Taking God's Patience for Granted

Last week I was traveling with my son on a bus taking a tour of some historical sites. Our tour guide stressed punctuality over and over again. She kept telling us that if we were not on the bus at the right time, the bus would leave us. She was not trying to be mean. She made it clear that the purpose for this emphasis on punctuality was that a group our size had specific times assigned to us to tour certain sites and if we missed the allotted time, the whole group would miss the tour. So each individual had to be responsible for being on the bus when it was time to move on to the next location so that the rest of the group did not miss some wonderful opportunities.

Despite our tour guide's clear warnings, there always seemed to be one or two people who were late. Though the guide was patient, there came a moment when she said we had to leave, and off we drove without one of our tour participants. Fortunately, that person was able to catch a cab and join us later that day, but the whole group learned a valuable lesson, don't take the tour guide's patience for granted!

That reminds me of the truth expressed in 2 Peter 3:9-10, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed."

Like so many truths we encounter in life, there are positive and negative aspects to how we relate to the Lord. These verses remind us that God is patient. I am thankful for that patience, aren't you? But these verses also remind us that one day Jesus is coming back and then judgement will come. So while we can be thankful for His patience, let us not take it for granted. For payday comes someday. Let us watch and pray and be ready for that day.

Lord, help us hear Your clear instructions and live in readiness of Your return. Amen.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Enjoy the Frustrations of Living

Psalm 30:1-5 - I will exalt You, Lord, because You have lifted me up and have not allowed my enemies to triumph over me. Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. Lord, You brought me up from Sheol; You spared me from among those going down to the Pit. Sing to Yahweh, you His faithful ones, and praise His holy name. For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor, a lifetime. Weeping may spend the night, but there is joy in the morning.

I like things all planned out. But sometimes, no matter how much we plan, things happen that are beyond our control. I recall once planning a special service to license a pastor to the ministry. We had invited a number of special guests to be part of the service. Everyone was excited about the special service. The church we were meeting in did to have their own building, they rented space on a college campus. When we arrived to set up things for the service, the building manager informed us that there had been a last minute change in plans. They needed the large room we normally use to accommodate someone in the administration. They had reassigned us to a much room across the sprawling campus complex. With only minutes until the service began, we had to move all our stuff to a different building and quickly set it up. There was little time to inform members of the congregation where we relocated to. The alternative meeting location was on the third floor of a building and down several maze-like hallways. It was hard to find and even harder to explain to our special guests who had not been on campus before. It seemed like the service was going to be a disaster. Our leadership team started calling and texting members of the congregation and special guests to tell them how to find the new location. It was a very stressful situation and our plans for a special service felt like they were rapidly evaporating.

Eventually, we got everything set up and began the service only ten minutes behind schedule. People kept trickling in as they discovered where we were. To our surprise, we ended up having a record attendance that morning! The service itself went great. As we prayed over the pastor to license him, all the frustration seemed to melt away and a sense of real joy filled the room. In the end, God got the glory, and His Word was proclaimed during the service.

Life is like that. Unexpected things happen that raise stress levels. God works through them and blesses the situation anyway. Then another challenge happens, and God works through that too. It happens again and again, but each time God works through the situation and brings glory to His name. The frustrations of life are many, but so are the joys when we keep our focus on Him. The joy of knowing and serving Christ make the frustrations of life worth it. If we just keep exalting the Lord, even in the midst of chaos and sadness, joy eventually comes.

Lord, give us joy in the midst of the struggles of life. Amen.

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This devotional is from the book “Heavenly Mundane” by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett. Dr. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Being Disappointed With God – Guest Post by Brian Robinson

Life is full of ups and down. At times we experience joy because of the events that happen in our lives. Other times we are discouraged and hurting...also because of the events in our lives.

We have often been told that God doesn't disappoint. But I'd respectfully disagree.

In John 11, Mary and Martha send word to Jesus that Lazarus is sick. And Jesus says the sickness won't end in death. And then stays right where he is as Lazarus dies. The scriptures literally say, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days." The messengers return to Mary and Martha and give the report: "It's not going to end in death." And Lazarus promptly dies.

Mary and Martha are disappointed. They were hurt, grieving, and feeling abandoned by their friend, Jesus.

When Jesus finally showed up, Martha says, "If you'd been here, Lazarus would not have died." And she's right. Jesus could have come and healed. Or he even could have healed from a distance. Instead, he let Lazarus die. Yes, he had a greater plan. But...in the meantime...they were disappointed.

Which gets to the point: We have a right to expect THAT God will love us. The scriptures say that he does. But...we have no right to dictate HOW his love must be shown. Jesus knows how it all turns out. But I'm pretty sure we don't.

We can become disappointed and disillusioned- not just with our calling and ministry, but even with God...when we place upon God actions consistent with our expectations of how His love must be shown in our lives. In other words, I will be disappointed when, as Keller puts it, I judge God's love by my circumstances rather than judging my circumstances by His love. And sometimes, the greater thing is for God to grow me through the trials and cause me to lean more heavily on him.

