Three Martyred in the Philippines in January 2010!

When thinking about my Christian faith I am often faced with the fact that faith in Jesus Christ is not a popular thing in the world. Hostility is increasing daily over Christianity by many different groups, but the largest group is Muslims.

In January 2010, a group of an estimated 15 or more heavily armed Muslim men attacked a couple of farmhouses while the families slept. In one house at around 9:40 pm in the evening these hardcore haters of Christianity opened fire and three of the four people were killed and one wounded.

Hector, Norberto, and Lyneth lost their lives in the name of Christ. These Muslim extremist who do not fit the profile which many world leaders would like for us to believe about the Muslim faith as being peaceful are just the opposite. Their desire is for all Christians to perish off the face of the earth. They want the livestock and property of Christians around them and will kill to get it.

This is only one of hundreds of incidents like this which cost a fellow believer their life. Here in the land of the free and home of the brave are we willing to share the gospel of Christ with those around us even if it places our lives under the threat of torture, imprisonment or even death? Think about this as you ponder your faith today. How far are you willing to go? Many of us may not really know how we would react in a similar situation, but we do need to count the cost of being a follower of Jesus Christ.

No matter what transpires in our lives here in the United States of America, we can rest on the true words of Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

To see the full story at VOM and videos, go to the Persecuted

Read more...

Successful prayer!

"Successfully praying should be the first lesson a preacher or teacher of the Word of God must learn to do in order to preach/teach effectively and fruitfully. However, prayer seems to be the hardest activity we are ever called upon to do. In our human depravity, praying is the one action we are constantly tempted to do less of more than any other.

Prayer is our best weapon against our enemies or the lack of will be our demise."

-Scott Bailey

Read more...

Our Confident Hope!

Our Confident Hope
By Scott Bailey

Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

"God provided us with His Word written down throughout the ages to reveal who He is, who His Son is, the amount of gracious immeasurable love He has for His people, and how to live a real authentic eternal life. Although, the biblical words are ancient, they are still as relevant today as they were four thousand years ago. Further, history which has taken place since the Bible was written also, has been preserved and recorded for our instruction. We can rely on the historical value found in God’s word.

These ancient words are still, even today, the best counselor we could ever want. Through patient meditation and enduring study of the Bible we find hope weaved into the fabric of ever passage. These Scriptures are there to not only instruct and give direction, but also, to encourage, to sooth, to calm, to restore us, and to bring us great comfort in the hope delivered within.

For centuries tyrants have been attempting to get rid of God’s word. However, the Scriptures continue to endure the test of the times. The Bible is still the most widely distributed book in all the world of all times. The very words contained within its pages are guarded meticulously by the Holy Spirit. He does not allow it to be distorted, abused, or altered away from its original contextual meaning. Each writer who contributed to the Holy Bible we have today was spiritually inspired and directed by the Holy Spirit. The contributions span over several thousand years, but all connect together as though written at the same time. God guards His Word.

Our ultimate desire in reading, studying, and praying over the Scriptures is the hope found within the pages of God’s Word…the Good News that although we are condemned to eternal death because of our sin, God made a way for reconciliation by the justification in Jesus Christ dying for our sins. Furthermore, the fact Jesus came back to life after His death, and eventually was taken to heaven to be at the right of the Father. The Good News is found in no other and so there is no hope apart from Christ death, burial and resurrection.

Our ultimate goal is to be in heaven for all eternity with our Lord. Our hope is that the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ will find us no matter what state of sin we are in. Hope is looking forward and upward with a unique God given desire when placing ones loyal trust in another. For the Believer, we are placing our loyal trust in Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Our hope is an inner joy and confidence with the expectation of our external salvation which is only found in Jesus Christ!"

Read more...

Don't Wait!

When we put off forgiving others it is never a good thing. The regrets just mount up like piles of mud on our heart. A verse of Scripture crossed my path this morning and a wonderful little story to signify the purpose not to let your forgiveness be filed away for some other day.

Jesus reminded the people, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." -Mark 11:25 (TEV)

It was a cold winters evening when an older man in his seventies suffered a serious heart attack while shoveling snow from his sidewalk. He was immediately admitted to the local hospital. He was then treated at once in the emergency room to stabilize him and placed in the ICU room for observation.

Once the man gained his "where-abouts" he motioned for the nurse to come to his side. The nurse quietly asked, "Is there anything I can get for you?"

The man replied, "Can you call my daughter to simply let her know what has happened? She is the only family I have left in this world"

The nurse said she would and went to her desk to make the call.

As the nurse made the call the daughter answered the phone. Once hearing the news the daughter, Donna, became very upset at the news. The daughter nearly shouting into the phone while crying told the nurse, "You must not let him die. Dad and I had an argument over a year ago and I have not spoken to him since. My last words to him were "I hate you!" and I stormed out of his life. For nearly 15 months I have wanted to go back to him and beg his forgiveness, but just put it off. Please, don't let him die until I can get there to see him. I'll be there in about thirty minutes."

As the nurse hung up the phone and walked towards the patients room she notice the alarm going off in his room and staff from everywhere running into the man's room. He had gone into a full cardiac arrest. For nearly twenty minutes solid they tried everything from jump starting his heart to adrenaline in his veins, but nothing would revive him. The old man died just minutes before his daughter could arrive to see him.

As the nurse was cleaning up the area around the man's bed, she noticed the daughter outside talking to the doctor. She was visibly upset. The nurse went to speak with her to help console her. She could see the pain and anguish on the daughters face. A since of failure and hopelessness was welling up inside the daughter, Donna.

Donna began to explain how she never hated her daddy, but always wanted to be approved by him. She did not want to go another day without his forgiveness for their argument months before, but just never got around to going to see him. Now, it was too late. But she insisted on going in to him one last time.

The nurse thinking why put yourself through more anguish lead the daughter into the room. Donna walked on over to his side and buried her face into the sheets of the bed sobbing and crying loudly as she convulsed on the bedside.

The nurse trying not to watch this exhibition of anguish and sorrow noticed a piece of paper and pencil on the night table next to the bed. She made her way around to where it was and picked up the paper to read it. As she read it, tears began to roll down her own face and she handed it to the daughter to read. It was a quick and scribbled little note that read:

"My Dearest Donna, I do forgive you. I pray you will forgive me. I know that you love me. I love you too. -Daddy"

The story for these two ends here. The tragedy of guilt and shame of what could have been comes to mind here as we ponder the thought of forgiveness earlier in this father and daughter relationship. The simple answer to this story is "Don't wait!".

"Forgiveness is man's deepest need..." -Horace Bushnell

The ability to forgive is a gift from God and He intends we use our gifts everyday.

Read more...

Grace out of nowhere!

