2007 September « No Other Rock

In-Shining and Out-Shining

September 30, 2007 at 8:08 pm | In Awake My Heart, Serving the Lord | Leave a Comment
Tags: Reflecting God, Serving the Lord

For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. ~ II Corinthians 4:6

Note: This devotion is from August 30.

As Baxter notes the italics on the word give in this passage indicates it does not occur in the Greek original.

Read the passage again, and take out that word.

The intention then, is that what God shines in, we are to shine out.

There is no higher form of service, and it is open to us all. The moon makes no noise as it reflects the sun, but its effects are great and wonderful. ~ D.L. Moody

Today, I pray that you and Iwill take Moody’s advise to heart and shine.

True Encouragement

September 29, 2007 at 7:00 am | In Awake My Heart, Blessings, Christian, faith | Leave a Comment
Tags: encouragement, faith, refuge

But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. ~ I Samuel 30:6

Note: This devotion is from August 29

Continuing the idea of spiritual encouragement that was started yesterday, let’s look at TRUE encouragement.

David was at the lowest of low points. King Saul wanted David dead. Then Saul hunted poor David like prey. The city he inhabited and led was burned to the ground as the Amalekites took the women and children hostage and pillaged the town’s goods.

How would you feel to know you are the root cause for so many ills?

David was forced to make a decision: either to give up faith in God altogether, or to give up himself to God entirely in utter trust.

Now let’s review the fill text of the scripture: “And David was greatly distressed: for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in Jehovah his God.”

Then God gave David a new promise: The wives, children and goods were recovers and Saul was slain. David was then welcomed as the new king in Judah.

Today, I pray that you and I will find unfailing refuge in His righteousness, His faithfulness, His love and His promises.

The “I Can” Life – “I Can” or “I Can’t”?

September 28, 2007 at 2:49 pm | In Awake My Heart, Blessings, Christ, Serving the Lord, purpose | 3 Comments
Tags: encouragement, Joel Osteen, motivation, Phillipians 4:13, spiritual victory

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. ~ Phillipians 4:13

Note: This devotion is for August 27 and 28

I have watched a lot of Joel Osteen on television and listened to the audio version of his book. I plan on doing the same with his next book that he releases too.

And it’s funny, because while I like and appreciate Osteen’s messages, they seem just a little lacking in fundamental Biblical discipline. That’s not to say I think his messages are non-Biblical.

Quite the contrary. The problem is ME and not HIM or the BIBLE.

MY problem is that I have grown accustomed to having to have a solid sermon where I am asked to look at X number of scriptures in my Bible. Afterwards, I’ll be encourages to attend Sunday school (though I don’t do so very often) and then I will be encourages to read and study my Bible on a nightly basis.

That’s just the way it’s done.

At the same time, I will be told that I am a “sinner” and that I must be “broken” and I’ll have to “surrender” everything for Christ. While all that is true, when you really think about it, you have to wonder why anyone would ever become a Christian when their support group is a mass of enablers for a self-defeating prophecy.

Osteen, on the other hand, preaches to millions that YOU CAN be a Christian and STILL BE HAPPY too. His books are titled “Your Best Life Now” and “Become a Better You” while his message titles feature uplifting concepts that most “traditional” churches don’t feature.

AND THAT’S WHY PEOPLE LIKE HIM!

Now this is not a blog entry simply to defend Joel Osteen and suggest his critics are irrational. Rather, I use it to illustrate that there is a place for his type of ministry messages. Look at the very passage that begins this devotion. It is about gaining strength FOR YOU THROUGH HIM. It is not to say “I am a weak, puny little Christian who does not deserve to walk on this planet.”

Sure, there are going to be times in life where we are to bear burdens and there will be times in life that we don’t feel all that grand, but those are the times we should not allow misguided “traditions” to make us feel worthless.

Neigh, we are to feel STRONG. We are to feel WORTHWHILE. We are to feel ENCOURAGED because through Christ, we are so gifted.

Today, I pray that you and I will remember the secret of the I Can life through Christ.

Saints Assisting Satan

September 26, 2007 at 2:21 am | In Awake My Heart, Serving the Lord | Leave a Comment
Tags: church, communication, gossip

Neither give place to the devil. ~ Ephesians 4:27

Note: This devotion is from August 14.

