Archive for the ‘Bible Study’ Category

Daniel and the Long Haul: Hope

Posted in Bible Study, tagged Allana Guidry, babylon, Daniel, faith, gentleness, God, hope, hupomone, Jesus, Ministry, miracles, Nebuchadnezzar, Paul, perseverance, reverence, Sam Guidry on May 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I wanted to first thank God for providing the wonderful opportunity to speak at The Patient Experience Summit hosted by The Cleveland Clinic last week. It was an amazing event in so many ways. It did throw us back a week on our look at Daniel as a Hupomone man but we will pick it today. Click here if you want to go back and read the first post in this series.

What are the characteristics of someone who stays in it for the long haul with God? Specifically what can we see in Daniel’s life that contributed to the fact that he outlasted kings and empires? The first thing that we are going to look at is hope. Even though the word is never used in the text of Daniel, his hope in God shine’s through. Consider this prayer of thanks after God revealed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2:

20Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs ; He removes kings and establishes kings ; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things ; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power ; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Daniel makes it clear to Nebuchadnezzar who is the revealer of mysteries, not Daniel, but God. “However there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days.” Daniel 2:28 This must have seemed very strange to the king who was used to all of his wise men, magicians and sorcerers trumpeting their own skills of wisdom and divination. Here was a young man who gave all the credit to his God. Daniel not only held God as his personal hope, he proclaimed God to be the hope of all men. Daniel stood with Peter in his faith and hope. “…but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” 1 Peter 3:15 Daniel’s gentleness and reverence in the proclamation of his hope is perhaps without parallel in Scripture. There is no sense of derision or haughtiness in any of his dealings with his pagan bosses. He is a great example to us in all of our dealings with both our fellow believers and those who have not found Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Consider Daniel’s plea with Nebuchadnezzar to change his ways, “Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.” Daniel 4:27 The fact that the king did not accept Daniel’s plea is irrelevant to Daniel’s faith. Daniel acted on the hope that was within him. The seed of truth planted, God acts and in the end the king proclaims, “Now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride” Daniel 4:37

It is with this hope that Daniel walked bravely into the lion’s den. It is a hope that he shared with his friends who walked bravely into the furnace. It is a hope manifested both in the miraculous and the mundane. It is a hope that does not rely on events or circumstances, “If it be so, our god whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But eve if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Daniel 3:17-18. Paul held this hope even as he walked a path that he knew led to death, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day;” 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Paul walked the Hupomone path to martyrdom, giving his life. Daniel also walked the Hupomone path giving his life for the hope that he held in God. In human terms they had very different ends but before God each of them lived the life of perseverance that He seeks for all who call on His name.

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Daniel and the Long Haul

Posted in Bible Study, tagged babylon, Bible, Cyrus, Daniel, faith, guidry, hupomone, judah, long haul, miracles, missions, Nebuchadnezzar, Old Testament, perseverance, Prophet, Sam, service on May 12, 2014| 1 Comment »

As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm. And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king. Daniel 1:20-21

Daniel is one of the most amazing characters in the Bible for a number of reasons. Our canon of Scripture places Daniel among the prophets but the Jewish Scriptures do not. The Jewish Canon places it in a group called The Writings. While one cannot deny Daniel’s prophetic gift, he did not hold the office of prophet. Certainly God calls on him repeatedly to speak to the various leaders of Babylon, but that leads us to another unique thing about Daniel. Other than the fact that Daniel was a Jew and was taken at a young age from his home in Judah the contents do not speak of or to the Jews.

