Why do you say…  and speak…

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

but…

they who wait for the Lord

shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40: 27-31)

Blessings friend(s),

LWood

v. 9-  …  but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land

v. 11-  But the meek shall inherit the land…

v. 22-  for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land…

v. 29-  The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.

v. 34-  Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land;

Many scholars will tell you that the book of Psalms is not the best place for you to build your theology upon, and I’m sure in some way, shape, or form, they may be correct.  However, I’m no scholar, and based on the use of the word inherit in this chapter, I’m guessing there must be something to it.  Otherwise, why would it have made it into the Bible?  Go figure, scholars.

Yesterday my pastor spoke on 2 Chronicles 20.  Jehoshaphat was faced with a “multitude” coming against him for battle.  He was afraid and knew not what to do.  So he proclaims a fast throughout all of Judah.  As he’s praying, I noticed the words, “they reward us by coming to drive us out of your (God’s) possession, which you have given us to inherit.”  Did you see it?  Then he proceeds to say, “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”  Man, that’s great.  Then the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jahaziel and says, “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed…  the battle is not yours but God’s.”  Dang!!!  This is good stuff.  Then they, Jehoshaphat and all of Judah, bow and worship the Lord before God does anything on their behalf…  BEFORE!!!  The next the day they arise and go forth in the confidence of the Lord, with singers out in front singing, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever.”  And as they begin to sing…  the Lord sets an ambush against those rising against the people of Judah…  His people.

There’s so many great lessons to learn from this.  I just love the fact that what God promises, He delivers.  He promises His people a land or promise, a kingdom that will last forever…  our inheritance, if you will.  Christ died, left us an inheritance, and rose again to guarantee that death cannot stop what God promises to His children.  Like the people of Judah…  fast, pray, seek God’s face through the face of His son Jesus Christ, have confidence that a kingdom of glory awaits us, keep your eyes fixed on Christ, the battle is not ours…  it’s God’s to win…  it’s won.  You may have to go forth in faith, taking steps of faith, but God will deliver you, God is your helper.  He, as we worship and move forward in faith, set’s an ambush against the enemy and defeats him.  Our battle is not against flesh and blood…  it’s against an enemy we CANNOT defeat.  Guess what…  you don’t need to.  The inheritance is already ours to take.  Trust the Lord.  Take hold of His promises and inherit the land.

LWood

I’m coming to the realization that this truly is just “LIFE”.  There will be some ups here and there, but there will be mostly downs.  That’s why we can’t be people of circumstance.  We must be people of faith.  Living by circumstance is a ferocious nightmare of a ride.  Living by faith doesn’t stop the roller coaster from screaming ahead, it just means that you’re so certain of what you can’t see and confident of what’s to come that the roller coaster doesn’t even freak you out anymore.

I wish I was that guy.  I want to be like Paul…  ”stone me, I’ll still give it my all”.  I want to be like Moses…  ”I don’t know where we’re going, but regardless…  here we go”.  I want to be like Jesus, ultimately…  ”take this cup from me, yet not my will…”.  We live in a fallen world…  it’s not going to get better, regardless of who you vote for this year.  Faith is truly all we have.  Sounds sad but it’s not.  It’s amazing what we eternally have due to the gracious gift of faith that’s been given us.

Blessings to you in your faith struggle.

LWood

I don’t say this to shame anybody but to challenge you…  seek the Lord your God with ALL your heart, and ALL your soul, and ALL your mind, and ALL your strength.  15 minutes a day, or every other day, is not that.  Sorry…  it’s not.  Why is that too much to ask of ourselves?  God is not grandpa God.  He’s GOD!!!  He is to be feared.  He is to be respected, worshipped, adored, revered, glorified, exalted…  however you say it…  YES.  Sure, God is love, I don’t deny that, but know that His love is based on a matter of life and death…  had He not given us grace…  hell would be calling our name.  ”…  but you stand fast through faith.  So do not become proud, but fear.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.”  (Romans 11: 20,21)  God forbid we not revere our only hope.  God forbid we forget who we are without Him.  God forbid he not spare us.  Can you imagine?  What makes us so sure we’re really Christians if our prayer life is practically non-exsistent?  ”Well I have faith.”  Really?  ”Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11: 1)  A Christian with little to no prayer life doesn’t really seem to communicate “conviction”, does it?

