“But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
The purpose of God is fulfilled in us as we surrender our lives to him. Occasionally, or often, we may find ourselves waiting. What at times may feel like inactivity and stalemate may be purposefully applied delay, to develop patience and Godly virtue in our lives. It is a whole lot easier to do “something” than it is to wait! Have you ever had to wait on someone when you were late or anticipating an exciting event. It is the most difficult thing ever just to stop, sit down, and do nothing, while waiting.
Not all of our activity is tremendously productive. It is often “slow go,” incremental measurements of accomplishment. We have known the snail pace of walking in His Will while seeing little return on our effort. We must not give up. We “shall walk and not faint.” “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).
Also in His will, we may run! Times of expended energy and rapid movement are often where we feel the most productive, the most significant. We may feel that if we have put forth effort, work, and energy, our own labor has produced the results. But, it is all a part of the process.
Flying is the fun part. When the waiting is done, and the walk turns to run, then it’s time to take wings and fly! Nothing is more exhilarating than flight; take to the air and watch the ground fall away as the mighty rush of wind lifts you to new heights.
But, anything that flies has to land sometime, especially when it is time to regain strength. Isaiah said it is in the waiting that our strength is renewed, “They that wait upon the Lord.” So we wait, and we walk, we run, and sometimes we fly.
All of these postures are experienced in the foundation, growth and development of a church. Be not weary in well doing. There is a new season coming. While it seems that all we do is wait … we will fly!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Pray for our Children
Guest Devotional by Gayla M. Baughman
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
When we deliver our children, we have the idealistic dream that they will be this, well-behaved, lovable, perfect child. It doesn’t take but a few days to realize this precious little bundle we brought home has a mind of his own!
We take our children to Sunday School, junior camp, youth camp, and youth convention. We try to raise them the way God wants us to, with an equal balance of love and discipline. Then after they reach the teenage years, we try to loosen the apron strings a little and give them some independence. Some children handle this well, and some do not. Once they reach eighteen, they have the legal right to be on their own. So we try to let go. They either go off to college somewhere, or if they live at home, we rarely see them because they are so busy with friends, work, school etc. We just have to trust that we have prepared them for the road of life!
A backslidden child is devastating to a parent. When we raise our children to love God, honor his Word, and seek for the Holy Ghost it is a hard trip to watch them turn away from all the most important things we have tried to teach them.
It is at this time we have to trust that years of training them in the way of the Lord will not be wasted. If you have been careful to point your child in the right direction, there comes a time you must trust that he will never get too far from those teachings.
Restoring a relationship with a wayward child takes a large amount of unconditional love on your part. There are a few suggestions that others have shared with me when facing this discouraging dilemma:
1) Believe he still loves God even though it doesn’t show. Use that base for your communication with him.
2) Pray daily for your child. Intercession will keep the communication open between your child and God. God will never give up on him, no more than you give up hope. Remember the old saying, “Where there is breath, there is hope.” I have gone in my child’s room and used the things there to lead me to prayer. I pray for God to preserve him morally when I touch his bed. I pray God helps him resist internet traps of pornography and ungodly chat rooms when I run my hand over his computer. I pray God opens the window of his soul to spiritual hunger when I walk to his window. I lay hands on his CD’s and pray against any thirst for ungodly music, and that he uses his musical talents only for God. I pray against materialism and popular fashion traps when I touch his clothes and magazines. I use his material things to help me focus on spiritual things in prayer.
3) Pray that God brings his word to your child’s mind. All the scriptures he learned in Sunday School, or the Bible reading at youth camp and church service is submerged in the subconscious mind somewhere. Pray God lifts the fog off his memory and he dreams the Word, or just finds it running through his mind at random moments. Pray when he comes to a crossroads that the Word will be refreshed helping him make the right decision.
4) Keep the door open. If your child has left, let him know that he is welcome to come home anytime. That child will equate the front door of his home with the front door of your heart. If you close the door, you will be symbolically shutting the door on your communication with your child. An open door lets your child know that he is still part of the family; right or wrong, good or bad, he still belongs. Unless it is a last resort, or the safety of the family is at risk try to keep your child living under your roof. Kicking your child out because he won’t go to church will only alienate him or her from you. Set the house rules, and then let him know that he is still part of the family and you want him to live with you, but everyone in the family comes under the house rules.
5) Say, “I love you” often. Never stop telling your child you love him. You may not agree with his lifestyle or his appearance, but the child down inside is still the child that belongs to you.
6) Trust God. When you feel you have done all you know to do, trust the everlasting mercy and amazing grace of a loving Heavenly Father. He loves your child even more than you do. Never, never give up!
Psalms 100:3-5 (NKJV) Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. {4} Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. {5} For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
When we deliver our children, we have the idealistic dream that they will be this, well-behaved, lovable, perfect child. It doesn’t take but a few days to realize this precious little bundle we brought home has a mind of his own!
