A Tremendous Return on His Investment

I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalms 16)

The shaking of the world's financial structures is causing waves of fear. We should not be surprised at the shaking and quaking of the earth. But, I felt one of those waves of fear splash by me last night as I heard questions springing up in my mind -- questions about an uncertain future. Yet, in the past, my bride and I have seen God always provide for the needs of our family of 14. And, God has promised to shake the earth and even the heavens.

Fear comes when my security or peace depends on something that can be shaken or taken. Money, health, property and relationships are all things that can be taken or destroyed. Anyone who is depending on their 401k, IRAs or job is feeling the tremors shaking the earth's financial system. Governments are desperately struggling to prop up the system. Yet, any security that appears through their efforts will only be an illusion.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Real security depends on the vitality of our relationship with God through Christ Jesus. Jesus promised, and he demonstrated the truth, that God will provide for those who have as their priority God's kingdom and way. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt 6)"

Everything we have and work for in this world came directly or indirectly from God. God owns the world and the heavens. Yet, most of the world is doing its "own thing" and does not particularly care about God's priorities. "For those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. - (Rom 14)" We can't do our "own thing" and also be genuinely led by the Spirit of God.

Maybe God is taking some of His IRA's and saving accounts and re-investing that money according to His priorities. Our natural tendency is to clutch our stuff in our arms and say, "Mine!" But, it's not really ours. If, in our spirits, we truly give God our savings accounts, health, houses, relationships and our whole life then we will have peace and security. Even if God takes those things and uses them in unexpected ways, we will praise Him. We will be led by His Spirit, see His marvelous works, and experience His provision. And, God will see a tremendous return on His investment.

"Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed." (Revelation 15)

In or Of

The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed ?

Abraham and his family has had and continues to have tremendous impact on history. It's amazing how much any family can potentially affect the future. But, when a man loses sight of God and His ways, the result is sad and ugly. Such a man will set his mind on the things of the flesh and his children will often follow his example in even worst ways. Abraham's nephew, Lot, set his mind on the things of the earth. He dwelt in Sodom among those who were focused on the flesh. His focus and the influence of that environment pulled his family away from the one true God. Lot's family suffered great loss and eventually became enemies of God.

"For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him."

Abraham lived in the land but did not fully embrace its culture or institutions. He and his family maintained a God focused identity that was separate from the beliefs, training and customs of the surrounding tribes. Abraham taught his children to follow the way of the Lord.

Wherever we live, the nations in which we and our families dwell are only too happy to teach our children to follow the way of the flesh. Sometimes the flesh gets all dressed up, becomes apparently intellectual, and looks very "civilized". The truth is that the death and destruction seen in Sodom and Gomorrah are always at the end of the road of the flesh. If one's family is not somewhat isolated from the worldly culture in which they live, it will be fully taught by that culture's message, teachers and relationships. Parents have the awesome choice. Lot's choice was the riches and friendships of Sodom and integration with culture. Abraham's choice was to follow God's call out of the world's culture and to find God's culture -- God's "way". We're "In" the world but what culture have we chosen to be "of".

"The mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." -- Romans 8

A Couple of Links about the culture in the US.

• Textbooks Distorting History and Religion

• Abortion

• Today porn use is an epidemic in the church

Paradise on Earth?

So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden... (Gen 3:23)

My bride and I recently built and moved into a new house in the country. Ideally, we will see it become a place of ministry. But, the temptation is to view it as some sort of sanctuary. This is the desire of many men -- a place of peace, joy and comfort where they have no needs. At the same time, we frequently isolate ourselves from or ignore the needs of our neighbor. The natural tendency is to make ourselves the focus of our own love. But this is counterfeit love because real love is designed to exist and be meaningful only in a relationship with someone else. Genuine love always requires sacrifice. Ever since being expelled from Garden of Eden, Man has been struggling to recreate Paradise while at the same time obeying and loving only Self. This is the Garden of Eden Syndrome that makes it almost impossible for rich men to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Having our dream cottage in some ideal location is guaranteed to NOT be an actual paradise because God's purpose is not another Garden of Eden. His objective is men and women who are genuine lovers in the same way that He is a lover because they are filled with His love. New life and fruitfulness comes only outside the Garden and only through death to self. For example, a woman must embrace pain and risk her life to have a baby. In a similar fashion, men are called to die to their self-interest so they can protect and provide for their family. They must die to self if they are to provide not only on a physical level but also on a spiritual level.

The temptation to get away from needs, pain, and suffering can entice us to break relationships, to hide behind walls and to kill the potential fruit of our lives. In contrast, God calls us to be filled with His Spirit of Love. His Spirit will make us great lovers trusting in Him to provide. He will provide and bring new life as we take the risk of depending on Him instead of seeking or even lazily sinking into the false security of a paradise on earth.

Father, please empower us to give up seeking paradise on earth and, instead, embrace being lovers of God and man -- even if it means being inconvenienced, uncomfortable or sharing our stuff.

The lazy man does not have a harvest because it is too inconvenient, uncomfortable, or scary to sow the seed. (Prov 20, Eccl 11, Prov 22)

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (Jn 12)

Happy Birthday, My Bride

Happy Birthday to my bride!

