Daily Devotions - Entries from September 2010September 8, 2010: Living out of the Playbook
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Timothy 3:14-17 (NIV)
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become
convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and
how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you
wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture
is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.
I have watched several foot ball games in the
past few weeks and I discovered something as I watched, the teams that were the
most prepared and who knew their play books well usually won the game.
For a moment I want you to think of the
Apostle Paul as a coach for young Timothy. He is trying to convince Timothy to
stay with his game plan. He has reminded him of what the false teachers will
try to do when they enter his church. He has detailed the game plan of the
enemy so when he sees the formation taking shape in his church he will know how
to reset his people so they can win the war with sin and false teaching.
Let's see if we can discover the proper game
plan for winning in this thing called life. He has already told Timothy to
"study to show himself approved." Know the plays you need to use and
practice them. He has replayed the game films of the false teachers so Timothy
can spot their deceptive techniques. He has played the film of the ultimate
defeat of Jannes and Jambres to remind Timothy that he does not need to worry
about the ultimate outcome of the game for every false teacher will be exposed,
they will not get away with their deception.
Now Paul wants to give Timothy another
principle he must use if he is to stay in the game. The principle he gives to
Timothy in this passage is the principle of staying with the game plan. In
Paul's words, "Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced
of . . ."
What exactly is he trying to get across to
Timothy? He is directing him to think back across his life of following Christ
with Paul and remember the times when things looked bad but how God delivered
them. What was it that gave Timothy or Paul the victory every time? Was it
their quick thinking, their superior intellect? It was not. Paul reminds
Timothy to remain in the Scriptures, to not let anything keep him from the
reading and meditating on the Scriptures.
Every good coach has his or her reasons for
their game plan and Paul is merely telling Timothy, "Our play book is
superior to every other team's play book. If you stay in this and learn from it
and obey its precepts you will endure to the end. IF you do not stay in this
play book you will not win but you will go down to defeat."
I like to win, so I am choosing to stay with
the play book that God has given. Any other takers?
Living out of the Ultimate Playbook,
Pastor Phil September 6, 2010: Have a party!
Hebrews
4:9-11 (NIV)
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10
for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as
God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter
that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
It happened a few days ago in my oldest
daughter's home. She is now the mother of two children, Josiah, age almost two
and Elianna, almost three months. Megan, the mom, was writing out her "To
Do" list and her son Josiah was writing out his as well. After Megan
finished the list she asked her son, Josiah if she had left out anything.
Josiah, in the wisdom that could have only
come from the grandfather, said, "Play, mommy. Play." Being the good
mother that she is, she quickly tossed aside her to do list and played.
Since today is Labor day I thought I would
take some time out from the regular devotionals and just say the same thing to
you. Put aside your "to do" list and go out and play. That's right
you heard this preacher correctly, Go out and play, celebrate God's goodness,
leap and dance and shout aloud for the joy of the Lord. If you cannot dance
then take up lessons. If you cannot leap then spin around in your wheel chair.
If you cannot sing for joy a good hearty shout will suffice. However you do it
rejoice in his rest that he has provided for us. We no longer have to work for
his affection, Jesus our Lord has already accomplished it all, so play.
I know this is hard because we all live in a
work oriented world where we are measured by how much we produce, but just for
today why not let the truth of the gospel settle in your heart and cause you to
see that God commands you to rest and to celebrate. So go ahead and head for
the fair, go for a walk in the woods, order out ice cream and enjoy the taste
of a nice cold blizzard at Dairy Queen.
See you at the fair with my ice cream cone on
the Ferris wheel.
Pastor Phil September 5, 2010: Where the Church of Christ Truly Flourishes
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Acts 11:20-24 (NIV)
20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to
Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about
the Lord Jesus.
21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people
believed and turned to the Lord.
22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and
they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he
was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their
hearts.
24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a
great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Assignment: Write a report on how the
church in Antioch got started.
Let's head to Antioch and see if we can
interview any of the original church planters. If you were to ask around to
get the names of those who were the ones to plant this great church you would
be hard pressed to find a list of names. The church was launched as God's
people decided to obey God and seek to make much of Christ in Antioch.