We take our children to Sunday School, junior camp, youth camp, and youth convention. We try to raise them the way God wants us to, with an equal balance of love and discipline. Then after they reach the teenage years, we try to loosen the apron strings a little and give them some independence. Some children handle this well, and some do not. Once they reach eighteen, they have the legal right to be on their own. So we try to let go. They either go off to college somewhere, or if they live at home, we rarely see them because they are so busy with friends, work, school etc. We just have to trust that we have prepared them for the road of life!
A backslidden child is devastating to a parent. When we raise our children to love God, honor his Word, and seek for the Holy Ghost it is a hard trip to watch them turn away from all the most important things we have tried to teach them.
It is at this time we have to trust that years of training them in the way of the Lord will not be wasted. If you have been careful to point your child in the right direction, there comes a time you must trust that he will never get too far from those teachings.
Restoring a relationship with a wayward child takes a large amount of unconditional love on your part. There are a few suggestions that others have shared with me when facing this discouraging dilemma:
1) Believe he still loves God even though it doesn’t show. Use that base for your communication with him.
2) Pray daily for your child. Intercession will keep the communication open between your child and God. God will never give up on him, no more than you give up hope. Remember the old saying, “Where there is breath, there is hope.” I have gone in my child’s room and used the things there to lead me to prayer. I pray for God to preserve him morally when I touch his bed. I pray God helps him resist internet traps of pornography and ungodly chat rooms when I run my hand over his computer. I pray God opens the window of his soul to spiritual hunger when I walk to his window. I lay hands on his CD’s and pray against any thirst for ungodly music, and that he uses his musical talents only for God. I pray against materialism and popular fashion traps when I touch his clothes and magazines. I use his material things to help me focus on spiritual things in prayer.
3) Pray that God brings his word to your child’s mind. All the scriptures he learned in Sunday School, or the Bible reading at youth camp and church service is submerged in the subconscious mind somewhere. Pray God lifts the fog off his memory and he dreams the Word, or just finds it running through his mind at random moments. Pray when he comes to a crossroads that the Word will be refreshed helping him make the right decision.
4) Keep the door open. If your child has left, let him know that he is welcome to come home anytime. That child will equate the front door of his home with the front door of your heart. If you close the door, you will be symbolically shutting the door on your communication with your child. An open door lets your child know that he is still part of the family; right or wrong, good or bad, he still belongs. Unless it is a last resort, or the safety of the family is at risk try to keep your child living under your roof. Kicking your child out because he won’t go to church will only alienate him or her from you. Set the house rules, and then let him know that he is still part of the family and you want him to live with you, but everyone in the family comes under the house rules.
5) Say, “I love you” often. Never stop telling your child you love him. You may not agree with his lifestyle or his appearance, but the child down inside is still the child that belongs to you.
6) Trust God. When you feel you have done all you know to do, trust the everlasting mercy and amazing grace of a loving Heavenly Father. He loves your child even more than you do. Never, never give up!
Psalms 100:3-5 (NKJV) Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. {4} Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. {5} For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Leadership through Discipleship #23
Nathanael, The Power of Sincerity
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" (John 1:47).
John 1:35-46 gives the background to the meeting of Jesus and Nathanael. Prior to this encounter, Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist, became a follower of Christ. Afterwards, Andrew brought his brother Simon. Jesus called him to discipleship and renamed him Cephas (or Peter). The following day, Jesus found Philip and called him to follow. Just as Andrew immediately sought out his brother to share the good news of the Messiah, Philip at once went to Nathanael to share the news of his discovery, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael was skeptical, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nazareth was an active city in the northern part of the land, west of the Sea of Galilee. Due to the close proximity and influence of its Gentile neighbors, Nazareth was identified by Matthew, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, as being “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matthew 4:15, Isaiah 9:1). It was not thought of as a birthplace for prophets or a home for the Messiah.
Philip said to him, “Come and see.” No amount of argument or discussion could persuade the doubtful disciple. Philip knew if Nathanael would just see Him, doubt would be deterred and faith would come to him as well. When Jesus saw them coming toward Him he called out, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
Jesus identified and spoke about the character of Nathanael. First, that he was a true Israelite, a genuine son of Israel. In other words he was not just a Hebrew, or a Jew, but he was sincere in his faith and true to the traditions of his training. Further, Jesus commended his honesty, his transparent integrity, “in whom is no guile.” Guile is defined as craftiness, cunning, deceit, or deception. The opposite virtues are truth, honesty, and sincerity.
How could Jesus know these things? He was God and was given supernatural knowledge. This revelation caused Nathanael to become a believer and an ardent disciple. Christ recognized the transparent integrity in this man and knew that he would a true disciple. Sincere Christians make passionate followers. Others who are dedicated in their religious beliefs will become just as sincerely devoted when they come to the knowledge of the truth.
