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    • Daily Devos

    2009 - 04.27

    Devos for the San Francisco Church

    * Scroll down for previous devos

    PB has designed these devos to be brief for two reasons.

    1.  We’re busy!

    2.  We need to absorb and apply truth to grow not just consume.

    So take a little time after each day and ask GOD to help you put it

    into practice today.  That’s where change will really happen.

    March 14, 2010 — Sunday

    It’s not always easy to focus on God.  If you’ve tried, you know.  You can think about doing it.  But all of the sudden, days have gone by and you really haven’t thought about God very much.  You might even be doing work for God, but not focusing on God, thinking about who He is.  We have to have some daily habits to help us do this in our everyday lives.  If you’re going to focus you’ve got to build in some simple habits.

    First, start telling God how great He is – EVERY DAY!  You don’t have to spend half the day doing it, it could be just a few minutes.  Just tell God how great He really is.  Daniel 9:4 talks about this when it says, “O Lord, You are a great and awesome God.  You always fulfill Your promises of unfailing love to those that love You and who keep Your command.” Take a few minutes each day to say, “God, You are a great God!”  Raise up out of the busyness of life and the confusion of life and look around a little bit and think God made all this!  He made me.  God cares about all this.  He cares about me.  He cares about me and what I’m going through.  He has a plan even when I’m confused.  He has a plan in all of this.  That’s how you focus on Him.

    March 13, 2010 — Saturday

    All of us would like our life to be more focused.  All of us would like to be focused on what is truly significant.  It’s so easy to get distracted in life.   How do we do it?  Well, if you really want to focus your life on what is important and significant then you have to focus on God.

    Why?  You focus on God because God’s focused on you.  Ephesians 1 “Long before He laid down earth’s foundation He had us in mind.  He settled on us as the focus of His love.” .  I know you expect me to say that.  We’re in a church.  I’m a pastor.  You wouldn’t expect me to say to focus your life on sports or on money.  That wouldn’t make sense.  But why am I saying that?  Why does it make a difference when I focus on Him?

    Truths about God’s focus on you:

    1.  He made you.  He’s your creator.  He’s known you from the minute you were created.

    2.  He knows you.  From that moment on He has known every moment of your life.  He understands you better than anyone else.  That’s why a focus on Him changes everything about our lives.

    3.  He has an amazing plan for your life.  Not only did He make you and know what’s going on in your life, He has a plan for your life that will amaze you.  A plan for your life that will take who you are and allow you to make a difference in everyday life.  That’s the kind of God He is.

    I want to get to know Him – the one who made me, the one who knows me, the one who has this kind of plan for my life.  I want to focus on Him.

    March 12, 2010 — Friday

    You don’t just show up at the Olympics and expect to do well.  You don’t get a gold medal accidentally.  You invest some things in your life to be ready for that moment.  If it makes sense in something like running a race in the Olympics, doesn’t it make sense that you and I need to make some investments in our life right now to be ready for the most incredible moments of our life, those opportunities that will come?  When we start making those investments, it brings a sense of joy and fulfillment to our everyday lives.  They’re simple things that anyone can do.

    The Bible talks about this a lot.  1 Timothy 4 says “Spend your time and energy training yourself for spiritual fitness.  Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important for it promises a reward in both this life and in the next.” What are some daily choices that you and I can make to get us ready for the crises, challenges, and opportunities that come into our lives?

    In the next few days, we’re going to take a look at three practical things we can do every day of our lives to keep our focus in life.

    March 11, 2010 — Thursday

    IN IT TO WIN IT

    There are decisions that we can make today that can get us ready for the greatest moments and opportunities of life.  Whether it’s the greatest challenge or the greatest opportunity you’re ever going to face there are some DAILY decisions that you and I can make that can get us ready for those things.  You don’t have to just wait and hope you do well as a parent.  You’re don’t have to wait and hope you do well when the problems come.  You don’t have to wait around and hope you can handle it when you have that great success.  There are decisions you can make, habits you can build into your life that make a difference.

    What are some of those decisions, simple things, that we can do?  Where do we get started?  You may be someone who has been going to church for years and years, but all of us can learn some simple things that can help us build and strengthen our life’s foundation.

    A lot of you know that the Olympics were around when the New Testament was first written.  In the Bible, there are a lot of pictures drawn from the Olympics.  For instance, 1 Corinthians 9 says “You know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize.  So run to win.” A lot of people think God’s down on achievement, or down on success in your personal life.  That’s not true at all!  He just wants us to have the right achievements, the right kinds of success in our lives.  He’s told us to run to win. “All those who compete in the game use self control so that they can win a crown.  That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time.  But our crown will never be destroyed.” If runners can use self-control to win a short-term victory, we can certainly start using self-control to succeed in life.  Self-control will be a key to putting things into place that will prepare us for the key moments of our lives.  How are you doing in the area of self-control.  If you’re struggling there, stop and take a moment right now to ask God to help you.  I promise it will make an impact on your day.

    March 10, 2010 — Wednesday

    A MOMENT IN TIME

    We all have our moments.  For every one of us, there are the moments in life where we really want to be ready, where we really want to be the very best we can be.  Usually, these are personal moments.  They’re not moments played out before an Olympic audience.  They’re the personal everyday moments of our lives.  Moments like when your teenager comes in and says, “I really messed up this time.”

    Or moments like when your wife comes in and says, “Guess what!  We’re going to have a baby!”

    Or moments like when you get a doctor’s report that leaves you stunned.

    Or moments like you get the job that you always dreamed of.  You reached an achievement you never thought you’d reach; an opportunity that you hoped for is suddenly yours and you’re living in it.

    An Olympic champion spends years and years getting ready for that single moment in a race. Is there anything that you and I can do to get ready for those moments of our lives where we want to say the right thing, do the right thing?

    I think there is, and that’s what we’ll talk about this week.  Today, spend some time thinking of ways that you believe we can start preparing for those big moments in our lives.

    March 9, 2010 — Tuesday

    MORE THAN WE DREAMED

    How many of you watched at least part of the Winter Olympics?  Billions and billions of people around the world watch because it’s inspiring.  There is something about watching someone attempt to ski faster or skate faster or jump further than anyone ever has before that is inspiring to us.  For me the inspiring thing is that moment in the person’s life.  They may have spent decades of their life training and preparing and getting ready for that single moment of life.   There’s something about being there for that and seeing how it works out for them that’s inspiring.

    One of the most inspiring moments I remember of any Olympics is from the Mexico City Summer Olympics in 1968.  There was an athlete who jumped further than anyone ever had before – two feet further than anyone ever had before.  I remember this picture of him looking at how far he jumped and the joy that flooded over his face.  He’d come to that moment in his life and he’d done more than he’d dreamed possible.

    That’s what God does for us.  He enables us to do more than we ever hoped or imagined possible.  He gives us a life that is more than we ever dreamed it could be.

    March 8, 2010 — Monday

    In the Old Testament there’s a story about a man named Job.  His children were killed.  His land and his crops were destroyed.  His health was suffering and he was in terrible pain.  Job experienced evil in ways that most of us will never understand.  He questioned God about all of it.  He struggled to believe.  He tried to make some sense of it.  He tried to find a way to get a grip.  I believe at his lowest moment he was seeking God for all he was worth.

    God could have responded to Job in couple of ways.  He could have just smacked Job down and said, “How dare you question Me about this?”  He didn’t do that.  He could have remained silent and given Job no explanation for all of his suffering.  Well, God didn’t remain silent, but He didn’t give an explanation for the suffering either.  Why?  Because that’s not what Job needed.

    Instead, God spent chapters of the Bible recounting His acts of creation, His acts of power, and His ability to see more than we can.  Because that was what Job needed – a God who was powerful enough to trust and depend on.  What Job needed then was not an answer to the question Why? But a reminder that God was still capable of miracles, and He had not abandoned him.  God wanted to build a new trust in Job.

    Hope and help are not found in the answer to the question Why? so God did not answer that question.  Instead, He brought Job to a moment of decision.  Job, what will you do with suffering when it comes?  Will you still trust Me?  Questions about the cause, have to remain in God’s domain.  Our domain is the response we give to that suffering.