"The grace of God is His unmerited love for His people proven through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ."

Ever thought much about the grace that brought you to the cross and delivered you into eternal salvation through Jesus Christ? I never thought much about the details, just always understood it was God's grace which is simply God's unmerited favor towards those who will Believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Well, this brings me to a little story I wanted to share.

A little over one hundred and fifty years ago in a rather large community of England a huge prospering church had started three smaller mission churches on the outskirts of town. These churches happened to be in the slums and more poor areas of the community. However, often they would gather at the mother church for one large communion service. People from every church would gather at one location to observe the sacraments of communion.

At the alter area where a communion rail was set up you would have former thieves, burglars, rapist, murderers, bankers, lawyers, doctors, housewives, etc all lined up observing communion together. On one particular special service event a young pastor observed two people taking communion side by side at the rail.

He knew the background behind both men. Neither of these men seemed to realize they were even next to each other at the communion rail. However, the pastor certainly did. You see the one on the left was a Supreme Court Judge out of England. Next to him was a former hardened criminal described further as a thief. This judge had sentenced this thief to several years in prison years before. Now, they are both at the same table, kneeling before the same God in communion.

The story goes on to tell us the burglar or thief once out of prison was converted to Christianity shortly after that. His life change was proven in the years of Christian work and the fact he had left the old life of being a thief behind.

After this particular service, the judge and the pastor were walking home together when the judge ask the pastor if he knew who was kneeling at the communion rail beside him on his right.

The pastor was stunned at the question, because he had assumed the judge hadn't noticed. "Yes I did", said the pastor, "but I didn't think you had noticed."

The two walked along in silence for several more minutes when the judge spoke, "What a miracle grace is."

The pastor replied with a simple, "Yes, what a wonderful grace."

The judge assuming the pastor did not understand his meaning asked, "But to whom do you refer?"

"Well, of course to the conversion of the thief!", the pastor confidently replied.

The judge quickly came back with, "I am not referring to the thief, I am speaking of myself."

The pastor stopped walking and with squinted eyes said, "You're thinking of yourself? I certainly don't understand what you are talking about."

The judge gently begin to explain, "Yes, I am referring to myself in this matter of grace. You see, it didn't cost the thief very much to get converted when he was released from prison. I am not downplaying his conversion, I am speaking of the amount of grace upon the thief. I mean, the thief had nothing but a history of burglary, stealing, thieving, and so on. He could only respond to Christ with a big YES when Jesus came calling him. He had nothing within himself to fall back on to keep him from it. But look at me and my life on the other hand. I was born into a family who were Believers, they brought me up in the church, they taught me from early on in my childhood to be truthful, not steal, to be an upstanding person in the community. I mean I went to Oxford University and received all these wonderful degrees eventually becoming a judge. So, pastor, I want you to understand that nothing but grace could save a person like me. Only the grace of God could make me admit I needed a Savior. Only grace could penetrate such a snobby heart to see that I was just as bad a sinner as any person I had put behind bars. Pastor, it took more grace to bring me to salvation than the thief I was kneeling beside at the communion service today."

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."

Interesting view of the grace of God isn't it. Do you understand what it took to bring you to salvation? I feel much like the judge. To bring an upstanding person to the throne of grace is such an odd thing, but yet it is still unmerited favor with God. I don't deserve His grace or His salvation anymore than anyone else does. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Read more...

Forgiven & Forgotten!

"What a tremendous gift from God it is when we are able to forgive and let go of others ills against us - forigve & forget! This is the way our Lord deals with us, when we genuinely ask for forgiveness in repentance, God forgives & it is as if we never committed the sin which made us an enemy to Him in the first place.

I read a story the other day about a young seminary professor who would always introduce his New Testament class with a story from his past.

He and his dad were close and one day he told his dad a lie which hurt his father deeply. For years this young man grew older, but let the lie go unresolved. Guilt built up inside him about the lie and eventually a sense of tremendous remorse began to knaw inside of him. So, finally he sat down and wrote his dad a letter.

In the letter, he reminded his dad of the incident which he lied to him in case he did not remember. He explained in genuine tone his remorse over the lie and asked forgiveness without any explanation or excuse for the lie. The man went about his days when fairly quickly a reply letter came from his dad. It simply read, "Sure I remember the incident and YES your are forgiven!".

To the son this was a tremendious weight lifted from his shoulders as he had carried the weight of the unresolved lie for years. The further payoff came many years later when his mother and father both were much older, became ill, and died within a few months of each other.

He was the oldest child, so it was he duty to go to the parents home and start the process of sifting through their belongings. He ventured into the attic and found an old trunk with many momentos they had kept throughout their life together. Everything that was really precious to them monitarily was in that trunk.

As he was wiping tears away at the memories his parents had kept from he and his siblings childhood years, he came across that letter he had sent to his dad asking his forgiveness. He wiped the tears back, opened up the letter to re-read what he had written. As he turned the letter over on the backside was written in his father's own handwriting a word "FORGIVEN!" and it was underlined. His father had forgiven him and when his dad was done with something and beyond he would write it down and underline it meaning "finished".

By the letter being in that old trunk of mementos, with the word FORGIVEN written on it was his dads way of saying I have no unfinished business in this trunk. This was a tremendous gift his dad had given to him not only at the time of the reply letter, but years later when he found the letter as a treasure and the word FORGIVEN written on it. His dad had relinquished all traces of the hurt, the resentment, and the bitterness over the years.

In the same way, our heavenly Father will forgive us when we are genuinely remorseful and repentent before Him. I understand from my own experience, we sometimes need to ask for forgiveness from someone, and at other times we need to simply forgive someone and let go of the hurt and pain they might have caused. Either way forgiveness whether given by us or received by us is a gift from God to be treasured. God is here to help us in either situation.

In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus tells us, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." This is speaking about an attitude of heart and action from that attitude.

Geroge Herbert once wrote - "He who cannot forgive others breaks the brdige over which he must pass himself."

Read more...

We are declared new & we are being made new...daily!

"God is in the process of transforming us into the same image of His Son Jesus Christ...this process is also known as "Sanctificaiton". "What joy the gospel gives me! I can approach the throne of God with confidence-not because I've done a good job at my spiritual duties, but because I'm clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ." -CJ MaHaney

So, stop spinning plates as the monks do & renounce our self-righteousness behavior...boast in the achievement & work of our substitute & Savior Jesus Christ. We shouldnt be trying to smuggle a holy character into the free grace of God.

To clarify a couple of things that are confusing to most people including me:

Justification is being declared righteous. This is our position before God permanently ours at the time we are converted. Justificaiton is immediate and complete at conversion because of the Person Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross and resurrection. We cannot be more justified before our holy God in the future.