I don't know why. But, I've been incredibly blessed to be married to a woman who is truly one in a million. Ouida's heart is set on seeking, hearing, and following the Lover of her soul. She has confronted many fears and found faith to keep walking. When we got married, Ouida had in mind that we would have a small family of only three children. I was thinking of maybe two or three. But, it seemed like Father kept calling us to have "one more". Ouida struggled with fears about childbirth, pregnancy, and taking care of each of them. We had more than 12 children but only 12 were born. Ouida is a true mother who has laid down her life for her children.

As the years went by, we began to feel that our heavenly father was guiding us toward something different in education. After various public, Christian and cooperative schooling attempts, we ended up home educating. This was a huge challenge for Ouida and was a great motivation for prayer. She has always wanted and sought the very best for her children. This has often taken her out of her comfort zone and beyond the boundaries of self-imposed limitations. Ouida is a diamond among grains of sand.

We have prayed together many times about many different things. Many times, she has prayed for me when I've been stuck for hours on some problem at work and, strangely, things seemed to clear up after a bit. We've prayed together seeking God's direction on many decisions such as whether to move into Christian community in the country, how to educate our children, whether to get rid of the TV, how to handle relationship problems, where to seek Christian fellowship and how to handle the challenges that children bring with them. My bride is a wonderful prayer partner.

I don't like to travel alone because I've experienced how much fun I have traveling with Ouida. A trip to China to visit our daughter would seem like a waste if I couldn't share all the experience with my bride. She gets excited about things I might not notice otherwise. I remember with joy the experiences of riding in taxis to unknown destinations, walking the streets of Shanghai, and trying out our hotel's foot massage business. She has also learned to travel into the unknown challenges of camping. They were unknown to her because she had not grown up with camping experiences. Tents, rain, cold, no showers, and babies to feed and take care of. Who wants to sign up? Ouida did. We've gone camping almost every summer for close to 30 years. We couldn't have done it if she hadn't embraced the experience and done all the planning and organized all the preparation required. Many say they couldn't or wouldn't do it. But, her work, camping supplies list, DayTimer, and camping preparation crew gave us camping experiences that profoundly blessed our family. Ouida is a rare and wonderful camper.

It's on her birthday this year that we begin to move into the new house we've been building. Ouida has been intimately involved in and prayed over everything about this house. We want it to be a place of ministry rather than just a place. When building a house, one wants every detail to be "just right". But, many details will have problems. Compromises are also necessary to meet the sometimes conflicting requirements and desires. Several neighbors have complimented various things about the house. Much of the appearance, layout and materials have been the target of Ouida's prayer, searching and discernment. Her sense of what looks good is much better than mine. Ouida is a builder.

I love you, Ouida. May the Father bless you with much fulfillment in ministry, rich family interactions and deep personal relationship with Him this new year of your life.

Happy Birthday!!

Psalm 24:3-4

Good Things Happen

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, (Jeremiah 1:4)

Like many of you, I frequently check my e-mail. Others of us like to check the mail box. We hope to get some interesting news or word from family, friends or business. God is trying to send each of us a message. If we have His Holy Spirit living in us, He is wanting to give us one or more messages every day. In fact, God is more ready to speak than we are to hear.

Thousands of years ago, Jeremiah was able to tune in. In contrast to e-mail, if we really hear God's word for each of us, we will be changed. His Word has power and does not return void. So, let's grab a Bible or pull up a devotional online and ask God to give grace to hear His voice in our soul. When He speaks and we hear, good things happen.

Who?

In my younger days, I felt completely independent and thought I knew what was best in my life. And, so what if I was wrong about some decision? After all it was my life to make or mess up. But, then I got married and soon we had a new son. Because of these loved ones in my life, I began to realize that my personal decisions extended to the help or hurt of others who were important to me. Of course, I was only just beginning to recognize a truth that had always been true. My decisions always impacted others, I just lacked enough love to perceive how much I could hurt my siblings, parents, and friends.

I reached out day after day
to a people who turned their backs on me,
People who make wrong turns,
who insist on doing things their own way.
(Isaiah 65:2)

There are some who are embarrassed about some of their past actions. So now, pride tends to hold them back from fellowship. Some have chosen to become "too busy" to be involved in spiritual growth activities. A person like this may be sacrificing his family on the altar of his pride. Except for the grace of God, pride will have its own way. May God have mercy on him and help him to have the love to see the truth that we are all sinners and have all done things that we are now ashamed of.

Other men are constantly tempted to make the "things that are seen" into important goals, projects and priorities. We want bigger buildings, nicer cars, prettier women, higher pay and better seats in the arena. And, please don't bother us with words about knowing God or spreading God's Kingdom. We're too busy and too proud. Solomon carried these kind of goals to the extreme and found only -- "smoke".