    Will you choose to believe that God is at work in you and around you?  Will you choose to believe that the hurt will soon be over?  In the scope of it all, it will soon be over.  Will you choose to believe that an eternity still waits all those who put those trust and hope in God.  Will you believe that it’s there for you if you just trust God?

    March 7, 2010 — Sunday

    DEFEATING EVIL WHERE WE CAN

    I love how Peter wrote it in 1 Peter 3 “Summing up, be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble.  That goes for all of you.  No exceptions.  No retaliation.  No sharp tongue sarcasm.  Instead, bless.  That’s your job.  You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.  Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good here’s what you do.  Say nothing evil or hurtful.  Snub evil and cultivate good.  Run after peace for all your worth.  God looks on all this with approval.  Listen and respond well to what He’s asked.  But He turns His back on those who do evil things.”

    As Christians, we can be agents of compassion, encouragement, and hope.  Passing out food, giving away clothes, donating blood or registering for a marrow drive.  All that’s good and all that’s necessary, but we can do even more.  We can help people combat evil on a much deeper level – the soul level.  When Jesus assessed the works of the evil one, He looked to the church and said, “You can prevail against the power of evil and the power of hell!”  He sent us out to do exactly that.  That’s why our church has compassion ministries that stretch from San Francisco to Africa, Asia and South America.  That’s why we send people from our church to the faraway places on this planet in Jesus’ name.  That’s why we challenge each of you to be available to your coworkers and your friends and your neighbors who are encountering suffering and pain and evil in their own lives.  Because we alone have the unique ability of infusing God’s hope and God’s love and God’s presence and God’s power into other human lives.  The need has never been greater.  I challenge you to commit today to turning back evil wherever you find it with God’s help.

    March 6, 2010 — Saturday

    DEALING WITH THE EVIL IN ME

    There is evil in you, and there’s evil in me.  In Romans 7:21 Paul said, “I know the law and still can’t keep it.  The power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions.  I obviously need help!  I realize that I don’t have what it takes.  I can will it but I can’t do it!  I decide to do good but I don’t really do it.  I decide not to do bad and then I do it anyway.  My decisions such as they are don’t result in actions.  Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.”

    Paul was Jewish.  In Romans 3, he wrote the following to other Jews: “So where does that put us?  Do we Jews get a better break than the others?  Not really.  Basically all of us, whether insiders or outsiders start out in identical conditions – we all start out as sinners.  Scripture leaves no doubt about it.  There’s nobody living right.  Not even one.  Nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.  They’ve all taken the wrong turn.  They’ve all wandered down blind allies.”

    There’s evil within you and you don’t have the ability to control it by yourself.  That’s why you need God’s help.  That’s why Jesus faced evil, pain, and suffering on this earth and on the cross.  He took all of your sin and all of your evil upon Himself and He died.  He died to pay a price for us, a price that you and I can’t pay.  Three days later He arose from the dead, proving He was God’s Son, worthy of our devotion, and powerful enough to help us.

    That’s why we must decide personally, individually, to come before Him and say, “Jesus, I need You to take care of the evil in me.  I’m asking You to forgive me for my sins.  I need Your help leading my life.” You have to own up and make that decision.

    March 5, 2010 — Friday

    TAKING IT ALL INTO ACCOUNT

    Imagine you start a new year off with a trip to dentist for a root canal – without ANY painkiller.  On the drive home, you get in a crash and total your car.  When you finally arrive home, there’s a message from your stockbroker waiting for you – your life’s savings has been wiped out.  And to top it all off, a good friend betrays you before the day’s end.  That’s a really, really bad day.

    Now imagine that the other 364 days are phenomenal.  They are terrific.  A friend wins the lotto and gives you ten million dollars. Time magazine names you person of the year.  You play golf with Tiger Woods and you win.  You have an idyllic marriage.  Your health is super

    When someone asks you,  “How was your year?”  You’re going to say, “It was wonderful!”  They may say, “But didn’t you have a bad day to start the year off?” You’ll say, “Yeah, I did.  It was a tough time, but when I look at the year as a whole, when I put everything into context, it was a great year.  The joy and happiness of the other 364 days far outweigh that one bad day.  That day just kind of fades from my memory.

    That is not to deny the reality of the pain and the suffering we have in this life – the reality of evil and its effect on you.  Some of you are facing that right now.  It could be chronic.  It could be terminal.  Worst case scenario: you live to be an old, old person and every day of your life is filled with suffering and pain.  But can you imagine after something like fifteen million years of experiencing heaven and God’s love for you and His joy and His peace and knowing that there’s still an infinite number of years to come that will be equally fantastic, if someone comes up to you and says, “So how has your existence been?”  You would have to say, “By comparison, taking it as a whole, it has been phenomenal.”

    They might challenge you, “Didn’t you have a season on earth that was really hard,” and you’d have to admit, “Yes, I won’t deny it, but in the context of fifteen million years of God pouring out His goodness and blessing and love to me, those bad days don’t even compare to what I’ve experienced in the presence of God Himself.”

    March 4, 2010 — Thursday

    NO FEAR

    Hebrews 13:5  says “Since God assured us, ‘I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,’ we can boldly quote God is here ready to help.  I’m fearless no matter what.’” Another great passage is in Psalm 23 “Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid because You are close beside me.” Have you ever seen those T-shirts or those bumper stickers that say “No fear”?  You know how we are able to say that?  Because we see that there is more; there is more than this period of pain.  There is more than this season of suffering.  There is more than this event of evil.

    2 Corinthians 4:17 says “So we’re not giving up.  How could we?  Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us.  On the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace.  These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us.  There’s far more here than meets the eye.  The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow.  But the things we can’t see now will last forever.”

    One of my favorite verses is Romans 8:18, “That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.” We learn to lay aside fear in the face of evil and pain, because we choose to focus on the things that are yet to come.  We choose to focus on an eternity that will make the things we’ve endured here seem like nothing.

    March 3, 2010 — Wednesday

    WHAT’S GOD WORKING ON WHILE I SUFFER?

    Yesterday, we talked about how God can use pain to draw us into relationship with Him, but what if I’m already in relationship with Him?  Does He need to keep me in pain so that I’ll stick with Him?  Well, for some of us, the answer is probably yes, but there’s more to it than that.  God doesn’t just use pain to keep us close, He also uses it to make us better.  God is busy developing character within us.  Romans 5:3 says, “There’s more to come.  We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with trouble because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us.  And how that patience in turn forges that tempered steel of virtue keeping us alert for whatever God will do next.”

    We say “God, to what end are You working in my suffering?”  And He answers, “I am working on character development within you.”  Isn’t it typically in the caldron of pain that we develop higher levels of sensitivity to the pain of others?  Hasn’t it been through your own pain that you’re now more in touch with what others are facing in their life?  Or how about greater degrees of sacrifice?  Or a more galvanized faith?  A stronger sense of trust and dependence upon God.  Those typically come out of seasons of pain and sufferings and confrontations with evil.

    I can tell you what God’s working on when we suffer.  He’s working on deepening our perspective.  When we hurt, we start seeing things differently.  Our value systems start to shift.  Things that used to be important they don’t seem nearly as important any more. And things that we were neglecting all of a sudden become so much more important to us – things like family and faith and the like.  I once read that tears wash our eyes so we can see better.  When we’re suffering we can learn to see that God is still with us.

    March 2, 2010 — Tuesday

    GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

    Have you ever wanted to ask God while you are in pain, “God, what are You doing?  Why aren’t You doing something?”  He is doing something.  He’s always at work while we suffer.  He’s working on drawing you closer to Himself. God doesn’t want us to suffer, but He does want us to have a relationship with Him.  God operates on a different value system than we do.  Our government says the highest value that we ought to protect and expect are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

    God values life far more than you can ever know, but God has a different perspective when it comes to the issue of happiness and pain.  It appears to me as I read the Bible that God considers some things more awful than the pain of His children.  You say, “What could be more awful than that?”  Well, as I read the Bible it seems to apparent to me that God thinks it is more awful for you to go through your whole life separated from Him – never knowing peace of mind – never knowing a soul cleansed from guilt.  It’s more awful in God’s mind for you to never personally experience His love for you than for you to endure some temporary pain in this life.  In our suffering, God goes right to work and says, “This would be a good time to come to Me.  I would like to enfold you with grace and hope and strength and help.  I would like to be there with you.  Come to Me.”