Sanctification is the process after our salvation which is us being made righteous...this is until we go to be with Him in heaven. We are daily being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. It is our practices which continue while living here on earth. Remember, Justificaiton is the declaration, and Sanctificaiton is the process. We can become more Sanctified each day but not more Justified. The motivation for our Sanctification is based a grace filled obedience to God.

Finally, Justificaiton is objective because of Christ's work for us on our behalf. Sanctification is subjective because it is Christ continual work in us throughout life.

A brand new Believer in Jesus Christ is equally justified as any great saint in the past who lived for Christ fifty years or more...they are on equal ground. Because in the sight of God we are either completely justified or completely condemned...depends on our trust in Jesus Christ or not.

to read exerpts from my newly published book "A Pilgrimage Through the Wilderness" goto The Pilgrimage Book

Read more...

The Way is Narrow into the Kingdom!

"Jesus also tells the listeners John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He
is the ONLY way to the Father in heaven. This goes against
everything a secular humanistic people are brought up to believe. How
can this be? “I thought all I needed to do was walk an isle in a
church, repeat a little prayer after the preacher and boom, I am
in the family”.... for more go to Pilgrimage-Wilderness.

Read more...

Post from A Pilgrimage Through the Wilderness by Scott Bailey

"Confession time is in order here. I still have times when life just
piles on top of me more than I can handle. It weighs me down to my
knees to the point of crying out before God. There is no way I can see
God if..." to read the rest go to A Pilgrimage Through the Wilderness" by author Scott Bailey

Read more...

Taste His Goodness & Thirst For More!

Have you ever tasted the goodness of God after a long thirsty spell, and yet once the thirst was quenched by God Himself, you end up thirsting for more? We are never completely aware of how much grace we need from God, but once tasting His goodness we find He has more waiting for us & wants us to desire Him even more. Read Ps 42:1-2

It is amazing to me how thirsty we can get even after having just drank our fill from a never ending stream of water. His grace never stops flowing as I continue to thirst for Him even when I have been filled. Most of us lack that authentic burning desire for our Triune God, but He wants to be wanted! In His sovereign ways He will move us to thirst after Him mostly by pouring out His grace all over us. Also, His mercies are delivered to us fresh each morning many times even as we sleep. How could we ever not want our God after experiencing His gracious goodness...it makes me thirst for Him even more!

It is a spiritually dry land we live in today. People are starving for what God can give them yet they are drinking from every fountain in town except the one fountain that delivers a never ending stream of fresh water...Jesus Christ!

So, just a deer pants with his head hung low for a fresh stream of water to quench his dry thirsty mouth, we too must come to God with this same humble desire to be quenched in the fountain of His never ending love.

Read more...

Our Hypocrisy Shines Through Our Externalized Religion!

The Hypocrisy Jesus was talking about: "You use great , wonderful words, but you don't mean them. You talk about love, but you don't love. You talk about forgiveness, but you don't forgive. You talk about acceptance, but you don't accept." Too 'churchy' in word w/out sincerity at heart can externalize our religion. It is right attitude along with right words that count.

People outside the church have been listening to our empty words for decades and want nothing to do with our church or religion at all, because they heard us talk about loving them, but only received a bunch of stiff necked hypocrites. They were different than we were, they heard from the church we should accept those different, but all they received was snobby nosed outwardly religious zealots. We cannot influence the world around us as a church if we are praising with our lips while our hearts are stone cold towards the people we are claiming to minister to. The church has little affect today because of such hypocrisy.

For Reference: Mark 7:6-7 "Jesus replied to the Jewish leaders saying, 'Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written, 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vein; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

For me, I must watch the very words I use to make sure they match up with my heart. Do not be mistaken though, truth must be said. Sin is still sin in the eyes of God and God will not overlook our sin apart from the blood of Christ covering our life. But my challenge for 2010 is to deliver my words with more emphasis on grace than of anger. A persons words can sure be mistaken for hatred when delivered in the wrong way. Grace filled truth penetrates a person's heart much faster with more effectiveness than vile empty platitudes.

"Lord, I must confess my own times when I have suffered from the sinful illness of hypocrisy by worshipping outwardly, but my heart was dry as dead men's bones. I am truly grateful and thankful you have forgiven me for these ills against You. Teach me daily to worship You and exalt You both in spirit and in truth as Your holy Word says to. Thank You, Jesus, for not counting this against me and in your patience can teach me true worship through prayer, meditation on Your Word, listening intently to the great men of God You have placed in my life weekly, and singing the old hymns and new praises. May I be forever to the praise of Your wonderful glory. AMEN!"

Read more...

A New Year & A New Desire!

A new year has begun. It snuck in last night in the darkness with innocence and striving to be better than the last one. Thinking over the past year's struggles and lessons served as confirmation that man's free will cannot remove us from sinning. Only God can direct our results to make the right choices. When we find ourselves in sin, it is a reflection of our human inability to make the right choices. We cannot "will" ourselves not to sin only God over time changes the inner the desires of the Believer's heart towards holiness & us making the right choices. I am afraid this comes through painful growing wilderness journeys.

Refer to Romans 7:15-20 Paul struggled with the desire to do what was right yet ended up in sin. I can jump right in the middle of that one...it plagues me daily. Example Paul used: the 10Th commandment (by the way commandments are not suggestions). Thou shall not covet...Paul's desire was not to covet, yet he ended up coveting anyway. Paul found that just based on his own will-power or free-will not to covet would not keep him from coveting...when he desired (in Christ) not to covet & allowed the Spirit of God to rule in his life's desires, this is when he did not sin by coveting. Paul discovered our desires do drive our choices, but it is the God given desires which make for right choices, not the other way around.

Contemplating over the desires of the heart we need to ask ourselves "is the good I want to do really because it is something the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do, or is it for self-righteous reasons?" Make sure the reasons for our desires are pure and godly in order to find ourselves making the right choices. Over the year to come we can improve on making right choices, but it will require a daily diet of God's Word & drinking a constant solution of prayer, but the main ingredient in our daily meal is the "will of God" being powerfully active in our lives. As our desires direct our choices, we need to make sure the results reflect a true godly desire to do what is right laced with holiness and God glorifying aroma.

Read more...

Who is God?

The question of who God is comes up often. I was asked to write an article about the subject for a writers site I am a member of which caused me to think how I could describe who God is within such a brief span of time. Fact is, I can't do that. However, people cannot see Him and most do not really know Him and any visual I can bring out on paper to help someone experience the slightest glimpse of our God is worth the attempt. Over the past several years I have developed a personal and in-depth relationship with my heavenly Father. It is from this thirty two year relationship I draw this small amount of commentary on who I believe God to be.