The Scripture is silent as to the
individuals who started it all. All you would know is that a group of men,
recently converted, came to Antioch and shared Christ as they went about
their work days. A large number of people came to Christ and they found
themselves without the means to help them to mature. While they are
ministering in Antioch the news of this great outpouring of God's Spirit
reaches the church in Jerusalem.
Think of it, news about the tremendous
conversions makes it all the way to Jerusalem. How did the news travel? There
were no cell phones, twitter, facebook or newspapers, no mass communication
devices, only word of mouth. The conversions were so real and so many that
the culture of Antioch sat up and took notice. It was so powerful that this
news travelled all the way to Jerusalem by word of mouth.
The Church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas to
help keep order and when he comes he begins to share Christ and another huge
number of people are born into the kingdom. Once again no big names in the
church only those who were obedient to the Word find their way to Antioch.
There is such an outpouring of God that
Barnabas quickly sees that this is way beyond him. What made the soil in
Antioch so fertile? I believe it was the influence of pagan immorality that
prepared the people of Antioch for the gospel. They had tried everything else
and were still empty so when the gospel came to them they were already ready
to receive it because they had no other hope.
Perhaps God is allowing the immorality of
our culture to increase for this very reason, to leave all men without hope
except in Christ. There are many who are seeking to find life apart from
Christ and they are trying it all. They will soon learn that it is all an
empty and vain attempt to find life. Very soon they will be left empty and
broken and ready to hear and respond to the gospel. Let us take these days to
prepare ourselves in order to share Christ with all those that God will bring
across our paths.
Send us O God to the Lost and the Broken
and the Empty,
Pastor Phil
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September 4, 2010 : Do you desire to have the hand of the Lord on your life?
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Acts
11:21 (NIV)
21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people
believed and turned to the Lord.
This past Wednesday evening we spent some
time searching the Scriptures to answer the question, "How do we have
the hand of the Lord on our Lives?" In this text today we see that when
the hand of the Lord is on you, you accomplish things you could never do on
your own.
Our subject for today is to answer the
question we asked last Wednesday evening. For our answer we have to, as
always, turn to the Scriptures.
When we read "the hand of the Lord was
with them . . .," we ask, "Where else in Scripture does this phrase
occur and, if so, does the context provide us with the answer to our
question?
As I poured over Scripture I was led to
Ezra Chapters 7-8. In these two chapters I discovered the phrase "the
hand of God", or "the hand of the Lord was upon him" several
times in the space of two chapters.
The
following are the references; Ezra 7:6 (NIV)
6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in
the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had
granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.
Ezra
7:27-28 (NIV)
27 Praise be to the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put it
into the king's heart to bring honor to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in
this way
28 and who has extended his good favor to me before the king and
his advisers and all the king's powerful officials. Because the hand of the
Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leading men from Israel to
go up with me.
Ezra
8:18 (NIV)
18 Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us
Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son
of Israel, and Sherebiah's sons and brothers, 18 men;
Ezra
8:22 (ASV)
22 For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and
horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto
the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him, for
good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
Ezra
8:31 (ASV)
31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day
of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon
us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the lier-in-wait by
the way.
Now the question comes, "How did Ezra
get in the position so that God's hand was on him and his work?" We find
our answer in the next passage
Ezra
7:9-10 (NIV)
9 He had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the
first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month,
for the gracious hand of his God was on him. 10 For Ezra had
devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to
teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.
The reason we can conclude that God's hand
was on Ezra was because he had devoted his life to study the Law of the Lord
and to teach it to others and to obey its precepts and principles. This
brings us back to the new believers in Antioch. What did they do to obtain
the hand of God upon their lives?
The answer must be that they studied the
Law of God and sought to teach it to others and obey what it said. As they
studied the Law they understood, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, that the
gospel must be made known to all peoples of the world. It was just natural
for them to obey it and go to where the need of the gospel was the greatest.
A question for you to consider, "Where
in your life is the gospel most needed?" Perhaps a neighbor or a friend
or a family member or a co-worker? Let's remember the steps, Study, teach,
and obey.
Now may you find as you study God's Word
and seek to obey it and teach it to others that the gracious hand of God
rests upon you.