    March 1, 2010 —  Monday

    WHERE DO YOU PLACE YOUR HOPE?

    We place our hope in all kinds of shaky stuff, stuff that we have no assurance that will continue on and always be there.  We place our hope in our financial status.  We have no assurance that that will remain.  We place our hope in other people.  We have no assurance that they’ll be there with us.  We place our hope in our continued health.  We have no assurance that we’ll even be healthy tomorrow.

    But we can place our hope in God.  Because God will be with us in life and He will be with us in death.  God will be there when it all seems to be coming together.  And God will be there when it all seems to be falling apart.  And Jesus knew this.  It gave Him hope.  For the joy set before Him He was able to endure the cross.

    What was He hoping for that gave Him such joy?  He knew the end to which God was working and it was the resurrection.  He knew He would die.  He knew He would suffer.  But He also knew that beyond that God had a plan.  And that’s why He didn’t stay in the question of why but to the question, What end God are You working?  To what end are You working?  That means that we have to start believing that God is at work in our lives even when we’re suffering.

    February 28, 2010 — Sunday

    YOU CAN ASK “WHY?” OR YOU CAN ASK “WHAT FOR?”

    We can ask why but that won’t get us through.  We can ask, “God to what end will You work this?”  And then we’ll be able to face the future with hope.  That’s where we’ll find our hope.

    People ask me all the time if it’s okay to ask why?  Of course it’s okay!  Did you know that Jesus asked why?  It’s in the book of Mark.  As Jesus hangs on the cross He asks God, “Why?” So apparently it’s okay to ask why.  “Why, God, did You forsake Me?”  But in a passage from Hebrews: Jesus did not stay in the past.  He did not continue searching for the causes or the answers to why.  Instead, the Bible says He endured the cross because He looked ahead for the joy set before Him.  It wasn’t in the past, it wasn’t in the question, “why?” that Jesus found hope.  Jesus found His hope in His understanding of the end that God was working toward.  That’s where He found His hope.

    And that’s where we’ll find our hope.  That’s where you’ll find the hope that God’s still near you.  That’s where you’ll find the hope that God is bringing good out of bad.  That’s where you’ll find your hope that this moment of suffering is not all there is.  That this life is not all that there will be!February 27, 2010 — Saturday

    TAKING GOD’S PLACE

    Most of us don’t really know what’s going on in places of darkness and evil and suffering and pain.  Most of us have more questions than answers.  That’s the truth of it.  There is only one who understands everything about evil and suffering and pain and where this is all headed.  Only one who knows it all.  That one is God.  God is the only one who understands.

    If God allowed us to take His place even for a day could you imagine how terribly we’d mess this thing up?  If He just turned it over to us for even one day, how badly would we control things?  In an effort to control physical pain, we’d probably opt to take all the nerve endings out of our body.  But then we’d have no protection from heat or cuts or broken bones.  We would never again to able to feel a kiss or a touch or a hug.  In our effort to eliminate suffering, we would probably take away the ability to do wrong.  Then we would remove from our world the character quality of forgiveness. We might chose to eliminate all poverty but then we would lose the character quality of generosity.  We might say we’re going to remove all fear but we would also have to remove courage and heroism.  We would just get it so confused and mess it up because we do not understand it all.  We’re not God.  God is God.

    February 26, 2010 — Friday

    WE JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND…

    There a lot of other areas in your life where you don’t have a lot of understanding but still you trust and rely on these other aspects of life.  One example is technology.  We rely on technology all the time.  We trust that it’s going to work for us all the time and yet we don’t have full understanding of it.  I don’t understand things like laser surgery and other technological advances.  But I rely on them and so do you.

    Couldn’t we also make a case that we should rely on God and trust in Him even though we don’t understand everything about Him?  We could not possibly understand everything about God without being God ourselves.  We will never be as smart or wise as God.  It would be like trying to explain Einstein to a first grader.  Or Dostoyevsky to an illiterate person.  Or Beethoven to a person who’s never heard music.

    If we were to understand everything about God it would require us to be the same as God.  We’re not God.  Isaiah 55 “My thoughts are not your thoughts.  Neither are My ways your ways,’ declares the Lord.  ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways, My thoughts higher than your thoughts.’”

    February 25, 2010 — Thursday

    THINK YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT?

    When it comes to the question of evil and suffering, we wouldn’t understand it all even if God explained it to us.

    Some of the issues connected to this topic are deep and profound and confusing.  Why do some live along life while others die young?  Why do some get miracles and others don’t?  Why do some people suffer nearly all of their lives while others just have short periodic episodes of pain?  Why do some tropical storms become hurricanes and others don’t?  Why do tornadoes take out this neighborhood but not that neighborhood?  Where do the viruses of our world come from?

    The Bible says it best.  In this life we’re looking through a foggy glass.  It’s not clear.  There are some things we just do not understand.  And because we don’t understand God, some of us have made the decision to just dismiss Him.  What a huge mistake!February 24, 2010 — Wednesday

    INCONSISTENT, ANYONE?

    Have you ever noticed how inconsistent we are on the topic of evil?  Lot’s of people ask why there is evil and suffering, but as you listen to people talk about it, you find that we’re very inconsistent.  We say things very dogmatically in one area, but we make minor retractions to our dogmatic statements in another area.  We waver back and forth between what we say we believe and what we really believe.

    For example, some of us might say, “God, if I were in Your shoes I would take out all terrorists!”  But do we really want God to zap all of us who have hatred and prejudice in our heart?  I don’t think so, that might cut a little too close to home.

    We might say, “I wish God would eliminate all the drunk drivers who kill children.”  But would we really want God to take out people who got drunk?

    We say, “I want God to zap all murderers!  Fry those babies!”  But what about adulterers who kill marriages?  Do we want God to zap them too?

    We say, “Who don’t You take out thieves and robbers?”  But would we want God to take out people who fudge on their taxes?

    You see, we’re inconsistent.  We say, God eliminate all evil but in reality we’re willing to accept a little evil.  What we mean is “Take care of the evil in her life but leave the evil in my life alone.”  Now, that’s inconsistent!February 23, 2010 — Tuesday

    GREAT QUESTION #6

    Why doesn’t God just put a final stop to evil?

    Why doesn’t He just stop it?  If God is all-powerful, why doesn’t He just say No more!

    First, let me say that I believe that God restrains evil and thwarts evil all the time.  There’s no telling how many times God has protected you from evil in ways that you have never seen.  There’s no telling how many times the unseen hand of God has provided you with enough strength or enough courage or enough insight to step away from evil and you didn’t realize that it was God at work.  I think He does it all the time.  But I do believe the bigger question that gets asked is why doesn’t He just stop it completely?

    One more disclaimer… Just because He hasn’t doesn’t mean He won’t.  The Bible assures us that the day is coming when evil will be put to a stop and the workers of wickedness will be stopped.  Proverbs 11:21 “Count on this.  The wicked won’t get off scott free and God’s loyal people will triumph.” Or Proverbs 24:20 “The evil have no future.  Their life will be snuffed out.” That’s why there’s a place called hell.  That’s why the Bible talks about hell a lot.

    I heard about a young bride just moments before her wedding.  She was crying.  The bride’s mother came in and asks what’s wrong.  This very religious girl is sobbing.  She says to her mother, “I believe everything that the Bible teaches and I just found out that my fiancee, Johnny, doesn’t believe in hell!”  The future mother-in-law sat silently for a moment.  Finally she said, “You marry him anyway, honey.  We’ll show him.”

    Statistically not many people believe in hell.  But the Bible says there is a place where evil doers and workers of wickedness will spend eternity.

    You say, “Ok, I accept that.  But that’s still somewhere out in the future!  Why doesn’t God just put a stop to it now?”

    That’s a great question.  Honestly, some of you are the reason He doesn’t.  The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 “God is restraining Himself on account of you, holding back the end because He doesn’t want anyone lost.  He’s giving everyone space and time to change.” God in His mercy, God in His love, God in His patience doesn’t want to bring it all to a screeching halt, not just yet.  Because He’s wanting some of you and some of your family members to have just a little bit more time to turn to Him and be forgiven and enjoy a right relationship with Him.