First, let's look at the visible signs of who God is. We can see in His creation through nature God is the master painter and poet. The colors, the landscape, the variations of plants, animals, clouds, sky, and water are all a testimony to who God is. He is the creator of all things large and small. God is the sustainer of all things large and small. The Bible tells us God feeds the birds of the air, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” So, we can see just in one tiny aspect of nature a Creator who cares for His creation and sustains His creation.

Have you stood at a distance looking up at majestic mountains before? Some with snow caps, rocky ledges, and trees scattered about their slopes. Other mountains seem to be covered by low flying clouds or the image of smoke veiling their majestic peaks. Only a God who creates all things could possibly make something so beautiful. From a prayer of Moses we find this, “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever You had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” Here according to Moses, God has been God since before the formations of the earth. God created the heavens and the earth as Scripture tells us.

I remember picking up a very small rock one time to find on the bottom settled into the rock a tiny creature fossilized into the rock. The creature that made up this fossil was once alive, breathing, moving about the earth. Humanly speaking, I could only visualize what my finite mind could imagine this creature looked like and how it moved about only a few thousand years ago. I have no real way of knowing if what my mind would let me see was actually fact or not. However, God was the Creator of this tiny being and He saw it as it was moving about and breathing brand new on the earth. The fact is God gave that tiny creature its very breath and heartbeat to live by. God also, knew the very last breath it took and how it died. God in His vastness observed every living creature on this earth and knows were all of them from thousands of years ago are buried. Our God who reigns supreme over all the earth is also in the tiniest details of our life.

Since we have established Him as creator let’s look at something He created in His own image. This should, also, help us to understand who God is. In Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; both male and female He created them.” We find two interesting documentations of truth here. First, God is speaking in terms of “Us” making man in “our” image. Wow! The implications are huge in this fact of Scripture. This is not saying more than one God existed. What it is stating clearly is God comes in more than one part. We find the first concept of the Holy Trinity in these verses as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In plain English, the Father is speaking to His Son about the creation. Secondly, we find humanity is not an animal or a plant. God here has given man dominion over all the animals and mammals. God, our supreme authority, has endowed us humans with authority as well. We are to view God's likeness through the example of the Son, Jesus Christ, as He walked and lived here on the earth.

This brings me to a main point of who God is. However, let me make something clear at this point. No human being can contain the depths or the heights as to who God really is within any volume of papers. God is beyond huge and there is no end to His depths. So, this is a small attempt to give the reader a mere glimpse at who God is. Now, Jesus taught His disciples if you have seen Him then you have seen the Father and vice versa. Many teach today a distorted view of Jesus. The portrayal of Jesus in most people's eyes is a man without deity, without authority from God, and just one of us on a spiritual journey while leading others to do the same. I want to assure you Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was not merely just one of us. Sure He came to earth through the birth canal of His mother Mary. She conceived Jesus by a miraculous conception only to be understood by God Himself. However, Jesus was still full deity, fully God with our human skin wrapped around Him.

Jesus walked on this earth teaching grace, love for our neighbors, taking care of the poor and hungry, but most importantly He taught first we must repent of our sins and follow Him. Jesus spoke often about repentance, sin, hell, and the kingdom of God. We find here God is serious about sin. He wants sin out of our lives as far as having control over us. As part of our Christian life, God wants us to exemplify in our life the love of God for His people. We do this by feeding the poor, clothing them, and loving on them while sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ at the same time. Food, clothing, and shelter is not the gospel nor will it get these people to heaven, however, it is a doorway by which you have the opportunity to share the gospel with them and glorify God by your testimony to them. The gospel is we are a sinfully depraved humanity in need of a Savior otherwise we are doomed to an eternity in hell. God is a righteous judge, but He loves His people so much He provided His Son as a sacrifice for our sins in order for us to be reunited in relationship to Him in a way He no longer would have to turn His back on our sinfulness. Jesus became for us the mediator between humanity and God the Father. By placing our trust in Jesus Christ as our perfect Savior and mighty Lord, and believing that Jesus Christ did come back to life on the third day as Scripture tells us, we are then saved from eternal damnation in hell and have the full power to be obedient to God. We are at that moment a son of the living God. God adopts us at the moment we place a total loyal trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Do you still wonder who God is? Well, without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ you will never have a good understanding of who God is. By knowing Jesus, the Son of God, over time you will start to understand just how vast God is. You will understand that for a Believer suffering is a part of life yet God directs every aspect of the suffering. Nothing in all His creation is out of His reach. God is a loving God, true! God is, also, a just, holy, and righteous God too. He hates sin and hates sin in His people’s life. God hates sin so much, He was willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son in order for those who believe His Son can have eternal life. In John 3:16 we observe both the wrath and judgment of God while at the same time we discover the grace, mercy and love of God.

In a one sentence statement to help someone begin to think about who God is: “God is loving, our creator, gracious, Almighty judge, perfectly righteous, completely holy, Sovereign over all things and events, full of mercy, our protector, supreme healer, omnipresent, Infinite, Immense, good, Immanent, and so much more”. As I said before, I cannot within the pages of any book explain who God really is. This is a very brief glance at who God is. The understanding of our finite glimpse at God comes only when our Infinite God has accepted us in a relationship with Him.

Colossians 3:1-4 "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

To know God is to know the Son, Jesus Christ. Trust in the Son today and begin a tremendous relation with the Father you will never regret in all eternity.

Read more...

Training up a child to:

Originally posted by Scott on August 29, 2009


What is it we as parents are suppose to train up our children to do, be, want, or come back to? Have you as a parent ever wondered that? I know I have numerous times.
The entire verse goes like this:

“Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will come back to it” -Proverbs 22:6

I have seen the numerous wayward children just like everyone else has that so far has never come back to anything their parents taught them or have they gone the exact direction their parents taught them? Interesting subject I know. I have started exploring exactly what it is we are to teach our children growing up that when they are “seasoned” rather than just old they can come back to it and it be of some profit to them.

Proverbs 22 builds around this verse 6 it seems. It tells us some of what we are to teach our children as they are growing up. Each stage of their life we can teach them more and more, going deeper and deeper into each subject. I want to warn you that very little has to do with what job they will have, what college they will attend to what degree they should get. God has placed within each child a “bent” that they are moving towards regardless of what us parents really think or desire for them. It is our job as parents, in tune with our heavenly Father, in the power that He entrust to us, to learn over time what our children’s personality traits are, what kind of character God is moving them to be, and build that training around this.

One example I will share:

Train up the child to: (Proverbs 22:3 “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”)

-exercise sound, good judgement and to use their God given common sense on a daily basis.

-be careful about their conduct around other people

1. be cautious in their decisions on what they are doing from what they eat, to what they are wearing, to what they say, to how they act, to the people they hang out with, to how they spend their money and time and so on.
2. look for the danger signs, the warning signs around them of doom that might be coming if the continue in a direction they are going. Teach them to seek out shelter and refuge in the Lord if they can see those danger signs.