One of the saddest sights on earth, to angel eyes in heaven, is to see the Lord’s servants doing Satan’s work – whether knowingly or unknowingly. We started this thought with the last post and I think this is an appropriate follow-up.

While Baxter doesn’t focus so much on it here, I want to go back to the concept of “wicked tongues.” I have seen first hand on more than one occasion the way in which gossip and loose lips can tear apart a people. Though two separate instances in my own church come to mind, I have seen in in the workplace, in fraternal organizations and simply among friends. My personal way of dealing with the wounds these people create are to withdraw.

I suppose that is the fight or flight mechanism – but I have witness to many ugly dealings that are rooted in wicked tongues and I have no desire to stay and fight. When there are such battles, there are always casualties and I guess I assume I can come back into the fold once the casualties have been buried.

“Churches, like individuals, acquire characteristic complexes. Some of them are heart-breaks and death-traps to godly ministers. In the words of Revelation 3:9 they have become ’synagogues of Satan’.”

Today, I pray that you and I will acquire Godly complexes and avoid becoming synagogues of Satan.

Playing Into the Enemy’s Hand

September 25, 2007 at 11:39 am | In Awake My Heart, Serving the Lord | Leave a Comment
Tags: C.H. Spurgeon, gossip, How Saints May Help the Devil, love, slander

My brethren, these things ought not so to be. ~ James 3:10

Note: This devotion is from August 13

Baxter references a C.H. Spurgeon sermon that is titled “How Saints May Help the Devil“.

He then confesses he did not read the sermon, but supposed that “wicked tongues” were of the central theme. Luckily, it today’s world, it was quite easy for me to find the text and confirm his suppositions.

While Spurgeon doesn’t exactly focus on gossipers and the like, he does point out the slanderous nature of many:

One way in which sinners frequently excuse themselves is by endeavoring to get some apology for their own iniquities from the inconsistencies of God’s people. This is the reason why there is much slander in the world. A true Christian is a rebuke to the sinner, wherever he goes he is a living protest against the evil of sin. Hence it is that the worldling makes a dead set upon a pious man. His language in his heart is, “He accuses me to my face; I cannot bear the sight of his holy character; it makes the blackness of my own life appear the more terrible, when I see the whiteness of his innocence contrasting with it.” And then the worldling opens all his eyes, and labors to find a fault with the virtuous. If, however, he fails to do so, he will next try to invent a fault; he will slander the man; and if even there he fails, and the man is like Job, “perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil;” then the sinner will, like the devil of old, begin to impute some wrong motive to the Christian’s innocency.

I am well aware that there are many times in which I should bite my tongue because it has a wicked propensity to spew ill will. It’s a character flaw I have become terribly aware of and sincerely wish (and often pray) that I can change. I am convinced that the root reason I have not been able to accomplish the task is because I have been unable to convince my heart that it NEEDS to change – even though I consciously tell myself I need to do so.

Therefore, at this moment, I want to personally apologize to those I have knowingly and unknowingly hurt, annoyed, dismayed and angered at the doing of my wicked tongue. There is no way to measure the harm we have caused through our actions. The best we might hope for is to begin to consciously do more good through the same tool.

Today, I pray that you and I will bite our tongues more often when we sense that urge for wickedness.

Spiritual Paradoxes

September 24, 2007 at 8:07 pm | In Awake My Heart, Blessings, Prayer, religion | Leave a Comment
Tags: God's will, life, living, Prayer, strength

For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it. ~ Matthew 16:25

Note: This devotion is for August 11 & 12

Life offers many contradictions of this sort. They are those that are nonetheless true to fact. Here are other such paradoxes to ponder:

Paradox One: We are weakest where we are strongest, and strongest where we are weakest. As Second Corinthians says; “When I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10). When we are living in entire dependence on Christ we are strongest where we are weakest, for at our weakest point the strength of Christ has its fullest opportunity.; but when we are living the self-sufficient life we are weakest where we are strongest, for there we are most liable to surprise attack.

Paradox Two: We climb highest when we stoop lowest. Most of us do not scale the heights because we cannot stoop low enough. Jesus “humbled Himself . . . even to the death of the Cross” and was lifted to the very throne of God, bearing “the Name which is above every name.” Oh, let us learn that the lower we are at the feet of Jesus, the higher we are.