    February 22, 2010 — Monday

    GREAT QUESTION #5

    Is there an evil spirit at work in the world?

    Another way to ask that is… Is there really a being that has the very personality of evil?  The answer to that question is very simply yes.  The Bible describes a very real enemy.  He goes by many names.  You’ve heard him called Satan or the devil or Lucifer.  The Bible describes him as trying to deceive and distort us at all times.  He promises pleasure but he stings with pain.  He gets another name in the Bible – the father of liars.  He lurks in the darkness and he hopes to temp us and to trap us.  So the Bible calls him the evil one.  He tries to seduce us with a false front.  He trys to make things attractive and seductive,  but behind it, all we find is death and destruction and damage.

    In John 10:10 Jesus called him a thief.  Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

    We know all about his work.  We have felt his work in our lives, haven’t we?  It feels so much like seduction.  It feels so much like attraction.  It feels so much like temptation.  We’re drawn to things that somewhere deep down we believe we should not approach, yet we feel drawn.  We wonder why.  Who’s at work in us and on us at that moment?  It’s our enemy.  James 1 “Each one is tempted when he’s carried away and enticed by his own lust and when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin.  And when sin is accomplished it brings forth death.” And what did Jesus say about the thief?  He comes to kill.  That’s what he wants to do.

    Is there personality of evil?  Yes, there is.

    February 21, 2010 — Sunday

    GREAT QUESTION #4

    How did we learn to be so evil?

    If so much of the evil in the world is because of people, how did people learn to be so evil?  Do people have to learn to be evil?  Isn’t it true that we’re born with kind of an inclination in that direction anyway?  Think of babies.  They are born with so much value and so much wonder and so much mystery.  We would all acknowledge that.  But how long do you have to watch a baby before you pick up little hints of selfishness, self-centeredness.  How long until you see that they want their way and only their way.  You put a toddler down in a room with his or her toy and you put another toddler down with a new toy.  How long until the first toddler is dissatisfied and wants what that toddler has?  You watch a baby, a child, grow up.  How long until they learn to deceive and defy their parents?  Where did my kids learn to do that?  From your kids!  That’s where they picked it up!  HA!

    All joking aside, God created a world where evil can exist because He gave us the freedom to choose evil over good.  But God did not cause the evil.

    February 20, 2010 — Saturday

    GREAT QUESTION #3

    Who’s responsible for the evil in the world?

    All this evil – the evil of broken families, brothers killing brothers, chaos and wickedness.  As we sort all this out, who’s really to blame?  If we were to stack all the evil in the world, we could really put it all into two piles.  One pile is moral evil.  The other is natural evil.

    Moral evil, we understand.  That’s the evil of people against people.  We know this.  Murder, theft, lying.  This category represents about 95% of all the evil and suffering in our world.

    However, there is natural evil.  It’s a smaller part of the evil but it’s very real and it’s in our world.  That’s the evil of natural disasters – flood, hurricanes, illnesses like cancer and AIDS, all of that stuff.  If we go looking for answers to why natural evil we’ll just get lost in the search.

    But the truth of the matter is that most of the evil in our world is in the first pile.  It’s the evil that lurks in my heart and in yours.  It’s the evil of people against people.  It comes right back to us.

    February 19, 2010 — Friday

    GREAT QUESTION #2

    Is God responsible for evil?  After all,  He created us with the ability to choose evil.

    Yes, He created us with a free will.  God wanted us to love Him.  If we are going to love God, it’s only true love if we choose to love God.  God could have created us as robots or machines where mechanically we’d say, “I love You, God.”  But that wouldn’t have been love.  Nobody wants somebody to love them by force.  It’s only love if we choose to love someone.  That we made the decision to love them.  If we have the ability to choose to love them, we also have the ability to choose not to love them.  And people have been choosing not to love God, people have been choosing to live life on their own terms, people have been choosing to make decisions without His help from the very beginning.  And the results of that are apparent.

    February 18, 2010 — Thursday

    GREAT QUESTION #1

    Why is there so much suffering and evil in the world?

    When people ask that question they’re really asking Why didn’t God just create the world perfect to begin with?  Why wouldn’t He just make a world where we wouldn’t have to deal with these issues any more?

    Let me give you the simplest answer possible… He did.  The Bible tells us very clearly about creation and how it was back in the beginning and everything was perfect.  But the man that God created and the woman that God created decided to tell God to shove off.  And from that moment until now our world has seen the effects of that decision.February 18, 2010 — Thursday

    MOVING FROM RELIGION TO RELATIONSHIP

    When all is said and done, when we’ve pursued truth to the fullest, we’re still left with a decision. We have to decide if we’re going to follow Jesus.

    Christianity is about a person.  It’s not about a denomination.  It’s not about a church.  Jesus is the instant and the intimate way to connect to God.  We have to move from a routine to a relationship.  This is not an easy action step if your life is anything like mine.

    Let me let you in on my life a little bit.  I’ve had a relationship with God as long as I can remember.  I’ve asked Him into my heart more times than I care to admit.  There was period in my pre-teen years where I literally responded to EVERY altar call I ever heard.  I wanted to be sure my name was on God’s list!  HA!  I also wanted to learn all I could about Jesus and the Bible.  I went to Bible College.  I spent four years there, followed by three more years at graduate school, and additional year of post-graduate study.  I studied the Bible for eight years.  I’m educated beyond my own intelligence.

    In those eight years, I’m a little embarrassed to say, there were points where I moved from relationship into religion.  It wasn’t conscious.  It was subtle.  In doing so, I found myself trying to work to please God all the time.  I was always burdened with shame and guilt and I was never good enough.  I just had to be better, and God didn’t like me when I messed up.  I fell into the trappings of religion and routine.

    When I got out of school, I put the textbooks and commentaries and lexicons aside.  I just picked up the Bible.  In school, the Bible was my textbook and it took awhile for it to become God’s love letter to me.  I fell back in love with Jesus and I developed a deeper relationship.  Here’s what I’ve come to learn in my own journey about relationship with God.  It’s not about obeying God out of obligation but out of desire.  He’s my friend, and I don’t want to do anything that will hurt His heart.  That’s what a relationship is.

    February 17, 2010 — Wednesday

    DON’T GIVE UP

    Another thing I want to encourage you to do… DON”T GIVE UP!

    It bothers me when people say, “It’s not true,” but they don’t follow ever bother to start any serious pursuit of truth.  I talk to a lot of people who say, “I just don’t believe.”  They turn a deaf ear to evidence and reason and dialogue.  They miss out.

    Let me give you an illustration.  A couple of weeks ago, I was standing in line at Taco Bell.  A guy in front of me was holding up the line.  He was arguing with the person behind the counter.  He was a upset because his Mexican pizza didn’t look like the picture of the Mexican pizza on the wall.  He kept arguing with the cashier, saying, “This doesn’t look like that!”  He’s was yelling and screaming.  That’s when it’s tough to be a pastor.  I want to say things like, “Hey, Pluto-boy!  Come back to earth!  It’s called advertising!”  Has anybody ever got fast food that looked like the picture?  No.  It doesn’t happen!  He was just going on and on until finally he slammed down his tray and walked out.  So you know what I did?  I took his tray and ate his food!  I didn’t care what the food looked like!

    Later, I thought about how we’re so often just like that guy.  We spit out our opinions, slam down our fist and walk away.  There’s no reasoning with us.  There’s no way anyone can communicate truth to us.  When that happens, we miss out on discovering God’s truth.

    We need to keep an open heart, a teachable spirit.  We need to stop giving up in our quest for the truth just because we may not like the answers we’re finding.

    Don’t give up!

    February 16, 2010 — Tuesday

    MAKING UP STORIES…

    Where should we begin in our pursuit of truth?  I’d suggest starting with a study of the resurrection.  That’s the backbone of Christianity.  Study the resurrection.  As you make the pursuit of truth a priority let me encourage you.  Don’t create scenarios to support your own misbeliefs.

    That’s one of my pet peeves.  A lot of us would like to create scenarios that will support our own misbeliefs.  For me, it’s totally arrogant for us, a thousand years after the fact, to create scenarios to make us feel better about what we don’t believe.