-provide carefully for the future

1. not be frivolous with their time, financial spending and actions
2. learn to save not only spend
3. budget their time, resources, and money at all times
4. be looking ahead as best they can to be sure they are not caught off guard
5. be a person worthy to be trusted by others and accountable

This is one example of our parental training. This example of course can go as deep as anyone would want to take it of course. Most of us parents can teach this from past experiences, from what our parents taught us, and most importantly from what the Word of God instructs us in these areas of life.

In the Proverb to train our children, this comes as no easy task, but it is commanded to us by our heavenly Father as instructed to us in His Word. So, if we only teach our children worldly things without any of the important points here, we are setting our children on the path of doom to never to stay on the path of godliness or to return to it if they get off track.

Read more...

What child is this?

Christmas is a great time of the year to bring the central focus of our spiritual lives back in focus towards the One we owe every single breath we take. Jesus Christ was gloriously and majestically seated in heaven before this span of time came into existence. However, His creation was fallen, sinful, drastically depraved to the core. Murder, adultery, paganism, atheistic, idolatry, cursing, drunkenness, vileness, cruelty, wickedness, and more was the astonishing, but Sovereign result of such a perfect beginning.

God the Son, knew He must enter into the world He created someday, step into our corrupt skin and decaying bodies in order to live out a life of perfection, making war on sin, die a horrific brutal vile death on two splintered wooden planks called a cross, willingly accept the rusty bone crushing spikes into His hands and feet, and in the end defeat the cold dark musty smell of death in a deep cold dark rocky grave in order to save His lost family from a rapidly disastrous world.

Some two thousand years ago a Jewish baby was born in Bethlehem on a dark night in the late summer or early fall. His mother only a young lady of about 13 years old having never been with a man gave birth to this child. To her amazement in later years her baby boy named Jesus would actually be the Christ, the long awaited and predicted Messiah.

You have to wonder if in Mary's mind throughout her life with Jesus if she ever really understood the magnitude this baby boy would play in the coming history of the world. Yes, an angel of the Lord did tell her what was coming, but at 13 could Mary realy grasp Who this Messiah would be or what His life would really be like. She had never known a Messiah. Most likely her closest encounter with the Messiah was read to her by her mother or father. However, she had a simple faith in her God enabling her to trust the fact her pregnancy was everything miraculous and was nothing of her own will or doing. She did not ask to be the one to bare the Christ child. However, she handled the situation with much grace and trust while dealing with some fear and trembling along the way.

Today, just a little over two thousand years since the birth of our Savior into this world, we celebrate His birth each year. Every year seems a bit more commercial from the year before. I am ashamed to say, but the church does not do much to fight this commercial battle only perpetuating it further by in some form or fashion instituting a mythical character called Santa into the Christmas story. It is all about the stuff, people, getting and giving, good health, great parties, elegant decorations, seeing lights, and more. Nothing wrong in any of those when kept in the proper perspective, however, the world has chosen these things to be the focus of the Christmas holiday season rather the entrance of our Savior into the world.

I do think far too many of us both in the church and outside the church keep Jesus lying in the hay packed manger with aHis swaddling clothes on, cooing at His mother. Something to bring attention to is the fact Jesus was a baby for only a short while like any of us. He grew up into a strong vital young man with a purpose only He and His heavenly Father knew. For three and half years He had a strong following of twelve close associates and crowds of people only a few evangelist today could dream of. But once Jesus started delivering His real messages, the twelve close followers and associates began to get nervous, with one figuring out he was not following the future ruler he signed up for, and the large crowds started diminishing. The message He began to deliver was the fact the kingdom of God was near and they must repent of their sinfulness, asking God for forgiveness of their sins, and committing their total and complete trust in Him as their Savior, the Messiah, God the Son. This message tore these people into a restless bunch which many in the crowd being Jewish leaders began to plot His death after these messages.

Today, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, keep the focus on the fact He is at the right hand of His Father in heaven, robed in glorious splendor, taking His rightful place on His throne. He is not in a manger surrounded by sheep anymore nor was the focus, in my humble opinion, suppose to be on the manger scene. He is not riding on a donkey with his mother Mary anymore. Jesus is not wrapped in swaddling clothes, He is not walking the countryside anymore...He is preparing a place for each of His "beloved" to live with Him for all eternity. Jesus Christ is the victor of a life which started in a manger, but ended up on His throne.

As the day draws to an end think of Christmas as the beginning of our eternal blessing found in the Savior we celebrate on this day. For the most part all the world stops in celebration of Christmas. Whether they acknowledge Jesus or not, they still uphold the holiday in some form or fashion. No other so called 'savior' can boast of this in all of history. Jesus Christ is the long awaited Messiah, the Son of the living God, God in the flesh. Celebrate Him today in spirit and awe...remember He is the KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS!

Read more...

Exceedingly and abundantly powerful!

REPOST from a post by Scott on January 12, 2009

Ephesians 3:20-21 is a doxology Paul places in this letter to the Ephesians. A doxology you might ask is a praise or glory given to Almighty God. Every prayer should have a doxology if not entire prayers most of the time. Think about our prayers for a minute. How much time do we honestly spend in praise and glorifying our God compared to the amount of time we spend asking for something. It is absolutely amazing the time spent in “asking”.

Of course, God wants us to come to Him and ask. He already knows what we will ask for, but He still wants that open line of communication with us to ask for anything in accordance with His will. As true Believers we should have in mind that which God wants not really what we want in the flesh. In taking a closer look at this doxology at the end of chapter 3 from Paul to the Ephesians we find out much more than we might imgaine.

When we ask or confirm something of God, in accordance with what we believe He wants for us, it would be good to do so with this mindset:

1. God has the power to do whatever He wants to do…He is our Sovereign Lord.

2. God can produce, make, or fashion in us whatever He desires…He is our Sovereign Lord.

3. God can go far beyond in delivering what we have ask or begged for. He can go exceedingly, unthinkably far beyond anything we can even dream up or think in our minds. Think of asking in these terms: desiring, craving, begging, calling out for that which God has placed on our hearts to ask for…He is our Sovereign Lord.

4. God does this in accordance with His power, His unending ability that He has put on display within our lives..He is our Sovereign Lord.

5. God’s exceeding abundance is a great reflection of His inexhaustible fullness of mercy and grace. The “well” can never be overdrawn. The “well” of God’s grace and mercy will never go dry. We are always welcome at this “well”. Remember Psalm 81:10 “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it with good things.” (NLT) He is our Sovereign Lord.

