Strength Unknown

"For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live

Not I but Christ that lives within me

His Cross will never ask for more than I can give

For its not my strength but His

There's no greater sacrifice

For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live"

Crucified with Christ- By Phillips, Craig & Dean

(This song is on my play list for your listening pleasure.)

I was at work setting up my food-service station, listening to worship and just focusing on the Lord, when the song "Crucified for Christ" came on. I have heard this song many times but I am not sure I ever listened to the words or the message. But as the song played, my heart and my spirit felt as if they grew and became stronger. Spiritual steroids will never be a topic that I will preach; but the understanding that the Lord will not ask me for more than I can give hit me so hard. The thought of this truth is even bringing tears to my eyes as I type this right now. You see, I have always preached and tried to live out the idea that is taught in Luke chapter 9--

Luke 9:23

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me,

he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

There have been times that bearing this cross has been so overwhelming that the idea of ridding myself of the burden of it seemed the only way to survive the crushing weight. However, this cross that we have been asked to bear can and will only be manageable through the strength of our Creator. The cross will never ask more of me than He, my Lord, will give me strength for. So what does this mean? How does this play out in my day to day living?

• When the tapestry of this life seems to be ripping in pieces with no hope for the future--He will hold this life together. In fact, He has already laid out the future! He already knows what that tapestry will look like and it makes Him smile.

• When relationships become strained and we feel surrounded by a sea of sadness--He can bring wholeness and give us a reason to smile once more!

• When the way has been lost and darkness has surrounded us--He will be our light and lead us back to the right path!

• When all of those promises seem broken and breathing seems difficult--He will show us the way!

• When what we have earned has been stripped of us and we feel unprotected and naked--He will guard us and wrap us in His arms of true protection!

During this last week, I was spending some time worshipping the Lord and He broke my heart for Him once more. You see, during this season of my life, my brain keeps coming up with the idea that the Lord is not paying attention to me and is not walking with me the way I think He should. My heart tells me differently but, in moments of weakness, my brain wins out and I find that some of my days are sadder than they should be. But the Lord reminded me--and also wants to remind you--that He is right there with us. He is walking through every storm and every situation. Just because life has its obstacles and tragedies does not mean that He is not present. Our God never once promised to save us from every heartache that we would face. Instead, He promises to never leave us or forsake us. He promises to give us strength in our weakest hours. He promises to give us joy and hope to replace the darkness and pain. Last February, I wrote a song about these feelings I have had and, as I was playing it this week, it was like the Lord reached over and gave me a big hug. This may sound a bit strange, but it was very real to me, and I hope that as you read these words, you might have that same experience. Our God is real and His love is amazing! I think our biggest problem is that we all have spiritual amnesia and too easily forget who our God is and what He has done for us. Here are the words...

Where Were You?

By Kristopher Dahir

(My questions)

Where were you when the storms came calling my name?

Where were you when my life had darkness and shame?

Where were you when my world was full of blame?

Where were you? Where were you? Where were you?

Where were you when the fog and the flood poured in?

Where were you when the night was dark and so dim?

Where were you when my heart was broken again?

Where were you? Where were you? Where were you?

(The Lord's response)

I was there with my arms reaching to you.

Calling your name, calming your fears.

I am here don’t you fear, my child, my love

I am here, I am here, I am here!

I was there when the storms came calling your name.

I was there through all of the darkness and shame.

I was there when your world was filled with blame.

I was there, I was there, I was there!

I was there when the fog and the flood poured in.

I was there when your night was dark and so dim.

I was there when your heart was broken again.

I was there, I was there, I was there!

(My response)

You were there with your arms reaching to me.

Calling my name., calming my fears.

You were there I won’t fear, my God and my King.

You were there, you were there you were there!

(My challenge to you)

He is here with His arms reaching to you.

Calling your name, calming your fears.

He is hear don’t you fear, He’s your God and your King.

He is here, He is here, so don’t fear!

May God bless you this week. Whatever you face, remember that you are NOT alone! In closing, I am going to steal an excerpt out of a devotional that my wife and I read together. This devotional is talking about guidance and God's ultimate plan for us by looking at the life of Joseph out of the book of Genesis chapter 50.

