Finding Strength to Go On

“ It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had wintered at the island—an Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead. Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days…. There we found some believers, who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.” – Acts 28:11-12, 14.

How do we find the strength to weather the storms in life when family is far away, where there is no help on the horizon, and your faith in God is being tested as never before? When everything is in pieces, where do we find the strength to put the pieces back together again. There is a story about Paul in Acts 27 on this very subject. 

After more than two years of waiting, Paul was finally sailing for Rome. His whole life, his training and experience had led up to this moment. The trip starts. The ship is headed for a place called Fair Havens to spend the winter. But then everything goes south in a hurry.

“. . we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course.” (vs. 4).  “We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus….” (vs. 7)…”We struggled along the coast with great difficulty…” (vs. 8) “… We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall…” (vs 9)

Acts 27 goes on to say that the wind carrying Paul to his mission in Rome suddenly shifted. It was as if God himself was blowing against Paul. You can imagine Paul onboard the ship wondering if God had called him to go to Rome, why was it so hard to get there. Many of us have been in the same boat. We believe God has called us to minister here, to take this job, etc., so why is He making it so difficult? Why does He place obstacles in the way?

When the winds are against us and no fair haven is in sight, we have to find our strength in God. We have to remember that it is possible to get so wrapped up in doing something for God, that we can lose sight of what He is doing in us. There is a reason that He leads us into storms or puts obstacles in our way. God has a purpose.  Paul’s trip to Rome went from bad to worse as gale-force winds battered the ship and the crew threw everything overboard. But in Acts 27:22-24 Paul tells the crew “…take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me,  and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ 

God kept His promise to Paul. We can find our strength in the fact that God will keep His promises today.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is the greater pressure/circumstance you are facing right now? How can Paul’s example in Acts 27 help you? 
  2. How would being anchored to God (finding strength in God) help in that situation?

Black And Good Friday

“ As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.” – Galatians 6:14.

Ah, Black Friday. It’s a term that has been used to describe the day after Thanksgiving in a variety of contexts, but the phrase is now synonymous with the shopping rush that marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season — and all the madness that goes with it.

The low, sometimes really low prices can make people do crazy things. It is always interesting to sit with a group of friends to share the real life experiences of Black Friday shopping. I’m sure there are even better stories out there, but people aren’t willing to share them. The stories range from the hilarious to surreal to even terrifying. But there is also the ultimate love story that took place on a Friday many, many years ago. The Friday that Jesus died and became the final and complete sacrifice for our sins. We cannot erase our guilt, nor can we overcome our sins by our good deeds. But Christ did what we could never do for ourselves, by dying for us on what seemed a truly black Friday.    

As I continue to seek God more in my personal walk with Him, I am still awed and surprised by the cross.  I remember that line in the song by Michael Smith, “Here I am to Worship,” where it says, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.” We will truly never know the magnitude of the grace and love of Jesus Christ. It’s going to take an eternity to know and grasp the fullness of Christ’s infinite love and grace towards us. Yes, we know Jesus is our redeemer, but do we truly know the magnitude of the cost? I don’t think we can even ever come up with a figure or currency to match that price, and that price was paid for each of us.

John Piper said, “Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.”

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is the hardest part of the cross for you to understand? Why?
  2. What can we do this week to better understand and appreciate the significance of the cross?

Be Thankful

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

Thanksgiving is upon us and already stores are putting up their Christmas decorations. It’s that glorious time of year set aside for giving lots of stuff and to stuffing ourselves a lot. And it is a time to be grateful.  Ephesians 5:20 adds, “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We know God commands us to be thankful in all things, but sometimes it’s just hard, especially in hard times. Some of you have had a tough year. You’ve endured your share of criticism. Maybe you’ve lost a job. Maybe you’re going through a rough patch in your marriage. Now comes Hurricane Michael.

God has been challenging me with one verse over and over again. “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Really God? In all circumstances? Back when life seemed perfect and easy, that verse was a breeze to apply. Now it feels more like a giant mountain I have to overcome every time I drive by my house or read my emails from friends and relatives, or look at the photos on Facebook of people trying to put their lives back together.  But I am reminded of Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

And let’s not miss the the four words of this verse where we are reminded that it is all “according to His purpose.” God has a purpose, and His plans to accomplish that purpose are perfect. Trusting God’s purpose, and seeking to understand that He takes all the events from our life and orchestrates good from them, leads to a different perspective on troubles. We would prefer that God follow our script, but we should be thankful that God is not going to set aside His plans for the sake of yours.

Can we thank God even when times are tough? Yes, we can. But it requires a crazy loves for Jesus, a love that says I am thankful even when life gets hard and messy.