6. God’s power is all-sufficient and almightly powerful that He has saved each of us as Believers. This same power (awesome ability) is the power that was able to take a spiritually dead bag of bones like me and bring it to Himself in salvation. No one has this kind of power except God…no one! He is our Sovereign Lord.

7. God is looking for excellencies and praises to be ascribed towards Him in our prayers…He is our Sovereign Lord.

8. God provided us with a mediator in Jesus Christ His Son…He is our Sovereign Lord.

9. All of the praises and glories that we garble towards God goes through the hand of Jesus Christ our great mediator (high priest)…He is our Sovereign Lord.

10. All of graces, mercies, and gifts that come to us from our heavenly Father comes through that same hand of Jesus Christ our Lord…He is our Sovereign Lord.

So, this is how I offer up this doxology personally for me this morning:

“Finally, O Sovereign God, who has the awesome ability to produce unthinkably far beyond what I have desired or begged for or can even fathom in my small mind to ask for, according to Your great power that is constantly on display in my life daily, it is to You, my Almighty God that all the honors and glory and praises through my perfect Lord Jesus Christ be lifted up and may they be lifted up from every generation for ever and ever! AMEN.”

Just remember while praying to give God the praise and glory for your life today…He is our Sovereign Lord.


References:

-Matthew Henry Commentaries

-Logos Strong’s Lexicon Greek guide

-NIV Bible, NLT Bible, KJV Bible, & NASB Bible

*This was copied from an original post dated January of 2009.

Read more...

Who can stand against us?

If God is for His Believers then who can really stand against them? Can anyone separate His people from His love? Can trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, job losses, danger, hunger, or even the threat of death separate them? No! Why? Because God's people are more than conquerors through Him who loved them. Paul's says he is convinced that nothing can separate God and His people. Read the entire context in Romans 8:31-39

As it is written in Scripture "For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." God loves His people with the most effectual love anyone could ever imagine...He will not let anything get in the way of that love.

I know of so many of my friends, family, and even friends of friends who are jobless right now and many have been unemployed for nearly a year. Most of them the severance pay has run out and the savings is getting low with only a hint of a possible job. You can take great hope in the fact that even though it seems you can only see life through the shadows right now, and everything has a dim fuzziness to it, God is in complete control. He is working all this for your good in the end from the far side of this wilderness you find yourself wondering through. Right now, it may seem dry and hopeless, but just remember who you are living this life for...the glory of God.

Be most satisfied in Christ even on the darkest most depressed day of your life....find your satisfaction in Jesus not in worldly securities...that is our temptation, but "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him"-Piper. The wilderness experiences in life are training grounds...it is boot camp for anyone God intends to use greatly for His glory. Take hope in the fact you will make it to the other side of the desert. Bruised, beaten up a bit, matured, and hopefully "all ears" towards the heavenly call from God on your life. God will make a way through the wilderness for each of His own. Right now, settle in your mind and in your soul, the fact the road ahead may get more rough. The darkness surrounding your circumstances may in fact seem unbearable at times. Keep on the forefront of your mind a promise from God, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." -Deuteronomy 31:6 Learn to live on the promises of God especially when times are tough just like Moses and David did several thousand years ago.

"When God wants to use His people in a greater way to further His kingdom, a dark and lonely journey through the wilderness is absolute." -A Pilgrimage Through the Wilderness

Read more...

A Buzz About Nothing!

The house is buzzing with the sound of 10 children stir crazy from being inside too much. Christmas music is playing somewhere in the background over one kids cries for mercy as his big brothers wrestle with him mercilessly. I can smell the wonderful delightful spicy chicken soup on the stove while siren's sound down the street as a neighbor tried to kill himself today.

What a crazy life we all live these days. Christmas is coming on like a freight train as we try to slow it down, but nothing works anymore. The noise, the hustle, the bustle, the commercials, the toy magazines, the attitude of society...this all plays havoc on my family and the nerves in my body.

I am growing older with less energy to fight it all now. The old lion is much more tame, but not necessarily by choice. My patience wears thin much faster and yet my kids continue to grow older. Many times I wish I could turn back the years it seems I have wasted. Most would say I didn't waste them, but I know better. Too many worries over the years when I could have better spent them enjoying life, my family, and my friends.

It is cold this winter which is unusual for us. My bones ache from the cold, my joints creak from movement, my teeth hurt sometimes when my sinuses are sick, but each evening I lay my bald greying head down in a nice warm bed and can think of nothing better than to reflect on my Lord who keeps me going each day.

You know, I enjoy listening to what many would call silly songs. Waylon, Cash, old jazz, and blues. These beats sometimes strike a cord with me, I don't understand why. The words of the songs tell a story I sometimes can identify with. I am not into drinking, dancing or going with women who do, but at times a rebel thought can emerge from deep within. Thankfully the Lord pulls me back in, shows me the right direction, the glory of His Son, and teaches me to follow hard after Him.

As another year slips quickly by, I can only reflect on what has been the toughest year of my life to date. The life of Job I don't live and don't wish to live. My life by comparison is not even close. But many times I can too closely relate having to pinch myself to make sure I am really awake. All I can think of is how nice it would be too receive twice what has been taken away. I don't expect a return of even what has been taken. I don't feel as I deserve any of it. To use money, fame, or fortune for worldly good seems so trivial to me now. Why I could not have used it for God's greater glory earlier on I don't understand? Selfishness irritates me to the core these days as it permeates the roads, the shops, the schools and yes, even the church. Some of us or should I say most of us learn the hard way and suffer the rest of our lives for it. A fortunate few learn a lesson, receive another chance, and live out dream years into eternity.

People, if you have taken the time to even read this far, I want you to understand one final thing. I am not complaining my life away. My utmost satisfaction is in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No matter the pain I endure each day, the suffering a fallible man can create the suffering has such a sweet aroma in comparison to my Lord's violent death on the cross. Ah, yes, that cross Jesus had to bare...so many of us forget about that for most of the year. The cross so rugged and raw, splintering into the back of my Lord. Yes, the one those soldiers hammered nails deep into my Lord's hands and feet on...the blood drenched plank of wood called a cross. That old cross which has now become a symbol of both salvation to the chosen and mere trendiness to the world, leaves all my suffering in the dust. What is this cross we are to bare? Well, not the same one as Jesus, but the cross we bare is not having just a bit less than someone else. It is not living with joint pains for the rest of your life. It is not cancer, blindness, or hearing loss. Oh, no...the cross we must bare is far greater than any of that. The greatest ills brought on man cannot compare and is over no noble affair.

The cross we are too bare is completely and totally based upon the testimony of our faith before the world. It is the suffering brought on by the bold claims of a Lord coming to this earth to suffer and die and be raised to life. It is the bold and offensive message that one must repent of sins then place complete and total trust in Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior.