In the end, both life and ministry are hard. Victories will come and go. So will disappointments. Don't anchor yourself to circumstances or situations. Or you'll become enslaved to them and your happiness will become dependent on circumstances outside your control.

Your God loves you. Jesus died for you. And that's enough.

Brian Robinson is the pastor of Layman Church in Roanoke, Virginia. His favorite verse is, “you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. Because he trusts in you.”

Emotional Orphans

I recently listened to a reporter on the nightly news interview a mother with a severely handicapped child. She said her greatest struggle was that she often felt alone. Very few people could understand her unique situation and that frequently left her isolated emotionally and physically. Over the years of my ministry, I have met many people who faced challenging life circumstances. That sense of loneliness seems to be a common experience.

Though we all have different challenges to endure, we can all acknowledge that life is sometimes hard. In those moments, we may feel all alone in the world. One person expressed that feeling this way; she said “I feel like emotional orphan without a family to love me.” Many of us have felt that way at some point or another. Our loneliness and isolation can become like shackles that hold us back and rob us of the peace and comfort that we need to thrive. In those moments it is good to remember what Jesus said in John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." Jesus also said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

Troubles and difficulties will always be part of life. Knowing that we are not alone, that we are not orphans without a Heavenly Father to care of us, brings comfort in the midst of trials. Having a strong connection with Jesus gives us peace in the midst of pain and lifts our hearts when we are troubled.

Those of us who know Jesus have experienced this comfort and peace many times but still need to be reminded of them in our moments of travail. Those who do not know Jesus often long for the peace He offers though they may not be able to express that desire in theological words. If you do not know Jesus, turn to Him today. Open your heart and mind to His love and commit to follow Him for the rest of your life. Receiving Jesus does not mean that all our problems will go away, but it does mean that we will no longer be spiritual orphans in this world.

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Terry Dorsett has been a church planter and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. Find all of his books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Haman’s Fall

Esther 6:12-13 - Then Mordecai returned to the King’s Gate, but Haman, overwhelmed, hurried off for home with his head covered.  Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai is Jewish, and you have begun to fall before him, you won’t overcome him, because your downfall is certain.”

In the story of Esther, we meet Haman, who was an enemy of the Jews. Haman plotted genocide against the Jews, but had a special hatred for one particular Jew, Mordecai, who refused to bow down to him as he walked by.

In chapter six, the King realized that Mordecai once had done him a great favor that had not yet been rewarded, so he called Haman in and told him to go honor Mordecai for the unrewarded deed. Though Haman hated Mordecai, he had no choice but to do what the King commanded, even if he loathed every moment of it.

When Haman got home that night he whined to his family and friends about having to pay homage to Mordecai that day, the very Jew who had refused to honor him. He was expecting sympathy. But their answer to him was startling: “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him" (Esther 6:12 NAS).

It is amazing that Haman's friends, who had no love for the Jews, recognized that the Jews were special and that Haman would not be able to stand against them. Whether Haman's friends had access to the Old Testament or not, they clearly understood the teaching of Genesis 12:3, where God promised Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Almost since the beginning of Jewish history, there have been those who have sought to destroy the Jewish people. Time and time again they have been persecuted, often with great enthusiasm. But through God's supernatural protection, the Jewish people have survived.

In our century, the media have somehow painted the Jews as the bad people of the Middle East. Any effort they make to defend themselves from far superior numbers of enemies gets spun to somehow make the Jews the aggressors instead of the victims. We may not always agree with the tactics that the modern nation of Israel uses against her enemies, but we should not be foolish enough to put ourselves in Haman’s place. The Jews are still God's chosen people, and if we stand against them, our fall is inevitable.

Lord, help us be a blessing to the Jewish people and remember that if we bless them, You will bless us, but if we curse them, then we will be cursed. Amen.

This post is an excerpt from the book, The Heavenly Mundane: Daily Devotions from Ordinary Experiences. Filled with stories of how God spoke in big ways through small events, the book will encourage people to look for God in the mundane things of life. Great for both personal use and to give as a gift to friend, either the print version or the e-book version may be purchased at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MJ2UE4E

Danger in the Midst of Beauty

Most mornings I take a long walk. I walk both for my physical health and for my spiritual health. I pray while I walk and think through sermons and mediate on scripture.

One of the places I walk is a trail around the town reservoir near my home. The trail has lovely water views, views of the Hartford skyline and of course lovely trees. This fall the trees have been particularly striking as they displayed their fall colors.

New England in the fall is breath taking. It is hard for me to understand how anyone can be in New England in the fall and not believe in an all powerful Creator who displays His handiwork in such glorious ways. And yet, the vast majority of people in New England do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is one of least religious regions of our nation. Millions live in the middle of all this beauty yet are in danger of losing their souls for eternity.

The other day I was taking my morning walk and was meditating on this truth when I looked up in a tree and saw a huge hornet's nest. The maple tree was ablaze in all it's fall glory, but hidden in all those glorious leaves was this hornet's nest. The nest was about 2 feet tall and hanging from a branch in a maple tree and filled with danger. I was struck by the thought that this was a vivid reminder of the contrast between danger and beauty that exists in our world. So many people are on edge of a spiritual cliff. The devil wants them to miss the Creator behind the creation so they fall off the cliff. The devil wants them to feel the pain of the hornets of life and become bitter at God, though the devil is the one actually causing the pain. The devil wants people to miss out on the most beautiful thing of all, which is faith in Jesus Christ, and he will do anything to distract people from finding that faith.

