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"?

Declare His Praises!

1 Peter 2:9-10 

9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

This scripture is admonishing us to praise the One who has called us out of darkness. The One who came to this earth and put it all on the line to save our broken lives from emptiness and loss. The One who loves us through anything we face, whether it was our fault or not. The One that goes by the name of Jesus Christ, our Messiah. 

The interesting thing about this scripture is that it does not say to praise Him because you had a nice day and no one interrupted your perfect little world. It doesn't say to praise Him because your car started today. It doesn't say that we should praise Him because our checking accounts are always in the black and there's ample money to go on vacation. It doesn't say to praise Him because those around us always do and say the right things. It doesn't tell us to praise Him for anything that may or may not have happened today, a month ago, or in our lifetime. We are to praise our loving God for what He accomplished on the cross over 2000 years ago! We praise Him because He showed us His great mercy and He called us His own! WOW!

Did you catch that? He called us His own! Just imagine, for a moment, that you are back in Jr. High, and the geekiest, most nerdy kid walks into the lunch room and is trying to find a place to sit. You notice that everyone is spreading out to make sure there is no room for him to sit with them. No one wants to claim him. Why would they not want to be around him? Well, mostly, they are worried that he will hurt their reputations. They are worried that this nerdy dork of a guy will make social mistakes that will embarrass them. 

They want nothing to do with this defective human. Then all of a sudden you stand up and say, "Hey Eugene!" (Eugene is the name of our fake nerd.) "I have been saving you a seat. Come sit by me." You claim him, when no one else would. Isn't this a touching story? Well it IS a true story,  but the sad part is that WE are Eugene and the world is our lunch room. We try to make ourselves fit in so many social circles, but the truth is, none of them will truly accept us for who we are. The truth is that we are all broken and we will all embarrass ourselves and those closest to us with what we say and do. But here is the merciful and loving part. There is one being who is sitting in this lunch room and calling out our name. There is one being who knows every bad decision that we have made and that we will make and still chooses to claim us anyway. That being is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

This is the reason we worship Him. This is the underlying cause for our hearts and minds to daily submit and give God all the worship and honor He deserves. 

The Many Ways We Worship

1. What we do when no one else is watching

2. Sharing testimonies about God's fingerprints in our lives

3. Submitting our decisions to God

4. Allowing God to speak into our lives through His word, His people, and circumstances

5. Being consistent in our walk with Him

6. Following His directions

7. Keeping a tight reign on our tongue

8. Not allowing our minds to wander

9. Serving others

10. Doing a good job at whatever you put your hand to

Oh yeah, I almost forgot--we can sing His praises also :)

So whatever you are facing today, no matter how broken and unusable you feel, don't let it affect the praising of your God. Jesus loves you right where you are at! He loves you for who are! He also knows that if you will just focus on praising Him, He can begin to mend your brokenness. He not only has claimed you as His own, but He also has a great plan for you!

GROW UP!

I don't want to... I don't want to... I don't want to... 

1 Peter 2:1-3

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

This week I was continuing with my studying of 1 Peter and I couldn't get past this portion of scripture. What does it mean to grow up in my salvation? Does this mean studying more? Does it mean putting a bumper sticker about being a Christian on my car, talking in Christian lingo or listening to more Christian music? 

I remember, in my younger days, being told in no uncertain terms that I needed to "grow up." Do you remember being a child and making decisions that seemed to benefit you, with no regard for anyone but yourself? I would like to say that I have grown past this behavior, but I find that even now, on many occasions, my first response is still very child-like. When I read this scripture, the Lord reminded me that He does not want me to stay where I am at; rather, He wants me to continue to grow in what He has for me.

Here are a few questions that I have been asking myself in regards to my own personal growth. Consider it a little self-examination.

1. Do you throw tantrums when you don't get your way?

Just the other day I was watching the interaction of a mom and child at the grocery store. The son wanted a toy and the mother said no. This kid started crying, whining, screaming, and then fell on the ground, throwing his little tantrum. I am sure none of us want to admit that we behave anything like this. However, if we will look a little closer into our lives, we will see that  these tantrums are usually the cause of most arguments with those we love, as well as the breach in our relationship with God. 

2. Do you always have to be right?

My son is a classic example of having to be right. He is only 10 years old, but you would think that he has outlived us by more than 100 years, simply by the way he tries to prove how wrong we are, and how correct he is. Here is what I have learned about being correct:  if I have to argue and fight with someone to prove that I am right, then it probably means that I am insecure about my answer and that I am actually probably wrong.

3. Do you take the time for the healthier things in life and not just the experiences you enjoy?

Or as the famous song goes, "I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys 'R Us kid, there's a million toys at Toys 'R Us that I can play with! More bikes, more trains, more video games, it's the biggest toy store there is! I don't want to grow, because then if I did, I wouldn't be a Toys 'R Us kid!" 