Studying, teaching and seeking to obey,
Pastor Phil
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September 3, 2010: The Gospel goes to the Mardi Gras of the Roman Empire
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Acts
11:19-21 (NIV)
19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in
connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,
telling the message only to Jews.
20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to
Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about
the Lord Jesus.
21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people
believed and turned to the Lord.
Someone said it best when they said,
"Christians are like a pile of manure. If you get them all together they
raise a big stink but if you spread them out they do a lot of good."
God has determined to spread his gospel to
the far corners of the world and he will do it. The question is, 'Do we want
to work in agreement with him or chafe against his goading?'
Consider with me the text before us today.
The persecution caused the church to leave Jerusalem and spread out over the
Roman Empire. As they went they spoke with many about Christ but up to this
time they had only spoken to those who were of Jewish background. Now things
were about to change in a big way.
Some men, who were converted by those who
preached the gospel in Cyprus and Cyrene, somehow made the decision to travel
to Antioch. I wonder what made them decide to travel to Antioch. Was it
because they had business there? Perhaps it was a favorite vacation spot? I
do not think it was any of these.
Antioch was the seed bed of immorality in
the Roman Empire. The Roman satirist, Juvenal, says about Antioch that her
gross immoralities were so poisonous that they had even made a negative moral
impact on the city of Rome 1300 miles to her west. Antioch was known for her
pagan worship temples and her open immorality.
I think this is how it happened. Some men
in Cyprus and Cyrene experienced the transformational power of the gospel in
their lives and they began to discuss where the gospel was most needed. The
very clear answer was. Antioch, the place where immorality reigns. So they
decided to up and move to Antioch for the purpose of sharing the gospel
there.
It is interesting that there is no missions
committee that is deliberating about where to plant the next church, no
market strategy developed about where we should go in order to get the most
results with the gospel. They had a life changing encounter with Christ and
that was all she wrote, from then on they were ruined men for the gospel.
They could not help but speak of what they had seen and heard and experienced
in Christ. So where was the greatest need for the gospel, why Antioch of course.
When they arrive at Antioch there is not
much of a Jewish population so they had no choice but to share Christ with
the Gentiles who lived there. But I want you to see that it was not because
they had no choice, they could not stop speaking about what Christ had done
so whoever was around them heard the news.
Now consider this, what happened as a
result of some men turning to Christ and leaving behind their comforts of
home and safety to live among a pagan people for the purpose of sharing
Christ? I want you to get this so read the next sentence carefully. "The
Lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to
the Lord."
O people what would happen if we decided to
speak of Christ with everyone we encountered in a day? What could be the
outcome if all of those who called on Christ would seek to make his name
known throughout every day of their life? Could it be that perhaps the hand
of the Lord would be on those and a great number of people would believe and
turn to the Lord?
I would really like to find out what would
happen if we did just that? How about it? Say a good word for Jesus to
everyone you meet.
Seeking to speak of Christ to all I meet
today and everyday,
Pastor Phil
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September 2, 2010: The Gospel Breaks out of the Jewish Mold
Acts
11:1-3 (NIV)
1 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the
Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up
to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said,
"You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
It has been seven years at least since Jesus
ascended into heaven and the church and her leaders are still in Jerusalem with
only one exception, the Apostle Peter. You remember the great commission given
to the church in Matthew 28:19-20 was to reach the ends of the earth and
include every ethnic group and language under the sun.
If this is the case why are the leaders still
in Jerusalem? Comfort and known surroundings can keep the church from being
what she is supposed to be. I think it may have been something like this in
Jerusalem. So God did what he had to get the church outside of her walls. We
call it persecution, but God calls it his sending strategy. (Check out Acts
8:1-4)
In our text today we find Peter, the apostle,
sharing his mission experience with the elders from Jerusalem. The elders had
heard that an entire household family of gentiles had come to faith in Christ
so they had to find out what was happening. When they arrived they had some
fairly sharp words for Peter.
"You went to the house of the
uncircumcised and ate with them?" This was most offensive to the elders.
How could anyone go beyond the Jewish nation? Wasn't the gospel for the Jews
only?"