So what do we know about this enigmatic figure and author of one of the 39 books of our old testament (one of the 24 in the Jewish Canon)? Daniel lived in the sixth century BC. His family was either of the royal family or the nobility. Pretty much everything that we know directly of Daniel comes from the book bearing his name. The authorship of the book is much debated but I do not doubt that Daniel wrote it near the end of his life, probably after he had retired from public service. I find most other textual criticism to be contrived either for academic reasons (you have to write your dissertation on something) or with the express need to explain away the miraculous. He grew up during hard times in Judah. His dedication to God from the very beginning would indicate to me that his parents were godly people living in ungodly times. They are not mentioned here or elsewhere in Scripture. If they did survive the siege and capture of Jerusalem Daniel was taken from them at around the age of 13. This was the typical age at which the Babylonians of this era began training for public servants. We are able to historically place the siege and capture of Jerusalem right around the year 605 BC. This enables us to date many aspects of Daniel’s life, particularly when his service to Babylon began and ended. This is what caught my attention and brought me to look a little deeper at the life of this man of God, this man of hupomone (perseverance). Daniel as we said was not a prophet, he was not a priest nor a missionary. He was a public administrator and in many ways a politician by trade. Daniel served God in the Babylonian courts and government until the year or year after Cyrus captured Babylon seizing control of that empire. That event is historically established as occurring in 540 BC. So Daniel served God in his capacity as an administrator for several versions of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 605 BC until 540 BC, or including training around 65 years! That is some serious Hupomone! Throughout that time he maintained his dedication to and love for God, even facing death! He probably spent the last few years of his life (from 540,41 to 543,44) penning the book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit which would become of part of the canon of Scripture we hold as the Word of God today! He was very much an Old Testament Missionary, called to a pagan people to speak the heart of God. Consider his words to Nebuchadnezzar: ‘Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’ Daniel 4:27 It seems that most often studies of Daniel focus in on either the eschatological aspects of his prophecies or just a few specific events within the book. The next few weeks will be dedicated to looking at Daniel and the Long Haul.

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Weak Enough to See

Posted in Bible Study, tagged Ananias, blind spot, blindness, guidry, Holy Spirit, miracles, obedience, Paul, perseverance, Sam, Scripture, strength, surrender, weakness on May 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Acts 9:9

This verse comes from a story that many of us may know well. It is the conversion story of Saul, who would become Paul the Apostle. Paul was a man who acutely understood the dangers of blind spots, Saul was not. Saul along with many of the Jewish leaders of his day lived in a big blind spot. They desperately believed in God and in the coming Messiah but they saw their heritage and tradition as an overwhelming strength and in that feeling of strength they were blind to the truth of the Gospel. Saul in his strength attended and approved of the stoning of Stephen. He even watched over the cloaks of them men involved (Acts 7:58-8:1). Saul in his strength “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” sought the destruction of the early Church. He is an ominous example of how when we attempt to serve God in the strength of tradition, skill, knowledge or any other personal trait that the greater our “service”, the greater our potential blind spots.

So then this is the question, “How do we avoid operating in Spiritual Blind Spots?”. Prior to committing our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ we lived in darkness. It is a way of life for those who are not in a personal relationship with Him. Jesus came to take us from the darkness that is life without God and bring us in to the light.

John 12:46
“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

Old habits die hard and Peter speaking to believers sheds light on Spiritual Blind Spots

2 Peter 1:4-9

4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

We can compare this passage to Paul’s exposition on the “Fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5. These passages and many like them provide a Spiritual litmus test for smoking out blind spots in our walk with God. However I want to go back to Paul’s story to see how God dealt with this problem in his life.

1. God knocked Saul off of his high horse.

Acts 9:3

As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground

2. God brought Saul to a place of weakness

a. Paul was blinded. The Spiritual state that he was operating in was manifested physically.

b. The man who was accustomed to leading needed to be led into the city

c. Paul was unable to eat or drink for three days.

3. God spoke truth into Saul’s life

a. Initially God spoke directly to Saul revealing the blind spot that he was operating under.

b. God revealed Saul’s personal inadequacy in a vision of the man who would come to help him.

c. God brought a Christian brother to speak healing into Saul’s life, both of the physical and Spiritual blindness.

Fortunately God has provided us with Scripture and in it Paul’s example (as well as the examples of many other men and women of God throughout biblical history). With the help of the Holy Spirit we can smoke out our blind spots without being knocked off a horse and blinded.

