"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age,according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Galatians 1:3-5

Lord, You have given me a short amount of time in this "present age." I play such a small part in Your grand story that goes from eternity past into eternity future.

I am reminded in Your word that my life is a mist, a vapor, a blip on Your timeline, which has no beginning or end. Though my time here on earth is short, it is significant to You. You care about what I do with my time. You have purposed my life to influence and impact the lives of others. As Psalm 90 says: "Teach me to number my days that I may gain a heart of wisdom."

I praise You for Who You are Eternal One, eternal God.

I thank You for creating and redeeming me.

I thank You Jesus, that You are the resurrection and the life. Though I die physically in this present age, I will live forever in the age to come because of You.

Keep my mind and heart on eternity today.

In Jesus name Amen.

God's grace is personal

"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:1-7 NIV

Lord Jesus, I recognize today that I am the lost sheep you were talking about in this parable. I am infinitely lost without you. I also recognize that You are the Great Shepherd who left Your throne in heaven, to come and rescue me. I believe and trust that You are the Savior. I put my trust and hope in Your perfect life, and Your death and resurrection. You were in my place as my substitute when You were on the cross.

Lord, I know that like a sheep I am prone to wander. I am prone to wander off and try to be my own lord. I am responding by faith not only to believe and trust Your sacrifice, but to follow You with all my heart in every area of my life. I am in need of Your grace to empower me to turn from sin and live a life of sacrifice unto You. Apart from You I can do nothing. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit who leads and guides me.



Lord, I agree with Your promise that says:



“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep ME from falling away and will bring ME with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.” (Jude 24 emphasis mine)

Be rich

Jogging in 104 degree temps makes you appreciate air conditioning. It got me thinking about how rich even the poorest Americans are compared to 92% of the rest of the world. Not having enough money for cable or a cell phone or a car does not make us poor. That just makes not as well off as someone else. We do not know what being poor is like until we see it up close.

I had the honor of doing ministry in the Dominican Republic this year. I saw poverty that I will never forget. We brought food to a single mom living in a 10X10 room with no running water. She had 9 children. They did not know where their next meal was coming from. Again we are richer than 92% of the rest of the world. We are rich. (I recommend reading "Rich Christians in an age of hunger" by Ron Sider)

The words of the Apostle Paul inspired by Christ are true of us all:

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV

Be rich toward God by putting your hope in Him not wealth.

Be rich in good deeds by being generous with your stuff.

In faith hope and love

Scott

Let's be like the geese

There are phonies everywhere. Politicians, baseball players on steroids, actors, photo shopped models, and heck, how many were brokenhearted when Milli Vanillii turned out to be phonies?

The other day I was on a walk through a near by park where Canadian geese love to feast. Many parks put wooden cutouts in the shape of wolves to try and scare the geese away from feeding on their grass. They are hoping that the geese will not be smart enough to realize that the cutouts are phonies.

Well, as you can see these geese were not exactly frightened. They were peacefully feeding on the grass that the phony wolf was trying to keep them from.

The spiritual world is filled with a lot of phonies as well. These are phonies that the devil himself uses to cause fear, discouragement, and deception. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says: "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." We need to be aware of these fake fears and deceptive traps that he uses on us to discourage us from feasting on the truth of God's word, promises, attributes, and character. Let us be like the geese and feast in peace on what God has provided and asks us to embrace by faith.

When the government trains people to spot counterfeit money they do not spend time studying the counterfeit, but they spend all their time studying legitimate printed money. They become so familiar with real money it becomes easy to to spot a counterfeit when it comes along. The same is true spiritually. When we become so aware of what the word of God teaches and reveals about God we will be able to spot a phony fear, discouragement, and deception right away.

If you would like to know more about Who God is and what Scripture reveals about Him follow the link to listen to a series of teachings on Knowing God by Novation Church.

Questions to ask sleepy and nominal Christians

Tim Keller  is a Pastor in New York City. He is the author of many great books and is a leader in why and how we should start new churches in a modern context.

He recently was asked what are some good questions to ask "sleepy" Christians and "nominal" Christians.