I have dedicated my life to helping people in New England see the hornet's nest and recognize what it is so they can turn to Christ before it is too late. Would you join me in prayer for spiritual revival in New England? Would you consider adding feet to your prayers through joining us in our efforts? The harvest is great, but the laborers are few.

Lord, help us share Your love with those who live in New England. Help us help them avoid the hornet's nest of sin and find Your love instead.


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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter and author who has lived in New England since 1993. He is a happy father of three young adults, a blessed husband of one great wife, a joyful grandfather, a thankful cancer survivor and convinced that New England needs Jesus more than ever!

The God of Angel Armies

2 Kings 6:16-17 - Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.” So the Lord opened the servant’s eyes. He looked and saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Elisha was being pursued by the king of Aram, one of Israel’s long-time enemies. The king was upset because God had been revealing the king’s battle plans to Elisha through supernatural means. Elisha would then tell his own people those plans so they could intervene. The king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a massive army to surround the city where Elisha lived. The next morning when one of Elisha’s assistants woke up and saw the army, he could not imagine how they would survive the coming attack. Elisha responded by saying, “Those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.” Elisha then asked God to open the eyes of his assistant so that the young man could see the supernatural army of horses and chariots of fire that surrounded Elisha’s position. Then God used a miracle to lead the attacking army away, and as a result, the Arameans stopped raiding the Israelite territory.

Though many centuries have passed since that event took place, God is still doing supernatural events around us. We often get so focused on our problems and difficulties that, like Elisha’s servant, we wonder in despair how we will endure. In those times we need to remember that God has legions of angels at His command. We need to remember that God has never been defeated in all of history. God has a plan and is working that plan out for ultimate good in the universe. We need to remember that God’s forces always outnumber the enemy, and in the end, God’s side always wins. We need our eyes to be opened so that we can see what God is doing around us and take comfort in the power He has at His disposal to do things in ways we never could have dreamed of. Our hearts do not need to be troubled. We need to believe in Jesus and look to Him for our hope!

Lord, help us trust You, even when it seems humanly impossible for our situation to work out well. Amen.

This post is an excerpt from the book, The Heavenly Mundane: Daily Devotions from Ordinary Experiences. Filled with stories of how God spoke in big ways through small events, the book will encourage people to look for God in the mundane things of life. Great for both personal use and to give as a gift to friend, either the print version or the e-book version may be purchased at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MJ2UE4E

The Potter and the Clay

It happened again the other day. I was having a conversation with an intelligent well educated young man who was struggling in his faith. Though he used lofty terms and fancy philosophical talk to express himself, what it boiled down to was that he did not like the way God was running the world. He did not understand why God allowed certain  things to happen in his own life. God's purposes in many things did not make sense to him. Therefore, he concluded, God must not be real.

I have these conversation often with young adults. They are not debates. Normally the people I have these conversations with are not angry (or least not at me!). But they are struggling to come to terms with what they see in the world around them and with what they are experiencing in their own lives. Though I wish I had some easy answers to give them that would make everything crystal clear in their minds and help them resolve all their inner conflicts, I rarely find easy answers to such complex questions.

To be honest, I am not sure there are answers for some questions, at least not answers that our finite minds can totally grasp. I think some things are just mysteries and we have to accept them as part of life. Some mysteries are wonderful, such as when we fall in love. Other mysteries are not so wonderful, such as when someone we love hurts us deeply. Both are mysteries. Most people will experience both in life.

For people of faith, such as myself, we accept that God's wisdom is deeper than our own. Though our understanding of some things is limited by our finite minds, God's mind is infinite and sees things from not just a bigger perspective, but from an entirely different perspective. One of the mysteries that people of faith have learned to accept is that God knows what He is doing, even when it makes no sense whatsoever to us.

Those without faith struggle to accept the reality that an all-knowing God is working things out in a way that is right and just. They observe things that do not make sense to their limited understanding of the universe and wrongly conclude that God has made a mistake, or does not exist at all. Some rage against God in their frustration at not being able to understand all that He is doing. The words of the prophet Isaiah come to mind. "Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? Who knows us? You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, He did not make me; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, He has no understanding (Isaiah 29:15-16)?

Though there will be times we do not understand what God is doing in the world around us, or in our own lives, we must remember that He is the potter and we are the clay. He molds us and shapes us in ways that set a course for us to discover His purpose for our lives. Just as a piece of clay lacks the ability to understand why a potter is kneading it, so we often lack understanding of why God does certain things. But in the end, a good potter makes something worthwhile out of a lump of clay. Likewise, a good God will make something worthwhile out of our lives, indeed, out of our entire messed up world, as He continues kneading us into what we should be. Instead of raging against God, let us humbly thank Him today for molding and shaping us into something of great value.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, giggling grandfather, thankful cancer survivor, and the author of numerous books aimed at helping small churches become healthier and individual Christians grow in their faith. You can find his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-TerryDorsett

A Sure Foundation

A few days ago I wrote about the importance of being on the side of truth. Feel free to read that article here: http://thoughtsfromdrt.blogspot.com/2014/06/on-side-of-truth.htmlz. I want to follow up on that article with a little more insight into the concept of truth.