1. Examine ourselves for areas of personal (denominational, doctrinal or any other genre of) pride that can make us susceptible to blind spots. Then we need to follow the Micah’s advice in Chapter 6: 8 He has told you, O man, what is good ; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God ?

2. Do not be afraid to operate from areas of weakness or of being in positions of weakness.

3. Always be ready for, looking for and expecting the Truth of God to be revealed in your life. The primary source is of course Scripture. The more time that you spend in Scripture with your heart and mind open to God’s message the less likely you are to function in a blind spot. Secondly always walk with solid brother’s and sisters in Christ who will be honest and open with you. God may or may not reveal them in a vision to you but be ready to listen to the Holy Spirit as He speaks through them. Filter it all through the truth of Scripture.

Blind Spots are endemic to our human nature but God through the work of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit as recoreded in Scripture has provided us all with the tools to walk in the Light as the Children of God.

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Pondering Bravery: Allana

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged Allana Guidry, Bible, Brave Girl Boots, Bravery, CG Girls, Christian Ethic, Common Ground, God, Ministry, prayer, The Lewis House on April 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

So, here I sit, pondering bravery. What does it truly mean to be brave? I have greatly enjoyed reading every devotional from those who have shared. As I read them, I say all too often, “yep, me too.” There always seems to be a little nugget I take away. Morning after morning, I sit here, listening to my children clicking away on their computers while they work on school. I listen to my mom busily cleaning. I listen to the giggles of Nisa Faith and her daddy playing, and I ask myself once again, “What does it mean to be brave? Who are my heroes of faith?” Each day has been a different answer, and a different way their actions were brave. But when I look at each one, one thing I see they have in common. They are human. Yep, that’s it. They are imperfect humans. [Well, I can do that, correctly? :)]

Today, I think of Beth Moore. If you have never heard or read her story about the hairbrush, it truly is one you should Google. (I will also post it in the FB BGB group). It is an amazing act of bravery. But what I love the most about the story is how incredibly human she was in it. I think so often, we raise people up much higher than they should be. Many times, I have felt people do that to me. We look up to them and he/she seems to have it all together. Wanna know something? No one truly has it all together. We are all walking a road. No one walks their roads perfectly. None, but Jesus.

I shared in my last blog about my struggle with fear. Paralyzing fear at times that robbed me of peace. As I read my own words, something hit me… flashes of brave moments throughout my life came pouring through. Girls, I think it is time to stop getting hung up by our human moments. We need to start looking through God glasses and start accepting what He says we are. So many of us can go through this long list of how we are not brave, but being brave doesn’t mean we don’t have fear. We are brave while being afraid and doing “it” anyway.

Last February, I had gone through one of my most difficult rounds of chemo. I was extremely sick, truly wondering if I would live to see another day. Would my husband ever kiss my forehead? Would I have another deep talk with my teenagers? Would I be here to kiss the hurt away for my preteen? Would my newborn baby have me as her mother? I remember lying in bed, crying out in my heart for God to help me. I thought about Jesus calming the sea in Mark: “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” Mark 4:37-39

I begged God to calm my sea… then I remembered another story… much like this one only with a twist: “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them:“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.” Matthew 14:22-32

Did you see it? Jesus called Peter out of the boat with the waves crashing around him. Jesus did not calm the sea first. When they climbed back into the boat; that is when the wind died down. Jesus touched my heart saying I am the God who will calm your sea, but I am also the God who will have you step out in your storm. This was a moment that Jesus encouraged my heart to be brave. He may calm your storm or He may call you out of the boat with the waves crashing around you, but regardless, He is always there to catch you.

