U V B \t

Daily Devotions by Pastor Phil

SunSundayMayMay20th2012 May 20, 2012: Overwhelmingly Wealthy

Posted Sunday, May 20 2012 @ 7 AM

Psalm 119:161-168 (NIV)
¹⁶¹Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.
¹⁶²I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil.
¹⁶³I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law.
¹⁶⁴Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.
¹⁶⁵Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.
¹⁶⁶I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands.
¹⁶⁷I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.
¹⁶⁸I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.

You stand on the brink of something great this morning. You are about to experience what few people in all of history have ever had the privilege of being part. There are only a few that have ever had the joy of stumbling upon the mother lode.

Years ago there was a man who travelled across the globe seeking to discover the fountain of youth. He spent his fortune in pursuit of such a treasure but he died never having found it. This morning you have the opportunity to enjoy what this man the history books write about never found. You have the opportunity to discover the mother lode of all mother lodes.

If you see it from the right perspective you will come away with a new found confidence in the Word you have before you. David possessed riches beyond measure in his kingdom. Consider for a moment the treasury of King David listed in 1 Chronicles 22:14 "a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone.”

In today’s language that is 3750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons of silver. Total worth would be 216 billion in gold and 36 Billion in silver. Bill Gates would be considered a pauper compared to King David. Now hold on to your hats folks, read carefully what David said about his experience when he opened up God’s Word and meditated on it.

“I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great riches . . . My heart trembles at your word . . . Great peace have they who love thy law . . . Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.”

You do not have to travel across the globe to find something worth far more than the fountain of youth, you have only to open the Book of God and seek to meditate on its' precepts and you will be richer far than any other human on the planet. Now who ever said today was going to be a bad day. Wake up to the riches you have that will never rust or fade. Enter into your rich storehouse of God’s grace and find joy and peace beyond measure.

The vault of God’s riches is now open for your enjoyment because of Christ.

Come and enjoy the lavish riches of God’s grace,

Pastor phil

FriFridayMayMay18th2012 May 18, 2012: True from the very beginning

Posted Friday, May 18 2012 @ 2 PM

Psalm 119:153-160 (KJV)
¹⁵³Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.
¹⁵⁴Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.
¹⁵⁵Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.
¹⁵⁶Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.
¹⁵⁷Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
¹⁵⁸I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.
¹⁵⁹Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness. ¹⁶⁰Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

Creation in six days, a global flood, earth that split open and sent 250 men and their families to their graves, a sea that parts so Israel can walk across on dry ground, ax heads that float to the top of the water, five loaves and two fish feed over 5,000, blind see, deaf hear and the dead are raised to life.

These are some of the miracles recorded in Holy Scripture. In our modern day it appears that some have been informed by science that some of these things could not have happened so they have jettisoned these miracles from the Bible and teach the “truth” behind the myth. It all sounds so modern and intellectual to say that science has now confirmed that some things in the Bible just could never happen.

Now I want you to consider just what fallen man is saying by their conclusions. “We now possess all the possible knowledge anyone can have in the entire universe and because we now possess such knowledge we now know that these things could never have happened.”

How very interesting that their fallen minds, corrupted by sinful tendencies, can actually say something could never have happened and yet they say out of the other side of their mouth that we can never know anything for certain.

Do you not find it extremely interesting that they can be absolutely certain that the miracles in the Bible could not have happened yet they say they cannot know anything for certain? How utterly confusing is the mind of fallen man.

Our Psalmist was not like this. He had tested the truths of Scripture and was firmly convinced of them. How was he convinced? Let’s consider our text and find his answer.

^“Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.” The ones who never seek to obey God’s Word will never find it fully trustworthy but those who seek to follow God’s statues will discover that His Word is true.

Some might say “But I have tested it and it did not work for me!” Notice that he writer says that every one of God’s statues will endure forever. How could he know this to be true? Did he really put them all to the test?

When Thomas Edison was working on a filament that would burn long enough to shed light he attempted the same experiment with several different metals. Some sources say he failed over 1,000 times before he landed on a material that burned long enough to provide light.

If you were to ask Thomas Edison if he failed he would say, “No, I was just involved in a thousand step process.” So it is when it comes to our obedience with the Scriptures. One attempt will not produce the desired effect. Two may not or even three. We are so fallen that we need to give much attention to obeying the truth and not just a few passing moments. The promise of Scripture is true, it just may take us several attempts at obeying until we finally see the truth of God’s Word as firmly established.

