small, hand-written note from his father. “Son,” it read, “this year I will give you 365 hours, an hour every day after dinner.”

“This simple present became the greatest gift I ever had in my life,” explained the boy as an adult. “My dad not only kept his promise, but every year he renewed it. I am the result of his time.”

One hour after dinner is all it took to change this boy’s life forever. One hour of leading, loving, and learning. It is such a simple idea, an obvious one. Time for our family is like oxygen to our bodies–there’s a minimum necessary for survival. And it takes quantity as well as quality to develop warm and caring relationships.

What can Dads do?

  1. Determine balanced priorities. Ask God to help you order your life according to his priorities.
  2. Think through your promotions. Often promotions come with a corresponding increase in workload and hours.
  3. Consider changing jobs. No job is worth sacrificing your spouse or children.
  4. Stop gift-wrapping the garbage. In other words, look beyond the attractive “wrappings” of anything that will drive you to perfection and sacrifice valuable time with your family.
  5. Slow down and live. For many of us, the pace of our lives is self-imposed. We do have a choice about what we do and the schedule we keep.

A man whose family was so infatuated with time that he could rarely enjoy a quiet moment of reflection said, “My Dad was an expert at hurrying. And he inflicted it on our family. We would hurry to go on vacation, hurry to enjoy it, and hurry to drive home, so we could hurry on to something else!”

The misuse of time might be the most pervasive enemy the healthy family has. Dads, determine to make the most of the time you have with your children.

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Honor and Memorial

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When I was young, my sixth grade class took a field trip from Cahaba Heights Elementary School to Washington DC. I remember the train ride from Alabama to DC, and seeing the sights and visiting a lot of historic places. I was probably too young to really appreciate all that I had seen and experienced.

Now I live not too far from our nation’s capital and have been several times to see various places, like the National Zoo, the Smithsonian, and the Washington Mall with all its monuments and beautiful buildings.

But even all the way back to that sixth grade trip, I’ve always been impressed by the solemn ceremony of the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. The Guards carefully choreograph the event which is a moving tribute to soldiers whose names and sacrifice are “known but to God.” Equally moving are the private moments of steady pacing when the crowds are gone: back and forth, hour after hour, day by day, in even the worst weather.

In September 2003, Hurricane Isabel had passed through our area, I was living in Richmond at the time. The storm was bearing down on Washington, DC, and I read that the guards were told they could seek shelter during the worst of the storm. The guards refused, to no one’s surprise. They unselfishly stood their post to honor their fallen comrades even in the face of a hurricane.

Is it possible to have such unending devotion in this life? How about in your spiritual life? As we read the middle chapter of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1-6), I believe Jesus’ desire is for us to live with an unrelenting, selfless devotion to Him. The Bible calls us to good deeds and holy living, but these are to be acts of worship and obedience (Matthew 6:4-6), not planned out acts for self-glorification (Matthew 6:2). Action must be taken for no other reason than it is the right thing to do.

The apostle Paul endorses this whole-life faithfulness when he pleads with us to make our bodies “a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). They say, the one real problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar. Wake each morning with this one goal in mind, to live this day for the one who die to set us free.

On this Memorial Day, remember those who have fallen in order to secure and defend our freedom; because freedom in never free.This day is more than the summer kick-off weekend, or a great time for a sale at the mall or the car dealership, it is about sacrifice.

Thank you Jesus for securing our salvation, and thank you to the fallen heroes (and their families) who sacrificed so much so that others might live. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13).

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Getting to the Point

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I recently read about the effectiveness of an advertising campaign that you probably have heard about.

In the annals of US advertising history, one of the most efficient slogans ever is the California milk producers’ two-word question, “Got milk?” With that phrase, the group captured almost everyone’s attention. In surveys, the slogan was recognized by more than 90 percent of the people polled.

If “Got milk?” is so good at reminding people to drink “cow juice,” perhaps we can create some two-word slogans to remind ourselves to live more godly lives. My Sunday Bible study class is going through the book of James. While we are only into the second chapter, chapter four has some great two-liners that can help us live a godly life.