Allana Guidry: Urban Missionary at The Lewis House in Toledo, Ohio. Attends Compelled Church. Three Passions: Teaching children praise dance, Teen Outreach and sharing the Truth about God’s love for us with all who will listen. (Facebook)

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Strong Enough to be Blind

Posted in Bible Study, tagged Bible, blind spot, Christian Ethic, faith, God, Judges, Manoah, Nazirite, Paul, plans, Samson, strength on April 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Leadership strengths are often found in close proximity to blindspots. An overpowering strength, in particular, usually has an associated blindspot.” Robert Bruce Shaw Leadership Blindspots

I got this quote in one of the secular leadership blogs that come in my email. Honestly most of them I don’t even look at closely anymore. However this one caught my eye. I am always intrigued when a secular article espouses a biblical truth. I am certain that if you read Mr. Shaw in depth he differs considerably from Paul’s view on this subject.

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

In Philippians 3 he talks about what was becoming a huge blind spot for many of the Jewish believers. They had a strong belief in the overpowering strength of their religious heritage. Paul’s reply to this blind spot was that if anyone had reason to rest in the strength of religious heritage, it was Paul. He goes on to say:

7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death ;

These apparent strengths can even be gifts from God. Unfortunately as the author notes, the more overpowering the strength, the closer the blind spot. Consider Samson, called to save his people even before he was conceived and dedicated to God as a Nazirite from conception.

“Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4 “Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 “For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb ; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Judges 13:3-5

He had two great strengths. The most obvious one was his physical strength. The second was his godly discipline as a Nazirite. As the story unfolds we see the blind spots that develop as he grows to be comfortable in his strengths. He achieves victory after victory and as happens all too often, the blind spot involves a growing sense of powerful self eclipsing the very God that is the source and sustenance of that power. He ignores the godly counsel of his parents and after that does not even seek wise counsel, after all he is the Nazirite, he is the chosen one of God, who would counsel him. Even when 3000 men of Israel come to hand him over to the Philistines he does not see the selfishness of his actions. He uses the strengths given him by God out of anger, out of hurt yet he continues his disciplines and as promised God sets him as Judge over Israel. We so often attribute success with righteousness. We see the Spirit of the Lord come upon Samson time after time so he must be in a right relationship with God, right? This is a misconception that leads to great disappointment and injury. When men and women of God exercise their gifts in blind spots, God’s will still moves through those strengths but when we measure their fruit by Galatians 5 we see the disconnect.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control ; against such things there is no law.

Samson’s disregard for his parents; his failure to seek godly and wise counsel ( as his mother did cf. Judges 13:8, 8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.”); his lack of concern for the consequences of his actions on the very people he was sent to save all point to the blind spots that Samson fostered and ignored. While Scripture does not record it as a parent I can only imagine their continuing and more desperate attempts to reach their son. Wise counsel whether it is from parents, mentors or just from people that God places in our lives is key in illuminating the blind spots that the Enemy will manipulate to our harm and harm to those around us. Samson is an apropos example of blind spots because in the end it brought physical blindness. The will of God for his life was ultimately achieved as he brought the house down on Philistine power in the region but how much more of a story if his blind spots had not interspersed such tragedy into God’s call on his life.

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Perseverance- Change

Posted in Bible Study, tagged Bible, change, Daniel, God, guidry, immutability, Jesus, Ministry, miracles, perseverance, plans, prayer, protection, Sam, support, Toledo on April 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”

Hebrews 13:8

The fancy word for today’s topic is “Immutability”. That is the last time you will see it in this post. However the bible tells us that in a world of change biblical perseverance calls for a unique constancy from Christ Followers. God declares his own character when he tells Moses that “I am that I am”. This Hebrew word, which became the very name of God to Israel, declares His eternal constancy. It is here that we find one of the prime qualities of biblical perseverance for the believer.

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren ; Romans 8:29

It is only by this miraculous transformation process and the submission of our will to His will that we begin our journey to biblical perseverance. So then do we live in the same place, do the same things, never change what we eat or do for the rest of our live? Clearly not. We do not even have that kind of control on the circumstances of our lives. Change is introduced to our existence every day, every hour and every minute of our lives here on earth. This is where we see that biblical perseverance is a spiritual gift not a physical effort. It cannot be faked or practiced by human effort. It is manifested in the lives of those who serve and have a personal relationship with God.

Consider Daniel.