The cross is for the aliens of this world...those who call themselves "followers of the way". How does one carry his cross like an alien you might ask? Well, an alien certainly doesn't look much like a citizen of this world for one thing. We talk of a cross which by many opinions never existed. We live for a God who many say doesn't exist. We serve a Savior who most laugh at because they ask why do we need someone to save us. An alien is scorned by the masses as dregs on this world, the cause of what pains the world, and blind followers of a dead faith. This cross cuts to the quick, pierces the deepest darkest areas of our soul. This cross is not under a Christmas tree, not at a job, not around our necks, not in a hospital, not on a ring, doesn't hang from our car mirrors, but this cross sometimes can push us into a depressed state of mind by the pain it draws our way, injure us to the point we cannot walk much longer, take us places we never thought we would have to go, or merely bring about our ultimate death, but immediate entrance before our heavenly King. The cross we must bare is not pretty to look at or hang on a wall. It is not shiny, sparkly or desirable to the human eye. It is ugly, it raw, and it is ours to bare.

So, pondering another cold restless day, one with out much money, sparse food supplies, only one car to get a family around in, loudness, depression sometimes, and simply unrest in a persons bones...I can still raise a brow to reflect on one important thing. Something that cannot be lost or taken away. A most prized and cherished relationship unlike any on earth. Jesus Christ is my Lord and He is my Savior once and for all!

Read more...

"Follow Me!"

Matthew 8:18-22 & Luke 9:57-62

This conversation starts out somewhat honestly with “I will follow you…” I am sure Jesus replies with something like this, “Oh, really!” Jesus states to him, “You understand that the foxes have a place to live, birds have a nest to live in, but I, the Son of Man, does not even own a pillow to lay my head on at night?” We find no further conversation between Jesus and this eager man wanting to be a follower. What was the man eager to follow? Could it have been to be part of a revolution to over throw the government? Could it be that he had a vision of being in the top cabinet of this new government? Whatever the heart issue was, Jesus put it to the test immediately. Jesus knew whether this man could make it on the journey and this particular person may have been weak in the area of traveling rough. He knew the fellow would not last on the journey not knowing where he would sleep or what he would eat, so Jesus addresses the issue upfront.

Then we have the next person, who interestingly, Jesus calls out to him to follow Him. Imagine for a moment you are walking along a road beside a person you suspect is the Messiah, the Christ, but you are not sure yet. You are simply walking along silently listening as your heart is developing a love for this man. You can’t explain it to yourself much less anyone else, but you long deep within your heart to give your life to Him and follow Him wherever He goes. I can only envision this man being that way. So, Jesus looks over to him and says, “Follow Me.” This was not a question. This was a direct statement from the Lord to him, “Follow Me.” I can just see this man take a huge gulp in his throat before answering back. I am sure the palms of his hands were starting to sweat some. However, not exactly ready to commit just yet, he comes back to Jesus with “Let me first go back and bury my father.” I can only imagine some of the disciple’s mouths flung open wide. You can almost hear them muttering between them, “You have got to be kidding. Jesus just told you to follow Him and you want to go back and wait for your daddy to die so you can bury him? What a loser.” Well, that is my rendition of what the disciple could have said in today’s language. Anyway, the man’s father was most likely not dead yet or really that close to being dead. Jesus’ call to him to follow was not an open ended call for whenever he got ready to come. Jesus was asking him to drop what he was doing that day, commit in his mind and soul to follow Jesus and proclaim the gospel to the world.

Amazingly, in this case Jesus did not quickly move on to the next subject. He comes back with a further statement. “Let the dead bury the dead. You go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” I believe it is possible this man became a true follower of Christ that day. You see, Jesus called out to this man not this man calling out to Jesus. Furthermore, Jesus did not let the man off the hook easily either by telling him “Ok, you go back to your family and once your dad dies and is buried then catch up with us and you can be a part of our club.” No, Jesus tells him immediately to let the people who are spiritually dead bury the physically dead. Jesus further says, “You go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Jesus never asked him one question. He only gave this man direct commands.

The final “would be” follower blurts out loudly I am sure after watching everyone else, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.” I call this guy “Mr. I will, but…” I am sure we can all fill in the blanks after the “but…” God has often called us out to do something for Him and all we can say is “Yeah, but…” It is human nature to want to do anything eagerly on our terms. However, God does not call us on our terms. He calls us out to follow after Him on His terms. This man here wanted to go back or look back to his family. He was not ready to follow after Jesus that day. This is not to say he didn’t follow after Christ, but the example would indicate he didn’t.

Jesus simply replied once peering into the mind and soul of this man knowing he could not follow Him with a heart so attached to his family. Jesus touches the very issue of this man’s heart and most likely many others in the crowd probably by this time gathering around. At this point in time everywhere Jesus went and started speaking people would soon gather. So, I imagine a crowd has gathered to hear Jesus. They might have even thought a miraculous healing could take place too, who knows. In this case, Jesus directly addresses the heart issue with this reply, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” I want to say to you right here, that was an “ouch” moment. This statement Jesus comes back to this man with must have hurt deeply. This was not a little light laughing moment. I imagine complete silence in the crowd. So quiet you could hear a small worm chewing on a leaf fifty yards away. This is dead silence. We don’t find a response from the man at all recorded. I am sure the man recognized he was not really ready to commit to follow after Jesus, but being swept up in the emotion of the moment thought he needed to blurt out his desire to follow Jesus, but not thinking about what “following” really meant. Jesus was not looking for those wanting to do a two week mission trip each year in order to get there good deed in for the year. He was looking for those willing to fight the spiritual battles ahead of them. Jesus was looking for obedient men He could train and pour His life into. Jesus was looking for those chosen by His Father to come and follow Him into full time ministry.

We find ourselves at this moment dealing with three responses. Only one man was truly called by Jesus to follow after Him in this lesson. We don’t conclusively know if any of the three really followed Him at all. We do know this, Jesus calls each of us if we are hearing His Word’s this day, to follow after him. Jesus calls us to stop the consuming infatuation with this world, with all the stuff and activities society tells us we must do in order to be good citizens, but has nothing to do with furthering the kingdom of God.

When you really commit to follow Christ, you could find yourself homeless, friendless, without a family, without a job, or even your neck stretched out before an executioner. To follow after Christ requires us to not be so involved in the activities of this life we stop proclaiming the gospel of Christ and stop living a holy life. We are called to be “aliens” to this world, a very strange people. The one Jesus called to follow Him was struggling with his earthly duty above the calling to follow Christ proclaiming the gospel. Jesus does not expect us to stop being a human and taking care of our duties here, but He expects us to do it secondarily to serving Him by spreading the gospel every chance we get. We must be heavenly minded to the point some people might think we are of no earthly good. The calling on our life is to the bottom of the soul not just the surface of it.