Our culture has lied to itself and declared each person capable of creating their own version of truth. Supposedly, we can rely on our reasoning powers, our education, our feelings, and our interactions with those around us as authoritative sources of truth. While these sources of information can be quite helpful to us in certain situations, none of them are perfect. Sometimes our reasoning fails us, no matter how much we hate to admit it. Sometimes our education is insufficient, other times it is just plain wrong because the information is flawed. Our feelings are fleeting and make for a very poor source of enlightenment. Even our interactions with others can be flawed because people are not perfect and therefore cannot give us a perfect picture of truth. If we only get input from one type of person, we begin to think that the whole world thinks like that, when in reality, it may just be a portion of society. We need some source of truth outside ourselves that can guide us.

Fortunately, God is a source of such truth. The prophet Isaiah reminds us “thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: Whoever believes will not be in haste. And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies (Isaiah 28:16-17). God Himself has laid the cornerstone for human society. A society built upon a proper understanding of God will have a sure foundation and a precious cornerstone on which everything else can rest. God is the one who has decided what is ultimately right, which He calls righteousness. Though others may create convincing lies that say otherwise, there will come a day when all the lies will be swept away and only the truth of God will remain.

I believe our culture is rapidly approaching that day. The web of lies and self-deceit is now so convoluted that it will soon begin to collapse in on itself. We are far from being "more enlightened" than previous generations. Our marriages are falling apart. Our finances are in disarray. Our prisons are full and our churches are empty. Our attempts to build our culture on something other than a strong faith in God has utterly failed. It is time to try something different. I suggest something ancient, faith in the one true God of heaven. Instead of building our lives on fleeting emotion, ever shifting public opinion, or our own faulty reasoning skills, let us build it upon Him, who offers us a sure foundation to stand upon.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, giggling grandfather, thankful cancer survivor, and the author of numerous books aimed at helping small churches become healthier and individual Christians grow in their faith. You can find his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-TerryDorsett

Good Friday 2014 Meditation

Good Friday. What a name for a day on which something so terrible happened. To think that an innocent man was brutally murdered in front of an approving crowd is almost unimaginable, except that it actually happened.

Good Friday shows the depths of the depravity of man. It shows how low people will sink to protect their political aspirations, their theological assumptions, their place in the world. It shows how even good people will deny to know the truth or hide in the shadows while great horror happens around them, which begs the question, are they actually good?

Good Friday also shows the glory of the love of God. That He would endure such agony for us is something hard to fathom. None of us deserve it. None of us can truly appreciate it. None of us would even understand it without the gift of grace. Yet, while we were yet sinners, God demonstrated His love for us by allowing Jesus to die for us (Romans 5:8).

What makes this day good is not the agony of Jesus, but the love He had for those He was in agony for. Because of what happened on this day, every good and perfect gift can now come to us from the Lord who does not change like the ever shifting court of public opinion (James 1:17). He has declared that He loves us. And that declaration stands. No matter what. Hard to accept, and yet it is true.

Let us remember Good Friday on days in which we feel unloved, or unlovable. Let us remember that He has decided that He loves us and nothing can change that. Nothing. Period. We can resist that love (which does not change the fact that He still loves us), or we can embrace that love (which gives us great peace and comfort). I chose to embrace it, and that makes this day good.

Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a Christian leader in New England since 1993. He is a happy husband, proud father, thankful cancer survivor, and the author of numerous books aimed at helping small churches become healthier and individual Christians grow in their faith. You can find his books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/

Following Instructions

A few days ago I wrote about helping a church planter with his secular job that enables him to support his ministry role (read that post here). During that experience I also learned something important about following instructions. As you may recall from my earlier post, the church planter's secular job is to assemble movie displays for theatres. These are not simple "open the box and put the display on the wall" kind of affairs. These are "open the box and spend three hours inserting tab A into slot B while attaching strap C to holder D" kind of projects. Clearly whoever designed these displays were brilliant engineers with a flair for thinking of ways to make cardboard look like a whole city block. Since I am not an engineer, it took a while to even understand the difference between tab A and tab J and holder D and holder Z. WOW, it was complicated! But, by following the directions one step at a time, and with the help of the church planter, who had already assembled many similar displays, we got the project done. And it looked pretty good when it was finished.

There are a lot of parallels between my experience in display making and real life. Life is complicated. We do not just "open life up and set it on a shelf." In order to make life work, there are a lot of things that have to be done in the correct order and at the correct time. If we skip a step, life ends up lopsided, or looking weird. We need a set of directions for how to get through life. And it also helps if we have a friend or two who are a little more experienced in life than we are who can help us figure it out along the way.

