God is Listening

“Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.” Malachi 3:16

Did you know God is keeping a journal?  And not just any journal—He has a scribe writing down every edifying word we say about Him when we’re talking to one another. It makes me want to talk about Him more often, doesn’t it you? We can never say enough about His honor, His glory, His power, His faithfulness, His holiness, or His ways. He even writes down when we’re thinking about His greatness!

It’s also how we should be talking about one another—edifying them and building them up, right? What does God want us to see in one another—the sin, the bad habits, or the idiosyncrasies that drive us crazy? Or the way He has created them to “fit” in the body of Christ? As we build up one another with our words, we’re doing something important. If what we say and even think about God is so important that He writes it down…don’t you think it’s almost just as important what we say about one another?

Your words matter. Eternity will prove it.  

Cracked Pot

It’s not about us.  We’re just an earthen vessel. Barbara Johnson calls us a cracked pot! God knew we’d never be perfect—He didn’t expect it nor demand it. He did expect us to mature and grow…but He knew we’d never do this life perfectly. In fact, He knew we’d be damaged, beat up, abused, and broken by the enemy who is called the god of this age.  What is this age, you ask? It’s the period of time before Jesus returns which is ruled by Satan and wreaks instability, weakness, lack of reverence, wickedness, calamity, and misery!

God knew what we’d be walking through. He knew we wouldn’t withstand the storm perfectly. But He also didn’t expect us to do it alone or in our own strength. If we’ve given our lives to Him, He lives in us!  He’s the Light, the Power, the Stability, the Encouragement, the HOPE!  If we’ll quit trying to cover up our weaknesses, and just let Him shine, His power is demonstrated to the world around us. It’s in our weakness He’s made strong. HE is the treasure! He is the power—and He wants to demonstrate it through US. He wants the world to see His light through those cracks. It’s probably the biggest encouragement your friends can see. God can use anyone—even those imperfect but perfectly loved cracked pots. Let His light shine!!

11:11

For years, I’ve seen 11:11 everywhere!  On digital clocks, on calendars, billboards, signs…all over. I asked God early on what it meant because I knew there had to be a reason I was seeing it so randomly and so often.  I certainly wasn’t seeking it out. Because God wasn’t answering, I tried to figure it out myself.  I looked up chapter and verse 11:11 in several books of the Bible. I googled it. But I came up empty. 

I knew Hebrew was alphanumeric. There are no numbers in the Hebrew language. Each letter has a numeric value. So when you talk about a number in Hebrew, it’s significant—it means something. Recently, I was listening to Rabbi Jason Sobel, a Messianic Jew, and he opened up the number 11. He said the number 11 in Hebrew meant “breakthrough!” He said the resurrection of Jesus is a picture of this number. He broke out of the grave in victory!

Happy 11:11!  May we all have a breakthrough!!!

Faith • Hope • Love

Have you ever stopped and really considered this verse? I Corinthians 13 is called “The Love Chapter.” And the very last verse tells us that love is greater than faith or hope! Think about that. 

Faith is the cornerstone of Christianity. Without faith, we can’t even have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And without faith, we can’t please God. Faith moves mountains! Hope isn’t just optimism. It’s believing God will do what He says and we can firmly trust Him to fulfill it. 

Love is greater than both of those things. God’s great love reached out and saved us from sin by sacrificing His Son on the cross. His unconditional love keeps us and flows out of us as we mature. 

The Love Chapter also tells us what love is NOT. It’s not prideful nor does it envy. It isn’t hateful and doesn’t behave rudely. It doesn’t look out for itself first and foremost. A person who loves can’t be provoked into anger by the actions of others. Love doesn’t believe or expect the worst in others—it makes space for that person to grow and change. It doesn’t gloat over the failures of others—it rejoices in truth. These checkpoints let us know where we are in the pursuit of love. 

Love never fails. Love is kindness—and it draw us to repentance. It is greater than faith or hope. Do we need all three? Absolutely. But pursue love and the others will fall into place. 

Faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love.  ❤️ 

Caretaker or Game Changer?

Andy & I were talking about this last night. Having been in so many churches in the past year and a half, we’ve seen more leaders who are caretakers rather than game changers. Caretaking is necessary to an extent, but God gave us the mission to change the world by bringing people into His kingdom! In fact, while Jesus was on this earth, he was a radical game changer! 

A caretaker takes care of the day-to day needs of others; they focus on maintenance, upkeep and daily tasks. A caretaker maintains order without rocking the boat. 

A game changer significantly alters the way things are done. They drive the change and spur a shift in the status quo. They compare what’s being done to what’s possible. They have vision—and the personality and drive to make change happen. 

We need game changers. 

The First Deacons

In Acts 6, we see where and why the first deacons were established. The crowd of people following Jesus was growing and they were sharing everything—even meals. The Hellenists were complaining that their widows were being neglected in the distribution of food. So the twelve disciples told the people to choose seven men who could concentrate on serving (diakoneō the Greek word from which we get deacon). 

These men were to:

1. Have a good reputation

2. Be full of the Spirit

3. Have wisdom

4. Be willing to serve. 

Stephen was the first chosen. The 12 disciples laid hands on him and the other six men chosen to set them apart to serve as deacons. The description of him says he was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He was full of power and did wonders and signs among the people. When he was accused by the Freedmen, they were not able to resist the wisdom and Spirit by which he spoke. As he spoke, his face shone like an angel’s. He spoke clearly and accused these men (and their forefathers) of killing the prophets—he was fearless. They decided to kill him by stoning him; Stephen was the first martyr of the faith after Jesus had returned to heaven. As he died, Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of his Father and he forgave his assassins and asked Jesus not to hold his death against them. 

The first deacon served tables and distributed food to widows. He was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He did signs and wonders. He was able to teach with wisdom that couldn’t be resisted. He was willing to lay down his life for truth. He forgave his killers. 

The life and example of the first deacon. Even with the Holy Spirit working so powerfully in his life, he was willing to serve tables. 

Step Forward

Can you imagine Roman soldiers coming for you with clanking armor, lanterns, swords, torches, and other weapons? What would you do? I think my first instinct would be to RUN!!  But knowing me, I’d probably freeze in fear. 

This actually happened to Jesus. He’d taken his disciples to a garden when Judas came storming in with Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus. Jesus knew why they were there. He knew what was ahead of him. He knew his death was imminent and that the sin of the whole world was about to be put upon him. What did he do?  

He stepped forward. 

Jesus stepped towards Judas, his betrayer, and every Roman soldier who’d come to arrest him. 

I don’t know all of the implications of this statement, but knowing my impulse would be to run, I think it’s pretty amazing that Jesus stepped towards this evil plan—a plan hatched by the chief religious leaders. Jesus knew their hearts and had to be grieved that they didn’t believe he was the Son of God and even angry that they were leading an insurrection against God. But Jesus knew God’s redemptive plan and was committed to obeying his Father. 

He stepped forward. 

Is there an evil plan being instigated against you? Religious leaders may even be behind it—because that jealous, murderous spirit is still alive. I want to be like Jesus, don’t you? I want to step forward. 

God, give us the strength, courage, and resolve to step forward.