I’m in the CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) industry.  We are in the business of marketing a product that will sell to as many people as possible…  therefore most of us do not speak of what will make us look insensitive or possibly judgmental.  However…  speaking truth is not judgmental or insensitive.  Shutting up and watching our society fall by the wayside is insensitive and judgmental.  The world needs us to be seeking God fervently and passionately…  the world needs us to be so in tune with our heavenly Fatherly that we be ready to lose our lives for Him.  I love the quote, “you’re not really living until you’ve found something worth dying for”.  Can we look at ourselves and say that we are FULLY living for Christ?  Don’t fall for the “well God is gracious, so He accepts us just the way we are”.  While that may be true…  our hearts are deceitful, as Satan is too, and we have accepted that as an excuse for complacency and laziness.  We don’t do it with our spouses, our kids, our jobs, ourselves…  why do it with our Maker?  Why?  Because our faith is weak and we don’t feed it with the proper nourishment.  Everybody wants to exercise their bodies and feed it with the right foods; yet when it comes to our souls?  Eh…  it’s OK.  God’s gracious.  Ladies…  work out all you want…  it’s still going downhill, like it or not.  Guys…  lift all the weights you want…  you’re still gonna end up looking like Schwarzenegger…  have you seen recent photos of him at the beach?  Yuck!  But don’t let your souls go.  Please…  I’m begging you.  Wake up to the reality of Christ.

Years ago…  church leadership began to take on the idea that if “I can at least get people to do 15 minutes a day with God, it’s better than nothing”.  While I understand the mentality…  we have, as a result, accepted this as the standard and have allowed ourselves to become a shallow and infertile soil for God’s word to take root.  We are NOT taking steps to allow our hearts to be ready for the teaching of God’s word simply because we don’t give Him the time of day.  My hope is not to insult but to light a fire under you, under me.  Some will want to comment and tell me I’m wrong and this blog is overly harsh.  Rather than pouring your energies into defending the flesh and shortcomings in “seek(ing) ye first the kingdom of God…”, take this opportunity to pour that energy into building your day around intimate and effective prayer time and Bible study.  I’m on your side and am in the same struggle, my friends.  Pray for me, as I’m praying for you.

Chris

Chris

A Call for Christian Risk

May 29, 2002 | by John Piper | Topic: Risk

By removing eternal risk, Christ calls his people to continual temporal risk.

For the followers of Jesus the final risk is gone. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Neither death nor life . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 3:38-39). “Some of you they will put to death. . . . But not a hair of your head will perish” (Luke 21:16, 18). “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).

When the threat of death becomes a door to paradise the final barrier to temporal risk is broken. When a Christian says from the heart, “To live is Christ and to die is gain,” he is free to love no matter what. Some forms of radical Islam may entice martyr-murderers with similar dreams, but Christian hope is the power to love, not kill. Christian hope produces life-givers, not life-takers. The crucified Christ calls his people to live and die for their enemies, as he did. The only risks permitted by Christ are the perils of love. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28).

With staggering promises of everlasting joy, Jesus unleashed a movement of radical, loving risk-takers. “You will be delivered up even by parents . . . and some of you they will put to death” (Luke 21:16). Only some. Which means it might be you and it might not. That’s what risk means. It is not risky to shoot yourself in the head. The outcome is certain. It is risky to serve Christ in a war zone. You might get shot. You might not.

Christ calls us to take risks for kingdom purposes. Almost every message of American consumerism says the opposite: Maximize comfort and security – now, not in heaven. Christ does not join that chorus. To every timid saint, wavering on the edge of some dangerous gospel venture, he says, “Fear not, you can only be killed” (Luke 12:4). Yes, by all means maximize your joy! How? For the sake of love, risk being reviled and persecuted and lied about, “for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12).

There is a great biblical legacy of loving risk-takers. Joab, facing the Syrians on one side and the Ammonites on the other, said to his brother Abishai, “Let us be courageous for our people . . . and may the LORD do what seems good to him” (2 Samuel 10:12). Esther broke the royal law to save her people and said, “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). Shadrach and his comrades refused to bow down to the king’s idol and said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us . . . But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods” (Daniel 3:16-18). And when the Holy Spirit told Paul that in every city imprisonment and afflictions await him, he said, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course” (Acts 20:24).