Fortunately, life does in fact come with a set of instructions. We call it the Bible. I know many people think the Bible is out of date and no longer relevant to our post modern culture. But when I read the Bible each morning, I see people dealing with many of the very same problems that I hear about on the news each night. Financial issues, family problems, war, crime, messed up governments, churches that are doing the right thing, and churches that are doing some terrible things. Yep, all those stories and more are in the Bible. Perhaps if we started reading it, we would learn how to get our lopsided lives straightened out. And when we get involved in a church, we can find a friend or two that is a little farther a long in their life journey than we are, and they can give us some tips along the way to help us get through the rough spots.

Though life is complicated, if we follow the instructions God gave us in the Bible, and have some mature Christians friends to help us out, life can end up looking pretty good when we get to the end.

For more devotionals like this one, consider Touching the Footprints of Jesus. 

Haman's Fall Was Inevitable

I have been reading through the book of Esther in my personal devotions. Yesterday I was fascinated by one verse in chapter 6. In case you have forgotten the story told in Esther, Haman, an enemy of the Jews, had plotted to commit genocide against God's chosen people. Haman had a special hatred for one particular Jew, named Mordecai, who refused to honor him as he wanted to be honored.

In chapter 6 the King realized that Mordecai had once done him a great favor that had not yet been rewarded, so he called Haman in and told him to go honor Mordecai for the unrewarded deed. Though Haman hated Mordecai, he had no choice but to do what the King commanded, but loathed every moment of it.

When Haman got home that night he whined to his family about how he had to honor Mordecai that day, the very Jew who had refused to honor Haman. I am sure he was expecting sympathy from his friends and his wife. But their answer to him was startling. That answer is recorded in Esther 6:13 "If Mordecai, before who you have begun to fall, is Jewish, you won't overcome him, because your downfall is certain."

I find it amazing that Haman's friends, who were no friends of the Jews, recognized that the Jews were special and that Haman would not be able to stand against them. Matthew Henry writes in his commentary that "they plainly confessed that the Jews, though scattered through the nations, were special objects of divine care. Miserable comforters are they all; they did not advise Haman to repent, but foretold his fate as unavoidable." Whether Haman's friends had access to the Old Testament or not, they clearly understood the teaching of Genesis 12:3, where God promised Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Almost since the beginning of Jewish history as a people, there have been those who sought to destroy them. Time and time again their people have been persecuted, often with great enthusiasm (see a list of Jewish persecutions here). But through God's supernatural protection, they have survived. This is something that we should take to heart in our modern world in which the Jews have somehow become the "bad" people of the Middle East. Though I do not always agree with the tactics that the nation of Israel uses against her enemies, I am not fool enough to put myself on the list of her enemies. For all their faults and misguided ideas, the Jews are still God's chosen people and if we stand against them, our fall is inevitable.

(Note: picture above is from: http://www.kidstime4jesus.org/bible_lessons/my_bible_first/lessons/mbf_lesson13.html)

For more devotionals like this one, consider Touching the Footprints of Jesus. 

Better Days Are Coming

I have been studying the lives of the Old Testament kings of Israel in my personal devotions. Though some honored God, most did whatever they wanted to with no regard for how it impacted their relationship with the Lord. Their disregard for the God of their fathers caused tremendous pain not only in their personal lives, but in their nation.

As the story winds down at the end of 2 Chronicles, the entire kingdom collapsed. Jerusalem was destroyed. The people were carried off into exile in distant lands. At first glance, it seemed that all hope was lost and nothing great would ever happen again in Israel. But then we come to the last verse of the story, 2 Chronicles 36:23. In that verse God touched the heart of King Cyrus of Persia, a foreign conqueror who was not a follower of the Jewish faith. King Cyrus passed a decree allowing the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. This story, so filled with disappointment and failure, ends with a promise of hope.

Life is often like that for us when we allow God to be at work in our lives. We may face many failures, hardships and difficulties, but when we re-focus on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, we find hope in the midst of despair. Godly hope does not disappoint. It leads to amazing things we never thought possible.

The book of Ezra follows Chronicles. It picks up the story of the Jewish people in exile. In the opening verses we learn that not only are the Jews allowed to return home and build their temple, but that the very kingdom that enslaved them was now going to help pay for the repairs of the temple. Though some opposition remained, and many hardships still lay ahead, the tide had clearly turned. They were eventually able to rebuild their temple, which remained until after Jesus’s resurrection.

Many times in our lives God uses the very thing that looked like it would destroy us as an instrument of blessing to us. I am reminded of Ephesians 3:20 which tells us that Christ “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” When we are discouraged, we must remember that better days are coming and they will be more amazing than we could ever imagine.

For more devotionals like this one, consider Touching the Footprints of Jesus. 

