1 John 3:7-8 - Wk 3 Day 6

the one who practices righteousness is righteous ...

the one who practices sin is of the devil ...

The Son of God appeared for this purpose,

to destroy the work of the devil

1 John 3:7-8

You are what you eat. Or in this case: You become what you do.

If you practice sin, what happens? You join yourself to "father of sins," the devil.

If you practice righteousness, what happens? You become righteous because you begin to attach yourself to the one who is totally righteous.

God is truth. He rules with love. He yearns for right living, and the more we know him, the more we look like him and live rightly.

Satan, on the other hand, is a liar and the father of life. He rules through fear and plays on our insecurity. He wants us to look like him, compromising more and more until we have a hard time seeing the line between right and wrong.

Read that last line again. Satan isn't black and white. He's content with fifty shades of gray. God, on the other hand is jealous. He wants to draw you into light, pure light. It's not that we won't sin; but "the Son of God appeared for [the] purpose [of] destroy[ing] the work of the devil." Join him through your actions in bearing light.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to be a mirror --

reflecting Christ's light

Acts 1:4 - Wk 3 Day 5

[Jesus] appeared to them

over a period of forty days and

spoke about the kingdom of God.

Acts 1:4

If I asked you, "What did Jesus teach about?" what would you say?

Most of us would site passages like the Sermon on the Mount or the Parables. We might say he taught on marriage and family, ethics and values, richness and poverty, forgiveness and sin. We might say he repeatedly clarified the Old Testament. We might say that he spent a lot of time teaching about love!

Did you say, however, that Jesus taught about the kingdom?

After the resurrection -- when Jesus had the disciples' jaw-dropping and completely undivided attention for forty last days -- the Book of Acts tells us that the kingdom is ALL Jesus taught about about!!!

What is the Kingdom of God? Allow me to over-simplify it: It's wherever God is reigning!

Does God reign in heaven. Absolutely!

Does he reign on earth? Uhhhh ... yes ... and no. Yes, because he is always and invinceable, the absolute king of creation. But also no. No, because he gave us dominion over this world ... and we humans were dumb enough to transfer that authority to Satan. It's not that God isn't more powerful. It's that for now he chooses to rule through us and by our permission.

When will the Kingdom come? It will come in the fullness of time when Christ comes again. BUT if we want to see it now -- and we can -- we must wrest back control from Satan, refuse the sway of sin, and take back g0round for God and his kingdom. The kingdom comes whenever and wherever we give God reign over our lives.

Now, these are momentary victories. But that's why we are called to pray continuously. We can take back the Kingdom moment by moment by moment. We can continually claim corners of our days and corners of our world for God.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who knows that kingdom teaching

also and always includes things like

marriage and family, ethics and values,

richness and poverty, forgiveness and sin

How we live our lives

is how we take back

the kingdom!

Revelation 12:11 - Wk 3 Day 4

And they overcame [Satan]

because of the blood of the Lamb

and because of the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their life

even when faced with death.

Revelation 12:11

Revelation 12 is one of the great battle scenes in between good and evil. It points backward though – more to historical events (creation, fall, and redemption through Christ’s coming) than it does to end times and future events.    

Based on this, someone once asked, how was Satan overcome? Revelation 12 answers that for us:

·         By the blood of the Lamb (i.e. through the cross and the blood of Christ).

·         By the word of testimony by the faithful.

·         And by the faithful being willing to take up their own cross … and risk their own life … preferring faithful testimony (even if it required persecution and death) to their own life itself.

Wait … what was that question? “How was Satan overcome?” Now make it present tense. Make it personal. “How IS Satan overcome?”

Until Christ’s final coming, we’re still caught in the web of sin, death, and evil. Evil is sad, awful, and heinous. It is gnawing and deceptive. It alternately tries to lull us to sleep … and tear into us like a roaring lion. How is Satan overcome?

·         By the blood of the Lamb. And what does that mean for you? It means there’s power and hope when we claim the victory that Christ has already won on the cross. His final victory is absolutely accomplished … and yet, he allows us to live in the meantime (and it is a mean time) until he comes again.

·         By the word of testimony by the faithful. Two things are accomplished when we testify: 1) more and more people come to faith and claim the hope. (Indeed, that’s why Christ delays. He’s giving an opportunity for more and more to come unto him), 2) when we testify, we sow the faith more fully and more joyfully into our hearts. A firm faith and a joyful heart defeat Satan every time.