“Every Christian,” said Stephen Neil about the early church, “knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life” (A History of Christian Missions, Penguin, 1964, p. 43). This was normal. To become a Christian was to risk your life. Tens of thousands did it. Why? Because to do it was to gain Christ, and not to was to lose your soul. “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

In America and around the world the price of being a real Christian is rising. Things are getting back to normal in “this present evil age.” Increasingly 2 Timothy 3:12 will make sense: “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Those who’ve made gospel-risk a voluntary life-style will be most ready when we have no choice. Therefore I urge you, in the words of the early church, “Let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:13-14).

When God removed all risk above
He loosed a thousand risks of love.

Pastor John

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/a-call-for-christian-risk?lang=en

We are partnered with Food for the Hungry and it is obvious that when you bring 33Miles to your town… you bring Food for the Hungry as well. I realize that when you go to see a concert, an appeal, a plead really, for folks to step out of their comfort zone and give to somebody that they may never meet can seem a little out of the ordinary. But it’s our duty, 33Miles and all Christians alike, to live up to the challenge and challenge one another to give without reservation and offer this world a little hope. Entertainment is all around us these days, and with the ridiculous amounts of resources, money, etc that’s available now, it’s almost sickening. That’s why 33Miles has become an advocate for Food for the Hungry. We want to be a part of something more. We want to live the Gospel, we don’t want to just entertain you. If that’s all you want… best that you stay at home and watch YouTube and not come to a 33Miles show.

I say all this because I was humbled when I realized that our efforts in promoting this ministry has not been wasted. We have seen an outstanding amount of sponsorships this year, and we are grateful to all that have stepped out on faith to help the helpless. However, these two young men have most impressed us. Why? They’re 6 and 9 years old. They get an allowance for doing their chores each week, and it’s not much but it’s enough. When their family came to a show we did in October, Carson (the 6 year old) flung his hand up b/c he wanted to help these kids. His parents talked him through it to make sure that he understood what it is that he wanted to do. He was crystal clear as well as his brother Jackson. So they, together, through their small weekly allowance, are sponsoring a child through Food for the Hungry.

On Monday night, the last night of our Christmas tour… we had the privilege of meeting Carson and Jackson. We were amazed by their maturity and courage. We were most reminded of what a child like faith REALLY looks like. It’s easy for us to say, “well, they don’t have a mortgage or bills or whatever…” But seriously… aren’t we just making excuses at the end of the day? If you’ve got a cell phone, a big screen TV, a car (or 2 or 3), several shirts and pants… and shoes, a computer, a ipad or iphone, a roof over your head, a driveway, bicycles, a basketball goal, a pool, clean faucets, a shower, carpet or hardwood floors, and so on… if you or I have any sort of lifestyle that resembles this, then you and I have no excuse, NONE, not to find ways to give, give, give, give, give as Christ has not asked but commanded us.

I understand that life is hard. Christ knows that life on earth is hard, but you and I have been given what little or much we have to serve and help the helpless. Forget doing it for Christmas. There’s so much about this holiday that’s wrong, I’m almost convinced it’s not right. Do it because you are a child of God and the word of God commands us. We prove our love for Christ through obedience. Oh yeah, one more thing… Carson and Jackson sponsored another child this December. Thank you, heavenly Father, for reminding me what child like faith exercised through love looks like.

LWood

The end of the year is upon us. The end of the year is always a good place to break up life and evaluate what we’ve done or failed to do in the last 365 days and what we wish to do in the next 365 days ahead of us. Putting words to action is a weakness of mine. I feel myself full of the greatest intentions but with a lack of knowledge in how to turn that intention into action so many times. In James 2: 14-26 we are reminded that faith without action is dead… useless… lifeless… hopeless. In Luke 19 we read that it’s not what we are given that matters, but what we do with what we’ve been given… and what we do with it is not the bottom line… it’s the rate of return or the return on investment on how we used our God given minas that matters. You can do all you want, but it’s the return that concerns that owner of the kingdom.