The God of Angel Armies

My morning devotions lately have been in 2 Kings. Yesterday I wrote about King Ahaziah seeking help from a false god and the disaster that resulted from that effort. Today I want to focus on 2 Kings 6. In that chapter the prophet Elisha is being pursued by the king of Aram, one of Israel’s long-time enemies. The king is upset because God had been revealing the king’s battle plans to Elisha through supernatural means. Elisha would then tell his own people those plans so they could stop the plans before they happened. The king of Aram sent horses, chariots and a massive army to surround the city where Elisha lived (2 Kings 6:14). The next morning when one of Elisha’s assistants woke up and saw the army, he asked, “What are we to do?” Elisha responded by saying that “those who are with us outnumber those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). Elisha then went on to pray and asked God to open the eyes of his assistant so that the young man could see the supernatural army of horses and chariots of fire that surrounded Elisha’s position. God then used a miracle to lead the attacking army away and as a result, the Aramean’s stopped raiding the Israelite territory (2 Kings 6:23).

Though many centuries have passed since that event took place, God is still doing supernatural events around us all the time. We often get so focused on our problems and difficulties that like Elisha’s servant, we ask in despair, “What are we to do?” In those times we need to remember that God has legions of angels at His command. We need to remember that God has never been defeated in all of history. God has a plan and is working that plan out for ultimate good of the universe. We need to remember that God’s forces always outnumber the enemy and in the end, God’s side always wins. We need our eyes to be opened so that we can see what God is doing around us and take comfort in the power He has at His disposal to do things in ways we could have never dreamed. Today, let our hearts not be troubled, let us believe in Jesus and look to Him for our hope!

Did you enjoy this devotional? You can find many more like them in my book:
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Which God Can Help Us?

My morning devotions lately have been in 2 Kings. This book tells the history of the kings of the Israel after it was divided into two nations. To be honest, it is not a flattering story. One passage jumped out at me because it speaks so powerfully to our own culture.

In the first chapter of 2 Kings, King Ahaziah had gotten injured in an accident in his home and was afraid he would die. Instead of seeking help from God, he sent a messenger to a foreign land to inquire of their god if he would recover from his injury. Elijah, the prophet of God, met the messenger on the journey and asked “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?” (2 Kings 1:3). Time and again throughout the history of God’s people God has proven Himself to them. God had worked miracles on their behalf over and over again. It is inconceivable in light of all that God had done for His people that they would seek advice from a false god. And yet, that is what King Ahaziah did.

As we think about our own lives, we have also witnessed God’s power time and again. How many times have we had some close call in our lives and said, “Someone must have been watching out for me.” How many times have we prayed in a time of crisis and God came through for us. God has been there for us in both big and small ways our entire lives. It is inconceivable that we would seek help from any other source but God. And yet, like King Ahaziah of old, we often do that very thing. We ask friends who do not know the Lord for advice. We call physic hotlines. We read fortune cookies. We watch shows on television in which pop-psychologists give us the latest fad in human thinking, even if it goes completely against God’s Word. We even dabble in new age philosophies and Eastern religions seeking truth.

In the biblical story, King Ahaziah ends up dying because he sought help from the wrong source. It may sound cruel for God to not help him in his situation, but remember, King Ahaziah did not ask God for help. He asked a false god who had nothing to offer him for help and got exactly the kind of help that false god had, which was NOTHING. Essentially, God decided to give King Ahaziah exactly what he asked for, which was empty words and nothing, which led to his death.

As we consider our own relationship with God, why do we think God will help us when we have called upon everyone but Him in our distress? What if God just sat back and let all the false hope and bad advice we seek come to fruition in our lives? It would be a disaster. Thankfully, our God is a God of grace and often helps us even when we do not deserve it. But I do think from time to time He withholds His help while we seek all those other dead ends. He wants us to see that those dead ends lead nowhere, so that when we finally come back to Him, we will be more faithful than we were before. But if we tarry too long in turning back to Him, all we have left is the false hope, false comfort, and false help that this world has to offer and that will lead only to disaster. Let us commit ourselves to turning back to the true God of the Universe today and serve Him with all of our hearts.

For more devotionals like this one, consider Touching the Footprints of Jesus. 

Is God Good?

Dr. David Jeremiah is a well known evangelical pastor from California. Unlike many television preachers who preach for the cameras and the fame that comes with those cameras, Dr. Jeremiah's sermons are designed for his local church. The television audience just gets to tune in to see and hear his Bible based sermons aimed at his local church. I appreciate the fact that his sermons are Bible based and not the "send me your seed money and God will bless you" type.

I was fascinated by a particular sermon Dr. Jeremiah preached the other day. I watched it on television. It was about why disasters come into our lives if God is such a loving, powerful and good God. Dr. Jeremiah gave a number of good reasons, and it might be worth the time to look him up on the Internet and watch that sermon. The whole sermon was good, but the part that captured my attention the most was when Dr. Jeremiah asked: "Why would a person who refuses to worship God when he is healthy think God owes him a miracle when he is sick? Why should we appeal to a God we refuse to acknowledge when we are wealthy when we suddenly find ourselves in poverty? Why would we look for God's protection in times of disaster when we have not looked to Him in thanksgiving when things went well."

I thought those were great questions. I have been in the ministry since 1988 and in all of those years I have heard many unchurched people complain about how the Lord did not do for them what they wanted Him to do. They talk about some problem or struggle they experienced and how they prayed and asked God for a miracle, but God did not deliver in the way they asked. They conclude that since God did not answer their prayer the way they wanted Him to, He either does not exist or is not worthy of their worship. Their conclusion is based on a faulty premise, that God "owes" us something just because we ask.