3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles,…6 Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. Daniel 1:3,6

Talk about change. As a young man Daniel was ripped from his home, dragged half way across the known world and even had his name taken away. This Babylonian tactic was specifically designed to destroy perseverance. Do not be deceived the Enemy is out to destroy your perseverance. He wants you to come out from under the covering of Christ where he can have a clear and open shot at you. The Babylonians did everything they could to shake Daniel’s identity as a child of God. But what happened.

8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank ; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Daniel 1:8

In the midst of all of this change Daniel did not change. It is important to note that Daniel remained under Jesus Christ in every aspect of his behavior. This brings us to another important aspect of biblical perseverance. It expresses at all times the character of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control ; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:22-26

Biblical perseverance is never rude or arrogant. Perseverance that does not fall in line with His Word is not biblical and is not godly. When we truly walk in biblical perseverance we are like a lighthouse in the storm. We go on to read:

9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,…17 As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom ; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams Daniel 1:9, 17

But let there be no mistake. Satan HATES biblical perseverance and he believes that he can destroy it. Daniel continued to face opposition throughout his lifetime. Many other saints both biblical and historical persevered to martyrdom. Regardless of the physical outcome the Spiritual truth remains the same and the lighthouse of faithfulness shines in the darkness.

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Perseverance-Walking in the Miraculous

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged blessing, Christian Ethic, expectation, faith, focus, Galatians, guidry, Hebrews, Jesus, kingdom, listening, love, miracles, prayer, protection, Sam, spiritual, surrender, The Lewis House, transformation, trust on March 31, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I have been looking over my posts over the past couple of years and a couple of them stand out so I thought that I would throw them out there again. This post has become so much more meaningful over the past year as Allana and I have walked through the storm of Leukemia and a bone marrow transplant. It also connects nicely with my series on perseverance because at its core persevering as a Christian IS walking in the miraculous. When we truly “remain under” Christ Jesus as the covering for our lives the miraculous is bound to show its face. “Open the eyes of my heart Lord” the popular song refrains. Open my eyes to see Your miraculous hand in and around my life everyday!

Walking in the Miraculous

“So then does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” Galatians 3:5

Perhaps one of the most amazing aspects of this new life that God has called me to at The Lewis House is one that I should have had in my Christian life regardless of my profession. It is one that I am still learning to embrace because (unlike my beautiful wife) I am a bit too logical in my make up and a big part of me want to live on the basis of logical observation instead of spiritual expectation. God is teaching me to walk in the miraculous.

When we truly hear the Gospel with faith there should be an expectation of the miraculous. It is part of the package. This is not a mystical toy store or the ability to bend God’s power to our will for our happiness. It is simply expecting God to act in my life and then walking out my faith and getting to watch Him moving and working in an around me. The cool thing is that the miraculous looks a little different every time. I think that one of the mistake that we often make is when something miraculous happens in our lives we run around expecting that very same thing to happen over and over or even just one more time. This may be in part to our desire to control the miraculous. Humanity has always had an inherent fear of the things that we cannot control. Better to have a god who responds to our requests exactly the same way all of the time, speaking into our lives in the ways that we want Him too (as opposed to in ways that sanctify us, ever conforming us closer and closer to the mind of Christ).

The author of Hebrews reveals the purpose of the miraculous. “…how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” Hebrews 2:3-4 It confirms to us our salvation. This approximates Paul’s statement in Galatians that we already looked.

The other amazing thing is that God will not be put in a box. Sometimes we mistake the fact that he is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow for the fact that we will be able to manipulate and predict his actions in our lives. This error is revealed in Isaiah, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways, My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways And my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 Does this mean that we just drift along being pushed here and there by a capricious God? Not at all! We cry out our needs, concerns, suffering and desires to God and the open our spiritual eyes wide and watch Him work. It will be amazing, and often in ways that we least expect.

