A Sign for YOU...

Today I was reading in Exodus 12 and I was struck by something.  Verse 13 said, "The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."  The thing that struck me was the part that said "the blood shall be a sign FOR YOU."  That part had never really hit me before.  Maybe I'm slow and never picked up on it, but I just always thought that the blood that the Israelite people spread over the frames of their doors was so that God would know the people in those houses were his followers and he shouldn't kill them.  It's amazing house small we make God out to be.  It's amazing how we bring him down to human-sized intelligence and power for no real reason.  I immediately wrote a note down that says this: 

"The blood wasn't used because God needed help knowing who lived in that house.  Rather, it was a measure of obedience, a sign of belief that God was who he said he was and that he would do what he said he would do."

The blood wasn't to HELP GOD, why would the all-knowing God need help?  He knew who was in those houses and whether or not they were his followers.  He didn't need the blood to know whether or not the first-born in that house should die.  The blood was so the people could be reminded that they were making a commitment to God.  They were staking their very livelihood and future on the promises of God.  The blood is a sign FOR YOU.  The people were the ones who needed the blood.  

It's very scary how the Bible in the most odd and obscure occurrences in the history of time tells us what will happen down the road.  The blood painted on the door frames of those slaves homes in Egypt was FOR YOU.  The blood was "A measure of Obedience" for them to state that they believed in God.  Do you know what that passage ultimately reminded me as I have been reminded so many other times in scripture and just brushed it off...The BLOOD WAS FOR ME!!!  


The blood splattered and dripping down the wooden roman cross is FOR ME.  It is a Sign of Obedience, Christ's Obedience to HIS FATHER, that God is who he says he is (MY SAVIOR) and that he will do what he says he will do (LOVE ME).  The Blood is FOR ME and FOR YOU.  

Now, OUR Sign of Obedience is to seek God First.  Everything we think, speak, and do should be...MUST BE about HIM.  Because the Blood of Christ has spared our lives.  Jesus has absorbed the Wrath of God, shielding us from the Father, from the punishment that is due us, from the death that we so deserve.  And now OUR SIGN OF OBEDIENCE requires death to ourselves, death to our selfish ways, death to our self-centered pursuits, death to what we call important.  We must, "by the mercies of God, present our bodies living and holy sacrifices, acceptable to God, this is our spiritual service/act of worship." Romans 12:1.  THIS IS OUR SIGN OF OBEDIENCE: lives fully committed to the will of God which means "LOVE God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27 

God Loved us First and that was proven through the blood on the cross, therefore in response to that love; we love him with all that we have and love all people with all that we have, which in itself is another way to Love God.  So, our sign of obedience is to EXIST FULLY IN LOVE.  

A Blip in Time - Psalm 19

        Last month in "God's Masterpiece" I wrote about how Life is Good.  I wrote about how we have been given an enormous gift called life and we are intended to find joy in it.  God wants us to live a life that brings us joy; sometimes life will be hard and painful, but there is still joy to be found in spite of the pain.  Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us how we are God’s masterpiece designed for a life filled with doing the work of God; living a life of service and love.

        With that said I needed to add something that is of the utmost importance.  The entire chapter of Psalm 19 tells us of the Glory of God.  Verse 1 of that chapter says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of HIS hands.”  Not only does this reiterate what I said last month, but it also pushes me to add this thought. 

        Our lives on this earth are but a “Blip in Time.”  We as humans, in general, live our lives in exaltation of ourselves.  We live for our glory; we spend our time on our pleasures, our wants, our desires, and our purposes.  When Ephesians 2:10 says we were made “to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do” it is proclaiming that our lives are simply a blip in the HISTORY OF GOD.  This life, the history of the world, the earth, and the universe are all platforms for the Glory of God to be proclaimed throughout history.  Verse 14 of Psalm 19 finishes the chapter with, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” 

        Our lives, the masterpieces of God, are solely and completely intended to do the work God intended for us, all for HIS glory.  Though this earth has been created for enjoyment, its primary purpose is to proclaim the glory of God.  That is the primary and intended purpose of all God’s creation, including human lives.  So, this “blip in time” that is our life as we know it, is intended not to live for ourselves, indulging in every desire of our broken sinful hearts; rather, our lives are created, designed, molded, and intended for the Glory of God.   

Widen Your Circle

“Every son and daughter needs other adult voices in their lives who will say things a Christian parent would say.  One of the smartest things a church leader can do for a family is provide a system where kids and teenagers can be connected to that kind of adult influence.  One of the smartest things moms and dads can do is to participate in a ministry where they can find the right kind of adult influences for their kids.”  -Reggie Joiner-

This quote has really made me think lately about the role of the church, specifically the youth ministry for my purposes, and how that compares to the role of the family.  The point Reggie Joiner is making here is that the family, first and foremost, was setup by God as the primary vessel for the transfer of faith to the next generation.  My wife, Janae, and I are the primary people from whom our son Joshua should learn about God and His unconditional love for us.  The church and its ministries should act as the echo that reaffirms what the family teaches. 