I am a good parent, but I do not give my children everything they ask for. Sometimes it is because they are not yet ready for it. Sometimes it is because they do not deserve it. Sometimes it is because I have something better in mind. Though my children may not like my response, my response does not make me a bad parent, in fact, it reinforces just how good of a parent I am because I do what it best for my children even when they do not like it. Likewise, God is good. But His goodness does not obligate Him to give everyone what ever they ask for.

Think about it from this perspective, everything we get from God is a gift. The salvation that God made available to us through His Son Jesus Christ leaves us as debtors to Him. It is a debt we can never repay no matter how many good deeds we do. So even if we are the best Christian possible, God will never owe us a favor. How much less does God owe us if we are Christians who are not walking with Him? How much less does God owe us if we are not even Christians? A non-Christian who gets ONE prayer answered in their entire life should realize the great gift it is, from a God who owes them absolutely nothing.

This may not make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but good parents know when to make us feel warm and fuzzy and when to let us experience the hard knocks of life. God is the best parent of all. Let us look to Him with gratitude for anything He gives us. Let us thank Him in good times. Let us praise Him in times of Health. Let us honor Him in times of prosperity. Then when bad times come, let us remember that He owes us nothing, but if He chooses to give us something anyway, then it is an extra gift of grace that should indeed make us feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Howdy Doody Time – Part Two

In my previous post I shared how churches that have a greeting time during the worship service as a way of demonstrating warmth and friendliness actually may be demonstrating the exact opposite. You can read that post here. In this post I want to share some other reasons why churches might want to reconsider if it is appropriate to have such a greeting time, which I jokingly refer to as “Howdy Doody” time.

Since Howdy Doody time is often placed in the middle of the worship service, in my experience it takes the focus off of the worship of God and places it on the fellowship of people. While fellowship between believers is important, it should never take the place of the worship of God. If a church really wants to have a fellowship time as part of their order of service, it should be done in such a way that it does not interrupt the flow of worship. For example, I was once in a large church in New Mexico that had a fellowship time right at the end of the service. After the closing prayer the worship leader asked everyone to shake hands with five other people before they left and said that two of them had to be people you did not know. The congregation, which was obviously used to that, did that very thing and I recall it feeling very authentic and appropriate, much better than doing it during the chorus of one of the songs sung during the middle of the worship service. It is important that nothing break the flow of worship once it starts. In the words of one worship leader I know, “Once you go vertical; do not go horizontal again until the service is over.”

Another challenge with Howdy Doody time is that it takes up valuable time, which in some time conscious churches is more of an issue than others. For example, not long ago I was the guest pastor at a rural church and they had a fellowship time right before the sermon. I spoke there several times and it was always awkward as I stood in the pulpit and waited for people to finish. On one particular Sunday one fellow just kept talking and talking and talking. Everyone else was in their seat and I was standing in the pulpit waiting, and he just kept on chatting with his friend in the aisle. Since I was only a guest speaker, I was not quite sure what to do. Finally one of the deacons said something and the fellow realized he was holding up the service. When I asked about it afterwards, I was told it that was a frequent occurrence from that particular person. It seems unfair for the pastor to have to cut his sermon short, or to have to listen to complaints about the service running long, because a handful of people lack the ability to keep appropriate boundaries during Howdy Doody time. It is better to move the fellowship to some other place in the order of service, such as the end, so that it does not take time away from the worship of God or the preaching of His Word.

Finally, it concerns me that sometimes Howdy Doody time simply becomes a time for gossip about who is wearing what and who did what last week. Since gossip is rarely positive, and often sinful, having a Howdy Doody time during the worship service may actually be encouraging sin and perhaps stirring up anger right in the middle of what is supposed to be a sacred time of worship before God. Why in the world would we want to encourage that?

After writing my last post, I heard from a few people who said that their church had a Howdy Doody time that was done right. While I applaud that handful that may be doing it right, I have yet to be in a church that was doing it right. I fear that we often only think we are doing it right because it feels good to us. Do our visitors think we are doing it right? Does God think we are doing it right? Perhaps we should consider those questions in our determination of whether Howdy Doody time fits into a God-honoring worship service or not.

Creating a Sense of Worship - Part Three



In our previous two posts we discussed various aspects of how to create a sense of worship during a church service. You can read part one here. You can read part two here. As we continue that discussion, it is important for us to consider an often neglected aspect of worship, prayer. Churches often talk about the importance of prayer, yet very little prayer takes place during a church service.

In my experience, I have seen two styles of prayer predominantly used. One is the pastoral prayer. At some point in the service the pastor, or perhaps a deacon, offers some type of official prayer. It is often for the service itself, and perhaps includes a few prayer specific prayer needs, but it is just that one person praying. Though it is possible that the rest of the congregation is fervently praying silently for things as well, that does not seem to be the case most of the time. This type of prayer often seems formal, stiff, impersonal, and rarely leads to a true sense of worship on the part of the congregation.

