For Sale Or Lease

I saw the sign again today, for sale or lease. I cannot count the number of times I have seen the same sign as we search for a new church location.  Leasing is temporary with modest upfront cost.  Buying a building requires financial stability with a sterling credit history.   Your signature on the contract indicates your commitment for the long-term.  The consequences of breaking a lease pale in comparison to walking away from a contract.   Leasers are expected to come and go. Owners are sold out. 

Daniel 3:16-18

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

The three Hebrew boys were dedicated to God.  They refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar despite imminent death.  Their faith was rock solid.  They were invested in God until death.  Those that bowed to the king were willing to deny their Lord to escape the king’s wrath. Their faith was temporary.

We are like buildings.  Some of us are for lease, following God when it is convenient and or beneficial.  Others are for sale, dependable and faithful despite dire circumstances.  Sold out Christians are able to say as Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, “But if not”, I will still serve God.  When the world looks at your “building”, what will they see?  It depends on whether you are for sale or lease. The choice is yours.

Let it Rain

 

The drought is almost over in south Texas.  We have been inundated with rain to the point of flooding in some areas.  It has been over twenty years since we have seen this much rain.  Farmers have prayed, the Edwards Aquifer Authority prayed, greater San Antonio have all prayed for rain.  We needed rain.  After decades of sunbaked farmlands, brown lawns, water  restrictions and burn bans, we were desperate for rain.  Life is not the same when you are in a drought. Rain makes a difference.

2 Chronicles 6:26-27²⁶ 

When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

 

Unconfessed sin is the leading cause of a drought filled life.  We can spend our lives in a parched, cracked, dry existence when we refuse to acknowledge our disobedience and outright rebellion against God.  We become like the walking dead, unproductive and useless.  Rain will not come until we pray to the Father, confess our sin and turn form our wicked ways, then God will hear from heaven, forgive our sin and teach us the right way.  Refreshing rain will pour down form heaven and bring healing. We can truly live again when the drought is no more. Let it Rain!!!

It's MINE

TODDLER’S CREED

If I want it, it’s mine.

If I give it to you and change my mind later, it’s mine.

If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.

If it’s mine, it will never belong to anybody else, not matter what.

If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.

If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

Maybe this is not the “Toddler’s Creed”.  This may be the creed for all humanity.  Our world revolves around us.  Everything that happens must benefit us.  If anything is said about us, it had better be good.  Whether we deserve it or not, the promotion must be ours, the best office should be ours and we should always be the first chosen.  I found this creed in a keep sake drawer filled with the boy’s art work and childhood memorabilia. It’s a creed that is better left in the past.  How do we let go of the “it’s mine” mentality?

Psalm 50:7-12

⁷ “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
I am God, your God!
⁸ I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices
Or your burnt offerings,
Which are continually before Me.
⁹ I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor goats out of your folds.
¹⁰ For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.

¹² “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

The answer is simple. None of it is ours.  All things belong to God.  We are His stewards.  We own nothing. When we understand whose we are and who owns what, our grip loosens and giving becomes easier.  Then with empty hands we are able to praise and lift our hands to give God the glory because it does say in His word, that glory you speak about, “It’s Mine.”

 

Twitter

Why use Twitter?  Is it because we do not have much to say?  Or is it because the art of conversation is becoming extinct?  Do we do it just to be heard?  Tweets are cascading through the atmosphere by the millions to everyone at the same time.  Is anyone really listening?  Will anything change or happen as a result?  Is it worth the effort? Are Tweets beneficial?

Isaiah 38:14

¹⁴ “Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
I moan like a dove;
My eyes look wistfully to the heights;
O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.

If you want results, send your Twitters to God.  In dire straits, with eyes looking toward heaven, express your cares to the Lord.  As a bird tweets and chirps, we moan and utter words in humble submission that only the Holy Spirit can translate.  The sounds of which ascend to our Creator as twitter supplications.  Our twitter is heard.  This kind of twitter produces a changed life. Sincere, heartfelt twitter can defeat our enemies.  With twitter, God does all the work without much effort on our part.  Be assured, twitter directed toward God is always beneficial.  So go ahead, Tweet on.

The Way To Go

 

 

Proverbs 22:6

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

 

 

 

It's time for Jared to go.  He graduates this Sunday from Otterbein University in Columbus, Ohio. After eight ears of training in Musical Theater at Northeast School for the Arts and Otterbein, he is prepared for whatever God has for him.  The time has gone swiftly.  It has been a wild ride.  When you run with Jared you have to strap wheels onto your shoes.  From pregnancy on, I have been preparing for him to go. His training started at birth and over the years the word was embedded in his heart. I believe God's promise that what has been instilled in Jared will not be in vain.  Philippians 1:6 states being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Whether Broadway, film or television, God will continue to use that medium to mold and make him into his servant for His own Glory. I'm not just excited that Jared is ready to go, I'm comforted in this, Jared knows "The Way."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sound of Running Water

 

 

Ezekiel 43:2

² And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.

 

Revelation 1:15

¹⁵ His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;

 

Revelation 14:2

² And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.

 

Is this like unto the voice of God?  In the midst of incredible, lush foliage towering hundreds of feet toward the heavens, the rush of falling water took center stage.  The sound, powerful and deafening commanded my attention.  The soil was rich, the plants were gargantuan and the brush so thick you would need a machete to break through.  None of it would be there were it not for the water.  The air was fresh, cool and clear because of the water.  Akaka Falls on the Big Island of Hawaii exists because of the water emanating from above.

Throughout the scriptures, God’s voice is described as the sound of many waters.  I thought of His voice as I stood there in the mist. All creation begins and ends with Him.  By His voice, the Earth and all there is came into existence.  He is the “Living Water” that sustains us.  If we drink from His well, can you imagine how much spiritual growth would flourish in our life? We would be "Just like a tree planted by the rivers of water bringing forth fruit in it season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:3.  Listen for the rushing waters and take a drink. You do not need to spend money traveling to Hawaii for this water.  It’s right where you are and this water is free.

 



Jars of Clay

Look closely.  Can you see the image?  Two figures created by the sculptor can be seen between the pottery. While the clay was wet, the sculptor meticulously formed three pots that when shown together outline the images of a small boy and girl.  Only a creative genius could imagine the finished project while molding the clay, forming curves and straight lines to compliment the other pot.  To create this masterpiece, the clay had to submit to the hand of the sculptor. The clay had to have been immersed in water. To be transformed, the clay must remain still.

 

Isaiah 64:8

⁸ But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

God is the sculptor, we are the clay.  To become His masterpiece, we must submit to His hand. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)  Are we willing to allow God to do what He chooses to do to make us like Him.  That includes the pain when He pushes us in another direction or stretches us to greater spiritual maturity. Will we allow Him to drench us with the Holy Spirit which  makes us malleable, much easier to work with?  Spirit filled pots are much more likely to stay still until God is finished.   Look closely.  By staying put, the Master has created a new you.