Posts Tagged ‘focus’

Perseverance-Walking in the Miraculous

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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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Introduction to Perseverance

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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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The Faith Gun

Posted in Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Faith Gun

We recently played a family game called “Snake Oil”.  The premise is pretty simple.  You have a hand of 6 cards and you need to combine 2 of them to create a product which you the “sell” to the player who is “it” and has a particular profile based on the buyer’s card.  My now second youngest daughter (yes I typed youngest first) needed to sell a product to a soldier and this is what she came up with, The Faith Gun.  She pitched it as a weapon which always hit the target you were aiming at as long as you believed.  Well as comments from my children often do, it got me to thinking about this product and its application to our lives as Christians.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”  (2 Corinthians 10:4)

Paul consistently describes the Christian life in military terms.  We are in a battle and the enemy is powerful.  “Be if sober spirit, be on the alert.   Your adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8 ) However God does not leave us un-equipped and unprepared for this battle.  The key is that we need to avail ourselves of the training and weapons at our disposal.  So let me introduce you to the Faith Gun.

1.  The Faith Gun becomes instantly available to every born again Christian when they place their belief, trust and obedience in Jesus.

Our spiritual arsenal becomes instantly available when we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a result of our decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ.

 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who isgiven as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.   (Ephesians 1:13-14)

2.  Proper use of the Faith Gun requires submission and training.

There is only one training manual for the Faith Gun, The Bible.  However there are many resources that God places in our lives as we develop maturity and skill as Soldiers of Christ.

” It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up  until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”  (Ephesians 4:11-16)

“Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you–guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (1 Timothy 1:14)

It is up to us to take advantage of all of the training resources that God provides, measuring each one by the Manual.  This of course requires that we know the Manual, read, study it, make it a part of our lives. As we do this in submission to the Holy Spirit and living in the presence of God the Faith Gun becomes an extension of our lives.  Snipers will tell you that becoming “One with the Gun” is a vital part of hitting difficult targets.  It is even more true in our Relationship with God.

Faith Gun2

3.  To be effective the Faith Gun not only hits the target, it chooses the target.

Unlike weapons of human manufacture, the Faith Gun not only allows the Soldier of Christ to hit the target, it chooses the target to hit.  This is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts for us to swallow.  It violates our need for control.  It violates our need for direction.  Yes the world teaches that we need to be “one with the gun” so that we can accurately control and direct it.  God teaches that we need to be “one with the gun” so that it can control and direct us.  It is when we do this that God reveals the wisdom of the world to be foolishness. “For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (1 Corinthians 1:19)  As we become more mature in our handling of the Faith Gun this is of even greater importance.  One of Satan’s favorite tricks is to provide a target rich environment.  One might think that the more targets their are the easier they are to hit but for the undisciplined this far from true.  I am reminded of a hunting expedition that I was on in the hills of Pennsylvania.  I came upon a single doe standing broadside to me at about 30 yards.  I carefully aimed and brought her down with one shot.  At that moment I realized that I had walked into a whole group lying in the brush as they stood and froze for a moment.  After easily taking the first doe I tried to take another unloading the rifle in a target rich environment of 12-15 deer, and didn’t hit anything.  In our target rich environment allowing the Holy Spirit complete control is crucial in order to accurately strike the targets that God has directed us to.

4.  The Faith Gun selects its own ammunition, perfect in every way to impact the target.

The Faith Gun only come in one caliber, LOVE.  It is within in that caliber that God provides many types of ammunition.  Choosing the correct type of ammunition for the intended target is far beyond our ability.  How sad it is when we actually allow the Faith Gun to choose the target but then go off half cocked loading our own choice of ammunition.  We have many “reasons” for doing this, “I am good at this”, “I know what is needed”, “All the books say…”.  Volumes have been written, preached, rewritten and re-preached on this subject so I am not going to try to tackle all the different types of ammunition available.  I will give some general guidelines.

*Under no circumstances will God call you to use ammunition that is incompatible with the caliber of our Faith Gun.  “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”  (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)  I could appropriately quote this chapter in its entirety as a guide to the ammunition appropriate for our Faith Gun, but you know what go ahead and read it for yourself.  The results of using incompatible ammo can be devastating.  When we try to slip ammunition containing hate, greed, jealousy, disdain, selfishness or fear into our Faith Gun the resulting explosion can scar us and those around us in horrible ways.