The leaders of the early church actually
thought they were protecting the gospel when, in fact, they were serving as a
destructive poison to the gospel. The gospel is meant to be shared and
proclaimed to a lost a dying world. When the gospel is contained behind the
walls of the church it ceases to be the gospel.
When those who belong to Christ go beyond
their comfort zones and follow Christ to the unreached peoples of the world it
then is free to do what it was meant to do, convert the lost and demonstrate
God's glory to his children.
May you go about your work today with this in
mind, God has given you his gospel to share and it is his plan that you speak
of Christ as you go about your daily routines. Let us open our eyes to those
right around us who need to hear a word from God today.
May the Lord make you bold enough to share
His truth with those you see today
Pastor Phil
August 31,2010: Why are you staying away?
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Hebrews
4:14-16 (NIV)
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we
profess.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just
as we are--yet was without sin.
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
How many times have I heard the voice of
the accuser this past week? The accusations fly fast and furious every time I
seek to draw near to God. Perhaps you have heard this voice as well this past
week. Listen to his speech and see if possibly you have been under his attack
as well.
"Who are you to draw close to God?
What right do you think you have to receive anything from God? You cannot
even keep the basic disciplines of grace for long? What about all those
thoughts that have been lodging in your mind this past week, certainly you do
not deserve to receive anything from God by the way your thought life has
been?"
Have you heard this voice? What happened as
a result of listening to this voice? Did you just throw your hands up and
quit in your pursuit of God? Did you begin to speak to yourself in agreement
with this voice? As you listened to this voice did you find your despair
growing of ever getting anything right? Did you find yourself trying to
promise one more time you would get it right the next time only to be
defeated by another barrage of the enemy's voice?
If this has been your experience as of late
I have great news for you. The Word of the Gospel applied to your ears will
bring you great relief from this nagging accuser in your soul. I want you to
consider with me what the message of Hebrews tells us.
"Therefore, since we have a great high
priest . . ." We do not have just a high priest like those of old under
Moses; we have a high priest who is great. He has not only faced the full
fury of God's wrath against us in his body but he has forever accomplished
our redemption by his blood. He not just accomplished our redemption but he
has now passed through the heavens, he has ascended to the very highest
throne and is at this moment interceding on our behalf. His sacrifice is a
permanent fixture in the throne room of God's grace.
Every time we draw near to God the blood
will always avail for us. It has once and for all forever removed the stain
of sin and guilt from us. The writer of Hebrews says it is for this reason
that we can hold on to the faith we profess. It is not because we have been
good or because we have done our best it is because of Jesus that we can draw
near. It is because of Jesus that we can hold firmly to the faith.
Do you understand it yet? Our holding on to
the faith has nothing to do with our ability to hold on but it has everything
to do with the sufficiency of our high priest. When you fall or when you hear
the voice of the accuser bringing up once again the sins you have committed,
or when you feel condemned because of your inability to walk straight, take a
good look at your high priest standing in your place before the throne of
God. He himself has made the way for you to come to God. Remind yourself
daily and if need be moment by moment that you have a faithful high priest
how is standing before the Father for you.
Because of his sacrifice he now bids you
along with the Father to come boldly before his throne so that you may
receive mercy and find grace to help you in your time of need. O child of God
do not hesitate to come to your Father, he has paved the way for you to come
through His Son. To not come before your Father because you feel unworthy or
inadequate is to say to God that his way is not sufficient.
If you see what I see as I write this you
would run to Him. O how we need to remind each other of what Christ has done
for us. He did not die so that we would have more stuff; he died so we could
be brought back home to God. Allow the cross to bring you home before your
God so he may give you the grace you need at this moment.
Overwhelmed by His Mercy Finding Grace once
again,
Pastor Phil
Take some time today to sit before your God
and marvel at his grace displayed for you in the cross of our Savior and
Lord. He not only saves but he keeps those he saves. Hallelujah what a savior!
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August 27, 2010: How Far Have You Travelled?
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August 27: How Far
Have You Travelled?
1 Timothy 2:1 (NIV)
1 I urge, then, first of
all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for
everyone--
Has anyone ever
asked you how many countries you have been to? Have you ever read about the
world travelers and think to yourself, "I wish I could be one of
them?" Well today I want to share with you just how you can join their
ranks and even go beyond just being a world traveler.