    Some time ago, there was a very popular theory going around that discredited the resurrection.  Books were written about it, the whole bit.  It was called the Swoon Theory.  The theory was this.  Some guy didn’t believe in the resurrection so in order to make sense of all the eyewitness accounts about Jesus, he decides Jesus never really died on the cross.  He just passed out.  And when He was in the tomb, the coolness of the tomb resuscitated Him.  Then He snuck out and died alone somewhere.

    Logically, what he’s saying is:  Jesus is on the cross.  The Roman soldiers, each of whom is intimately acquainted with death, mistakenly think He’s dead so they bury Him.  For burials at that time, they’d wrap you in about a hundred pounds of bandages and spices.  Now He’s laying in the tomb.  All of a sudden – He’s resuscitated.  Awake.  He hops to the door.  He pushes away the thousand pounds of stone that took several men to put in place using only His hips.  He sneaks through the opening to be confronted by several trained Roman soldiers who He swiftly dispatches with his kung fu and then he sneaks away to die in silence.

    Don’t create scenarios just for your own disbelief.  Be open in your pursuit of truth.

    February 15, 2010 — Monday

    JESUS IS THE TRUTH

    We need to make the pursuit of truth a priority.

    This action is whether you’re a Christian or not.  If you’re a Christian, and the whole idea of talking to somebody about Jesus scares you because you don’t have all the answers.  If you’re worried that somebody will say to you, “I’m not sure that I agree that the Bible is reliable.”  STOP!  Don’t do that.  Study and learn.  It’s amazing how overwhelming the evidence is.  When you study it won’t require more faith.  It will enhance and strengthen the faith that you already have.

    If you’re here and you’re not a Christian, you’re in the right place.  At GT, we honor the seeking process.  We’re not the type of church that says, “Don’t scratch below the surface because we might be exposed.”  Not at all!  We encourage you to pursue truth and ask questions.  Jesus said, “Keep on asking, keep on looking and you will find.  Keep on knocking and the door will be opened.”

    Pursue truth.

    February 14, 2010 — Sunday

    AREN’T ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

    I’ve studied world religions for many, many years.  Just this week, just doing a brush up on some of the majors – Buddhism, Hindu, Islam.  I will say that there’s some common grounds when it comes to some values and morality.  But every time I study world religions it always bottoms out with one word.  Works.  They all come down to works.  You must work your way to heaven to be closer to God.  Obviously through various means reincarnation, fasting for 30 days or whatever it might be.  But it all comes down to works.  They’re all attempts by humans to get closer to God.  But when Jesus says, “I am the way,” He puts Christianity in a whole other category.  Christianity it is Jesus Christ as God reaching out to us.  Not us having to earn our way to heaven.  As a matter of fact Jesus taught the exact opposite of what other faiths teach.  Jesus said nobody can earn their way to heaven so you might as well stop trying.

    There is a difference.  Lee Strobel said:  “Other religious leaders say, ‘Follow me and I’ll show you how to find truth.’  Jesus says, ‘I am the truth.’  Other religious leaders say, ‘Follow me and I’ll show you the way to salvation.’  Jesus says, ‘I am the way to eternal life.’  Other religious leaders say, ‘Follow me and I’ll show you how you can become enlightened.’  Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world.’  Other religious leaders say, ‘Follow me and I’ll show you the many doors that lead to God.’  Jesus says, ‘I am the door that leads to God.’”

    The uniqueness of Christianity is rooted in the uniqueness of Jesus.  So the ultimate answer to the question “Are all religions the same?” is no, they’re not.  In Acts 4:12 the Bible teaches, “There is salvation in no one else.  There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them.”

    February 13, 2010 — Saturday

    JESUS – THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN (Part 2)

    Pluralism kind of sees religion kind of like a kaleidoscope.  You take all the religions and they’re all kind of mixed together and there’s no reason to really argue or resolve anything.  Truth really doesn’t conflict and all roads lead to God and just pick a road that leads to God and believe it sincerely.

    Unfortunately there’s a problem with that.  Sincerity doesn’t have anything to do with it.  When it comes to my opinion I can be wrong.  Hitler was.  Osama bin Laden was.  But in the world we live in what we like to do is level the playing field and just put truth on there and all truth is at the same level.  What’s happened now in the world we live in is that tolerance has tipped the scale of truth.  And opinion now weighs more than objective truth.

    I think Jesus knew this and that’s why He said so boldly without any question “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one gets to the Father but through Me.” He doesn’t say, “I am a way.  I’m one of the many valid options that you will have.”  No.  He said, “I am the way.”  No other leader has made such a bold statement.  I’ll agree with some of the skeptics that at the surface this does sound like an exclusive comment.  But as you dig a little bit deeper and you know the character of Jesus this wasn’t said out of arrogance but out of compassion.  It’s God’s desire that every person on this planet have a relationship with Him.

    The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 “God isn’t late with His promise.  He is restraining Himself on account of you, holding back the end because He doesn’t want anyone lost.  He’s giving everyone space and time to change.” All – everyone – are invited into a relationship with God.  God isn’t exclusive of anyone but He is exclusive about Jesus.  Basically all are welcome to come but Jesus is the only way.February 12, 2010 — Friday

    JESUS – THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN

    The only way.  Some of you are ticked off at that one.  “You’ve got me on the humanity thing – He was human.  And I can understand the divinity thing.  But the only way to heaven?  That’s crazy!  Isn’t that narrow minded, bigoted, exclusive, intolerant?  Maybe a way to heaven but the way?  It sounds so judgmental.”

    If you’re not thinking this way your friends are.  Your neighbors are.  Skeptics are.  Those on the outside of Christianity looking in are.  In our world that we live in there are so many options for everything.  We have all kinds of options.  When it comes to truth this whole idea of one way, it really creates a stumbling block for people’s faith.  And it’s surrounded by confusion, anger, misunderstanding.

    Look what the Bible says in John 14, a bold statement by Jesus. “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through Me.”

    February 11, 2010 — Thursday

    HOW DID JESUS PROVE HE WAS GOD? (Part 3)

    Two more ways that show Jesus was God are His own identification, His own claim.  Not only is He described in the Bible as the God-man but He makes the claim Himself in John 10:30.  He says, ”I and the Father are one.” He didn’t claim just to be God.  He made a very specific claim – Messiah.  You’ve got to deal with that.  Is He whacked out or was He who He said He was?  Because it was that claim that got Him killed.


    The other one was the resurrection.  In my opinion this is the deal-breaker!  This is the biggie that separates Jesus from all the other religious leaders.  He predicted it and He did it.

    February 10, 2010 — Wednesday

    HOW DID JESUS PROVE HE WAS GOD? (Part 2)

    Another way He proved He was God is the fulfillment of prophecy.  If you look in the Old Testament, there are several prophecies prophesying the Messiah, the Savior of the world.  It was like in the Old Testament painting this fingerprint of what the Messiah is going to be like and who it’s going to be.  And Jesus came along and He fit that fingerprint.  If you look at the life of Jesus, His life is a checklist to the prophecies: born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, rejected by His own people, the Messiah to be betrayed by one of His own followers, the Messiah to die by crucifixion – the list goes on.

    I have some skeptic friends who’d say, “The prophecies?  Couldn’t He have faked a couple?  Couldn’t He have manipulated His lifestyle a little bit to fit in?  An example might be the prophecy said the Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a donkey.”  Jesus could have faked that one.  He could have come up to Jerusalem and said, “Ok, guys, ditch the skateboard.  Grab Me a donkey and let’s go.  I’m going to fool everybody into thinking I’m the Messiah and I’m going to be tortured to death and it’ll be wonderful!”

    The argument falls apart when you realize how many prophecies could never have been arranged.  The place of birth, the virgin mother, unbroken bones at the crucifixion – the list goes on.  That’s one of the ways He proved He was God – fulfillment of prophecy.February 9, 2010 — Tuesday

    HOW DID JESUS PROVE HE WAS GOD?

    First, His miracles.  In the New Testament there are dozens of miracles that Jesus performed.  These miracles were done in broad daylight.  Many in front of skeptics.  That was one of the ways He proved He was God.