·         By not being afraid of death. It’s been said that fear is the first step into sin. What do we fear ultimately? Death – whether the final defeat of death or a thousand little deaths and humiliations. If Satan can play on our fears, he can get us to stop testifying. But if we love the promise of heaven more than we love our life itself, nothing can stop our testimony.

How is Satan defeated? It’s up to you!

In Christ’s Love,

A bloody mess

(I’m a messy, sinful person

washed clean and now confident

because of Christ’s healing blood)

Proverbs 21:31 - Wk 3 Day 3

The horse is made ready for the day of battle,

but the victory belongs to the Lord.

Proverbs 21:31

 

“Thy kingdom come …” Those words sound so gentle, so peaceful, so reverent, so holy. But in reality, those are fighting words!

 

God, of course, is King – the ultimate, true, rightful, ultimate, and loving king of all creation. But in Genesis 1, God gave us authority – “dominion” – over this earth. And in Genesis 3, we gave our authority to the serpent. That’s why Jesus calls Satan, “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31). And that’s why Paul calls the devil, “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2).

 

God is still The King. But since he’s given us authority … and since we’ve given that authority to Satan … God often waits for us to confront sin and evil and demand the kingdom back!

 

That’s what “thy kingdom come” means. They’re fighting words. We’re making a stand. “I’m claiming this ground for God!”

 

And we dare to do this, because once upon a time God did intervene decisively. Generations of Jewish prayers were answered. God’s people were praying essentially, “thy kingdom come,” and in the fullness of time, the Messiah did come.

 

On the cross, Jesus won back for us the permanent victory. But he left us to complete the battle. But not without weapons, the greatest of which is the authority to bind evil. But it will require you to 1) acknowledge the battle and 2) reclaim the ground around you.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a peaceful guy who

wants to pick a fight

 

(“THY KINGDOM COME …”)

Matthew 6:33 - Wk 3 Day 2

seek ye first the kingdom of God,

and his righteousness; and

all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:33

Please pray for a small group I’m leading tonight. It’s with college age youth. We’re studying Total Truth – that’s the title of a book and a summary of our quest.

What is Truth? Most people in our culture divide “truth” into two realms. There’s the hard realm of science and facts, and there’s the soft realm of values and opinions. The danger in this is that God, faith, and religion has been segregated to values and opinions. When people say, “you can believe in your god, but others are free to believe in their god too,” what they are really saying is that “faith and religion have no business make truth claims. Only science can do that. Religion is opinion.”

In the midst of praying through how to address our young people, I read a story about the days of King Arthur. According to legend, a knight once lamented, “The merciless heathen roams the land at will; our people are starved, murdered, or enslaved. What are we supposed to do?”

Merlin responded, “We have no kingdom because as yet we have no king. The sword is still in the stone. When the king comes, the kingdom will come.”

Here’s the question: Do we have a world in which people are starved, murdered, or enslaved? Absolutely. Why? It’s because we’ve segregated the King of heaven and earth to realm of values and opinion. People are enslaved by sin. They are starved for purpose. Real hope has been murdered. If we don’t make God our King, we are subjects of the world.

Does that make any sense? Are young people are saturated in our world’s secular culture. Pray for them. We’re saturated in this secular culture too. Pray for a King. And pray for His Kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven.

In Christ’s Love,

a knight on a quest to bring

God’s kingdom to earth

Revelation 21:4 - Wk 3 Day 1

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more; mourning

and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.

Revelation 21:4

What’s wrong with the world?

I googled it. I found a very impolite site. Here’s the polite version of their “What’s wrong with the world?”

·         Popcorn stuck in your teeth.

·         Slow cars in the passing lane.

·         Stepping on a Lego.

·         A half loaf of bread that’s already moldy.

·         Vomiting, war, and PMS.

My list, when I was asked, was: sin, death, pain …

And then I stopped. Revelation 21:4!

·         No more tears and grief and sadness.

·         No more mourning, crying, and pain.

·         No more death.

·         Heaven promises that sin will be no more too.

Wait. Read that last one again. When will ALL the things that are truly and woefully wrong with the world be solved? In heaven!

That’s what we’re asking for when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We want heaven’s blessings now!

·         Therefore, we confidently ask for healing – because that’s something in heaven that we want on earth.

·         We ask for peace – because that’s something in heaven that we want on earth.

·         We ask for true justice – because that’s something in heaven that we want on earth.

·         We yearn for truth – because that’s something in heaven that we want on earth.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who wants

the kingdom to come

on earth as it is in heaven

Romans 8:37 - Wk 2 Day 7

in all these things we are

more than conquerors

through him who loved us.