  1. Give in! James 4:7 tells us to submit to God. Our sovereign God loves us, so why not let Him run the show? Submission to God helps us resist the devil. I love the fact that when we submit to God and resist the devil, the enemy will flee from us!
  2. Get close! James 4:8 reminds us of the value of drawing near to God. It’s up to us to close the gap between us and God.One old saying is that when we feel as though God is far away, guess who moved?
  3. Clean up! James 4:8 also reminds us to make sure our hearts are clean. That happens through confessing our sins to God. It’s about being committed to purity in speech, intention, thought and deed. We are sinners by nature and by choice, which is the reason for our separation from God. So purify the heart, because our lives reflect that which is in the heart.
  4. Get down! James 4:6, 10 says we need to be humble before God, which includes viewing our sin as something to weep over. We won’t strut into the presence of God, we will come to him in humility, knowing that there is no human reason he should allow us into heaven. We come to him by his grace alone, through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), trusting in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ.

Give in! Get close! Clean up! Get down! I believe James is getting to the point, and being very concise. These pairs of words may not look as good on a T-shirt as “Got milk?” but they sure will look good on us.

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What Does God Want?

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It’s probably the most asked question in the early stages of our Christian experience. We understand the sacrifice of Christ, what he did on our behalf, and the question just comes out, “What do you want from me in return?” While our salvation is not based on our good works (Ephesians 2:8-9), God does have something for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). We are created for good works.

Perhaps we even offer to God some great sacrifice. The ascetics used to deny self to the extreme in order to appease God. Is that what God wants? Does he want me to be a missionary in Africa? Does he want me to sell all I have and give it to the poor? Does God want me to be in church every Sunday? Check out this verse:

“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony? Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting—they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings. (Isaiah 1:11-13)

Wow, that hurts.

Maybe this image brings back memories. A small child pulls a variety of ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator (cereal, orange juice, potato chips, bread, ketchup, and other interesting choices) and blends them together in a bowl in hopes of surprising Mom with “dinner.” When Mom receives the “gift,” how do you think she’ll react? Despite the mess, both inside and outside the bowl, I’m sure she will express gratitude and joy, grateful for the sincere expression of love.

But what if the child missed the point and thought the gift was more important than the motive and attitude behind the giving? And what if the child continued to make similar presentations, year after year to Mom in hopes of appeasing her and earning her love? “It wouldn’t happen,” you answer. “Because the mother wouldn’t put up with it!”

Now look back at the Isaiah passage (Isaiah 1:11-13). God doesn’t sound very happy with the “gifts” of his people; because they had it all wrong! They had confused the animal sacrifices with the reason for making those sacrifices in the first place. So they worked hard at their religious works, and they missed the point. Did they really believe that God needed dead animals and blood? Didn’t they know that, instead, he wanted their hearts?

That’s the difference between “legalism” and “grace” and Christianity is all about grace. That’s why Jesus came to earth, to satisfy the demands of the law, to give himself as the ultimate sacrifice, to open the way for us to come directly to our Father (see John 3:16, 17, 18).

Yet, sadly, we often continue to mix our potions and religious ingredients and miss our reason for life, our Savior. Just like that loving mother, God is standing at the edge of the kitchen with arms wide open with an invitation: “Come to me, child. I want your love. I want your trust. All I really want is you.”

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More Than an Easter Message

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Today is Easter, Resurrection Sunday. For many people across the country, it is one of the two days people gather at church, I suspect “to pay our respects to God.” This is done often with no real consideration for what God has done for us. Just believe the right stuff, come to church a couple of times a year, but God can’t expect me to get all fanatical about this stuff. Jesus said it best, this generation “honors Me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8, Isaiah 29:13). Don’t let Jesus say that about you.

According to The Message version, Jesus also said, “I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20 MSG)

Easter is a celebration of Jesus conquering even death in order to give us freedom. After walking this life with you, Jesus wants you to join him in heaven.

Are You In?

How do you do that? You accept the gift that he’s given you, the gift of forgiveness and life. You can do that right now. You can talk to him and tell him, “I accept your gift of forgiveness and I accept your gift of life. I want to live the life that you made me to live. Thank you, Jesus, for loving me.”

This is a very simple prayer, but it changes everything. When you say I accept the fact that Jesus’ blood was given so I could be forgiven, it changes everything about your life, everything about who you are and everything about your eternity. It becomes more than a twice a year ritual.