Finally, once fully committed to the cause of spreading the gospel daily, never look back on your former life with any regrets of leaving it behind. Lot’s wife is a perfect example here of someone commanded not to look back as the city was destroyed, but her attachment to this world, the world she loved was far greater than her love and commitment to God. It is doubtful she had any attachment to God, but He did give her an option to which she failed and was consumed immediately into a pillar of salt as Scripture tells us.

The call from Christ is open to all. Repent of your sins, turn from the wickedness and wrongful life you have lead up to this point away from Christ and place your complete and total trust in Jesus Christ and follow hard after Him. Don’t look back, don’t worry so much about your future, God has everything already planned out and He is in full sovereign control. Once you have placed your lives in the hands of Christ put your hand to the plow without any regret and go forward without allowing your heart to look back.

Read more...

Be My God in the Wilderness!

In 1823, Glass signed on with a crew of trappers heading up the Missouri River to Ft Henry, in southwestern Montana. Halfway to their destination, Glass, who was about 40 years old, was tracking game when he stumbled upon a mother grizzly and her two cubs. The bear reared up and dug her teeth deep into his flesh, ripping off large chunks of raw flesh. His companions came down the path and shot the large six-foot creature through the head and the bear collapsed dead on top of Glass. The hunters, thinking there was no way the man could live through the night, made him a bed out of buffalo hide and watched for him to die. However, the next morning, Glass was still alive. The leader of the mission, Major Andrew Henry, decided that the trappers needed to move out of the hostile Arikara Indian territory and paid two men to stay with Glass in what they thought was his final hours of life. Glass, however, held on to life. After three more days, the men paid to stay with Glass abandoned the trapper, taking his knife and his gun.

Glass woke up and found himself alone and unable to stand up and walk. he began to crawl on his belly the estimated 100 plus miles back to Ft Kiowa. This crawl was through the middle of the feared Arikara Indian territory. So, inch by grueling inch, Glass, crawled along and had learned as a young man from the Pawnee Indians how to survive off the land. He dragged himself through the rough rugged land, getting his strength by eating wild berries and rotting meat from carcusses of buffalo calves killed by wolves. After nearly six months, Glass crawled into the town of Ft Kiowa. After a lengthy time of healing, Glass, resumed his life as a trapper again. It would be a nice ending if he lived happily ever after right, but ten years later while on a trip along the Yellowstone Rive, the feared untamed Arikara Indians killed Glass dead.

A story like this keeps us glued to each sentence does it not? The trauma, the pain, the desolation, the coldness, then the heat, the spilled blood, loss of flesh, the fear, the loneliness and more are all a part of the wilderness. People who have survived such traumatic situations in the wilderness have experienced some or all of the traits I mentioned before. Nearly anyone who found themselves in the wilderness would tell us they really did not think they would come out of it alive.

All of us probably could tell of a story of wondering in the wilderness while setting in the middle of our living rooms, setting in a pew at church, at our desk at the office, or any other day to day place we go. The wilderness does not have to be hundreds of miles from us, it can be right where we are at this very moment. The lonely feeling in the middle of twenty friends, the coldness on a ninety five degree day, or the depression before the sun comes up over what most would seem is a great life, all of these expressions and more can infect our very souls when captured in a desolate wilderness that no one can drag us out of or possibly even find us there.

This takes us to another true story from the Old Testament of the Bible. We find Moses as a young man in his late thirties living life large. He has everything he could ever want or need. He has the finest education in the land, can go wherever he so desires. I would say that Moses was not found “wanting” for anything by today’s worldly standards. However, Moses found himself growing deeply troubled by the treatment of his blood kinsmen in the land. He could sense God’s calling on his life to get his people out of Egypt, but how or where. After the death of an Egyptian soldiers at the hands of Moses, he ran…he ran so far the Egyptians could not find him.

Moses found himself in the desert wilderness, desolate and starving at a sheep ranch. The smelly, dirty, rank life of a sheep herder was before him. So, for forty years Moses went from the top of the business world to tending the backsides of nasty sheep. The arrogance, self-determination, and self-reliance faded away over the forty years in the desert wilderness. Moses learned a great deal while in this desolate dry land, but most of all he was pressed down to total obedience to God and ready to take commands and do things God’s way in the release of the Israelites from Egyptian captivity.

God places us in humiliating situations in strange ways, but it is necessary in order for us to understand the importance of total denial of our self and total obedience to His commands. Self-denial is described in many ways, but most vivid is we are to murder everything about our selves that gets in the way of obedience to God. Whatever we do, say or think that draws our desires from doing what God wants us to do should be spiritually mortified. The wilderness experiences of professional trapper, Hugh Glass and God’s commander on the ground in Egypt, Moses, came at what they would tell you a “strange time”. As Believers, however, we must embrace the wilderness experiences as a purposeful part of God’s sovereign plan. God’s plan is to use us in the advancement of His kingdom and His greater glory. We must yield ourselves to this season of life when we feel lonely, traumatized, in horrific pain, bleeding from exposed flesh, so hungry our ribs are showing or thirsty. The strength, direction, and ability to learn are planted deep within us by God Himself and when needed, He will draw out of that well.

The wilderness in my own life has been a time that God has revealed, through His Word, just how big He really is. He has pulled me beyond my comforts, pummeled my arrogance to the ground, humiliated me into a corner, and jerked all of my securities not founded in Him from underneath my feet putting me on my back looking straight up to Him. He uprooted my family, taking our home and placed us in another land. At times it does get lonely, desolate, jobless, food-less, painful, and emotionally draining. I have been jerked awake many mornings in a sweat in fear of the unknown followed by days of deep debilitating depression. I hope to show in future writings just what God taught me in my travels through the spiritual & financial wilderness. The training ground found in the wilderness yielded such rich spiritual food directly from the hand of God that no silver spoon found in this lush plentiful land of the world are not worthy to deliver it to my mouth.

I have a favorite saying that I have internalized that has been adapted from John Piper, “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him in the deepest parts of the wilderness.” I must be found totally satisfied in His glory, His presence, His Being even in the middle of the most traumatic depressing wilderness I could ever imagine.

The wilderness is not easy, it is not a time of pampered rest. The wilderness is a working season of life that we are required to trust God more, listen to God more, lay our souls bare, mortify our sinfulness daily, and speak only when God prompts us to do so. It is a working ranch that smells foul at times, causes us to be sick to our stomachs, can leave your wondering, and may cause blisters on your heart, but at the end of the wilderness is where we meet the foot of the mountains and start our ascent to better lands…our climb to the higher ground of God’s greatest pleasure, His own glory.

Read more...