"Joseph's brothers had sold him into slavery. It was an unexpected turn, especially in light of the dreams he had recently had. Joseph wasn't off track. The plans of his brothers for harm fit with the plans of God for good. Though everyone involved was quite unaware of God's hand, their steps were ordained by Him. He had seen the whole tragedy ahead of time and woven His plan into it. Or He had seen the plan and woven the tragedy into it. We're not sure exactly how His sovereignty operates in the self-will of humanity, but know that it does. Even when life throws the unexpected at us, it is never unexpected for God. He always has a plan." 

Written by Chris Tiegreen

Simple Pleasures

Why does life get so complicated that we allow the most precious moments we have to pass us by so quickly? This week the Lord is reminding me that He wants me to spend time in His presence. No, He doesn’t want me to sing to Him. And no, that is not because my voice hurts Him--he actually loves my singing (if you can believe that!). He is not asking me to spend more time reading His Word, though He knows how beneficial that can be. He is, however, asking me to simply hang with Him. As a father, I can relate with His request. I love when my kids just want to sit and talk. Or maybe we even just sit there on our porch swing, not even saying a word, but just watching the sunset, allowing it to warm our hearts. Just yesterday, I was talking to my son Noah and, though he may drive me crazy at times, he is such an impressive young man. As I sat and listened to him ramble about what was going on in that simple and yet complex mind of his, I came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter what he was saying or how much sense he made. The only thing that I cared about is that my son wanted to talk to me. My son took time away from wanting to play video games, eat food, play with our doggy, read, play outside and whatever else to spend time with his dad. Man, did that make me smile!

I believe our Lord feels the same way. When we come to Him, we do not have to say everything correctly, wear the "right" type of clothes, or even make sense out of the ramblings of our heart. He just loves that we long to be with Him.

This may sound very strange, but I am much more comfortable with all of the ritualistic ways that I have relationship with the Lord than I am with just spending time with Him. Growing up in church since I was 7 years old, and pastoring for the last 15 years, has taught me that the main ways to approach God are through worship, prayer and reading His Word. There is nothing wrong with these forms of spending time with the Lord, but they can be very limiting to a deep relationship if we cannot press farther than the guidelines of religiosity that we have learned.

Let me explain: Have you ever thought about heaven? There are many people who think heaven is going to be so very boring because all they are going to do is worship and sing the whole time. This type of thinking spawns from the idea that God is only approachable through certain forms or methods. What if spending time with the Lord could come in the form of fishing and enjoying nature, sitting and reading a good book together, watching a football game, eating a great meal, or going for a run? This all may sound like the Virginia air has officially broken down my mental capacities, but I assure you, it is quite the opposite. I have never in my life had things laid out so simply.

The only life that is worth living will be found in surrender to the Lord. It truly does not matter what we face as long as we are resting in His loving arms.

Psalm 23 A psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

I have read this scripture so many times and I am not sure until today that I have truly understood most of it. This scripture is probably one of the most read and memorized scriptures in all of the Bible, but is also probably one of the most ignored.

Let's just begin with the first verse. "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want."

Have you been in want? I hate to say it, but I can't say that I have been around a human being--including myself--who knows how to do this. Our biggest problems in life stem from these corrupted desires that sink into our hearts and then are slowly rationalized by our mind until they give full birth to action. If we could just be content with our Good Shepherd, then our lust for things would stop hurting those we love and causing damage to our own personal lives.

Though we could spend a lot of time just talking about the first verse, today's teaching is more focused on verse 2.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet water, He restores my soul."

This scripture is not about religious attempts to know a distant God. This scripture is about an intimate relationship that has no bounds. It is about a God who loves you the most and a God who loves me the most. Due to some life circumstances, I have had to face some personal insecurities that I thought I had buried so deep no one would ever find them. They were buried so deep that I actually thought they did not exist. Boy, was I wrong! Not only do they exist, but they actually seem tired of not being able to express themselves, and are fighting to make themselves heard. My first response to these insecurities was to try to push them back down in the grave I tried to bury them in years ago. Then I tried to fight them with all of the wisdom and strength I had... yes, I lost that battle quickly. As I was coming to the end of my strength and sanity, the Lord, once again, as He has done so many times in my life, invited me into His chambers and, with all of the love that I know of, asked me if I was finished. What could this mean? Was I finished? Did this mean I was too weak to complete the task at hand? He then went on to ask if I was finished trying to convince myself, my family, my friends, my church, and my God that I was strong enough to hold myself together. And He was right! I was finished! He then reminded me that all that was required of me was to sit at His feet and He would give me the strength, peace, hope, joy and anything else that might be needed to face life's circumstances.