One would think, as an adult, all of the distractions would disappear and it would be easier to focus on the Lord, and not on things I want and crave for. In reality, this is the farthest thing from the truth. As an adult, I find that I rationalize more often, and create more sophisticated lies to my self of why the distractions are necessities, even to the point where I call these distractions gifts from God. I know this is a touchy point so let me make my point very clear. All of the things we accumulate, all of the titles and accomplishments, and all of the extras in this life are not the problem- unless, they are a problem. So, it is up to each of us, individually, to sit before God, and allow Him to evaluate our heart motives. It is on our shoulders to make sure we have people we can trust, in our lives, that will tell us the truth. And it is crucial that we take the time to look in the mirror and see what is hidden in the darker parts of our hearts.

4. Can you follow?

This may be a strange question to ask, because as a young man, I found myself in so much trouble for trying to follow the crowd. But the Lord is teaching me that He is the only one I need to follow, the only voice I need to hear, the only one who truly knows what is best for me and my family. So, can you follow? Not the crowd, but the Lord?

5. Can a moment of your day go by without it being about you?

When my kids were young it seemed every day was all about them. They needed to eat, sleep, poo, change the poo, laugh, play, and then eat and sleep again. If there was a moment of the day that wasn't about them, they would cry and then make it about them again. One of the results of maturity is the ability to allow life to be about other people and their needs and wants, and not only our own.

Final Bonus Question:

Does my faith fall apart if there are moments in life when I do not understand what God is doing?

My answer to this is a bit more complicated than maybe it should be, but the truth is, it depends on the day. There are some days that my faith seems as strong as it ever has 

been, and I can face whatever is thrown at me. Then there are other days where I feel so immature, insecure, lacking the perspective I need to get through the day. One of my biggest prayers is that the Lord helps me mature to the place where my faith is not tied to circumstance but to His unending love and promises.

1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child,

 I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Dear Lord,

Please help me grow up and understand that you have a destiny for my life. Give me strength when the growing pains are overwhelming and the doubts set in. Help me to stop acting like a child and grow up in my salvation. Teach me how to be as committed to this process of growth as you are. I do love you and trust you. Amen

Do You Trust Me?

Why does this seem to be the scariest question that one can ask? Remember on Aladdin, when Aladdin wanted Jasmine to jump out of the window with him? What did he ask her? "Do you trust me?" You can always be sure that when someone asks this question, it implies that there is something around the corner that will possibly shake your world, or maybe even kill you.

Throughout scripture, the Lord constantly asked this very question:

• Abram was asked to leave his comfortable land to a place unknown

• Moses was asked to become a public speaker and leader

• Gideon was asked to fight against thousands of men with only a few hundred soldiers

• King David was asked to walk away from his kingdom

• Jeremiah was asked to prophesy a message of destruction

• Mary, as a teenager, was asked to carry the Son of God

• Peter was asked to walk away from his family business

• Paul was asked to stand up against the very system he fought for

Every time the Lord asked one of these people to follow Him, what He was truly asking was, "DO YOU TRUST ME?"

There is a story that I found years ago that the Lord keeps bringing me back to during this season of my life.

There was a man that was out mountain climbing and rappelling down the side of a mountain with a 500-foot drop. As he was on his way down, part of his climbing gear snapped and he found himself at the end of his rope, hanging on for dear life. He then begin calling out to his maker. "Lord, if you save me, then I will do anything you want. Please help! Just tell me what to do. I will do anything!" Then the Lord spoke up. "Do you trust me?" The man replied to the

Lord, "Of course I trust you. Now will you please save me! I will do anything." The Lord then shared with the man this great plan to save him from his predicament. "If you want to be saved, you just have to do one thing." "What is it?" the man cried out in desperation. "Let go of the rope."

Have you ever found yourself in this situation? I am finding that I do not always understand, or even like God's plans. They seem to ask me to trust in an ending I can't see, and in a process that will probably bring pain before there is completion.

This last week, the Lord kept bringing me back to 

1 Peter, chapter 1.

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

At first glance, this scripture made me smile because of the mercy and hope that is promised. There is an inheritance spoken of that can not spoil or fade. And, ooh, did you read where the almighty God has a great big shield where He will protect us all until we get there? It even speaks of the salvation of our souls. What can be wrong with a chapter that speaks of so many wonderful promises?

It is the part about being refined by the fire and being proved genuine that causes my distress. It is the part of the plan that takes place between the present time and the time when we reach heaven. You see, there have been no promises of an easy, stress-free life offered in scripture. The Bible is very clear that the Lord disciplines those He loves.