So although it may be difficult to maintain the right attitude with the internet and cable not working and the roof leaking, it’s important to trust and thank God and have the faith that in the midst of all the wrong things, God will make it right. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. If we can’t be content with what God has given you today, we won’t be content with what God will give us tomorrow. Agree or disagree and why?
  2. What can we do this week to be more thankful, even in bad circumstances?

When The Storm Passes

“The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.” – Aesop.

Going to a major college football game is quite the experience. An optimistic crowd of 90,00 people makes the atmosphere electric. Every good play by the home team brings the crowd to their feet, high fiving, fist bumping and hollering support at the top of their lungs. One of the great things about going to a game if you’re a sports fan is that it’s a shared experience; we’re all in this together even though we are strangers for the most part.   

When the game is over, you walk out of the stadium, find your car, navigate out of the parking lot, and drive home. As exciting and rewarding as the experience was, you probably won’t give it too much thought after that. Nor will you give much additional thought to all the strangers who shared the experience with you. We had a shared experience in Hurricane Michael as well. It was a shared experience as people came together to support and help people who were mostly strangers. But what do we do when the storm has passed, when life crowds in again, when things get busy, and other responsibilities seem more important. 

Hurricane Michael taught us a great many things. We learned we serve a God that is bigger than this storm, and we continue to hear stories on how God used this disaster to bring people together, to grow relationships, and to see thousands of people coming together in community to serve their neighbors. We learned to look at and love people as Jesus would, with a personal touch. And we learned that in the midst of this disaster, that we as Christ followers could shine the light of Jesus. That is not to say that everything is back to normal. We still have a long way to go. We know that restoring whole towns is a massive undertaking that will take months, if not years. But we are moving forward, slowly and progressively. 

Reaching out beyond the walls of Northstar has always been at the very center of the mission of our church. Northstar has always been blessed with caring and compassionate people. That was evident during the days following the hurricane. It is what we are called as Christians to do … to serve God, to serve each other and to serve the least of these. My hope is that we emerge from the storm with a “different viewpoint” that translates into a commitment to serving others in a deeper and more meaningful sort of way. My hope is we will have that same level of engagement and mentality of serving even when the storm clouds are long gone. My hope is that we will have the same level of attention to the needs of others as we did in the aftermath of Michael. 

And finally my hope is that people in our community during the rebuilding process discover a community of friends who inspire them toward a more authentic and honest understanding of the God who loves them and want to start a personal relationship with God as a result. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Is it possible to have that serving mentality that we demonstrated after Hurricane Michael all year long?
  2. How do we go about making a serving attitude our normal way of doing things?

Who Are You and Whose You Are

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” – Matthew 16:13-16.

If someone asked you, “Who are you,” how would you answer?  You would probably give the person your name. But what if the person said, “I did not ask for your name. I asked who are you?” You would probably provide some type of identification, like your driver’s license. But the person is not satisfied and said, “I did not ask you for identification, I asked who are you.”  You are now annoyed; and without thinking you blurt out, what do you want? An address? My educational background? My occupation? And the person listens intently and says, “I want to know who you are.”

It’s the question that occupies everyone’s mind at one time or another. We often ask that question when there is a change in our lives, especially when that change is negative. Dealing with negative circumstances can make us question God’s plan and purpose for our life.

It is in these times of disappointment, failure or loss that we need to remember who we are and whose we are. As a child of God, our identity is in Jesus Christ. We can’t let our circumstances define us. We are His people. Psalm 100:3 says, “Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” We belong to Him because we were made by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). Made in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). Made for His glory (Isaiah 43:7). And when we know who we are, we can endure even the toughest of times. Psalm 16:8, tells us, “I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.”

When life throws us for a loop, it’s easy to doubt ourselves, God’s plan, even God Himself. But when we’re hurt, disappointed or frustrated by our thwarted plans, we need to take a second and remember who we are and how valuable we are to God.

The Scripture says, “God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world” (1 Corinthians 7:23) Who owns you?  What was paid for you? Christ owns you and paid for you with His life. God exchanged his own Son for you. The cross proves your value. Jesus gave His life for you. And Jesus didn’t die for junk.

When you know whose you are, it changes everything.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How would you answer the question “who are you”?
  2. How can your life this week answer the question of whose you are?

In All Things…Give Thanks

“ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you’ve probably discovered that some commandments in the Bible are easier for you to obey than others. When reading 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the difficult part of the verse is the three words, “in all circumstances.” We know what Paul is saying, but we may not be sure how we can possibly do this. Maybe if it said, “In good things give thanks,” we’d know exactly why we should obey this command because it makes perfect sense. But when we consider the phrase “in everything,” we begin to question whether all-inclusive gratitude is even possible.

What about those times when you’re discouraged, disillusioned, overwhelmed, overextended, and just fighting to not be over stressed? And what about when the storms come, and your relationships and the car breaks down at the same time?   