Romans 8:37

Not looking ahead, I did not know with my military images on Day 5 that Day 7 in our reading of Power Praying would be about warfare. David Chotka goes on to say, “To pray [the Lord’s] Prayer is to … declare war on all evil everywhere.”

Oops. I was just praying innocently. This means war?!!

Pastor David says, “[God] is asking us to partner with Him in the retaking of earth from the forces of darkness.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want war! Nevertheless, sign me up for retaking the world from lawlessness and sin!

Isn’t that the way it’s been for most soldiers throughout time? Think World War II, again. With the exception of few gung-ho thrill seekers, most soldiers would rather stay home with their girlfriends and go about their own lives. Nevertheless, they feel compelled to protect their home, family, and kingdom from the lawless usurpers.

I said earlier, “sign me up.” For what? “For retaking world.” Can I really retake the world. I’m just one guy. How can I retake the whole world?

·         By signing up to follow. We call this faith and allegiance.

·         By putting on the uniform. Suddenly it’s not just me alone who’s fighting alone. I stand for something much bigger.

·         By wearing the uniform correctly. Obedience is part of the full armor of God. Truth, faith, scriptures, and all the other battle gear, make me effective.

·         By defending my territory. I’m one man, one soldier. I can’t save the planet, but I can defend my territory. And I can equip my neighbor. Together, we stand for something much bigger. God in his wisdom, chooses to work through each of us. In my oath of allegiance, I commit to do my part.

In Christ’s Love,

a conquerer

(through him who

loves, calls, and equips me)

Mark 16:17 - Wk 2 Day 6

And these signs will follow

those who believe:

In My name they will …

Mark 16:17

My son Jay is a leader. Always has been. It’s natural, a gift. But he’s also been blessed with good teachers.

In Civil Air Patrol, for example, he’s commander – a gruff, grizzled, and very caring veteran – taught the kids repeatedly that before you can truly lead, you must first learn to follow. Thus, regardless of chronological age or natural gifts, each cadet was trained to follow and earn gradual promotions.

In the military, they start by breaking cadets down. They’re given boring tasks and impossible tasks and are yelled at the whole time. At the Academy, they’re called ‘plebes,’ which means “common folk,” “peasants.” And these peasants had to constantly memorize useless information, run literally everywhere they went, and endure no privileges. Why? Because as the CAP commander used to say, “Before you can truly lead, you must first learn to follow.”  

Two days in a row, now, we’ve talked about soldiers in uniform. We said yesterday that a solitary soldier has only as much power as he can muster on his own. But when a young man or woman puts on a uniform, they represent something much, much bigger. That’s the way it is with us and God.

Let’s take today’s verse a line at a time.

·         “Those who believe” means “those who follow Jesus,” or to put it in our military terminology, those who’ve chosen to wear the uniform honorably and follow their commander.”

·         “These signs will follow.” To me, this is almost a play on words: “those who follow Jesus will have these signs follow them.” Those who follow Jesus will have all the power of the Kingdom they represent.”

·         “In my name they will …” In Scripture, God’s name is inescapably linked with signs, wonders, and power; with hope, love, and joy.

This week, we’re learning what praying “in the name of” Father, Son, and Holy Spirit means. It means putting on the uniform and wearing it honorably – which is taking not the name of the Lord in vain. It is learning to follow – follow Jesus – before we ever expect a sign of power or blessing.

In Christ’s Love,

Buck Private, Ed Thomas

Matthew 6:9 - Wk 2 Day 4

hallowed be your name

Matthew 6:9

Imagine an American soldier in uniform during the World War II era. What did he represent?

He was more than just “Steve Johnson from Peoria, Illinois.” When Steve put on that uniform he represented …

·         All the mothers praying in the churches.

·         All the children collecting tin cans and scrap metal to made into canteens.

·         All the women at home who were volunteering at the Red Cross.

·         The might of a thousand tanks crawling through the forests and a hundred ships patrolling the seas.

·         The enduring character of George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and thousands of brave men and women who’d gone before them.

·         The stars and stripes that continually unfurled liberty.

A soldier was not just a soldier. He represented something much, much bigger!

In a sense, that’s what praying “hallowed be thy name” means.

God is holy. He doesn’t need us to make him holier. But in this petition, we are asking – in part – to be dressed in God’s name, God’s character, and God’s honor, just a like a soldier is dressed in a uniform.

We can represent God well and wear that name with honor. Or we can represent that name poorly.