Before we get to the questions lets first define the terms "sleepy" & "nominal" Christian. A "sleepy" Christian is someone who believes in Jesus and His finished work but is distracted by lesser pursuits than keeping Christ the main pursuit of their lives. Lesser pursuits equal being passionate about things that do not have eternal value and in the end will not matter much. In other words, its not being passionate about the same things Jesus is passionate about. A "sleepy" Christian is just that "sleepy" towards Christ and His Kingdom. They are indifferent and thus not alert to the still small voice of Christ. (See Revelation 2:1-6, Luke 12:35-48)

A "nominal" Christian is someone who thinks they are a Christian because their parents were Christians, they go to Church, they believe in God, they like the idea of being spiritual people or good, moral people and so on. They are Christians by name and confession but their lives are not really being built around Jesus and His teachings. (See Matthew 7:13-27 & Luke 6:46)

Before I move on, please do not read into either of these terms that to be a Christian is to be perfect. Nothing could be farther from the truth. All true Christians are still imperfect. What makes a person a Christian is the awareness of their deep need for mercy and forgiveness and to turn to and trust in Jesus alone for life, purpose, and salvation. (See Romans 3:21-26)

Now that we have a foundation to work from here are the questions Tim Keller says to ask ourselves to wake ourselves out of our sleepiness or be converted from our nominal Christianity. These questions require a deep honesty with ourselves and God.

1. How real has God been to you this past week?

2. How sure are you of God's love for you?

3. How frequent are times of delight in God? Have you sensed His presence?

4. Have you been finding Scripture alive and active in you?

5. Are you finding certain biblical promises precious to you? If so, which ones?

6. Are you finding God challenging you to do something through reading Scripture?

7. Are you finding God's grace more glorious and moving than in the past?

8. Are you conscious of the evil and potential of evil in your own heart and in response growing in and grasping the preciousness of the mercy of God?

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:5:Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test"?

May you be blessed with genuine faith as you trust God by knowing you are loved & accepted because of Christ and that He is pursuing you constantly!

Looking for love in all the wrong places

So here is the deal...you have tried self-help. You have tried "finding yourself." You have tried finding the bigger better deal. You thought that the next big thing was going to bring you lasting joy and happiness. You thought finding the right person would make you happy. How has that worked for you?

Listen, your normal. Every human being on the planet is trying to find the same things. There is a longing and an ache in our hearts for something more.

Years ago there was a hit country song called: "Looking for love in all the wrong places." We all have been looking for love and purpose in the wrong places.

Real love and purpose will not be found until you find the truth. The truth is not a set of facts but a person and His name is Jesus. He loves you and He created you. You exist because of Him.

"God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating. We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross." Colossians 1:13-20 (The Message)

Would you come to Him and find love, purpose, and peace that goes beyond anything this world can offer. He answers the big questions of life and you will not find lasting joy until you find it in Him.

Heroes (He rose)

My family and I went to the movies yesterday and saw the new Captain America. It was a good movie. It had a good story line. It had all the necessary ingredients of a good Superhero movie such as courage, overcoming injustice, the evil villain, and impossible circumstances.

Prior to the movie we must have sat through previews for at least five upcoming Superhero movies due out in the near future. I love these types of movies, but I found myself thinking:  "what is the obsession with superhero movies and stories?"

There is a longing in the human heart for immortality. There is a longing to live courageously. There is an innate hatred for injustice and a longing to do something about it. We know we need a hero to accomplish this for us.

As we celebrate Easter this year or the next time you see a Superhero movie remember this, Jesus is the hero. He always will be the hero. Our hero came in and saved the day! Jesus conquered the villains of sin, death, the grave, fear, and Satan without weapons, gadgets, or tricks. Our hero laid down His perfect life to die for us. He won the battle none of us could ever win on our own. He rose from the dead! Death could not hold Him. His death had purpose and that purpose was to free us from an eternity separated from God.

We can trust our hero. He has no equals. He has no arch rivals. Our hero loves us deeply. He is coming back to complete what He started 2000 years ago. The hero will return.