Let us not be weary I well doing for in due time we shall reap if we faint not.

Fighting for Joy as I obey God’s Word,

Pastor phil

WedWednesdayMayMay16th2012 May 16, 2012: Taking time to Be with God

Posted Wednesday, May 16 2012 @ 4 PM

Psalm 119:145-152 (NIV)

145 I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees.

146 I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes.

147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.

148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws.

150 Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law.

151 Yet you are near, O LORD, and all your commands are true.

152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.

Mark 3:14-15 (NIV)

14 He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach

15 and to have authority to drive out demons.

How often it is that we get our priorities all out of order? The world crashes in on us to distract us from our chief pursuit in life. Some may ask, "Just what is to be my chief pursuit in life?"

In our New Testament text today, Jesus called his disciples and the first priority was that they would be with him. Everything else would be an overflow of their relationship with Christ. If there is no personal knowledge of Christ, there will be little fruit in life. God has not called you to work for Him; He has called you to know Him so that He can work through you. Do you see the difference? The first response is a religious response, you have to work for God. The second response is a Biblical response, you have to get to know this great God who has saved you by his grace and then His Holy Spirit will fill your life to overflowing and it will be his working through you that will do the work of the Christian life.

So you ask, "How can I know Him?" David sheds some light on this question for us today. Consider his words in the text for today. Psalm 119:147-48 (NIV)

147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.

148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises."

There is something about taking time out of your day, when your mind is quieted and able to hear the still, small voice of God. There are a few things I have learned about meeting with God alone. At four a.m., there is no one else up at that time to bother you. David says he rises before the dawn and cries out to God. What a great way to start the day! There is something about beginning to meet with God alone in the very early hours when it is quiet and everything is in a shadow of darkness. But as you meet with God and meditate on his Word, the light begins to dawn on a new day and as you finish your time with God you find that the sun is now up and everything has a new light cast on it from above.

Let me suggest you give this a try for a few days and see what might happen in your walk with God. Who knows? You might find God in the early morning hours. It would be worth it if you did, wouldn’t it?

But, then, there are some of you who are never going to be a morning person. If you were God, you would have made morning come about noon instead of 6 a.m. Do not be discouraged. David gives you room if morning is not for you. Why not try another suggestion of David--stay up in the night to speak with your Creator, to spend time meditating on his Word. I do not know of a better way to go to sleep than with the Word of God washing over my mind as I drift off into slumber land.

Are you getting the picture yet? God does not care at what time of day you meet with Him, but He does desire to meet with you in some way where you are not distracted by other activities so you can be all His for a few moments each day. If you have not begun this discipline yet, why not start today? Find some time to get alone with God and read His Word and let Him speak to you. Cry out to God and tell Him you desire to know Him better. Set aside some time each day for the next few weeks and see if God will not reveal himself to you in some rather creative and fresh ways.

Setting my clock to meet with God so I will know Him more,

Pastor phil

Pastor Phil

Lakeland Church

719 South Giant City Road

Carbondale, Illniois 62902

618-529-4906

www.lakelandchurch.org

TueTuesdayMayMay15th2012 May 15, 2012: A Dog and God

Posted Tuesday, May 15 2012 @ 7 PM

Psalm 119:137-144 (NIV)

¹³⁷Righteous are you, O LORD, and your laws are right.
¹³⁸The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy.
¹³⁹My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words.
¹⁴⁰Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
¹⁴¹Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget your precepts.
¹⁴²Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.
¹⁴³Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight.
¹⁴⁴Your statutes are forever right; give me understanding that I may live.

Back in January my daughter Lydia began to ask me if she could get a dog. I made a deal with her that if I could lose the weight I needed to by the summer time she could get a dog. The weight was a considerable amount and had until this time proved to be a formidable obstacle to me. I thought adding a little incentive to the mix might help me.

With each passing week Lydia would ask me how much weight I had lost. She began to pray for her dad to lose the weight so she could have a dog. About six weeks ago a dog wandered on to our property out in the country. The dog was a beautiful Irish Setter, already house broken and well mannered. The dog would come to our house in the morning just before sunrise and wait on the front porch for Lydia to wake up. The dog would not let any of us get close to it except Lydia.

