When God Breathes

One of my favorite concepts in all of scripture is that the Holy Spirit is the very breath of God.  With a mere breath he brought life to a ball of dust, then named it Adam.  With a simple breath he assured Elijah that he was present.  With a breath he began a movement of people that we would end up calling the church.  And over the past couple of weeks his breath has been a bit too much for us to handle. 

The news is startling.  The faces of homeowners say it best.  The devastation they feel cannot be put into words.  The tornados that have ripped through this country over the past couple of weeks have contained in them the power that only God could allow, or potentially even cause. But why?  Why would this happen?  Why would our God, loving and all that, allow this vast devstation and death to occur on his watch? 

I struggled a bit with this question as I anxiously awaited to hear from a friend of mine who was in the path of these storms in Alabama.  But then something hit me.  Perhaps God was breathing on us a bit.  Perhaps God was using his breath, sometimes gently and sometimes a bit more powerfully, to show us that he still contains the power of wind, wave, earth, and all things.  Perhaps God has a great plan for this devastation.  Perhaps God has noticed that as a church we've become increasingly comfortable with the things around us so he's giving us something to react to.  Perhaps God has a desire for his movement of people (aka the church) to start moving again. 

I know that none of this sentiment will help rebuild homes.  I know none of it will restore power or house displaced families.  It won't raise the dead or bring healing to the hurting.  But there is something that we can do in response to this breath of God that just might change the entire outlook in the long term. 

You see it wasn't until God breathed into Adam that he woke up and began to live a life of faith and service toward God.  So now that we've seen, and some of us experienced, the breath of God the past couple weeks perhaps we will be able to mobilize.  I believe that the church is only the church when it's moving, serving, loving, doing, walking, talking, living the message of God's undeserved goodness.  Today I challenge you to start moving.  I challenge you to respond to the breath of God and come alive with his power and his love and start serving.  Maybe your service will take you to the hardest hit areas to serve and rebuild.  Maybe your service will keep you closer to your home to serve and care for your neighbors and friends.

No matter where you go just go.  No matter who you serve - just serve.  No matter who you talk to - just talk.  No matter who you love - just love the way God calls us to love - with hands and hearts and lives.

Lord protect those without homes today.  Provide shelter for them.  Encourage them.  Show them that you are ever present.  Move your church into great acts of service as these thousands of people attempt to put their lives together again.  God don't let us sit.  Remind us of the wonders of your breath.  Amen.

A watched pot never boils...

I have to be honest - waiting is not something I do very well.  Not at all.  Partially my personality, partially my gender, partially my fast-paced life - but I just don't like to slow down and wait.  But there's something worse than waiting - watching the pot for it to boil. 

We all know the saying a watched pot never boils.  And we all know that this is not true by any means.  But we do know that a watched pot seems to never boil.  It seems like when you watch the pot for it to boil, it takes easily twice as long.  I believe the same is true in many things: waiting for the phone to ring from that special someone, waiting for the loved one to come out of surgery, waiting for answers to prayers, and the list goes on. 

I've honestly had a lot of waiting going on in my life and I know that it's only going to get worse.  I feel like I'm always waiting on my family, not because they're slow but because I like to be early.  I feel like I'm always waiting on people to follow-thru on their promises.  It seems like I'm always waiting on God to answer my prayers. 

If you are in a time in your life when you're waiting perhaps this verse will work for you the way it has for me.  Very simply one of the psalms states be still and know that I am God. 

Now that's not an earth-shattering concept.  We all know that but rarely do we live that way.  We live as if we know best.  This verse means that the answer you are looking for might not be the right answer at all.  It means that if God is God then you are not!  So when you wait remember these two key things:

1. You are not God, so whatever answer comes - even if it's not the one you were hoping for - it's the one that God is going to work out for good. 
2. Be still! - This is just as hard as acknowledging that we're not God sometimes.  Be still might mean sitting in a quiet room and just doing nothing.  But that would drive my type-A personality nuts!  So for me, being still is doing nothing to pursue the answer I desire.  It's resting in the fact that whatever direction God will lead is ultimately the right direction.  Be still means that God's ways just might not be my ways and that's ok.  Be still happens when we are at peace when life is crumbling around us. 

So let God be God today.  Don't take his role on yourself, you couldn't do it anyway.  And just be still, whether it's in the quiet of your study or on the seat of your lawn mower.  Just be still in the presence of God today.  Today's prayer is on your shoulders - make you entire day a walking conversation with God.

When broken doors open doors

It's been a couple of months ago now that I was looking out my home office window after hearing a loud crash.  As it turned out my neighbor had an unfortunate experience with their garage door - it twisted off track and had come down at a diagonal.  Now admittedly I'm not knowledgeable about garage doors at all but I am adventurous and always willing to learn.  I'm what many call a "jack of all trades, master of none." 