The other style I have often seen used is when people in the congregation share prayer requests. While I am not opposed to the sharing of prayer requests before prayer, what I have seen in most cases is that the sharing of prayer requests becomes more of a time to catch up on everyone's gossip. After a pro-longed time of learning way too much about people than we need to, someone offers a quick 60 second (or shorter) prayer that God would "bless all these requests we have heard." This is even less worshipful than the pastoral prayer option. This steals the focus from God and puts it on all the people sharing.

I would suggest that a better way of using prayer in worship is to have an extended time during the worship service in which people can pray directly to God, either silently or out loud. This would be longer than the 60 second pastoral prayer and would take some time. But if done correctly, can be powerful and moving. Instead of having people share requests with each other, have them pray those prayers directly to God. The rest of the people will hear their request and be able to join them in praying for it. But time is not spent gossiping first and then only giving a token prayer at the end. Instead, time is spent actually praying. Then, as the Spirit leads, the pastor, or deacon, can close the time with a more formal prayer and then perhaps close the prayer time with the Lord's Prayer recited together as a church. Thus allowing both individual and corporate prayer to take place.

Though I have only seen a few churches that have taken this approach, it has been very moving and worshipful in those that did. While there is always the possibility that one or two people will try to monopolize the prayer time with "sermonized" prayers, such people must be taught that God does not hear us due to much babbling or lofty sounding words. A congregation can learn to pray well and it can lead to powerful times of worship before the Lord.

Creating a Sense of Worship - Part Two

In my last post we began a discussion on how to create a sense of worship in a church service. You can read that post here. In this post we want to continue that discussion by addressing the issue of music. Though many people want to argue about musical styles and the types of instruments that should, or should not, be used, I think that is less important than the wording of songs that are chosen.

Many church services fail to help the worshippers connect with God because all the songs simply talk about God instead of talking to God. Worship should be a conversation with the Living God; not just state theological facts about God. Most of us would find it odd if we invited a group of friends over to our home for dinner and all the guests talked about us in the third person but never talked TO us, even though we were right there in the room. Whether a church chooses ancient hymns or modern songs, it is important that the songs allow the worshipper to talk to God, since He is the focus of worship anyway. Powerful worship does not just say “I will praise Him.” It proclaims, “I will praise You.”

It is interesting to note that some of the older hymns that are more of a conversation with God are actually coming back into popularity because the next generation has discovered that those hymns express a sense of awe inspired worship to God. For example, “Be Thou My Vision,” an old Irish hymn written by Dallan Forgail in the sixth century and translated into English in 1905 by Mary Byrne, has become one of the most beloved songs of the modern worshippers looking for a vision from God. There are many other hymns that worship minded musicians have taken and changed the pronouns from the objective third person to a more personal first person, thus addressing God directly and expressing their love for the Lord in a fresh way. Churches that are willing to select songs that either already speak directly to God or that can be converted into such communication with God will find it much easier to create a sense of real worship in their services.

Why Does Everyone Want to Go to Heaven?

As odd as it may sound, I would like to know why everyone wants to go to heaven when they die. Do not misunderstand me, it makes sense that Christians would want to go to heaven when they die. After all, we have spent a lifetime loving the Lord and trying to be more like Jesus. We obviously look forward to hearing the Lord say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into thy reward." But what confuses me are all the other people, who clearly are not living as Christians, who also want to go to heaven when they die, even though they do not live as though they believe in heaven. It just makes no sense. If you believe in heaven, you should live like it. If you do not believe in heaven, then why hope for it?

My friend, the Rev. David Wesley Gould, pastor of Nashville First Wesleyan Church, made an interesting statement a few months ago on Facebook. He correctly said, "It is unrealistic to think that you could live your brief life on Earth without a deep relationship with God, and still expect to spend eternity with Him." Yet, many people do exactly that. They live a life without any real connection to God. They do pretty much whatever they want to. Often they say things like, "I am spiritual but not into organized religion." But when they die, their end of life plans almost always include a Christian funeral with the hope that someone to "pray them into heaven." If a person does not cultivate a relationship with Christ while they are on earth, why in the world would they want to spend eternity with Him in heaven?

Some of my Christians friends are feeling a bit uneasy right now reading this because they think I am suggesting we can earn our way into heaven through religious deeds. I am not saying that at all. We can only gain salvation by the grace of God. The point I am trying to make is that many people want to live outside that grace but somehow expect to get in when it is all said and done. That is just unrealistic. If we truly know the Lord, then our lives will demonstrate that. Though no one is perfect, the thrust of a life that is lived for God is clearly different than a life lived for self.

Those who live for self can pretend all they want to about eternity, but deep inside, they know that what awaits them on the other side are not streets of gold. Fortunately, if we are still alive, we can change what awaits us on the other side of death. We can accept the grace of God into our lives that was made possible by the death of Christ on the cross. We can repent of our sins and start living for Jesus. Whether we have a month, a year, a decade or a lifetime left to live, we can live that life in relationship with God. In doing so, we will find a great peace when we consider eternity, because we will have the confidence that we really are going to heaven when we die.