Do You Think You’re In?

For those who are already believers, Jesus also said that we need to receive him (or accept him – John 1:12). Have you done that? Have you gone beyond simple belief to actually receiving him? This is a life-changing action, worthy of full consideration. It makes all the difference.

Jesus also said that on that day (judgment day, the end of time), many will find themselves face to face with Jesus and he tells them I never knew you.

Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws (Matthew 7:21-23).

The scary part? He said MANY people who felt they were “in” will discover that they are actually on the outside. Let’s get serious about God and involvement in what God is doing through his church. He loved the church (the followers of Christ) enough to die for it. Should it not be an important part of our lives? A tree is known by it’s fruit (Matthew 7:19-20). Don’t forsake the gathering of yourselves together (like going to church – Hebrews 10:25).

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Faith Like Potatoes

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Over a year ago I watched a film called Faith Like Potatoes. Weird title but a great film, based on a true story of a farmer turned preacher in South Africa.

Angus Buchan, a Zambian farmer of Scottish heritage, leaves his farm in the midst of political unrest and racially charged land travels south with his family to start a better life in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. With nothing more than a trailer on a patch of land, and help from his foreman, Simeon, the Buchan family struggles to settle in a new country. Faced with ever mounting challenges, hardships and personal turmoil, Angus quickly spirals down into a life consumed by anger, fear and destruction. This is a story that tells the moving life journey of a man who, like his potatoes, grows his faith, unseen until the harvest.

The Bible often brings up farming, for instance…

And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor (2 Timothy 2:6).

In this section, Paul brings up a farmer as one of three illustrations of a faithful minister of the gospel. The other two (soldier and athlete) probably sound more exciting. Although it’s not Paul’s intent, the truth is that a farmer leads quite an exciting life. He works one of the most dangerous careers a person can choose. Soldiers may face greater dangers from time to time, but a farmer lives and works between sky and earth every day. I recently discovered that in our time, farming outranks any other career in producing work-related injuries and death. Farming is not for dabblers, cowards, or the lazy. And farmers can teach us a lot about faith.

In comparison with athletics and soldiering, farming helps us understand the persistent and patient parts of faith. Action and results come fairly quickly for athletes and soldiers. Not for farmers. They place a seed in the ground and return to harvest the results, but it can be a long time between those two actions. Successful farmers know how to wait. They may not enjoy waiting; but they learn to do it. Waiting doesn’t usually mean doing nothing, but the hardest part of waiting is the waiting.

Farming comes up various times in scripture (sometimes the farmer represents God or the ministry of the gospel).

  1. Jesus used many farming situations in his parables (like Matthew 13:1-23).
  2. Paul discussed the parallels between farming and the development of believers (as in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9).

In 2 Timothy 2:6 we get to see ourselves as farmers. With that privilege comes responsibility. If we’re going to “enjoy the fruit” of our labors, then we better be “hardworking.” The farmer who is not hardworking will reap what he sows–little or nothing.

A wise farmer knows what he can’t do.

  1. He can’t put life in a seed.
  2. He can’t make it rain.
  3. He can’t force the seed to grow.

There’s much that’s out of his hands. But he does his part.

  1. He plants
  2. He waters
  3. He cultivates
  4. He waits

As believers, we plant seeds (acts of obedience to God) in one another’s lives. We deposit seeds (the gospel) in the lives of those who don’t know Christ. The actual results of these actions are in God’s hands. But we often get to be the first to enjoy those results because we’re there. If we recognize the way that we are farmers, we remember we’re in the field every day. Every moment becomes a new opportunity to persistently plant seeds and then patiently wait to see what God will do.

Application:

  1. Have you seen the film? It is well worth renting for your family movie night, and then discuss lessons seen in the film.
  2. How is your faith growing? Abundantly? Wonderful harvest? Bearing much fruit? Or is there a drought? Weeds springing up?
  3. What changes will you make to help cultivate your faith?
  4. How are you getting to know God better?
  5. What fruit do you see beginning to bud? Which fruit are ripe for harvest?
  6. What hired help do you need to farm better? To whom can you become accountable for your Christian growth and maturity?
  7. Can the Men of Steel help you to become a more productive farmer? (Next time we get together is April 30 at 7:30 am).

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