So I proceeded to go over to see if I couldn't lend a hand to at least get the door all the way to the ground.  Well a little muscle later the door was down on the ground and the home owner had made arrangements for the repairman to come the next day to make the necessary adjustments.  What happened next could only be from God. 

The home owners began asking questions about what I did for a living - obviously not garage door repair.  This led to a wonderful conversation that lasted for over an hour and a couple of beers (thanks man!).  The family now worships with us on a regular basis - and all because a door broke!

The moral of the story is don't overlook a broken door it might just be a couple of beers away from a gospel moment. 

In all seriousness God does some amazing things when we're not even paying attention.  He breaks doors all of the time just to see how we'll respond.  Today I pray that we have our eyes open to see where God is moving and what he is breaking.  I pray that we see and respond to the broken door and that we get the wonderful experience I had of sharing my Jesus over a couple of good domestic cold ones. 

Lord, be with us today as we seek to live our lives for you.  Open our eyes so that we can see you moving and breaking things around us.  Help us to respond with hands ready for service and mouths ready to speak the truth of your love.  Amen. 

I want it all!

I've had those days when it seems like everything I see someone else have - I instantly want for myself.  Not want in the "I'll just take it" way but want in a way that makes me less content with my own status in life. Honestly, there's always something out there that we want.  There's a new gadget.  An upgraded whatever..an improved something...a better thing.  I personally don't believe that it's bad to have wants.  I do however believe that the problem comes from what we do with those wants. 

While reading from 1 Corinthians 4 this morning, this line caught my attention - Already you have all you want.  Already you have become rich! 

For real?  I've already got it all?  It sure doesn't feel like it sometimes.  It feels like I've got nothing sometimes.  It feels like I have so many wants that I can't stand it.  But the question for me today is what drives you...

I know that when I'm driven by my wants I'll never be satisfied, but when I'm driven by my calling as a husband, father, pastor, son, brother - I know that I'm fully equipped for what God has in store for me.  It doesn't mean that life is easy or even always great.  It simply means that I have everything and it's all been given to me by God. 

Take some time today to think of the many things you've got in your life.  Think about your job, your cars, house, tv, computer, phone, bed, and many other possessions - they are blessings from God.  Thank him for them today.  Give thanks to God for the blessings that HE has poured into your life today.  Rejoice in this Easter Monday that everything is in reach for you.  There is absolutely nothing that God can't do in and through you.  So today rise up and sing God's praises. 

Lord we need help being content.  Please give us that spirit of contentment today as we seek to serve you.  Amen.

How big are you?

The other day I asked my daughter of 17 months how big she was.  In an instant she lifted her hands straight up as if to say - I'm this big, look at me.  It was cute.  I believe this is what nearly every child does when asked how big they are. 

You see when we show how big we are, it's about us.  We elevate ourselves and lift ourselves up.  It's natural.  But there was a time when Jesus was asked how much he loved us and his response was oh so different!  He didn't reach his hands up and say look at me.  He didn't jump up and down and ask for greater acclaim in the world - instead he opened his arms and showed how deep, wide, and long his love for us really was. 

The bible says that greater love has no one than this - than he lay down his life for his friends.  Today is Good Friday.  Today is when it starts to get good!  Jesus died but that's not the end - (spoiler alert) - he also ROSE!  When Jesus was asked how much he loved us he opened his arms on the cross and let the weight of your sins and mine be thrown on him.  He allowed them to nail his hands and feet to the cross so we wouldn't have to do it ourselves.  But he also rose! 


Today I write this devotion and dedicate it to a little girl name Samantha.  She is fighting for her little life.  She's on machines and is heavily sedated.  Her dad is a pastor and a friend.  Her mom is a wonderful woman of God.  Travis, Stephanie, Samantha - know that your God is this big!  He died and rose for you.  He gave you new life in his son Jesus. So today for you and for all the things God has done we say - ALLELUIA!!!  Our God is greater than anything that comes our way!

Lord bless this family today.  Guard them and protect them.  Remind them that Good Friday is just the beginning of the new life we receive through your son.  May you begin that miraculous healing in Samantha today as well.  Amen. 

Only a man?

I have a new found appreciation for Paul and his writings every time I pick up one of his letters.  Today is no different.  This morning I only had to read a few short verses before I was stopped dead in my tracks by these words, For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere men?

Wow!  That's a pretty pointed statement.  I know that Jesus tells us to obey his teachings and live as people of the light, but this verse makes it very personal.  We can't be jealous if we're going to be followers of God.  We can't be quarreling if we're living in the new standard of Christ. 