          So my role as a youth minister is to create, with the help of volunteers, an environment that reaffirms and says what a Christian parent has already said at home.  Joiner’s goal is to help us see that the family and church need to work together in the transfer of faith.  My job and the job of the youth volunteers is to be that voice that reiterates what the parents already say and to give the students another voice of Christian wisdom and maturity. 

          As parents, when we widen the circle of influence for our children we will increase the chance, exponentially, that our students hear God’s message, take it to heart, and then act it out in their own lives.  This is how the Family of God, the Body of Christ is most successful: when it acts in cooperation for the spread of the gospel through the family, not in competition to have bigger ministries that stand apart from and often in competition with each other.  Widen your circle.   

God's Masterpiece

Here is the 3rd of 3...hope this trio of blogs has caused some reflection on your walk with Christ...Give me a shout if you have a thought.  Thanks.

GOD’s Masterpiece – Ephesians 2:8-10

As I’m writing this I’m enjoying some vacation time with my family on Jekyll Island in southern Georgia.  The first evening we were here we ate dinner out on the wharf and after dinner we walked along the intercoastal waterway and got to see the sun set down below the horizon.  I have seen sunsets before, but as I watched this beautiful thing I was reminded that God designed life to be enjoyed. 

It has become epidemic in western society that life is meant to be lived at a blistering pace.  Earning a living, saving a little, paying the bills and hopefully one day we will have saved enough and we can retire and enjoy the rest of our lives in peaceful living.  But if God had intended us to not really enjoy life till the last third of life then why did he create sunsets?  Why did he create children’s smiles to be so intoxicating?  Why did he give us 4 seasons, or 3.5 in Northeast GA?  Why did God create color?  I could go on and on.

God most definitely desires for us to enjoy life.  Yes we should work hard, we can find that clearly stated in the Bible.  But he also desires for us to LOVE LIFE!!  I think this is why the “Life is Good” shirt company resonates so strongly with me.  God desires us to have the attitude that life is good as much as possible.  Yes there will be seasons of pain and strife.  Yes, there will be times of sadness and mourning.  Yes, there will be trouble because we are children and followers of God (Jesus promises that in John 16:33).  However, multiple times and in many ways Jesus also tells us that he came to give us life.  Not just hum-drum, trudge through the mud of life; but life so filled with promise, hope, and joy that we can’t help but say LIFE IS GOOD!!! 

I am so uplifted when I meet people who actually do have this attitude because it reminds me that I have a purpose and a calling on my life that demands I have a Joyful outlook.  My God who has saved me from eternal death has a purpose for my life here on earth before I spend eternity with him.  It is because of that very purpose that God allows me to wake up every morning with air in my lungs.  How can I not have joy in my heart?!?!  I am a fully devoted follower and LIFE IS GOOD!!!!  If you haven’t seen a sunset lately you should try it, maybe it’ll give you some perspective that God loves you enough to let you see this amazing beauty created by God for you and me, his true Masterpieces. 

The Body/Family of Christ

Here is the 2nd of 3; wrote this a month or so ago. Hope it spurs some thought and action.  Dig in to the work of God!!

Ephesians 4:16 – “From [Jesus] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

          We as followers of Christ are called to grow in many ways.  To grow in the strength of our faith, to grow in the firmness of our Biblically based convictions, to grow in our personal relationship with Jesus, to grow in our love for the world in need around us, and there are many more.  The point is that we are called to become stronger, more mature, fully-devoted followers of Christ.

          This verse from Ephesians shows us that not only are we called to become more mature in our relationship with Jesus, but we are just as strongly called to become more integral parts of the Body of Christ.  We are called to be plugged in, devoted, active members of the local church. 

          In doing this we will see two natural by-products: growth in our Christian walk and even more so growth in our involvement in the growth of others.  As Christians, as active parts of the body of Christ and the local church we are commanded to encourage one another, to comfort one another, to care for one another, to hold one another accountable to our faith; simply put to be a strong family.  Family members know what is going on in the lives of other family members and take a role in the development of maturity and growth.  If we are members of the body of Christ we are to be intimately involved in the growth of the body.

         If you aren't part of and involved in a local Bible-believeing church, do so soon and join into the work and movement of God!!!  