King Solomon had incredible wisdom and was able to organize huge projects, judge difficult cases and compose proverbs to guide others. He is even the writer of a few books in the Bible. Yet, his incredible personal wisdom was not sufficient to sustain him for his whole life. He failed to continue to seek to know God's ways, God's priorities and God's love. As a result, Solomon experienced the frustration expressed in Ecclesiastes. Which of us is wiser than Solomon and, therefore, no longer need to seek God? The "wisdom" of man doing things his own way has destroyed so many families, nations, and churches.

Look at that man, bloated by self-importance— full of himself but soul-empty.
But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive. (Habakkuk 2:4)

Let's move closer to God and start giving a little more time, maybe 5 or 10 minutes, every day reading His Word, seeking His priorities and knowing His love. Incredibly, the Creator, the King of Kings is reaching out to us. The great I AM is inviting each of us into a deeper relationship with Him while Pride calls us to trust ourselves. Who are we listening to?

King Sennacherib's Threat

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this word to Hezekiah:
"God's Message, the God of Israel:
Because you brought King Sennacherib of Assyria to me in prayer,
here is my answer,...
(Isaiah 37:21+)

"Here is my answer." We long to see and know God's answer. Yet, too often, I keep trying to muddle along with some major struggle in my life without explicitly turning to God with it. God had heard Sennacherib belittle the god of Israel. But, that did not motivate God's response. It was Hezekiah's prayer that led to God's intervention. It's interesting that a powerful prophet, Isaiah, was on the scene but it was not his prayers but the prayer of the leader of the nation that brought about the defeat of Sennacherib. My wife is a real prayer warrior but there are some issues over which I have responsibility that depend on my prayers.

At one time or another, I've struggled with "Sennacherib" issues such as health, feelings, temptations, relationships with children, my relationship with my wife, relationships with neighbors, fears about my job, anxiety about my wife's pregnancy, concerns for income versus expenses and so on. In many or most of these situations, I eventually got around to fervent prayer. But, I frequently struggled too long trying to find a way to solve the problem with my own pitiable resources.

I suspect that most of us have a "Sennacherib" threat hanging over our heads. Have you brought your King Sennacherib to God in fervent prayer?

A Joyful Harvest

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, (Romans 8:6)

What does it mean to have one’s mind “set on the Spirit”? It easy for anyone to understand a mind set on the flesh with its appetites for recognition, wealth, power, toys, trinkets and getting “my way”. As one grows older, this focus on the desires of self will lead to a sense of meaninglessness (Eccl 1:14). Being guided by the desires of flesh or selfishness is guaranteed to lead to regret and death. It will destroy dreams, relationships and lives. But, what is focus on the “Spirit”?

God does not delight in the power of a car;
He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man,
The Lord favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for his love, kindness and mercy.
(paraphrase Ps 147:10)

The Holy Spirit is Love alive. When we have the Spirit of Christ living in us, we will have self-sacrificing love for others and for God. A focus on the Spirit means a growing love of, knowledge of and relationship with God. It means a love for neighbors that leads to activity for their sake. When the self-sacrificing love of Christ’s Spirit guides our thinking, our relationships will be touched with his healing power, our goals will have eternal purpose, and we will experience a dynamic, meaningful life. Self-love can sometimes look like real love but it will eventually yield a bitter harvest. The activity of God's Spirit will always bring a joyful harvest.

Galatians 5:18+

Here are some more questions to consider.

Are my goals for today primarily focused on me or on loving God and others?

How do we get Christ’s Spirit in our life?

• Is it related to Jesus' statement that he who is forgiven much loves much?

Can we get more of His Spirit?

A teenage 'rebelution'

Do Some Damage!

But as for Israel He says, "All the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."

It is not only Israel that is disobedient and obstinate. I have, too often, found myself in that same category. One does not set out to be disobedient. No, it comes quite naturally to humanity because all that's necessary is to say, "I'm going to do what I want." This is quite a contrast to being able to sincerely say, "Jesus is Lord."

Many Christians are currently barely distinguishable from anyone else in their neighborhood. One reason may be that we have basically the same values, goals and "wisdom" as everyone else. But, if we look at the early Christians, we see that they were "continually devoted to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread (communion) and to prayer." They were not only different from their neighbors, they would also be different from most of us.

By God's grace, let's stop for a few minutes and ask ourselves, "When was the last time I spent even 30 minutes to personally read Scripture and pray over my values, goals and family?" Many of us are missing something vitally important! No wonder our hearts are growing cold, our marriages lack love, our children leave the Church and the world embraces us. Too many of us are walking into a minefield with ears that don't hear and eyes that don't see. But, if we will actively seek God's Kingdom in our own lives, He will begin to guide us in unexpected directions. God is eagerly looking for men and women who want to be devoted to Him and who are willing to change their priorities and the activities of their families in order to seek Him. The devotion of the early Christians was a result of their yielding to the impulses of the Holy Spirit. And, that devotion resulted in an explosion of spiritual power into their marriages, families, neighborhoods and into all the world. Instead of being casualties, let's do something to cause the enemy some damage!

Lord, forgive my prayerlessness!

Lord, give me more of your Love and more of your Spirit.

Lord, help me to seek, hear and obey.

Lord, send laborers into the harvest!

Lord, send me!