*It would be wonderful if God would always give us clear miraculous guidance in the appropriate ammunition for every situation.  I know that pastors in particular wish that this was true.  It is in these cases that unity with Scripture becomes all important.  In order to achieve this you have to KNOW the Word of God.  This involves reading it. (Hmmm…is sarcasm an appropriate ammunition…Paul used it so….).  In these cases I would suggest that utilizing the ammunition that best expresses the intent of the caliber is the best choice.  The Bible is a remarkable document.  When you measure situations against the whole of Scripture the Holy Spirit will often make clear what the best ammunition is to achieve God’s intent.

5.  Ultimately the Faith Gun operates to and for the Glory of God.

This point dove tails with the idea that the Faith Gun chooses its target.  We often desire and I have even heard it preached that the Faith Gun is here for our protection and comfort.  Scripture is clear that as Soldiers of Christ we operate for the will and Glory of the Father.  We operate in suffering, in poverty, in wealth, in comfort, in every possible human condition for the Glory of God

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Comfort in the Storm

Posted in Leukemia, Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Wow I have not been here in too long.  As you can imagine other things have been keeping me busy.  This will be redundant for many of you but I wanted to add this wonderful Guestbook post from our CaringBridge site.  It is a great reminder that we have a Living God who walks on water in the worst of storms!  Our Spirits rejoice even as our flesh weeps.  God is moving and we are excited to see the results when the storm is stilled.

A big thank you to Karen for allowing me to share this in a more public way.

 

June 27, 2013 6:50pm

Hi Sam and Allana,

I am so sorry, my last entry got deleted except for the first line.  You don’t know me but I went to Israel on a Missions trip with your sister Beth in 1983.  I have had no contact with her since then until she befriended me on facebook yesterday. I went to her wall and saw your caringbridge link there, and while working all night, read the entire thing.  I have no words except to tell you how much my flesh aches for you and all you are going through, and yet my spirit rejoices at how God is moving in you and through you to reach others in so many ways.  I have been faltering in my faith over these past few years and just really struggling…trying to “figure out” who God really is and what Christianity is all about.  As I read the words in your entries, God took ahold of my heart in a way that I haven’t experienced for a long time.  I wish I had a better way to express it to you….but adequate words escape me.  Thank you for your faith, your love for Him, your humaness, and your willingness to share this hard, hard journey He has you on.  I will be praying continually….May you continue to feel His presence and peace during this difficult time.

Karen Bobalik

Here is the link to our CaringBridge site for any who may not have it.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/allanaguidry/journal

 

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Walking in the Miraculous

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“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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Habakkuk: Five Qualities of a Godly Man in Difficult Times

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Yes FM Morning Munch Devotional August 13th – 17th

Monday  –  Passionately Involved

Tuesday – The Hard Questions

Wednesday – Ready to Listen

Thursday – Ready to Believe the Unbelievable

Friday – Obedient

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Point of Conflict

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Over time and through hundreds of conversations we came to recognize that change does not happen without conflict. As we reviewed the biblical patterns, every time-without exception-the people of God began to make adjustments to join God in his activity, conflict emerged. Blackaby and King (1990) call it “the crisis of belief.”

Jim Herrington;Mike Bonem;James H. Furr. Leading Congregational Change: A Practical Guide for the Transformational Journey (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”

Matt. 5:9

I think that too often we equate peace strictly with the absence of conflict.  The church is supposed to be a peaceful place, right?  The people of God are supposed to be a shining example of peace in the world.  As the quote above indicates this is not the biblical standard.  With all change comes conflict and change is one of the hallmark qualities of our relationship with Christ.  We are all on a pathway of change from the moment we accept Christ into our hearts.  We are all changing, individually into the mind of Christ and corporately into the body of Christ.  Consider the words of the Prince of Peace:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Matthew 10:34

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12

Much of Scripture is born out of conflict.  Jesus taught out of his conflict with the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Paul addresses points of conflict in almost every one of his epistles.  The Old Testament is replete with conflict as Israel moves in and out of proper relationship with God.  So where is the peace?