So what are we left with? Not what are we ‘doing’ with what we’ve been given? But… what are we gaining with what we’ve been given, that we can give to our Master when he returns? God’s not looking for busybodies, but for wise investors. There’s nothing wrong with learning how to be a good investor with your time, your money, your talents, your passions, your family, yourself, etc… it’s apart of growing up and exercising the good wisdom found in Proverbs. The problem is that too many of us are being busybodies and just keep doing and doing and doing, but not really gaining any return or accomplishing anything that matters. If we are to be wise good investors with our money that is here today and gone tomorrow, how much more should we grow up and be wise investors with our lives? Remember, God wants us to have faith like a child, not live with the maturity level of a child.

The year’s end is upon us. Let’s become good investors with all that God has given us, and give Him our best efforts. Remember, what the first manager gave the master? The master gave it right back to him and told him “well done good servant”. Our ultimate giving to God is in a weird way a blessing back on our own heads.

LWood

“Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

You’re probably thinking the same thing I think every time I read this… “but what if I’m not asking for the Holy Spirit?” We all read this and think about all the stuff we want or think we need. However, my guess is that Jesus has a reason saying such an out of the blue statement. Let’s work backwards:

If we ask for the Holy Spirit, maybe we will learn to stop expecting bad gifts from the Father in Heaven but will expect good things from Him b/c we know now this is how he responds to His children who continually ask, seek, and knock, maybe we become so persistent b/c all of the sudden we know that He is the only one that will ultimately provide whatever we need, and that deep knowledge will begin to be exercised in a persistent Christ exalting prayer life, and we know that He must love to hear from us if Christ is encouraging us to be persistent in our asking, seeking, and knocking, and surely with the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit this prayer he taught us becomes not a recited poem of meaningless words but the deep desires of our heart:

“Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation.”

So I ask… why aren’t we persistently asking? What’s keeping us from being passionate in our seeking? Why not knock more often and a little harder?

This is the invitation presented to us. On the other side are good gifts waiting for us in the hands of our Heavenly Father.

LWood

It’s interesting to hear how so many of us see thankfulness as unrealistic, or too much for God to ask of us, when our circumstances are not as we would have them.  If God were to take our job, our house, our health, a loved one, I hesitate, but a child from us…  could we still approach Him with a thankful heart?  I wish not to be tested in this, but I do believethat it is possible, and that God does want us to be able to approach him with a grateful heart, even in the worst of circumstances.  

I don’t think it’s a sense of thankfulness like…  I’m thankful that my child is living in sin, or thankful that my friend took his own life, or thankful that…  you get the point.  You see, it says in 1 Thessalonians 5 to be thankful “in” all circumstances…  not “for”.

How is this even possible?  …  for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  It’s possible because of Christ…  the problem is not that we can’t do that.

God knows we can’t do that.  I can’t be thankful in my darkest moments, I know me.  God knows me very well and knows how weak I am…  but in Christ, I can.  The problem then lies in…  am I truly abiding in Christ?  Am I rejoicing, not in my music, my family, my technology, my, my, my, my, my, this world, but am I rejoicing in Christ, in constant fellowship with Him, am I in Christ…  am I dying to myself?  am I truly His?  Am I?  Are you?

You see…  we can’t really comprehend thankfulness of such and never will if our abiding lies in a 15-20 minute a day devo/prayer time with I Am.  Then yes…  I think it completely unrealistic to be able to thank God in all circumstance.  The realities of Christ are so far separated from our hearts and minds at that point that this little blog is practically a waste of our time, collectively…  but don’t let this  be a waste of your time.  I will struggle to not make it a waste of mine as well.  The riches of the kingdom of God are ours in Christ Jesus but we have forgotten b/c the riches of this world have stolen our hearts.  If we learn to hide, and live, and abide in Christ as God so intends for us, as it was before sin and flesh became one…  then we will always rejoice, always pray, and always give thanks, no matter the trial that we may find ourselves in.  Remember, we are seated at the right hand of the Father in Christ Jesus, we are the children of God, we are redeemed…  we forget that these realities are presently already ours, for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Bigger cathedrals, bigger sanctuaries, louder sound systems, CCM concerts, all the stuff won’t get the worlds attention.  When we are able to praise our King though we be torn to pieces…  that’s the kind of Christianity that speaks.  I wish not any hurtful circumstances on any of you, but I do wish that should any trying circumstances come upon you…  that, by God’s Spirit, you be able to glorify God  in your gratefulness for who He is, who you are in Him, and all that He has done.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”.  (1 Thes 5: 16-18)