Paradox Three: That which is hardest is easiest, and that which is easiest is hardest. This is ever so true with regards to prayer and knowing (or feeling) God’s will. Ironically, one often leads to the other. I have long felt that we people screw too many things up with the world’s corruption. Our pride and ego – our selfishness – often clouds our judgment and we forget to seek God’s will.

But how do we seek God’s will? Prayer of course. When you are prayerfully in communion with the Lord, you can leave the world’s corruption outside that “community” and have an honest and heartfelt conversation with God.

And while “it’s that easy” following His lead isn’t always so easy. Is it?

Today, I pray that you and I will meditate on these paradoxes and apply them according to God’s will.

Wit’s End Corner

September 22, 2007 at 11:50 pm | In Awake My Heart | Leave a Comment
Tags: Christ, dispirit, encouragement, stress, Sympathy

“I was brought low; and He helped me.” ~ Psalm 116:6

Note: This devotion is from August 10

If we truly remember that Christ is there at the other end of our tethers, it’s easier to submit and allow Him to remember that we are dealing with a sympathetic Christ.

He is a Christ who prizes every feeling of our poor hearts towards Him, and every service we attempt for Him. He is a Christ who sympathetically understands that when we stumble or fall, even when it is willful, it is still true that the deepest and truest part of us loves Him more than any other being on earth or in heaven.

Today, I pray that you and I will - most of all – when we are baffled, stunned, beaten down, weary, dispirited, and at our tether’s end, let us lean on His sympathy.

Tether’s End

September 22, 2007 at 3:00 pm | In Christ | Leave a Comment
Tags: Christ, doubt, grace, stress

“They are at their wit’s end.” ~ Psalm 107:27

Note: This devotion is from August 9.

WHEN YOU FEEL AT THE END OF YOUR TETHER, REMEMBER THAT CHRIS IS ON THE OTHER END!

Today, I pray that you and I will remember this wisdom.

Self-Abhorrence -and Why

September 22, 2007 at 7:00 am | In Christ, Serving the Lord, religion, soul | Leave a Comment
Tags: Adam's Fallen Race, job, purity, Spiritual Cleansing

“Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” ~ Job 42:6

Note: This devotion is from August 8th

If you ask my wife, she’ll tell you all about my socks. She’ll tell you about how they are the dirtiest, filthiest things in the world. I somehow develop a permanent dirt pattern on the bottom before I even put them on. Honest.

So, every now and then, we pile them all in a bunch and bleach bleach bleach them. We wash them and do our best to cleanse them. And just about the time we think they are finally clean and we are satisfied with a job well done – we compare it to a white sheet of paper or our sheers (after they have been cleansed of our black cat hair of course).

If you see where I am going with this, you’ll know that there really is no comparison.

So what does this have to do with Job 42:6?

Job comes to abhor himself because he had seen god in a new way; and when he did so, he saw himself in a new way. That’s what happens when we see ourselves in the sight of God. We talk no more of our own supposed goodness. The loathsome leprosy of our innate sinfulness stands out stark and ugly; we see that “all our righteousness are as filthy as rags.”

Job saw his real condition as a member of Adam’s fallen race, and his need of redemption, not only in the sense of atonement and forgiveness, but of inward cleansing.

Today, I pray that you and I will consider our own need for cleansing.

The King With the Golden Touch

September 21, 2007 at 8:29 pm | In Blessings, Christ, The Cross | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bible, Jesus, King Midas, legends

“Jesus put forth His hand and touched him.” ~ Matthew 8:3

Note: This devotion is from August 7th.

We all know the story of King Midas. He was the king that loved the monetary worth of the world so much, who was granted his wish of having “benefit” of turning everything to gold with his mere touch.

Well, I am sure you know how that story ends.

But what about another King who had much more sensible and moral spiritual senses? He has a golden touch in a much different form.

Whatever His nail-scarred hand touches, it blesses and transfigures. It brings foregiveness, restoration, healing. It transforms atrophy, paralysis and moral leprosy into health, vitality and wholeness. It awakens hope, faith, love, joy, goodwill. It dissolves fetters, and frees prisoners, and communicates power to live victoriously.

We all know the King Midas story. But sadly, not everyone knows the truth that is Jesus.

Today, I pray that you and I will start telling the truth, so that others will know.