Serve God in truth, honesty, and sincerity. Observe those traits in others and you will find people of great potential for the Kingdom of God.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" (John 1:47).
John 1:35-46 gives the background to the meeting of Jesus and Nathanael. Prior to this encounter, Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist, became a follower of Christ. Afterwards, Andrew brought his brother Simon. Jesus called him to discipleship and renamed him Cephas (or Peter). The following day, Jesus found Philip and called him to follow. Just as Andrew immediately sought out his brother to share the good news of the Messiah, Philip at once went to Nathanael to share the news of his discovery, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael was skeptical, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nazareth was an active city in the northern part of the land, west of the Sea of Galilee. Due to the close proximity and influence of its Gentile neighbors, Nazareth was identified by Matthew, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, as being “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matthew 4:15, Isaiah 9:1). It was not thought of as a birthplace for prophets or a home for the Messiah.
Philip said to him, “Come and see.” No amount of argument or discussion could persuade the doubtful disciple. Philip knew if Nathanael would just see Him, doubt would be deterred and faith would come to him as well. When Jesus saw them coming toward Him he called out, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
Jesus identified and spoke about the character of Nathanael. First, that he was a true Israelite, a genuine son of Israel. In other words he was not just a Hebrew, or a Jew, but he was sincere in his faith and true to the traditions of his training. Further, Jesus commended his honesty, his transparent integrity, “in whom is no guile.” Guile is defined as craftiness, cunning, deceit, or deception. The opposite virtues are truth, honesty, and sincerity.
How could Jesus know these things? He was God and was given supernatural knowledge. This revelation caused Nathanael to become a believer and an ardent disciple. Christ recognized the transparent integrity in this man and knew that he would a true disciple. Sincere Christians make passionate followers. Others who are dedicated in their religious beliefs will become just as sincerely devoted when they come to the knowledge of the truth.
Serve God in truth, honesty, and sincerity. Observe those traits in others and you will find people of great potential for the Kingdom of God.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Super Bowl Sunday?
This Sunday much of the country is obsessed with the Super Bowl, the playoff of pro football champions. It happens every year about this time. The media is abuzz with the hype and sports talk concerning the two teams. Superstar players and their personal lives become the topic of newscasts and office talk. Speculation and predictions occupy the time waiting the outcome of the annual event. Workplace betting pools collect cash and scores as fans forecast the outcome of the big game.
The television advertisements aired during the Super Bowl game attract almost as much attention as the game itself. Ingenuity and sometimes brash offense characterize the high-priced seconds of advertisements. In a market where minutes are broken down in million dollar increments, the ads are refined and perfected to grab the attention of the viewer in a desperate attempt to rivet attention between the plays of the game. The advertisers are also betting on the water cooler buzz and talk show chatter to repeat the impact of the precious seconds of product promotion.
Even some churches give in to the pressure to cater to the sports crazed crowd. They host Super Bowl worship events where they watch the game in the family center and plan a few testimonies and worship choruses during the half-time show. Perhaps that is one way to assure a crowd on this annual sacred sports Sunday. I wonder if they censure the advertisements? It seems a little ironic if they play the commercials for alcohol in the place of worship. How does Budweiser fit in the format for a Christian fellowship event? What do they do when a sexually suggestive spot is featured on the big screen just prior to a testimony of God’s grace? I noticed that Victoria’s Secret will have a spot late in the third quarter. That ought to be edifying.
Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned in my view of what is appropriate for church, but there must be a distinction between the holy and the profane, between worship and entertainment, and between what is sacred and what is secular. If you are into the sport go ahead and root for your team, but don’t expect to find a big screen set up at our church for the worship session!
The television advertisements aired during the Super Bowl game attract almost as much attention as the game itself. Ingenuity and sometimes brash offense characterize the high-priced seconds of advertisements. In a market where minutes are broken down in million dollar increments, the ads are refined and perfected to grab the attention of the viewer in a desperate attempt to rivet attention between the plays of the game. The advertisers are also betting on the water cooler buzz and talk show chatter to repeat the impact of the precious seconds of product promotion.
Even some churches give in to the pressure to cater to the sports crazed crowd. They host Super Bowl worship events where they watch the game in the family center and plan a few testimonies and worship choruses during the half-time show. Perhaps that is one way to assure a crowd on this annual sacred sports Sunday. I wonder if they censure the advertisements? It seems a little ironic if they play the commercials for alcohol in the place of worship. How does Budweiser fit in the format for a Christian fellowship event? What do they do when a sexually suggestive spot is featured on the big screen just prior to a testimony of God’s grace? I noticed that Victoria’s Secret will have a spot late in the third quarter. That ought to be edifying.
Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned in my view of what is appropriate for church, but there must be a distinction between the holy and the profane, between worship and entertainment, and between what is sacred and what is secular. If you are into the sport go ahead and root for your team, but don’t expect to find a big screen set up at our church for the worship session!
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