You see it's not easy being a follower of Christ.  Followers of Christ do more than just believe and go to worship - they actually follow Christ.  They allow Christ to transform their entire life.  They begin to think with the mind of Christ.  They see things through the lenses of Christ's glory.  They act as if they were the hands and feet of Christ. 

When we live by this new standard, there's no room for quarreling, fear, stress, anxiety, abuse, anger, hate, lust, jealousy, or any of the other sins we can come up with.  When we follow Christ and truly seek to be his disciples, then we will be able to even walk on water.  So keep your eyes on Christ today, no matter what comes your way look at it through Jesus' eyes and you'll be amazed at what happens! 

Lord give us your eyes to see, your hands to serve, your feet to go, your mind to understand, and your mouth to speak the glory of your name.  Amen. 

Ever Feel Dumb?

Have you ever felt really dumb?  I mean really dumb!  It's the kind of feeling that makes you shake you head at yourself and wonder what you were thinking.  I've had that feeling way too many times.  Some say that's because I'm a guy. Others say that's my personality to do and then to think later, but I think often it has something to do with today's bible reading. 

This morning I only journeyed a couple verses and came across this line - God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and the weak things of the world to shame the strong.   I love that line, but I also have a bit of a problem with it.  I mean seriously - I went to four years of college to gain wisdom, and four more years of seminary to do the same and now God says he likes the fools.  That's a hard one to get our minds around.  Perhaps it's because we're too smart to get it. 

I think that Paul is teaching us a very important truth - God's actions don't make sense - and that's good! You see nothing that God does really makes sense when you think about it.  Creating the world in six days - nonsense there's too much detail, yet he did it.  Part a sea and allow people to walk across on dry land - nonsense there'd be too much mud, yet it happened.  Send his own son to die for our sins - crazy the innocent are not supposed to undergo punishment, yet that's the reality in which we live. 

But it's not just in the bible that God does things that don't make sense.  He's still doing them today.  I know that many people are facing some real challenges in their lives right now.  I know that often we're going to choose the smart thing to do, but I wonder if here God isn't telling us to get a little foolish.  Out of money - spend more?  Tired - stay up later?  Stressed - take on more responsibility?  Can't swim - jump in the ocean? 

I'm not saying that this is the case all of the time but I'm pretty sure that when Peter jumped out of the boat and walked to Jesus he didn't regret a minute of it - and that was ridiculous!  Men can't walk on water but he did - and because he did what was foolish in the eyes of the world he's the only one who felt Jesus picking him up.  When we make our own plans and take God's place, we'll never feel his hands pulling us out of troubled times. 

So today - get crazy!  Let it all go!  Leave it all to God and watch how he can defy reason.  Then share with someone you know what it felt like to have God pick you up and set you on dry ground again. 

Lord today we want to get crazy.  We want to be seen as fools in this world so that you might get the glory and reveal your plans in and through us.  Give us the courage to live a life contrary to reason.  Amen.

Is Jesus really enough?

I've got to be honest.  Lately that question has been a bit hard to answer.  Some days the answer is absolutely yes.  Other days it's really hard to even see if Jesus is still there.  But all the same I know the right answer.  I'm sure most of us do.  The answer is that God is all sufficient.  That his power is made perfect in our weakness.  That he is the creator and sustainer of all.  That he will never leave us nor forsake us. 

But what do you do when it appears God is missing in action?  What do you do when God seems to be taking a bit of a siesta?  This week we'll see what Jesus did when his Father was missing in action.  We'll see exactly how he reacted when his father let the entirety of the sins of the world be lumped on his innocent shoulders.  This week is celebrated in the traditional church as holy week.  It's a time to remember all that God has done.  It's a time to celebrate the life, death, and very soon the resurrection of Jesus.  We're going to get distracted by the gloomy weather, the craptastic things that happen in our lives, the economy, and even those tiny plastic eggs. 

Here's a verse that I'm going to use to guide me this week.  It's a busy week for pastors.  It's a crazy week for just about everyone so rest in this passage and all that it entails this week.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 - For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

This verse is so great because when God is at his weakest and dumbest points (not that he has those) he is still stronger and smarter than I'll ever be!  He knows the end of this roller coaster even though I can't even see past today.  He is hovering above me carrying the brunt of this weight even though I feel as if the world is crashing on my shoulders. 

Join me in giving God today.  Join me in turning over all of your junk to the God who is strong enough and smart enough to handle it all.  Let him have it because he is completely capable of shouldering anything you can throw at him. 

God today be my rock.  Carry my problems.  Lift the weight.  In your wisdom give me answers to the questions that I face.  Amen.