    Another way is through eyewitnesses to His perfect life.  Eyewitnesses are very important when trying to prove something.  This week we had a major trial that made all the newspapers and the news – the hockey dad.  This hockey dad killed another dad.  What was the trial based on?  Eyewitnesses.

    There were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ perfect life and His claim to be the Messiah.  At Jesus’ trial Pilate says this “I find no guilt in this man.”  The soldier at the cross, “Certainly this man was innocent.”  The thief that hung on a cross next to Jesus:  “This man has done nothing wrong.”

    Those are people from a distance.  But where it becomes very credible is from those closest to Jesus.  Those who were around Him all the time.  In the Bible John called Him, Jesus Christ the Righteous.  Martha said, “I have always believed You were the Messiah, the Son of God.”  At one point Jesus even asked, “Who do people say that I am?”  Matthew 16 “Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of man is?’  ‘Well,’ they replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.’  Then He asked them, ‘Who do you say that I am?’  Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’  Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon, son of John, because My Father in heaven revealed this to you.  You did not learn this from any human being ‘”

    When Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God,” Jesus didn’t say, “Whoa!  Wait a second!  You’re taking this Messiah thing a little too far.  I’m just a good teacher.”  No.  He didn’t say that.  He didn’t stop them and say, “No, don’t call Me the Son of God.  I’m just a moral man.”  No.  Why is it that most of the disciples died a martyr’s death?  Because they believed He was the Messiah.  They died a martyr’s death because they believed.  Eyewitnesses.  They were there with Him all the time.  You can fool people from a distance but you can’t fool them up close.February 8, 2010 — Monday

    JESUS IS 100% GOD

    Let’s look at what Jesus was before He invaded earth. “In the beginning the word [referring to Jesus] already existed.  He was with God and He was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  He created everything there is.  Nothing exists that He didn’t make.” Jesus was 100% human and 100% God, 100% of the time.  Jesus wasn’t a man who became a god.  Nor was He God appearing to be a man.  He combined in one personality the two natures.  He was fully human and fully God.

    I realize for some, that’s tough to get your arms around that.  But think about that – when He walked on earth He was fully human and He was fully God.

    How many of you who have brothers or sisters and when you were growing up your brother or sister didn’t get in trouble but you always did?  Think about Jesus’ brother James.  How painful it must have been if your brother was God!  Mom and Dad come into the house, the vase is broken, what do they yell?  “James!  Get down here!” Why me?  How come you… oh… because He’s perfect! He was always the one getting in trouble.

    Imagine being James in school.  The teacher’s going, “James you got a C on this test.  Your brother would have aced it.”

    Fully human.  Fully God.  That’s very important for us to understand.  Because it brings up another frequently asked question.

    February 7, 2010 — Sunday

    WHY IS JESUS’ HUMANITY SO IMPORTANT?

    Before Jesus we could only know God partially but when Jesus came we could know God fully.  He was tangible, He was visible, He was touchable.  The Bible says that Jesus was the visible expression of the invisible God.  So in doing so He could fully identify.  We could touch Him.

    He could also fully identify with what you and I go through every day.  Hebrew 4:15 “This high priest of ours [Jesus] understands our weaknesses for He faced all the same temptations we do.” He understands all.  But then look at the “yet” – “yet He did not sin.”  Every temptation you and I go through Jesus understands because He went through those temptations as 100% human.

    There’s nothing you’re going through that Jesus can’t identify with.

    Another thing is He had to be fully human so He could pay the price for our sins.  1 John 3 “And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins for there is no sin in Him.” Because He was human, His payment could be transferred to us as humans.  Jesus was the perfect representative to pay for our sins.

    February 6, 2010 — Saturday

    JESUS WAS 100% HUMAN

    Some of you I know that where you get your theology from or what you know about Jesus is what you’ve watched on television.  So sometimes what you watch on television Jesus is like translucent.  He’s pale and stoic and His eyes bug out.  He’s a little emaciated and He talks Shakespearean – “How doth theeth goeth Petereth?”  That kind of thing.  So you wonder is He really real?  Is He real?

    Lets move away from the Hollywood image to what the Bible says.  In John 1:14 it says, “So the Word [referring to Jesus] became human and lived here on earth among us.” He was 100% human.

    People ask this question, “What did Jesus look like?”  My guess is He looked like what a first century Palestinian Jewish male would look like.  I’m sorry to those of you who would have liked a blond hair, blue eyed Brad Pitt type Jesus.  That’s just not the case.  Nor is it the case when last service I said “blue hair blond eye” accidentally and I didn’t know that and people were laughing and I didn’t get it.  I went behind the pulpit and checked my zipper.  They told me afterwards what it actually was.  What Jesus experienced on earth was what all of us experience – he was human.  That means He got hungry, He got tired, He went to bed, He had to go to the bathroom, He got angry, He had to deal with pain and conflict.  And He died a very real human death.  He was human in every way yet He did not sin.

    February 5, 2010 — FRIDAY

    HOPE…

    I want us to look at a couple of verses that we’ve looked at many times before.  We keep coming back to these verses because they’re so profound, they really explain what life is all about.  I hope by now if you’ve been a believer for some time that you’ve memorized Romans 8:28 ”We know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” This is such a significant verse I want us to look at it word by word.

    Notice first what it does not say.  It doesn’t say, “All things work out the way I want them to.”  We would like that and we’d like to interpret it that way but that’s not what it says.  It doesn’t say, “All things work out the way I want them to.”

    It does not say, “All things have a happy ending on earth.”  Because that is not true.  All things do not have a happy ending on earth.  Reality teaches us that not every patient gets well, that not every couple that gets married lives happily ever after.  Reality teaches us that not every business decision makes a million bucks, not every problem is resolved.  So we know that’s not true.   All children don’t get straight A’s and become captain of the football team.  What does it say?

    First it says, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good.” What that means is we don’t wish, we don’t imagine, we don’t desire, we don’t have false hope, we don’t have positive thinking.  It just says, We know.   It’s not a wish or a desire.  It is a certainty.  We are confident of whatever comes after this.  “Hope is not the same as optimism.  It is not the conviction that something will turn out well.  But hope is the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.”

    February 4, 2010 — THURSDAY

    HE IS AT WORK IN ME

    No matter what’s happening in my life – good, bad, or ugly – God’s purpose is working in me.  When you have a problem that you don’t understand the purpose of, that’s very difficult to handle.  You know the most difficult kinds of questions of life are, “Why is this happening to me?”  When a problem is there that’s kind of a freak accident and it doesn’t have any rhyme or reason to it.  It just doesn’t make sense.  Those are the kind of situations that are the most difficult to handle.

    On the other hand, when you see a purpose behind your problem it gives you enormous hope.  It also gives you enormous power to endure it.  And God says, I am working in your life and I have a purpose no matter what’s happening.

    God is doing good things in my life even when the situation is bad, even when I don’t feel it, even when it doesn’t make sense, even when I have no understanding.  When the situation is bad, He is still doing good things in my life.

    February 3, 2010 — WEDNESDAY

    HIS MERCIES ARE NEW EVERY MORNING

    For many of us, when we can’t figure out why something’s happening, there’s real hopelessness in that.  If we can figure out why we’re having a problem, if we can figure out what the benefit of that problem is going to be, there’s a little more hope.  But when I can’t figure it out, I feel hopeless.  One of the great things that brings hope is realizing I don’t have to figure it all out.  I just have to trust the God who has it all figured out.  He knows and He understands and He’s willing to guide and advise me through life.

    Lamentations 3 “I have hope when I think of this:  the Lord’s love never ends.  His mercies never stop.  They are new every morning.” That one verse has enough hope to get me at least through to the next week.  It’s all about hope.  Nothing can ever make God stop loving me once I put my hand in His hand. Once I put my hand in His hand He will never let go.  Circle the last phrase “God’s mercies are new every morning.” Many of us look back on our lives and say “I really blew it there.  I wish I hadn’t done that.”  We feel hopeless because we feel like we’ve already messed the thing up anyway.  The Bible says that God gives us a new fresh start every morning.  I need that.  I need the hope of that.  That God gives me a new start and a new day to live a new hope that He wants to give.

