"Like Little Children..."

"He called a little child and had him stand among them. and he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." Matthew 18:2-6

There are many important lessons to be learned from this passage. I want to focus on two that stand out to me. The first brings me as a mother much comfort. We teach our children and grandchildren that God loves them and that He is with them. But, then at some point they begin learning that until they trust in Christ to forgive them for their sins that Jesus does not live in their heart. This has always been hard for me to reconcile because both are true. However, I believe that this passage, as well as others in which Jesus deals with children, teach us that Jesus is uniquely with children. I believe that He is with all children whether they realize it or not. My children believe that God is with them because that is what they have been taught, however, I am thankful that He is even with the Buddhist child in Indonesia right now. May he come to believe in Christ as well.

The second lesson is that we as a culture need a good dose of humility. I have heard it said many times that "we are the most powerful nation in the world" and "nothing can come up against America". Hmmm, are we so sure anymore? We are and have been the most powerful nation in the world because God has ordained that we would be at this point in history. Not because of any of our own doing. It is only by His grace and His mercy bestowed upon us day after day after day. And yet, we continue to take credit for it. May we thank Him today the way a little child thanks their parents for doing something they could never do themselves.

"Be Holy"

"Be holy, because I am holy" Leviticus 11:45

We have all heard this verse quoted many times I am sure. But what exactly does it mean to "be holy"? Holy means to be "set apart, consecrated for the Lord". Simply put, holy means to be different from the world. If we are not different from the world in our actions and our attitudes, we are not holy.

The entire book of Leviticus instructs the Israelites on how to be holy. I am not suggesting that we are to live by the entire Levitical code, however it is a good book to read to begin to grasp the holiness of God. An interesting fact about that book is that all the laws that are given to them regarding holiness were not given so that the Israelites could have a relationship with God. They were already in relationship with God because He had chosen them to be His people. The laws were given to them so that they could maintain their relationship with God.

The same is true for us today. When we accept Christ, we are in relationship with God. Through God's mercy, the righteousness of Christ is given to us, but holiness must be acquired. Holiness is something that we must work at daily by seeking God and His will. We do this not to have a relationship with God, but in order to maintain it. I have heard it said that we will never "drift into holiness". And this is true.

A holy life will always be characterized by obedience. Let's all ask ourselves, "Where do I fall short?"

Our Greatest Reward

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34-35

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—John 14:16

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 1 Corinthians 6:19

Sometimes we might think that the Israelites had it easy. They knew exactly where to go and when because the "cloud of God" led them through the desert. I know I have thought that it would be easy to follow God if I had that clear of a direction. They even had God's presence come and live in their church! They really seem to have the advantage until we take a closer look at what God has given us through Christ.

Now, Believers don't follow a cloud or a pillar of fire. Nor do we build a temple for the presence of God to come and dwell inside. When we accept Christ, we are the temple. He literally comes and dwells inside of us! The presence of the Living God that Moses could not come near as He was filling the temple, fills you and I when we trust in Christ's sacrifice for our sins.

Of all the blessings or rewards we could ever hope for, this is by far the greatest. Thank God today for the gift of His promised Holy Spirit in you life. Ask Him to help you "hear" His leadership. Yield yourself to Him today so that you can be completely filled with His presence.

Finding Wisdom

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. James 1:5-8

Wisdom is something that we all desire, but seem to have the hardest time finding. I love these verses and have quoted them quite frequently to myself, to others, and to God in prayer. It is important that we ask for wisdom and the Bible tells us plainly that when we do, it will be given to us. But, sometimes I still have a hard time figuring out what to do in a situation. Why? I have prayed for wisdom so why doesn't the Lord give it to me like He says He will?

The Bible tells us that if we doubt we will not receive anything from the Lord because we are like "a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind". I don't think this necessarily just means if we are having trouble believing that God can give us wisdom, but more that we are doubting that His wisdom is the right choice for us. God is not going to give us wisdom in a situation just so we can throw it into our "suggestion" pile. He is only going to give us His wisdom if we are willing to obey.

Chris Tiegreen says, " If we are only requesting His advice, He will not give it. He only gives solutions to be implemented, not suggestions to consider."

God is not an advice column. He is Almighty God, full of wisdom and understanding. When we ask for His wisdom on an issue, we must be willing to obey what He says. Otherwise, we will continue to be tossed about from one suggestion to the next.

Ask God to give you wisdom today in your daily decisions and commit to obey what He says.

