I Just Want to be Faithful

"One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'" Mark 12:28-30

"If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." Romans 14:8


I have been reading a new devotional this year, it's a devotional about church history. It's great. I'm not always super great with remembering dates and stuff like that and I never did really great at history in school, but I love the overall story of history. I love to find patterns in what people do and to seek out what made a particular person successful or what had the biggest impact on their life.


As I read through my Christian history devotional the one thing that sticks with me the most is that everyone in that book simply purposed in their heart to be faithful. I haven't read yet about someone who sat down one day and said, "I'm going to be the greatest preacher this world has ever seen!" And there are some big names in this book, names like Billy Graham, Kurt Warner, Keith Green and James Montgomery Boice. The theme that comes up again and again is that these people purposed in their heart to simply be faithful.


I think we have a choice, we can purpose in our heart to simply be faithful to God or we can choose to be faithful to ourselves. At some point, we need to stop and say, "God, I choose to be faithful to you. I simply choose to love You with all my heart, soul, mind and  strength." It doesn't have to be fancy, but it does have to be real. 

I chose a while ago that I will simply follow God and be faithful to Him and not myself, but I proclaim it today; I will simply be faithful to God. I don't care if that means I have to flip burgers or scrub floors for the rest of my life. I don't care if I have to lose my other foot. I choose to simply put my faith in God and accept His will for my life.

Will you join me? Let's see where it takes us.

Awesome Young People

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

I work with some pretty amazing people. It certainly takes a special kind of person to go out week after week with Coastlands Consultants but I am thinking specifically of the young people I get to go out with. Don't get me wrong, I love the whole team, but I have been particularly amazed by the barely 20-somethings I get to minister with.

I often get to see them display a maturity far past what I displayed at that point in my life and they are so committed to following Christ and His lead in what they do, I sometimes just think about how blessed I am to minister alongside them. These guys are the kind of people I wish I was at that age.  

He Chose Me

"I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
   and put their trust in him."

Psalm 40:1-3

I was reading this Psalm this morning and I thought that it was a very descriptive picture of what happens when we are saved. Whether we know it or not, and I know some people that might be offended by me saying this, we are stuck in a slimy, miry pit, before Christ saves us.In many ways, it's beautiful, what happens to us. I love to think about it because it shows a picture of a loving God, one who would descend into the miry pit to get us.

I follow the reformed way of thinking, to put it very simply, in the debate of predestination vs. free will, I side with predestination. I hate to say it that way because sometimes those of us on that side can get a bad rap, we are thought of as uncaring, unhappy and even sometimes morose. Those of you who know me, know that doesn't describe me even a little bit. I think that those Calvinists who are angry and unhappy just don't get it. It's not that we believe in an uncaring God, one who arbitrarily decides to punish some and make them go to Hell, it's that we all deserve Hell, and God has elected to save some of us. Personally, I find it slightly overwhelming when I think that God chose me.

I know some of you who read this don't agree with me, and you might take offense at what I've written and I'm sorry if I offended you, but this is what was on my heart today.

It's been a while since I ended an entry with song lyrics, but today I think I will, and you'll probably figure out why.

God bless you!

Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Jesus, I will never let you go
You’ve taken me from the miry clay
You've set my feet upon the Rock, and now i know

I love you, I need you,
Though my world may fall, I’ll never let you go
My Savior, my closest friend,
I will worship you until the very end

The Future is Out of My Hands...

The following is an e-mail I wrote to a friend. Normally I would write an original blog entry, but this letter sums up what I was going to write again anyway. I'm not going to include my friend's name, I'll just say he's going through some pretty tough times right now...

"Dear..., 

I am, of course praying for you. I know there a lot of people that are praying for you.

I want to share a passage with you, that I'm sure you know, but it's a verse that gave me great hope when I was going through the decision about what to do with my foot.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:26-28

Specifically, it was verse 28 that brought me the comfort. I was, and you are, looking down a hallway that looks very dark, with not a lot of hope down there. But I had to be faithful; I had to trust that the Bible was true, was accurate, and applied to me. It's not easy, but this is really where the rubber meets the road when it comes to our faith, are we going to trust that God not just knows the future, but He knows the future because He plans the future, and it will work out for His glory.

This is not just the place where you faith becomes more important in your life, but it also gives you the opportunity to make your faith even more real to the people around you. We only have to look to Paul to see an example of this in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

We both have a dark cloud hovering over us, yours seems darker than mine with all that you are going through, and I don't know what's going to happen with my other foot yet. But what I do know is that God loves both of us, God wants what's best for us, and whatever happens, it will work for God's glory, so we should be rejoicing in that."



I hope this brings all of you comfort. This is something that I talked about several times this week as I was out with Coastlands. And that is a huge blessing in and of itself, I had a wonderful week with Coastlands, and I look forward to more weeks in the future.


Also, I get my car set up with hand controls this week so soon I'll be able to drive again!


Thanks for reading!

Simply Trust

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
   but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
 They are brought to their knees and fall,
   but we rise up and stand firm." Psalm 20:7, 8

I think this verse speaks for itself, so no commentary from me.

Seeking Meekness

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

"The surest way to assure the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" attributed to Edmund Burke

I look at the attitude of so many Christians today and I feel bad for them, because I feel they have gotten it wrong with their attitude on meekness. I know they mean well, and I know they don't want to hurt feelings, and I can appreciate that and I think they're trying to live like they think the Bible tells them to, and I think that is admirable...but I still think they've gotten it wrong. While it is admirable for someone to want to live out what the Bible says, it's extremely important to get that right, and I think that those Christian doormats out there are missing something.

Sure, the Bible says a few things about meek people...Psalm 37:11 "But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity." and Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." to name a few. Two verses that are very similar, but don't really speak to the character of someone who is meek. I think verses like Zephaniah 3:12 speak a bit more to what meekness is; "But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the LORD."

There is a definite similarity between meekness and humility, but I think it is too easy to take them too far. The Bible speaks a lot to forgiveness and humility (and please note, it's not "humbleness" it's "humility") but nothing about being a doormat. If we look at our best example of living a Christ-like life, Jesus, he was by no means a doormat, he very gently made his point, at times like when the woman was caught in adultery, and at times was forceful about it, like when he went tipping over tables in the synagogue.

The key is to find the balance in between being walked all over and being a bull in a china shop. I can't say that I've found that balance, but I know there is one.

Overcoming Trouble

"For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
   and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
   and my blessing on your descendants." Isaiah 44:3

I love verses like the above one, while it was originally a promise to Israel, I think it still holds true today. I think where a lot of people get into trouble is when they only look at verses like the one above and always expect their live to be easy. People tend to forget that while God promises us a victorious life, he never promised us an easy life. Look specifically to John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Looking at this verse, we can see that we are actually promised a hard life, but what we need to realize is that our reward won't be here on Earth. You can't live an easy life as a reward for a life you haven't lived yet.


Today's entry is brief, but contains an important lesson, life isn't easy, but we know it can be victorious. I've referenced Romans 8:28 before, but that's where I point to when I need to make sense of something I can't make sense of. All things work for the glory of God, not some things, not even most things, all things. 


This is where I need to keep looking to make sense of what's happened to me in the last year.