To represent the name of God poorly, means that we are disgracing the “uniform” by failing to hallow thy name.

To represent it well means that we can begin to discover the power behind that name.  Luke 10:17-18, give us an example of this: “The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ [Jesus] said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.’”

The enemy does not tremble at the sight of one soldier. But the enemy definitely trembles at what that soldier represents – and the power of that name. When you pray, “Hallowed be thy name,” be aware of the costs and benefits. The cost is service. The benefits are love, joy, peace, power, and blessing.

In Christ’s Love,

a man gladly in uniform

Hebrews 13:15 - Wk 2 Day 4

let us continually offer to God 

a sacrifice of praise

Hebrews 13:15

What is praise? It is to glorify and to laud. It is to magnify and applaud. It is to sing in wonder and lift our voice with thanksgiving.

Today I want to reacquaint you with "the alphabet of praise." The goal is to 1) tell God how you relate to him 2) because of the qualities of his character. The goal is not to come up with perfect answers, but to praise God quickly and thoroughly.

I will start the alphabet of praise -- to help you get the hang of it -- and I pray you'll take a few moments to fill in the rest of blanks.

A

I ADORE you

because you are AWESOME.

B

I BELIEVE in you

because you are BOUNTIFUL

C

I CALL on you

because you are CARING.

D

I DEVOTE myself to you

because you are DIVINE

E

I E___________ you

because you are E_____________

F

I F___________ you

because you are F_____________

G

I G___________ you

because you are G_____________

H

I H___________ you

because you are H_____________

I

I I___________ you

because you are I_____________

J

I J___________ you

because you are J_____________

K

I K___________ you

because you are K_____________

L

I L___________ you

because you are L_____________

M

I M___________ you

because you are M_____________

N

I N___________ you

because you are N_____________

O

I O___________ you

because you are O_____________

P

I P___________ you

because you are P_____________

Q

I Q___________ you

because you are Q_____________

R

I R___________ you

because you are R_____________

S

I S___________ you

because you are S_____________

T

I T___________ you

because you are T_____________

U

I U___________ you

because you are U_____________

V

I V___________ you

because you are V_____________

W

I W___________ you

because you are W_____________

X-Y-Z

(time to be creative!!!)

I ___________ you

because you are ______________

I ___________ you

because you are ______________

I ___________ you

because you are ______________

In Christ's Love,

a guy who knows his ABCs

and when I remember to say them

knows more fully of God's love

Colossians 1:5 - Wk 2 Day 3

because of the hope

laid up for you in heaven.

Colossians 1:5

Where is God, our Father? We answer almost without thinking: Our Father who art in heaven.

Where are you? We can answer this without thinking too – on earth – but let’s think a little deeper.

I’d like to suggest that we’re wherever our focus is. C.S. Lewis puts it like this – and I’ll finish my devotion here, because I can’t do any better than this …

if you read history, you will find that Christians who did most for the present world, were those who thought the most about the next. The apostles themselves who went about the conversion of the Roman empire … all left their own lives as their minds were preoccupied with the things of heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they become ineffective in this one. Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who wants

a crick in his neck

(from looking up!)

Ephesians 1:5 - Wk 2 Day 2

He destined us for adoption

as his children through Jesus Christ,

according to the good pleasure of his will

Ephesians 1:5

Jesus is The Son of God.

You are A Child of God.

The article is important. He is “the” one and only. You are one of “a” larger group. Nevertheless, you are powerfully and purposefully God’s precious child. You are not just “a” child; you are His child. And he is Your Father.

Now, some people don’t like the word “Father” for God. There are two reasons for this …

·         Some people don’t like masculine words for God. They think it’s a patriarchal, human invention. But this says something much bigger than that. It’s staking a claim that scripture is a human invention. But cutting God’s divine revelation out of scripture, undercuts all of scripture’s power, authority, and truth claims. It also trivializes the magnificent relationship that Jesus claimed to have with God … and promises to us too. Instead of helping us to know the Father intimately, these kind of interpretations ultimately leave us orphaned.

·         Others don’t like the father image because they personally had angry and abusive fathers. I can understand why it happens. Human sin is rampant and crushes our ability to trust. But God is NOT setting up the analogy we think. He’s NOT saying, compare me to your human father. He’s saying, “I am THE Father. I am unique. I am holy. I am personal. And I care about you.” While we can compare human fathers to the standard of the heavenly Father – though all fall far short – we must NOT compare the Heavenly Father to broken, human fathers.