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians celebrates a flourishing church. God was blessing Paul’s preaching and witnessing of Paul and his companions. But amidst this, riots started against Paul and Silas  A mob formed, looking for these two. Paul and Silas were spirited out of the city barely escaping. The Thessalonian believers stayed behind, and they had to deal with the persecution and anger that remained. 

It was to these people that Paul wrote the words, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” Would you feel like giving thanks if you were experiencing such persecution?  If your leaders had to flee, how thankful would you be?

How can we be thankful “in all circumstances?” First, let’s remember that this text doesn’t say that we should be thankful for all circumstances, but in all circumstances. For example, we are not thankful for death, but when death does touch a loved one, we can still be thankful in the midst of death, because Jesus has risen from the dead and has conquered death.

Jesus really is the key to giving thanks in all circumstances.  Notice how the text says, “for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”  “In Christ Jesus,” we can be thankful even in the worst of times, because in Christ Jesus, we have God’s mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life.  In Christ Jesus, we can be thankful even when the news from the doctor is bad. In Christ Jesus, we can give thanks for His care during difficult financial times. In Christ Jesus, we can rejoice in the resurrection, even as death brings us pain in this life.

Gratitude is not dependent upon good circumstances but is based on our confidence and trust in the Lord and His promises. He is with you in whatever situation you are facing today. Although you may not be able to see the good He’s working at the moment, we can be thankful that He is. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Is being thankful really our choice? Can we actually decide that we will be thankful people?
  2. Where has being thankful ranked on your list of required Christian qualities up until now? Has this devotional changed your mind at all? If so, how?

Refining the Script

“When we leave the pen in His hands we will never be disappointed with the story of our lives.” ― Eric Ludy, When God Writes Your Life Story

Your life is a story. Each new day is an opportunity to write a new story; a blank page to start over and begin writing a new chapter on your life. Your story talks about the events of your life, reliving your proudest success, your most embarrassing misstep, and everything in-between. 

Most people think that their life story is an autobiography: they are the author, the main protagonist, and sometimes the villain in their story. Thankfully, as Christians, we are not the author of our personal stories. God is writing a grand script that involves all of us. We know the story has a happy ending. Every turn He writes into your story is right. Every twist of the plot is for the best even when God seems to take the story on a tangent we would not write into the script.

Hurricane Michael is now part of our story. But we didn’t want it to be. We had written out a story for our lives and this wasn’t part of it. It didn’t include the loss of a house, or a job, or seemingly the future. This isn’t part of the plan. After all, it is my story. I had carefully laid out my plans. I had crafted the perfect path in my head. But I’m not the author.

And so, I have to trust God with the script changes in my life. I need to have faith even when I only want to grasp tighter to my carefully laid plans. If I truly trust God with my life, that means I trust him with every aspect. Each and every word, sentence, and chapter. I will acknowledge Him as the only one who can change my story, edit it, erase it and rewrite it. Even when I am afraid to flip the page and see what happens next. Even when I think the next page is going to be sunny and it turns out to be a category 4 hurricane.

There is something liberating about handing the pen to God and letting Him do His work. There is something peaceful about knowing God is with you, when you know He sees what no one sees, when you believe He understands what you can’t explain and when you trust that He is listening to the words you’re not saying. And there is a peace looking back and seeing what God has already brought you through. The hopeless times. The tiring times. The exciting times. Because the truth is, though many of these chapters haven’t been what I had always hoped for, but they are part of God’s perfect script for my life.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why is it important to let God write the script for your life’s story?
  2. What can we do this week to turn over the pen to God?

Due To Circumstances Beyond Our Control

“The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” — Psalm 28:7 

Many of you as you read this devotional today are staring into the face of the unknown. You are facing circumstances in your life you probably never thought you would have to face. Today is uncertain. Tomorrow even more uncertain. It’s that initial feeling of intimidation you get on the first day of a calculus class when the teacher starts talking about all the requirements for the year. It’s the feeling when your boss approaches you with an unfamiliar task that is outside your skill and you have no idea how to do it or where to even get started.    

We all have had some form of fear, dread, and anxiety, sometimes all rolled into one. Then Hurricane Michael comes ashore making everything worse. Circumstances like the ones facing the people of Northwest Florida are a barometer of our faith. True faith isn’t just believing something you have no reason to believe in. True faith isn’t trusting that what you want God to do is going to happen. True faith is not a feeling you get. True faith is ultimately a choice. It’s a decision to trust God’s truth, even when it’s really hard to do. It is hard to sit back and remember that God’s plan involves every possible eventuality and we need to trust that plan. We just have to have faith and maybe some quality roofing, drywall and landscaping contractors.