I am here today to tell you that the Lord is my Shepherd. I am doing all I can to not want for anything but Him. I am relaxing in His presence in the greenest pastures that I have ever lived in. And yes, He is restoring my soul!

Trying to Hide

Imagine that you are being asked to step up and take part in the very thing that you have been avoiding every day of your life since you can remember. At this point, you don't even remember why it is that you have feared this day; but the few times that you have come close to this predicament, you have felt your blood pressure begin to raise, your hands get a little balmy, your throat tightens just enough that your voice would come out a bit strained if you had to speak, and your head would began to spin as if a very bad case of vertigo had set in. This thing you fear is the same for every human being walking this earth--but no one really talks about. Each individual keeps walking around, day by day, as if no one could understand or possibly relate to the tumultuous fear that haunts them. What is this thing that is feared at times more than even death? It is the fear that someone might find out who we really are and what really goes on inside of our most secret of places--our hearts and minds!

1 Peter 3:14b-15

"Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord."

So what is it that you fear the most? Have you ever really sat down and thought about it? Scripture admonishes us to not fear what they fear. It tells us to not be frightened.

Wouldn't it be amazing if when we gave our life to the Lord, that immediately all of our fears dissolved? I remember being a young man and being scared of the dark. I remember watching the movie "The Shining," and being so terrified that I was afraid to go to the bathroom by myself! I remember being asked to get up in front of the class to share my project and wanting to run out of the room out of fear of making a fool of myself. I remember asking that special girl to go to homecoming with me just hoping that she would say, "Yes." How scary that was! I remember the day I got married and the fear in my heart that I would let down this beautiful gift that the Lord has given me. I remember the fear of my first sermon preached wondering if the Lord was going to strike me dead for blasphemy. I remember the day that my wife was giving birth to my son and because of complications my imagination started telling me that I was going to leave the hospital without a child and maybe without a wife. These were all fearful times that were difficult to face, but as I ran to the Lord, He helped me through each one. Now I am a grown man and have seen the Lord do many miracles. My faith supposedly has grown to a place where I am to be an example for others; yet I still find myself wanting to curl up in a ball out of fear. Not fear of other people, not fear of failure, not even fear of the future. What scares me the most is the fear of facing what is residing inside of me. Fear that the Lord will find out who I really am. Fear that the Lord will find out that I don't really trust Him.

I have been reading a book called "The Shack," written by William P. Young. It has been quite a difficult book for me to read, but it has caused me to face many things that are residing inside of my mind and heart. At one point in the book there is a conversation between the main character, Mackenzie, and God. God told this man what his real problem was and, I hate to say it, but I think it is my problem as well.

"The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don't think I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything- the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives- is all covered by my goodness, then, while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don't." God finishes this thought with these words. "Trust is the fruit of a relationship where you know you are loved. Because you don't know that I love you, you cannot trust me."

After reading this part of the book, I wanted to throw it across the room. Who would write a book that has so much naked truth in it? However, instead of throwing the book, I dropped to my knees and cried out to Him. I want to know and trust my God. I would like to be able to give you 10 steps to know God's love or some kind of formula that will produce the desired result of knowing and trusting God, but I don't know them. There is one step that I do know to do, and I am trying to do it every day--sit at Jesus's feet and ask Him to continue to show you His love.

As I sit here tonight writing to you, please know that there is a smile on my face. I actually think that maybe, for the first time in a long time, I do not feel any pressure to be anything or anyone but one of God's children. There is no longer a reason to hide, because I know my Father simply loves me for me!

A Strange Request

Have you ever noticed how many strange requests there are in scripture? In my mind, here are just a few of the strangest situations:

• When God told Abram to leave his home but never really told him where to go to. Just go! Imagine packing everything up and trying to explain to your wife that you have no destination but you need to leave. 
• Then there was Noah, who was asked to build a boat in the middle of no where. The people must of thought he was nuts!
• Oh yeah! Don't forget when Moses was required by God to walk into Pharaoh's chambers and demand that he let all of Egypt's 1,000,000+ slaves go free. To enter Pharaoh's chambers uninvited was certain death even without this strange request.