Both of these objections may sound understandable from a human point of view. But beware! They both neuter God-the-Father and leave us as orphans.

The powerful narrative throughout the New Testament is that you can be adopted … not because you’re worthy … but because God is love. Indeed, if you believe in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you already have been adopted!

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who believes

that scripture is divine revelation

not human invention

(and that makes all the difference!)

Psalm 27:14 - Wk 2 Day 1

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and let your

heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:14

In our reading from Power Praying today, David Chotka asked us to read the Lord’s Prayer.

Then he asked us to read it again … taking a breath in between each petition.

I know that “waiting for the Lord” means so much more than taking a breath between each petition. But even a breath multiplied the power of those familiar words.

What if it was wait for two breaths? and then three? What if we really wait for the Lord?

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who doesn’t

like to wait

1 Kings 18:1 - Wk 1 Day 7

After a long time,

In the third year,

The word of the Lord

Came to Elijah.

1 Kings 18:1

One of the classic books in Christian lore is St. John of Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul.

Imagine being a devoted follow of God … imagine hearing from him deeply, personally, and regularly … and then imagine hearing nothing. Nothing! For days … weeks … months … years. What would you call that silence, that emptiness? A “dark night of the soul”?

When Pastor Chotka was here, I was taken by how regularly he “heard” from God. He didn’t express encounters proudly. He constantly, humbly, ponderingly checked them out: “Here’s what I’m hearing. How does that feel to you?”

I began to wonder? How do you learn to know that voice that fully? And then I remember his story for Day 5. Driving through the mountains of British Columbia, crying, it was his biggest crisis in ministry. It was his “dark night of the soul.” It was his moment of “it is hard to preach the Bible … when you are not sure its promises apply to your own life anymore.” Prayer “wasn’t a two-way communication” anymore.

How do you learn to know God voice fully? Maybe it takes a season of listening … and then a season of silence … and then a season of powerful and plentiful communication. Maybe the silences help us hear! Indeed, according to our verse today, Elijah was the greatest of the prophets, and yet God was silent with him for three years. But then what? God’s power broke through in new and powerful ways.

If you’re not hearing from God, one of several things might be happening …

·         This might be a God imposed season of silence (yuck!) before a God imposed season of bigger blessing (yay!).

·         It might mean that you’re out-of-alignment (my devotion from yesterday) or too-far-from-obedience (Power Praying’s Lesson for today).

·         It most probably means that your life is too busy and too noisy and you need to sit before God in greater stillness.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who still needs

to be more still

John 15:7-8 - Wk 1 Day 6

If you abide in me and

my words abide in you ...

then you will bear much fruit.

John 15:7-8

Have you ever played Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey? They blindfold you. They spin you around. Then they let you guess where to stick the pin.

Since a circle is divided into 360 degrees, there's a 1-in-360 chance the tail-pinner will head in the right direction (without a little coaching).

This explains why some prayers are answered and most are not.

If God is the true north on the circle of the compass, then only in 1-in-360 times will we point precisely in his direction on our own. Thus, about 1-in-360 prayers seem to ever find their answer.

As a person accepts Christ, however, they begin to eliminate about half of their old ways. Suddenly twice as many prayers are answered! But the odds of aligning oursevles with God are still only 1-in-180. (Don't we want more power than that?!)

As we grow in faith and immerse ourselves in God's word, we begin to align ourselves more and more with what God is doing. (1-in-90, then 1-in-60, then 1-in-30). It will eventually seem like more and more prayers are answered! But what's really happening is that we're beginning to ask for what God already desires and is already doing.

I love the simplicity of this principle of alignment. Unfortunately, however, there's one problem with this image. It all relies on us.

Fortunately, Jesus gives us an alternative. He draws us in and attaches us to his power. He says, "I am the vine; you are the branches." He is saying, "Life flows through me, and life, joy, strength, and hope happen when you're connected to me."

We could argue that this still requires something of us ... but what it requires is the exact opposite of doing. It's submitting.

·       It’s laying down our own priorities and bending our hearts toward His. (And this means that it's God’s heart that's praying through us.)

·       Submitting is forsaking our personal desires. It’s running from world's passions. It’s conforming our lives, instead, to God's passions. (And when God's passions flow through us, our whole lives are suddenly an outworking of His purposes.)

·       Submission is not a task that you have to accomplish; it's  a life that you choose -- or don't choose -- to immerse yourself in. (And when His life is your life, then His power is your power.)

In Christ's Love,

a 1-in-10 guy

who wants to be 1-in-1

(and one with The One!)