Today I want to
talk to you about being a world wide intercessor. Now I know some have said
that I talk too much about this subject of prayer but I make no apology about
this because the Lord has given us the directions we are to follow and his
directions are clear that we are to make intercession for everyone.
I did some study on
this word, "everyone" and after exhausting all the dictionaries in
my study and then checking the context and consulting several commentaries to
make sure I was at least in the ball park concerning the definition of the
word "p??t??." After checking all the commentaries and
language works I have arrived at the conclusion as to what this word p??t??
(everyone) means. It means everyone, not just some and not just most, but
everyone.
To fulfill this
directive given by our King I at first thought there is simply no way I can
meet this requirement. But as often is the case, when the Lord gives his
commands he also provides a way for us to obey those commands. According to
the United Nations Country list there are 192 nations in the world at
present. In 1900 the number was only 57. Since 1900 we have seen an increase
in civil wars inside national boundaries and as a result we now have almost
200 nations.
Now if you are good
at math you can see that the number of days in a year are 365 days and the
number of nations in the world are 192 give or take a few due to civil unrest
or economic or ethnic wars. So now that we have the number of nations in the
world and we have the number of days in a year we can easily divide the
number of days by the number of nations and instantly see that if we only
prayed for one nation a day we could pray for every nation almost twice a
year.
How about becoming
a world traveler and intercessor with me as we set about the obeying of the
command closest to the heart of our God, reaching the nations with the
gospel? O what a joy to see that every command God gives us he also provides
a way for us to obey it.
Some on line links
to help you in your journey to become a world wide intercessor: www.worldprayermap.org; www.operationworld.org; www.imb.org.
Taking God's
command seriously to reach every nation and tribe and tongue with his
glorious gospel,
Pastor Phil
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August 25, 2010: Giving Diligence to what matters.
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2 Timothy 2:15 (ASV)
15 Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.
A sports
writer once asked tom Landry why his players were most often on the wining
side. Coach Landry answered, "My players only play a few more seconds
than the other teams do."
When
others are looking for a way to quit early the winners are the ones who keep
going all the way until the whistle blows. So it is here in this passage that
Paul tells Timothy that he must give his best energies to pursuing God and
His Word. This is not a game to play that only gets you across the goal line
this is something that is designed to get you across the line into eternity
in good shape.
As Paul
is preparing to give his life for the gospel some would say, "What a
shame that he had to give his life." My response is, "Wat a shame
that many others who say they follow Christ never do give their lives."
You see Paul did not give his life at the end of his life he had given his
life several decades before so the walk to the martyr's hall was nothing that
Paul was not fully aware of.
No one
can come to Jesus unless he gives everything, nothing held back. This thing
of following Christ is a no holes barred commitment. There is no room for
those who want the best of this life now and the best of heaven later. Those
who have been born again are those who have forsaken the things of this life
and taken up their cross and are headed out of the city gate along with Paul.
Our cry is, "This life is not our life, it belongs to Christ. If he
chooses to use my life in this way for his glory then I will go gladly."
Paul is
telling Timothy to stay the course, don't give up, keep going until the end.
Do your best to present yourself to God a workman that does not need to be
ashamed righty handling the Word of Truth.
Timothy
stay the course. When others are quitting and going for the gusto stay the
course. When others are leaving in droves because the church is just not with
it, stay the course. When others are looking for some way to feel good about
themselves apart from repentance and confession, stay the course.
What are
some ways you are being tempted presently to walk away or quit early? Take
the Word of God and study it and read it and meditate on it until the reasons
for quitting or giving up are gone. The Word is the means of grace by which
you stay the course. So let Paul's words to Timothy keep you focused on
Christ so you too can stay the course.
Let's
all pull together when we meet to encourage each other in the Word of God as
we study it and seek to obey it.
Staying
the Course No Matter What!
Pastor Phil
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Daily Devotions by
Devotions for your daily Bible readings written by Pastor Phil Nelson.
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Visit http: http://www.pastorphilsthoughts.blogspot.com/ to read more of Pastor Phil's devotions.
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