These are pretty bizarre ideas that the Lord came up with, but, because we can read the whole story from beginning to end, it is easy for us to pass over the difficulty that each of these men and their families must have had trying to follow God's request.

I am beginning to believe that the Lord truly enjoys asking us to do things that go against our very nature. He wants to challenge us to not only great feats and accomplishments, but also to success in our daily battles of how we deal with the people that surround us. This next reading out of scripture has taken my heart and brain and made them feel as if the Lord is trying to squeeze out of me something that is not presently resident. It's like He's taking a sponge that is completely dry and expecting to get a glass of water out of it.

1 Peter 3

8Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For,
"Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
11He must turn from evil and do good;he must seek peace and pursue it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.

For those of us who want to do good and love life:

1. Watch what you say!

2. Turn from evil!

3. Seek and pursue peace!

4. Be eager to do good!

These requests sound like reasonable ideas, don't they? They are not always easy, but they make sense and are very practical. Then we arrive at verse 14. This scripture is the one that has my stomach in knots.

"But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed."

What could this possibly mean? Why should we suffer for doing the right thing? And if I am doing the right thing and I begin to suffer doesn't that mean that I should change my behavior? After all, who wants to suffer? 

I don't like the statement that Peter has written and I definitely struggle with the connotation that just because I do the right thing does not mean that it will produce the fruit I am seeking. In my initial thinking of this scripture,I am reminded of a farmer who went to the store and bought peach tree seeds. He was very excited, went home and planted them right away. He could just taste the sweetness of the fruit even though it would take years to grow. Year by year he took care of this seed and watched it turn into a beautiful fruit tree. When it was finally time for the fruit to begin to appear, the tree blossomed and yet, instead of the peaches, it produced something that was sour and repugnant, and completely inedible. Given the details of this story, you would think that this farmer was lied to or had been cheated. Have you ever been this farmer? Have you ever believed that your actions would produce your desired result, only to find out you had been misled, misinformed or simply made assumptions that now leave you baffled? When we make mistakes or decide to be disobedient we expect to have sour fruit. But when we think we have done the job correctly it is a definite shock to the system to find that this tree you have been grooming did not turn out to bear the fruit that was expected.

Here are a few simple but profound truths to the story about this farmer that we must realize:

1. Not one of us is capable of doing the right thing!

The story is flawed from the start. If you think that you are doing so many things correctly and that life is just unfair, then maybe it is time for you to reexamine who you really are inside, and what devilish activities go on in your heart and mind, and even slip out from time to time for all to see. We are all broken and need the touch of our Lord to create anything good.

2. We are not promised the results of our work until we reach heaven!

God's blessings are here on this earth and there are great plans that He has for us. Yet, some of these plans will drive us smack into some of the fiercest storms we have ever seen. You see, His promises rotate around an inner peace and hope that can only be found by being close to Jesus. True blessing is not found in items we collect, the amount of money in our bank accounts, having perfect relationships where no one ever hurts each other, or having no aches and pains in our physical bodies. True blessing will be found in that day that we stand before our Lord and He shows us the true fruit that we have planted. I have to admit that over the last few months I was becoming a bit confused about this very point. I am trying with all my heart to not allow disappointing circumstances to blind me from the truth of His blessings.

3. We must allow the Lord and His Word to be our guide as to what is right and true!

Our emotions, the world's advice into our situations, our own wisdom, and all of that intelligence you think you have collected over the years will only bring confusion and lead you astray. You see, living for Jesus has many strange requests that go against our human nature. It is not natural to love someone that your mind is telling you to despise. It is unnatural to forgive someone who has hurt you. It is a strange feeling to give away your last bit of money out of obedience to the Lord. There is nothing normal about walking in faith and obedience to scripture. But don't be fooled! It is out of the abnormal requests that the most amazing miracles are fulfilled.

So it comes down to this. Will you trust the Lord? When He makes these strange requests, will you tell Him how wise and intelligent you are, and give Him all of your reasons why you think He is wrong? Or will you simply say "YES"?