Peace is not in the absence of conflict (this does not exist on earth).  Peace is in the resolution of conflict.  The Bible is a story of conflict resolution.  Adam and Eve brought conflict between man and God.  Jesus brings resolution, the only resolution.  That resolution is  both a process here on earth as we follow Him and an instantaneous reality.  This resolution process is a process of change and as the quote above notes, change brings conflict.  It brings internal conflict as God moves us repeatedly out of our comfort zones.  It brings external conflict as he calls the Body of Christ in its many manifestations to greater maturity.  “Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…” Ephesians 4:15

But praise the Lord he doesn’t wait for us.  The resolution is also an instantaneous reality.  “But now in Christ you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility”  Ephesians 2:14-15

So here perhaps we find the crux of the matter.  Conflict is the result of change.  It can be healthy and in conflict we can have the peace promised by God.  Christ did not come to eliminate conflict.  Christ came to destroy hostility which extends not from change but from division.  When the dividing wall between man and God is destroyed, peace naturally occurs regardless of the level of conflict around us.  Romans 8:7 tells us that the sinful mind is hostile to God and the chapter goes on to tell us that the Holy Spirit by living in us transforms us from enemies of God into His children.  We become worthy to call him “Daddy”!  When we come to him as Daddy with our prayers, petitions, requests and thanksgiving then we are able to experience the peace of God which is already an eternal truth for His children.  William H. Willimon put it this way, “The issue becomes:  Which side are you on?  In doing so, we eliminate the human and personal side of a conflict, with all its modifying elements.”  (Leadership Handbook of Management & Administration)  When we abandon the godly purpose of the conflicts in our lives conflict moves into division (which side are you on?) and division moves into hostility.  This is ambrosia to Satan and the destroyer of churches.  More importantly it breaks the heart of God to see his people engaging in the very thing that Christ came  and destroyed.

So as the children of God we engage conflict and change with the guidance of Scripture and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit; knowing that our peace lies not in the shifting sands circumstance but on the solid rock of our God.  It is division, first between ourselves and God and then between each other that destroys our ability to grasp the peace that is already there.

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Bringing His Kingdom to Earth

Posted in Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , on July 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

July 2010

Bringing His Kingdom to Earth.  This link is the newsletter for the ministry that we are serving this month.  What a joy it has been to serve God here.  What an awesome goal this ministry has.  I think that sometimes we have a skewed view of what it means to Bring God’s Kingdom to Earth.  We measure that in so many ways that have moved our focus from God to so many other things.  The kicker is that the things are not bad, they can even be important parts of our Christian walk, but when they become the focus instead of the means of our walk with God then we begin to lose the essence of His Kingdom. 

 Sometimes we feel that we are inadequate to bring God’s Kingdom to Earth.  We dont’ have the skills.  We don’t have the confidence.  We have a past that continues to haunt us.  God’s word is full of the unskillful, the timid, the downright fearful and those with pasts full of evil, whom He has used in OUTRAGEOUS ways to serve His Kingdom.  He may not call you to be his vessel for parting the Red Sea, or defeating 135,00 Midianites with 300 men, or raising the dead and bringing the Gospel to the totally un-evangelized, (and then again maybe he will).  He IS calling you.  Focus on HIM.  Let the “locusts” fade and way and then serve.  Clean a floor, paint a wall, hold a hand, high-five a child, raise the dead, part the sea.  Ministry is in the focus.  The opportunities are out there.  Let God enhance your vision of the world.  When you focus on him ministry opportunities abound.

14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body ; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.  Colossians 3:14-17

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Focused on the Locust

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , , on July 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

” Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.” Judges 7:12

Yes I am still hanging out with Gideon.  Up to this point I was really focused on God’s commands to Gideon.  Then I caught the metaphor of the locusts.  We all have locusts in our lives.  For Gideon and the Israelites they were the Midianites and the eastern people.  If there were just a few of them it would not have been a big deal, but there were enough that they could keep coming and coming.  The author of Judges gives a picture that there were so many that even their camels could not be counted.  What are the locusts in our lives?  Perhaps the economy, unemployment, illness, bad relationships, poor working conditions, low pay, debt, or expenses are some of the things that come together to overwhelm us.

“Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.  Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.  They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.  They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts.  It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land and ravaged it.”  Judges  6:2

It is all too easy to focus on the Locust.  We make the problems and issues of our lives the focus of our attention.  This takes our attention off of God.  When I lost my job in July of 2009, my attention was fully focused on the locust.  I blew the trumpet and gathered my army and marched off to get a new job.  When one job fell through after another I was crushed in my spirit.  I had not been unemployed since I was 16.  I looked over my army and felt ready to march against the locust again.  I felt that I gave God his due, asking him to bless my army and assuring him that when he blessed me with a new job I would serve him as never before.  BUT the whole time my eyes were not on GOD they were on the locust.  My focus was not on what God would have me do but on gathering my army and setting off to battle the locusts on MY terms with MY army….in God’s name of course….

So perhaps you have already read “What do you do when God says send your army home”.  So I sent my army home.  Don’t get me wrong I am still out there looking for a job but my focus is on GOD and the blessing have been incredible.  The opportunities for ministry have multiplied.  I don’t want you to get that unemployment is intrinsically a blessing from God or that we should just sit back and wait for God to do it all.  Gideon had to step way out of his comfort zone.  He had to tear his focus away from the Locust and move it onto God.

God anchored this focus by leading him directly into the middle of the locusts.  While he was hiding in the middle of perhaps 135,000 locusts God let him know that HE IS THE GOD OF THE LOCUSTS TOO.  And what happened to Gideon?

 ” When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the camp of Midian into your hands.”  Judges 7:15

Gideon worshiped.  There in the middle of the locusts, Gideon’s focus shifted to God.  The fear was gone.  The contentment that Paul talks about settled in

 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity ; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:11-13

Gideon found the source of strength that Paul is talking about.  He was ready to go with God and the 300 men chosen to serve God in a unique and miraculous way.  He was ready to follow God to victory.  The locusts were defeated the moment Gideon took his eyes off of them and put them on God.  The Spiritual victory won that day far outstrips the footnote in history that the real defeat of the Midianites amounts to. 

Lord help me to truly keep my focus on you and thank you for the opportunities for Spiritual Victory that you provide for my family and I.  Amen

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The Blend

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , , on May 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Life is such a blend.  The good, the bad, the indifferent all swirling together.  That has certainly been true for the past couple of weeks.  As we plan our missions trip for July to the Lewis House it has been joyful as the pieces fall into place.  We also are looking forward to a long trip that has come together by the grace of God (and many awesome christian family members and friends).  Enter the flu.  Enter family tensions.  Enter life milestones that we would just as soon forget.  Enter unexpected financial stress.  Enter allergy season.  As much as I try to keep my focus on the good and great things that God is doing in my life, sometimes I lose my balance in the swirl.

As it would happen through this time I have been reading Acts.  Talk about the swirl!  Pentecost and Healing/Threats and Persecution – Fellowship and Unity/Deception and Death – Salvation/Martyrdom – they all swirl through the story.  I think that it is all summed up in Paul’s defense before Agrippa:

So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.  First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.  That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.  But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike.  I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen- that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.  At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”    “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied, “What I am saying is true and reasonable.  The King is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him.  I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.  King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?  I know you do.  Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”  Paul replied, “Short time or long- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”  Acts 26:19-29

Acts is full of these speeches (I think that several of them may make their way here).  Peter, Paul, Stephen, all preaching their hearts and souls through the Spirit of God.  Paul here actually begins his defense in his past and follows the swirls through the sorrow of being on the wrong side of things, to the joy a relationship with Jesus to obedience in the midst of persecution.  He doesn’t give the detail of the beatings and imprisonments but they lie just under the surface of his words.  Then comes the big BUT…. “But I have had God’s help to this very day…”  Sometimes when I am caught in a swirl it seems that God’s help is far away but I can always look back and say “I have had God’s help to this very day.”   The response is to be expected.  “You are insane!”.  It hurts when it comes from the lost, but it really hurts when it comes from those that you think should understand.  Yet we see Paul’s heart and what should be ours, “Short time or long- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”  And there is the kicker, as Paul is speaking he is standing before these two great men….in chains.   

Lord help me keep my eyes on the goal, on you, no matter how violent the swirls become!

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