Where ever Lydia would go in the yard Mack would follow close behind. They would play for hours on the weekends and go for romps in the woods with Mack never far behind. This dog even got along with our three cats.

We discovered very soon that Mack lived almost a mile away from our house. The owner happened to be one of my wife’s coworkers at the high school. Just how did Mack make it to our house and find Lydia? My wife mentioned in passing that she believed it was God directing this dog to our Lydia for a season. If you ask Lydia if God answers prayer her answer is yes. Now Mack is not our dog but God used Mack and his generous owners to reaffirm to Lydia that he does answer prayer and we are grateful that God has such people that live just a mile away.

Now comes the conversation that my wife had with another co worker as they overheard my wife mention that God answered the prayer of Lydia. The coworker that overheard the conversation then asked my wife, “You don’t believe that God was involved in the answering of your daughter’s prayer do you?”

“I sure do,” was my wife’s quick reply.

“I used to think that too but I gave up on God answering any of my prayers a long time ago. There have just been too many times that God did not answer my prayers.”

Then my wife just asked, “Do parents always give their children everything they ask for?”

“No!”

“Then could it be that you were asking for something that God knew you did not need? Perhaps God was protecting you by not answering your prayers.”

The Psalmist seems to suggest this very thought. Consider his relationship with God. He is worn out by his zeal for God. It seems no one else wants to follow after God. He is lowly and despised in his day for his walk with God. It does not seem to be rewarding on the surface to follow God. Everyone else is ridiculing him for his belief but he stands firm.

Listen to his words, “Trouble and distress have come upon me. I am ridiculed . . . I am worn out.” This should be enough to quench whatever fire he had but this is not the case. Why was he so convinced?

It was because he had firmly tested the truths of the Word of God and found them to be trustworthy. He had discovered that God was faithful even when others were not. Did all his prayers get answered? Sounds like he had many that went unanswered. Did everything go right with him in his world? Sounds like most everything went wrong on the outside.

What was his relationship with God like? Passionate and enduring. How could this be? The clue is in the words, “ fully trustworthy, and “thoroughly tested.”

David did not just take someone’s word for God’s faithfulness he put it to the test with his life. When things did not go as he thought they should have he did not rail against God he went back to the drawing board and considered that God was God and he was not so he must have missed something. He never stopped believing he just kept on following.

Perhaps you need to take a look back at the times you think God abandoned you and take another look. See those times with different eyes and look at those times with the eyes of faith in God and His Word and see if you might see God in a whole new way.

Who knows maybe God will send a “Mack” your direction to help you trust him once again.

Grateful for the many “Macks” God has sent my way over the past thirty six years,

Pastor phil

SunSundayMayMay13th2012 May 13, 2012: Who is a True Woman and Mother?

Posted Sunday, May 13 2012 @ 8 AM

Isaiah 54:1 (NIV)
¹"Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the LORD.

Mother’s day is always a difficult day for many. There are women who never marry and there are those how marry but never bear children of their own and for these woman Mother’s Day is a difficult day. This is not how it should be. The teaching of the prophet Isaiah explains the emphasis on women in the new covenant in which we are now living.

For far too long the church has done what the culture has done, placed the emphasis on women who are married with children and left out the others. Giving birth to children does not a mother make according to Scripture, but raising them up and living a Christ centered life before them so that they see the goodness of God and are attracted to Christ matters most.

The world looks on the outer appearance but the Lord looks on the heart. Today all over the world women who have born children will be honored in sanctuaries all over our nation but I want to suggest that Scriptures take a turn in the new testament and the emphasis is no longer on the outer appearance but on the inner qualities of those who nurture others to place their faith in Christ alone.

Our text informs us of this very thing that will happen under the new covenant. This new covenant will include all women who never bore children and those who never were married but gave themselves to the work of equipping others to love Christ. If you have been encouraged by any woman in the body of Christ to love Christ more take a moment and thank God for them and then go and tell them of your gratitude.

The Scripture declares that a woman who fears the Lord she shall be praised. Let us do what we have been commanded to do.

May the Body of Christ be encouraged by the expression of your gratitude to the women who have encouraged others in the body.

May the godly women increase in number in our day,

Pastor phil

Daily Devotions by Pastor Phil