People have faced circumstances and had a choice to make for centuries. In Biblical times, no one received the full blueprint of God’s plan. Since no one had the full script there was always some mystery involved. That is why in those situations when you don’t see the plan, you need to stay close to God and look to see where He was already at work in your life.

Some people believe that having a relationship with God will never lead to anything difficult or painful. But that’s not true. The biblical heroes who walked with God certainly did not have an easy path. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death. Or consider the apostle Paul and the tremendous suffering he endured, walking in close step with the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel across the Mediterranean. Chained. Whipped. Beaten. Imprisoned. Shipwrecked. And beaten some more.

God has a perfect plan for my life, and yours. God knows the end from the beginning, and He is sovereign over all creation (Isaiah 46:10). He creates, provides for and directs every one of our paths. But He has not left us to find the path on our own, if only we follow the clues and avoid the traps. The only way to walk God’s path is to walk it with Him in faith even when the circumstances we are facing are beyond our control. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. If God has a perfect plan for your life, what can we do to help?
  2. What can you do this week to increase your faith?   

Tried, Tested, and Trusted

“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  — Joshua 1:9.   

From the moment you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior until taken into the presence of Christ in heaven, we discover that living the Christian life is the biggest challenge we will face. It is something of a roller coaster ride. Sometimes we are on fire for God, trusting Him with every fiber in our being and other times we don’t feel so trusting.

“Everything’s going wrong. How am I supposed to trust in God when I lost everything in Hurricane Michael?”  I won’t pretend to have this all figured out. I don’t want to give you cliché answers. All over our area people are experiencing real pain. Sometimes, our circumstances are out of our control and things go from dark to darker. When our lives spin out of control or we face chaotic circumstances the first question that comes to mind is, “can I really trust God?”

It is difficult to believe God is in control when we are in the midst of anxiety, heartache, or grief. Every Christian has struggled with this at one time or another. We weigh God’s promises with the reality of what is happening to us. What we have to do is trust Him even when we don’t feel like it, or it makes sense to do so. 

Look at the story of Ananias found in Acts 9:1-21. Paul had just had a dramatic conversion. Jesus tells Saul, now Paul, who is now totally blind, to get up, go into the city and wait to receive further instruction. The people with Saul lead him to a house in Damascus. In Damascus, there was a Christian man named Ananias. The way I imagine this story is basically the way the Message Bible tells it. I imagine Ananias sitting in his house, maybe having lunch, when God speaks to him in a vision. He says  “Ananias.” Ananias responds: “Yes, Master.” “Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul…’”

I love his all too human response found in verses 13-14 in the The Message Bible (MSG): “Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.” God says, “Don’t argue. Go!’”

Ananias was an obedient Christian. He did what God asked Him to do, but all the way there he was probably worried about what would happen to him in this encounter with Saul. He probably felt like he was trusting God with his life. He went, so again, you have to assume he decided that God knew what He was doing, and could be trusted. And that is how we should react in times of trouble. God can be trusted.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What kind of things do you tend to trust in when life gets stormy, that makes you feel comfortable and secure rather than fearful?
  2. How can we better trust God this week even in bad circumstances? 

Flipping The Script

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9.

The Christian life is a wonderful life, but it is not without trouble. Things go wrong. Plans fail. Sometimes the script we have for our life is flipped. Tragedy strikes. The unthinkable happens. Some days faith wanes, and we wonder where God is and why He is not helping us with the script of our life. John the Baptist had some of the same questions.

John the Baptist was a great preacher, bold and courageous. He challenged King Herod. Can you imagine telling the King he’s living in sin and that he’s not right with God? If you did that, you can expect to land in prison. And that is exactly what happened.  John the Baptist lived his entire life in God’s will, and now he’s spending his final days in prison. And things don’t get better. The script does not change for the better.  John is not rescued from prison. No angel releases him like Peter in Acts. No earthquake frees him like Paul and Silas. No, he’s going to die in this prison…he’ll be beheaded at the hands of Herod.

All believers have doubts, and the doubts come when you’re a prisoner of your troubles. And you’ve thought: Lord, what gives? I’ve done all I know to do…I’ve tried to be faithful: I’ve served you; I’ve tithed. I know I’m not perfect Lord, but at least I’m trying. Why God are you flipping the script?  

John had doubts because Jesus had not lived up to the pre-conceived notion in John’s mind of what He should be and what He should do. John had formed a mold in his mind that Jesus should fit into and when Jesus didn’t fit it, John developed doubts. John didn’t have the big picture. We don’t either and that is where faith comes in.

Having trouble? In a prison? Wondering what happened to the script? When you don’t know the why, trust the Who. The who is the Son of God who died a horrible death so that we can have life. God is still on the throne. He is in control and will accomplish His good will in His time via His script.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does it mean to stop asking why and focusing on the who?
  2. What can we do this week to focus on the who rather than the why?