    February 2, 2010 — TUESDAY

    HE IS WITH YOU

    As a pastor, I’ve stood at a lot of gravesites with people.  After that funeral, many, many times I’ve seen in their eyes and I’ve heard the words, “I don’t know how I’m going to make it.  How am I going to make it to the next step?”  I’ve heard oftentimes this sense of doubt and this, What if? In the voice of a spouse who has just been deserted or someone who has just lost their job or a parent who has just lost a child.  This feeling of, “How am I going to go on?”  Some of you are feeling that way today.

    The answer is this:  God will be with you.

    Not only is He with us but the Bible says He watches over us.  Not just watches us but watches over us and cares for us.  Psalm 32:8”I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and will watch over you.” You and I, we don’t know the future.  We can’t control the future.  God does know the future.  God can control the future.  And that God who knows and can control the future is willing to guide and advise us.  He’s willing to show us the way.  There’s great hope in that.

    February 1, 2010 — MONDAY

    HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU

    The older I get the more I realize how much of my life is out of my control.  The truth is, not only can I not control much of what’s in the future, I don’t even know much of what’s in the future.  Isaiah 41:10 “’Don’t worry because I am with you,’ says God.  ‘Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.  I will make you strong and I will help you.  I will support you.’” The good news is regardless of what happens, you and I don’t have to go through it alone.  There is a God who will be with us.  He will be there with you.  That is one of the certainties of life that I can hold on to.  When I hold onto that certainty, I have hope.

    There are a lot of uncertainties in life.  One of the sad uncertainties of life is that people will leave you.  Friends and family might move away.  There will be people that you love that will die.  There will be people that you love that will become ill and won’t be themselves any more.  There may even be those that you argue with and there’s a separation that’s painful.  The sad truth of life is people leave us.

    But the certainty of life is God will never leave you.  That helps us to have hope because the fear of being abandoned is one of the greatest causes of hopelessness in all of our lives.  This feeling that I’m going to be deserted, I’m going to be forsaken, I’m going to be left alone, I’m going to be overwhelmed and there’s going to be no one to help.  It’s expressed in the two words, “What if…?”  What if my husband/wife leave me and I’m left alone?  What if my kids aren’t there for me at the end of my life?  What if these friends aren’t there?  What if…?

    The truth is, God will never leave you.

    January 31, 2010 — SUNDAY

    HE’S ALWAYS THERE…

    At the end of the book of Ezekiel, God gives one of His names.  He says “I am Jehovah Shammah.”  In Hebrew that means, “I am the God who is always there.”  There is no place that God is not.  There is no place you will go that God isn’t.  God has been in your past.  He’s in your present.  He’s going to be in your future.  He’s in the good times and the bad times.  He’s in the good places.  He’s in the evil places.  He is everywhere.

    This has profound implications on where you find hope.  If God is truly with me all the time, whether I feel it or not, if He’s truly with me, then that means there are three sources of hope that I can count on.  There are a lot of things in life that I can’t count on, a lot of things in life that are uncertain.  These are three anchors of the soul as the Bible calls them – hope is the anchor of the soul – things that I can count on so that no matter what happens, I know that life is not hopeless.

    January 30, 2010 — SATURDAY

    WHAT’S IN A NAME?

    Yesterday, we talked about how we need to put our hope in God’s name.  What does that mean?  How do you put hope in a name?  What’s the big deal?

    In the Bible, God calls Himself by many different Hebrew names. Each one of those names is a description of His character. Each one of those names is a promise to you. Each one of those names is a benefit that God says, I provide to man.

    For instance, one time God used the Hebrew name Jehovah Shalom. That means, “I am the God who gives you peace. And if you want real peace of mind you come to Me for it.” In another place He uses the Hebrew term, I am Jehovah Jirah. That means, “I am the God who provides for all your needs. You can count on Me. You can come to Me.” We’re going to be looking at these names in the days ahead because, as I began to look at the names God gives Himself, I came to the amazing discovery that for every one of the needs of man there’s a corresponding name of God. God says in so many ways, “You got a need? I can meet that. You got another need? I can meet that.” On and on.

    January 29, 2010 — FRIDAY

    THE DANGERS OF FALSE HOPE

    Because hope is in such short supply in our society today, people will fall for all kinds of scams.  They actually put their hope in false hope.  They trust in things like psychic hotlines and palm reading and astrology, fake healers, quack cures, all kind of crazy things – crystals – putting their hope in rocks – and things like that.  And of course, inevitably, these things disappoint and actually they end up being worse off because nothing is worse than being disappointed by a false hope.  Nothing is more useless than false hope.  Is there any place that I can get hope I can depend on, that I can count on for the crises of life, the things that are going to come into my life that I don’t plan but blow me over?  Are there any things like that that I can count on?  Where do I find that kind of hope?

    The Bible tells us that you find it in God.  God is the source – the source of hope.

    Romans 15:13 “May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in Him.” In other words as you put your faith in God, He gives you peace, joy and hope.  And He says, “.. Then you will overflow with hope…” Specifically, God says if you want to put your hope in Me, you need to put it in My name. “In Your name I will hope, for Your name is good.”

    January 28, 2010 — THURSDAY

    DOES HOPE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

    Dr. Harold Wolfe who is a professor at Cornell University in the medical school did a study on the effects of hope on the human body.  He studied 25,000 prisoners of war over an extended period of time to see what hope did to them and what difference it made.  He discovered that out of those 25,000 POW’s there was one group of men on whom the experience of being a POW had no effect at all, in spite of brutality, in spite of torture, in spite of solitary confinement, in spite of all kinds of inhumane abuse.  There was one group it just didn’t phase.  There was no posttraumatic stress syndrome.  They didn’t get ill.  They didn’t have flashbacks.  They just handled it and went on with their life.  When he studied that group, the one common denominator was an extraordinary high level of hope.  Hope makes all the difference in the world.  It is essential for handling the crises of life.  In his concluding study he said, “When a man has hope he’s capable of bearing incredible burdens and cruel punishment.  But when hope is gone, people fall apart – emotionally, physically and spiritually.”

    Where do you go to find the help and the hope that you need.  Because if you don’t get hope none of the other things we talk about are going to make sense.  You have to have hope to believe that God will work in your life.  You have to have hope to believe that God can change your situation, that God can meet your needs.  You’ve got to have hope.

    January 27, 2010 — WEDNESDAY

    IS THERE HOPE?

    At the end of World War II, an American sub came back to Newport News, Virginia to dock.  As it came into port something terrible went wrong with the mechanism and it began to sink in the harbor.  They immediately dispatched coast guard to go out because obviously it was full of crew and they were trying to save the crew.  They dispatched divers that would dive down to the hull of the submarine and find out what went wrong.  As the divers swam around the sub you could hear that one inventive sailor had a hammer and was knocking on the hull from the inside in Morse code, “Is there hope?”

    Is there hope?  That’s one of the fundamental questions of life.  Is life worth living?  Is there  hope?  Can I count on anything in life?  Is there hope?  It’s asked everyday by thousands of people in thousands of different ways.  When you’re setting in the doctor’s office awaiting tests, you hear the question, “Is there hope?”  When you’re standing by the bedside at the hospital, you hear the question, “Is there hope?”  When a couple who’ve put months and months into marriage counselors sitting there and getting nowhere, they’re thinking in their minds, “Is there hope?”  When you’re dealing with a tax accountant in a bankruptcy court and you ask, “Is there hope?”  When a couple or a family hears that their child is missing, they ask the police, “Is there hope?”  Governmental and political leaders ask the question about places like Kosovo, “Is there hope?”

    You can go forty days without food and three days without water and you can go eight minutes without air.  But you can’t go a single second without hope.  Hope is one of the essentials of life.  When hope is gone, life is over.  You need hope to cope.  There’s only one place we can find that hope… JESUS!

    January 26, 2010 — TUESDAY

    HOW TO ENJOY THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE

    I LOVE THE New Testament book of Philippians.  I love it because it deals with stuff we all face daily.

    Philippians is a positive book.  It’s filled with words like “joy,” “rejoice,” “be glad.”  Just reading this book – it is crystal clear that “CHRIST-FOLLOWERS” should be the happiest people on earth and  should find great joy in our relationships.

    How about you?  Do you enjoy the people around you?  you work with?  in your family?  What about the one you’re married to?