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Perseverance

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged blessing, Christian Ethic, God, gods at war, guidry, hupomone, joy, perseverance, protection, remain under, Sam, The Lewis House, Toledo, transformation, trust on March 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

What a wonderful week! It started off a little rough, Nisa was not feeling well but she came around just in time for us to make the trip to the Assembly of God Fine Arts Festival for the Michigan District held in Lansing. While it was great to be able to watch so many teens on fire for God and sharing their talents, it was even more wonderful to see Allana blossom this week. It was really about two weeks ago that she seemed to make a real breakthrough but she really shined this weekend. Even after the busy two days of Fine Arts she was up and ready to go to hear Dustin Reed bring a great word at Compelled Church and then share a wonderful evening of fellowship and vision with CityLight Church! I am so thankful for God’s miraculous hand in all the events of the past year and a half. I am so thankful for God’s gift of Perseverance during this difficult time in our lives. However as we look at this Biblical concept a little more closely it becomes clear that God does not just provide Perseverance for the tough times. This gift needs to be a core characteristic of every Christian.

Peter in his second recorded epistle links this quality to our participation in the divine nature of God! Everyone appreciates getting gifts but how special it is when one receives a gift that extends from the very nature of the giver. So many gifts are gifts of obligation but when the gift proceeds from the heart and represents the very being of the giver it becomes that much more special.

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord ; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:2-7, the bold is mine)

Even more important this gift is one that is critical to the transformation process that Life in Christ Jesus brings.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of theLord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18

It is only when we persevere, remaining “under” Jesus Christ that the wonderful transformation into His Spiritual image can take place. While it is a gift from God perseverance also requires intentionality from the recipient. It is a gift that only functions when the recipient is fully focused on the giver. Kyle Idleman tells us that idols are created when gifts from God become more important than the giver (gods at war). This is what happens when perseverance becomes completely focused on the events of our life (usually the negative ones) and not on Jesus Christ.

For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. Psalm 63:7

Don’t wait for disaster to strike to rest in the shadow of His wings. The more we remain there, the more we will experience the joy of true perseverance.

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Introduction to Perseverance

Posted in Bible Study, tagged Allana Guidry, Bible, blessing, Christ Jesus, Christian Ethic, faith, focus, God, Jesus Christ, love, obedience, perseverance, prayer, Sam, The Lewis House, Toledo, transformation on March 10, 2014| 3 Comments »

“Now may the God who gives Perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus”

Romans 15:5

I have been thinking a lot about perseverance lately. I had the privilege of being a guest of YESFM and Tommy Briggs to share a week of devotionals called The Morning Munch. This word perseverance kept rolling through my mind as I looked to prepare for this time of sharing. After this year of walking with Allana through the treatment protocols for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia it seemed like an appropriate topic. After all the keynote verses about perseverance that we all know are found in Romans 5.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

Unfortunately it seems that too often an exploration of perseverance stops with this idea of suffering and that they are forever linked as cause and effect. This important quality of Life in Christ deserves a closer look. The Bible has a lot to say about perseverance. The word most often translated as perseverance, endurance or steadfastness is the Greek word Hupomone. As with so many Greek words (and English too I might add) it is a combination of two roots, Upo and Meno.

UPO- about, under

MENO- abide, remain, stay, continue to be, survive, held or kept continually

Breaking it down and putting it back together again brings us to this idea of remaining under or about something. Often it seems that this idea is taken to mean remaining under the problems and trials that life brings. When asked about a trial going on in one’s life “We are persevering!” seems the easy answer. We may not use that word anymore but when we distill down all the answers we give and all the advice that is coming in it comes down to abiding under the trial until its end. The problem with this view of perseverance is that it is focused on the trial, the trouble, the problem, not on our amazing God who is the ultimate solution. Hupomone is not about “super-moaning” through life as we bounce from trial to trial. Biblical perseverance encompasses Romans 8:37 “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.”

The source of perseverance tells us a lot about it’s characteristics. Our title verse makes it clear where perseverance come’s from.

“Now may the God who gives perseverance…”

Biblical perseverance is first and foremost a gift from God. This is one of those gifts that Jesus was talking about in Matthew 7:11

“If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him.”

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