Fan or Follwer

Okay, so once again I've been absent from the blogging world for a while, but I'm about to drop 3 back-to-back-to-backers, so enjoy the reading and feel free to comment away. I wrote this first a couple of months ago and just never got it up.  Enjoy!!

I’ve been working my way through the Book of Job recently and I came across a few verses that struck me.  Chapter 9:25-35:

²⁵ "My days go by faster than a runner; they fly away without my seeing any joy.
 ²⁶ They glide past like paper boats. They attack like eagles swooping down to feed.
 ²⁷ Even though I say, 'I will forget my complaint; I will change the look on my face and smile,'
 ²⁸ I still dread all my suffering. I know you will hold me guilty.
 ²⁹ I have already been found guilty, so why should I struggle for no reason?
 ³⁰ I might wash myself with soap and scrub my hands with strong soap,
 ³¹ but you would push me into a dirty pit, and even my clothes would hate me.

 ³² "God is not human like me, so I cannot answer him. We cannot meet each other in court.
 ³³ I wish there were someone to make peace between us, someone to decide our case.
 ³⁴ Maybe he could remove God's punishment so his terror would no longer frighten me.
 ³⁵ Then I could speak without being afraid, but I am not able to do that.

As I read through this I was absolutely floored at Job’s frustration and understanding of his condition as human.  He knew that no matter how upright and righteous he was (see Job 1:1), his state as a human was still flawed in comparison to that of the Holy and Powerful God.  And Job has no idea of the day down the road that Christ will die on a cross then rise from the grave and take away the sins of the world and bridge the gap from man to God so that there can be a relationship there.  Even though he had zero knowledge of that glorious day of victory to come; he knew that without having someone to serve as the bridge between man and God there is no way to reconcile our guilt.  There is no way to save us from the wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked beings that we are (Revelation 3:17), without Christ. 

          We are so blessed to have this knowledge and have it at our fingertips in the Holy Bible.  Job had to come to this knowledge through life experience and he came to it through horrible tragedy.  We have simply been given this knowledge.  All we have to do is respond to the loving gift of Grace offered by God who desperately desires to see all enter into his grace. 

          Despite the knowledge of his flawed human condition, Job knew he had been called to be committed to following God no matter what it meant for his life instead of being someone who sits in the bleachers on the sidelines thinking they are fine because they said a prayer once or got baptized or were confirmed. 

I am “Not a Fan”.  “I am a follower” and I will get in the game and be a valuable member of the Body of Christ.   

IMAGinE thIS...

I’ve always wrestled with the idea of image.  I think one of the reasons I struggled and wrestled with it over the course of my life is because I grew up as a preacher’s kid or “PK” for short.  As a preacher’s kid, in general, there is one of 2 ways you can go.  You can either be the “clean behind the ears”, Christ-following “example of how a kid should act” or you can be the rebellious heathen that some PKs sadly turn out to be.  Unfortunately, it is the latter of the two that the public focuses on the most and the rest of us have to deal with the negative image.  The image that says, preacher’s kids are all rebels and don’t want anything to do with their daddy’s religion.          

My parents raised me to know the difference between right and wrong, to love everyone, and to be the best example of Christ I could be to those around me based on what the Bible taught me.  So, I chose the narrow road: partly out of a desire to live as a Christ-follower, partly out of a desire to please, partly out of a fear of what punishment I would face if I strayed (even though my parents were usually quite forgiving), and partly out of a knowledge that bad behavior would reflect poorly on me, on my parents, and on my father’s ministry.

The reason I tell you about that little piece of personal history is to tell you this.  My struggle with how to live my life as a kid was largely based on PUBLIC image.  How would it look if I was a rebel and strayed from the church?  How would that look for my parents and especially my father, a preacher?  These are questions that dominated my decision-making process.  For most people, public image plays a big role in the vast majority of our everyday decisions and unfortunately the biggest and most important decisions we can make are bathed in and affected by public image.  I use the word “unfortunately” because public image should not be a primary factor in determining who we are and what we do, but it is.  

            Try to fill in the blank: “Image is _______”.  You probably guessed it; the answer is “everything”.  This is what our society says; therefore, this is the big factor for most people when making decisions; in fact, often it is the only factor.  What if I told you I agree with that statement......just go with me for a second......let’s say, image IS everything; what if we all decided to live our lives in the image of Christ?  What if we agreed with that statement saying that the only image that matters is what Jesus says is important; therefore, we will live according to HIS standards?    

      

Imagine this: What if we all lived according to the image God desires for us?  Imagine what changes we could make in our lives and the changes that would happen around us.  Imagine who you could affect for Christ; imagine who would take notice of the change in you.  What would they say?  What would they think?  How would that change the way they see you and act around you? IMAGINE.........