Expecting Excellence

So all the work on the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, was completed. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD commanded Moses. Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses... The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them. Exodus 39:32-33a, 42-43

We expect excellence from everyone we are around. If we are an employer, we expect our employees to work with excellence. If we lead a ministry, we expect our ministry team to minister with excellence. And for heaven's sake, we all expect our children to do everything with excellence! But, what gives us the right to expect this excellence? Is is because we have taught or encouraged others with our words to do everything with excellence? Or is it because we have mirrored excellence in our own lives?

Moses could expect excellence from the Israelites because he had live a life of excellence. He could expect the Israelites to do everything "just as the LORD had commanded" because he had done everything "just as the LORD had commanded".

We cannot expect things to be any different in our lives. If we are not behaving with excellence, those we lead will not either. For example, we cannot expect our employees, ministry team, or our children to be punctual if we are always five minutes behind. We cannot expect our children to talk respectful to us and others if they hear us talking disrespectful to or about our spouse.
Those who are led by us, tend to take on many of our characteristics - good or bad.

We see from scripture that the Israelites truly cared about what Moses thought of their work. They brought all of their work to Moses to be inspected, and Moses blessed them. Because Moses had displayed excellence in his own life, the people truly valued his opinion. I know that when my children are grown, I want them to value my opinion. I do not want to run their lives or tell them what to do as adults, but I hope that they will have seen consistent excellence in my life and in my walk with Christ and therefore value what I say.

Today, ask God to help you serve Him with excellence in whatever area of service He has placed you. Whether you are the head of a company or ministry or just the CEO of your household and children, God desires that we serve Him with excellence. And others are looking for it in their leaders.

"Stop Giving!"

Exodus 35:4-9, 36:2-6

The Israelites are getting ready to build the first tabernacle that God has instructed them to build. The materials were all given to God as free-will offerings. No one was forced to give, and God gave no percentage of goods that had to be given per person. The people just gave as there hearts led them to. And what they gave were not old clothes or can goods from the back shelf. They were giving gold, silver, and true finery.

An amazing thing takes place in the beginning of chapter 26. The men that God had chosen to do the work received all the offerings to begin the work, but the people continued to bring more and more every morning. Finally they had so much it began to overwhelm them and Moses had to "restrain" the people from giving anything else!

Now I know the Israelites blew it a lot of the time, but this time they got it right! They truly gave from their hearts and when they did, their offerings were more than enough. Can you imagine going to your church this Sunday and your pastor saying to the congregation, "We have already met budget for the year and have no idea what to do with all this extra money, so please, stop giving!" That sound absurd, doesn't it? But, literally, that is what happened in this passage.

What this teaches me, it that God has provided enough resources to support His Church. So why are so many churches and parachurch organizations suffering financially? Because we are failing to give from our hearts.

Today, ask God what He would have you give to His Church this year. If you have never given on a regular basis, ask God to help you start. If you do give a certain percentage of your income regularly, ask God to show you if that is the amount He would have you continue to give. And, ask Him to help you not only give financially this year, but also of yourself.

"If your Presence does not go with us..."

Exodus 33:15-18

This passage of scripture has deeply impacted my life recently. Moses was truly someone that understood what it means to follow God. And is still a great example for us to follow today.

The Israelites had rebelled against God, therefore God told Moses that He would no longer go with them, but would send His angel to lead them into the promised land. This was just not good enough for Moses. He would have rather stayed in the desert than take one step without God.

As we begin this New Year, I pray that God will make that the attitude of my heart. This year, I don't want to do anything without knowing that He is with me. Like Moses, we ought to be afraid to take one step without the assurance of God presence. However, when we know He is with us, we can move forward with boldness. This type of assurance does not just happen. It is only going to happen when we spend time seeking God through prayer and bible study.

My favorite part of this passage is verse 18 that says,

Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

After Moses had been assured of God's presence going with them, then and only then does He ask God to show him His glory. Quite a bold request, don't you think? But, I know that I personally ask God to let His glory fall on my life, my family, my church, etc all the time. I want to see His glory, but I seem to miss the part about not taking one step without Him. If I truly want to see Him work, I must make sure that my life is aligned with His will.

Spend some time praying today and ask God to assure you of His presence. Ask Him to show you if you are doing what He would have you do. Commit your year to Him if you haven't already and then get ready to see His glory.

On a personal note, I am glad to be back! My children start back to preschool today and I am very thankful because I have been so tired and not just "morning sick", but all day sick. Oh yeah, for those of you who do not know - I am 9 weeks pregnant! We are very excited about this gift that the Lord has blessed us with and we do ask for your prayers. I have missed writing and I hope God will continue to use me in this way during 2009. God bless you and thanks so much for reading!