Discipline does not always equal punishment. If you were to learn the discipline of silence, it would mean that you have practiced being silent enough that you are able to keep your mouth shut even when it goes against the very nature of what you want to do. The Lord is teaching us to discipline our minds and hearts. The only process that works for us broken, prideful, arrogant humans, is the crucible. The crucible is a vessel that is placed into very hot temperatures and used to melt elements that are placed inside. We must be thrown into the fire from time to time to keep our hearts and minds from wandering astray.

I was reading out of the book of Job with my wife the other day. With each new trial and devastation that came into Job's life, it seemed that God was asking the question, "Do you trust me?" After the first bit of news, I could imagine Job crying out to His maker but remaining as strong in his faith as before. However, after 3 more messengers came, each carrying their own stories of devastation, I would think Job would be very tired of this horrible question.

And yet right now, this also seems to be the question that God is asking me. I would like to be holy and pure and tell you that my faith has remained perfectly strong, and that I trust my God implicitly, but that would be a lie. Walking through the storms the Lord has allowed in life can be very grueling and pain-staking. But I have found that at my weakest moments, when I am ready to throw in the towel, the Lord finds a way to speak hope and peace into my heart, and I am then able to take that next necessary step.

5 Ways You Can Test Your Level of Trust in God

1. Forgive

Allowing the Lord to deal with those who have wounded us, in His time and in His way, is one of the most difficult things for us to do. But if we dwell on the trespasses against us and take matters into our own hands, then we are pushing God aside and pretty much telling Him that we do not trust Him. Believe me, it would be so beautiful if every time someone brought pain and injury into my life, there was this fantastic little button that brought great retribution--a Torture Button! Now don't act like you wouldn't want one of these buttons! But there is only one problem. We would all walk around torturing each other because we have all hurt, offended and maimed one another. Forgiveness is truly the only option.

2. Be Kind To Your Enemy

In the Christian culture of today we do not really call "people" our enemies. We call situations "bad," there are people who "hurt" us, but the only enemy we refer to is Satan and his minions. There is a lot of truth to the concept of people not being our enemy and Satan being the only true nemesis. But Satan is not our only enemy and at times our enemies seem to be living and breathing people. This is why the Lord admonishes us to love our enemies. If Satan was our only enemy then the Lord would not have asked us to love him. 

King David struggled with this. He prayed constantly for help with those enemies that surrounded him:

Psalm 27:5-7

5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. 7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.

So how do we love our enemies? We pray for them, and commit them to the Lord. Like it or not that person is a child of God and He has a great plan for them. Just like He has a great plan for us.

3. Give Away Your Money

It is always interesting to see where my heart is when it comes to the idea of trusting the Lord with my finances. As most of you know, we have recently gone through some major changes with employment. Needless to say the amount of money that is coming into our checking account is pretty much as low as when we were in college (and that is scary). It would be so easy for me to somehow talk myself into all of the reasons that God and those people surrounding us do not need our money as much as we do. However, the truth of it is that we can not afford to stop giving. Not only do God's promises flow through a giving heart, but it is one of the most crucial ways to keep our hearts soft and our eyes focused on God's plan.

4. Serve More Than You Are Being Served

This goes against everything the world teaches and most songs that are being sung. We are told to take care of ourselves and that we are #1. But the Bible makes it very clear that it is the last who will be first. When we serve instead of waiting to be served, we have created an opportunity for the Lord to step in and show His grace in our lives.

5. Follow What You Hear And Not What You See

When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to participate in my first Ropes Course. A Ropes Course is an obstacle course that is designed to teach you about yourself by having you take part in group activities that challenge your ability to trust, to communicate, to follow, etc. On one of the days, they had us blindfolded and expected us to walk on the top of an obstacle course made out of wooden stumps that were about 4 feet off the ground. The leader of this event assigned us a guide that was not blindfolded, and we were told to follow their direction as we walked on the top of these stumps. There were a few problems with this particular scenario. First, I did not have a chance to even see what these stumps looked like, so I was forced to completely trust whatever was being told to me. Second was the fact that I did not know who this person was that was giving me direction. I did not know his name and I sure did not trust him with my life. So the challenge began. You would think that I could just follow the directions that were given, right? But no, not me. Even with me being blindfolded, I somehow thought I was better qualified to decide where to step. But the truth of the matter is I almost fell off of the course every time, until I gave in and just listened to the person leading me. Sadly, this is a lesson I am still trying learn. I need to accept that the Lord is the only one who truly can see what is going on, and I need to not only focus on hearing His voice, but also focus on trusting what He is asking of me.

The Lord's question:

"Do you trust me?"

My response:

"Lord I want to say YES! I want to say that no matter what happens I will trust you and will let go of the rope. But I am finding that there is a war going inside of my mind and heart. There are times that my faith is lacking and I want to grab onto to the nearest solid-looking foundation. Please help my unbelief."

What will your response be?