    I hope you enjoy your family, but the truth is a lot of us just endure relationships, struggle to hang on in their marriages, put up with conflict and compromise.  Relationship troubles suck the joy of your day.

    GT vision is all about “Loving God.”  But it can’t stop there.  We’ve got to, we have to, we must let that love for God overflow into our daily lives.  It must impact our actions, words, and motives.  But it must also impact the way we interact with other people.

    In other words, people who are experiencing a love relationship with God must demonstrate that love in the way they interact with other people.

    January 25, 2010 — MONDAY

    CHANGE YOUR OUT LOOK ON FRIENDSHIP THROUGH GRATITUDE

    Phil 1:3. “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

    When this guy wrote this HE WASN’T in a college library or sitting a computer.  He was in prison and his time in the town to which he was writing had been the pin-ultimate BAD EXPERIENCE  — He had been arrested without just cause, whipped & humiliated, thrown in prison, endured an incredible earthquake, AND run out of town

    Some of us might think we are having a bad timem, but this author takes “bad times” to a whole new level. Yet when Paul remembers it he says, when I think of you I remember the good things.  HOW?  How’s he do that?  How’s he drop the horrible memories of abuse, rejection, and pain?

    It’s clear that with the help of GOD, Paul starts the process of changing his view of a horrible experience by choice.  The writer of this New Testament teaches you and I that it begins with a decision to let go of the past and search for something – anything – positive!

    The practical application for us is this:  If we’ve got bad stuff in your past or we’ve been hurt by a parent or a partner or a group of people or a horrible tragedy.  Before we can get whole, we’ve got to let go of our stuff.  Maybe yr still holding on to that hurt.  I challenge you — choose gratitude as your attitude by finding the good in people

    January 24, 2010 — SUNDAY

    I can choose what I’m going to remember about the past.

    The bottom line of today’s devo is:  “Remember the best, forget the rest.”

    I’m not saying that we deny our hurts   —  or that we make excuses for the weaknesses in other people.  That is psychologically unhealthy.  But we still choose TO focus on the good

    How’d Paul [the writer of Philippians] do it?  He did it by going on a “hunt” for something positive.  He found it and focused.  In the case of the great attitude Paul had about the Phillippians – even though his experiences were both physically and emotionally terrible – Paul focused on the tremendous loyalty the people had toward him.

    Phil 1:5:  “You have helped me from the very first day until now.”

    So let’s make this work for us in 2010.  When we are choosing friends, try changing your perspective.  Rather than concentrate on temporary stuff like the way people look or what their bank account balance is or how talented a potential friend is – look deeper!  Ask a question about something like, “Have they been loyal?”

    When you were going through the

    • bankruptcy,
    • divorce,
    • complaining
    • wandering from God
    • crisis at work,
    • groaning

    when you were just being a jerk — they were loyal and stayed with you.

    Look around and ask yourself, “Who has been loyal to you?”  Is it maybe somebody at work, a friend, your husband or wife?

    JANUARY 23 — SATURDAY

    Practive POSITIVE PRAYING

    Phil 1:4:  “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.”

    How would you like to have the apostle Paul praying for you?  Would that encourage you?

    It is always encouraging to know that someone is taking the time to pray for you!

    The quickest way to change a relationship from bad to good is to start thanking God /praying for people.  Positive praying is much more powerful than positive thinking. People resist our advice and reject our suggestions, but they are powerless against our prayers.

    Paul spells out specifically what he’s praying for people.

    Phil 1:9‑ 11  “And this is my prayer, that your

    • love may abound more in knowledge & depth of insight so that you may be able to
    • discern what is best and
    • be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
    • filled w/the fruit of righteousness that comes thru JC to the glory & praise of God.”

    Paul says if you want to enjoy people in your life, you first must be grateful for the good and then you practice positive praying.

    JANUARY 22 — FRIDAY

    HOW CAN WE STRENGTHEN FRIENDSHIPS

    In one phrase:  Be patient with other people’s progress

    Paul put this into practice by looking at people’s future and not just at their past.  He looked at their potential and was patient with their progress.

    Phil  1:6,  “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

    In other words —    What God starts, God finishes.

    Mankind is a great starter but a bad finisher.  Man leaves unfinished symphonies, unfinished buildings, unfinished books, unfinished projects.  Man doesn’t always finish what he starts  —– but God does.

    He does not make a bird and give him half a wing or an unfinished flower or an unfinished star. He puts the finishing touches on everything He does and then He says, “It is good.”

    In spite of the hangups, faults, my bad decisions, my sins ——— in spite of all your stuff — God is going to finish what He started & He’ll finish what HE started @ GT,  in yr life, kids, heart.

    Bottom line?  No matter what you fee llike.  No matter what other people say.  If GOD has started something in your life – HE WILL FINISH IT!  YOU are going to make it!

    JANUARY 21 – THURSDAY

    WANT TO BETTER AT FRIENDSHIPS?  LOOK AT HOW FAR YOUR FRIEND HAS PROGRESSED.

    Since we know that GOD’s not finished with us and we know that we’re not perfect –We need to be patient with other people’s progress. To enjoy people we must allow for their growth Paul could say, ————-         I’m not the man I used to be, thank God.

    But also, thank God, I’m not the man I’m going to be.  I’m growing and changing.

    We need to start practicing patience with people NOW

    • In our marriage
    • In our friendships
    • With our kidz

    In the way you think about GOD and how you see yourself.

    If you demand perfection of people yr going to be miserable — because Nobody’s perfect.

    The Christian life is a process.   We’re all becomers, we’re all growing.

    Phil 1:6  –  “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

    Our mistake?  We judge people on how far they have to go rather than how far they have come.

    JANAURY 20 – WEDNESDAY

    LOVING SOMEONE FROM YOUR HEART

    Why are so many marriages crumbling?  We act from our minds not our hearts.  Listening & loving from the heart will help you look beyond the nasty attitudes behind the bitter words.

    Phil 1:8:  “…  I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

    Human love wears out and dries up and dies on the vine. God’s love is the only kind of love that lasts and lasts in spite of heartache and in tough circumstances is God’s LOVE

    God’s love is not something you work up.  God’s love is something that

    • Does not change
    • Is consistently flowing to you
    • Is already proven when Jesus died on the cross for you
    • Will fill every void and cavity in your heart if you’ll let it

    The secret of enjoying the people is be filled w/God’s love.

    This message is really a call to

    • enjoy your family
    • find pleasure in great conversations with your friends
    • be free with your laughter
    • and love the people in your church.

    When you really love each other, that’s what being a believer in Christ is all about.

    JANUARY 19

    GT’s TARGET: TO LOVE GOD & LOVE OTHERS

    Today we’ve focused on “loving others”  AND I WANT TO say a few words that will take us beyond conflict resolution to another way to love others.  Every month GT sends cash to hurting people around the globe.

    I want to tell you a little about

    • Where your dollars go each month
    • Where your tithe goes

    GT doesn’t spending the money people on building a big cathedral.  On the contrary, my wife and I have given our lives to help hurting people.  GT reflects that desire to give and live beyond ourselves and make a difference.

    Let me just name a few things we are ALREADY doing before this current crisis globally

    • Helping women escape the sex trade in Thailand – through DAGMAR GEIGER
    • Partnering w/ the HOMELESS CHURCH in SF to break the cycle of homeless SFNs
    • Building a water well in draught stricken East Africa
    • Providing scholarships for 10,000 school children in Ecuador
    • Funding water purification projects in the Amazon Jungle

    This past week we have all seen the horrible things that have gone on as a result of the earthquake in HAITI.  It’s “the” poorest country in all of the AMERICA’s.  Some of you have asked us what is GT doing?  Please listen carefully……..

    If you give and tithe at GT yr dollars have already been working in  HAITI.  GT supports “THE CONVOY OF HOPE”.  “CONVOY OF HOPE”

    1. is a great organization
    2. Financially accountable by same group as Billy Graham
    3. Feeds poor people WORLDWIDE, 365 days a yr
    4. BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE they were feeding –  7,000 people each day in HAITI
    5. Already had a wherehouse in  “PORT-AU-PRINCE”
    6. NOT STALLED BY bad roads & a broken PORT – READY TO HELP

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