Give Thanks

Oh, what a way to wake up in the morning - with a song on the heart and words of praise on the lips! It makes me imagine what heaven will be like, singing praise and worship songs to God.

The mother of a friend of mine died recently. Of course, the family was sad. They will miss her dearly. But there was also great rejoicing, because she knew the Lord and iswith Him today.

"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." - 2 Corinthians 5:8

Sadly, that is something the lost will never experience.

I mentioned waking up with a song on my heart, the words playing on repeat in my soul. I don't mind that at all. It's a wonderful thing and I thank God, "with a grateful heart."

Give thanks with a grateful heart

give thanks to the Holy One

give thanks, because he’s given

Jesus Christ, his Son

And now let the weak say I am strong

Let the poor say I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us

Give thanks,

Give thanks

I can only imagine what it will be like, to be in the presence of the Lord. But I CAN tell you this: I can hardly wait. It is not a conscious effort on my part to sing these sings, but a joyful outpouring of the Holy Spirit to God The Father.

"I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. ²I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. ³Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His Name together." - Psalm 34:1-3

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." - Psalm 107:1

Give Thanks - Gaither

Sinners

Headline: "Sinners tops Easter weekend at US domestic box office."

Seriously? On Easter weekend? Come, Lord Jesus!

The Disc Golf Pro Tour also thought it was appropriate to schedule a tournament, concluding on Easter Sunday. I boycotted watching it. What's going on in our country?

I believe it is because we have forgotten God in our society. God is sinking further and further down the list of important things to do. He has been replaced by entertainment and games.

When does the National Football League hold their games? Sunday. But they're not taking up enough of our schedule with just one day and time. They expanded to Monday Night Football, then Thursday Night, and Sunday Night. And when college football is done, they take Saturday too!

But that's just one greedy company. WE are the consumers. If we weren't "consuming," they wouldn't be providing.

The hidden headline about the Sinners movie is "Christians flock to watch horror movie instead of worshipping God." Thankfully, things are not that extreme. Yet.

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it." - Joshua 1:8

God than goes on to tell Joshua that if he meditates on the words of His law, it will go well with him and he will prosper.

"For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." - Joshua 1:9

We never learn.

Our grandson has his first little league baseball tournament of the season this coming weekend. Sunday. The first two games are scheduled for Sunday morning, during worship time at church. Add in the 45 minute drive each way and the morning is pretty full. Speaking of Joshua . . . 

"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” - Joshua 24:15

The choice is ours. Whom will we worship? Is it OUR schedules, or the Lord's?

Who Is Your Master?

"They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity - for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning." - 2 Peter 2:19-20

There are two kinds of slaves - willing and unwilling. You and I as Christians submit willingly to our master, Jesus/God. We do, or should do, everything He commands us to do. That's a tough one for many people. Even for those who believe. But that must be our desire. We are willing slaves.

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and not do what I say?" - Like 6:46

There are also unwilling slaves. We fought the Civil War to free unwilling slaves. Most were captured, against their will, and sold into slavery. There are still unwilling slaves in the world today.

Today's picture is of some present day slaves over in China making clothes you and I to wear. They are Uighurs. Have we looked into where we buy things? Probably not. Are we then unknowingly supporting slavery? Probably.

Go back to what Peter said. "People are slaves to whatever has mastered them." What masters slave owners? Money. Power. Self.

What does Jesus command us to be? In the Book of Matthew He tells us that "the greatest in His Kingdom will be the servant of all."

"The greatest among you shall be your servant." - Matthew 23:11

Paul warns us against the love of money saying "it is the root of all evil."

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." - 1 Timothy 6:10

A willing slave will do whatever his master tells him to do. Do WE do that? We say 'yes' but do we really? Do we 'love our enemies?' Or do we kill them? Do we claim faith in Christ yet vote for people who support the killing of babies? Do we skip worshipping God so we can set up our tailgate party at Lambeau?

Bob Dylan wrote, "It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody."

Who do I serve? Is it my bank account? Is it my job? Is it my own selfish desires? Or is it God?

"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15

Joshua had it figured out.

LORD vs Lord

"The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” - Psalm 110:1

You know, if you simply listened to that verse, you would never understand its correct meaning.

Most Bibles have the two 'lord' words written just like this ESV text does. The first use of LORD is all in caps. The second Lord only has the first letter capitalized. Why is that? It's because the words have different meanings.

Another thing about this verse is that it was written in 979BC. Nearly 1000 years before Jesus was born. So? Well, Psalm 110:1 is ABOUT Jesus.

The 'all caps' LORD is YHWH, or Yahweh, in Hebrew - God the Father. But who is the 'Lord' in this verse? Let's have Jesus give us a hint.

"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”

If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” - Matthew 22:41-45

The answer is that David was not referring to himself as lord. The 'Lord' in Psalm 110 and in Matthew 22 is Jesus, The Messiah. The Pharisees never understood that. But we do, and we are blessed because of it.

Psalm 110 then goes on to say in verse 4 that this 'Lord' will reign forever - "you are a priest forever." That is the promised Messiah. And again, His name is Jesus.

Psalm 110 - Gotquestions.org

Our Devoted Things

When Joshua was leading the Israelites into the promised land, God instructed the people about what they should and shouldn't do. They were about to attack Jericho and God didn't want them to become corrupted by the people who lived there. 

"But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it." - Joshua 6:18

But, of course, someone disobeyed the Lord and stirred up God's wrath against them.

"But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel." - Joshua 7:1

God punished all of Israel and only relented when the offender was found out, repented and was punished.

"Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel." - Joshua 7:19-20

Achan was then taken outside the camp and was stoned to death for his sin.

There are some interesting things we can glean out of this story. But most notably, God will punish an entire nation for the sin of one person.

If we think of "the world" as Israel, and "outside the camp" is hell, what 'devoted things' of Satan's have we hidden in OUR tents?

"For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” - Mark 7:21-24

Even if we repent of having these things in our hearts, God's wrath still burns against us. We can say we are sorry and repent, just like Achan did. It doesn't matter. We are destined to be taken outside the camp and 'stoned to death.' Hell.

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." - Hebrews 9:22

We're all doomed! But....

"For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son...."

Jesus! Jesus died for our sins. He shed HIS blood for OUR sins. The sins of the entire world, "once for all." (Hebrews 10:10)

"...that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life." John 3:16

Jesus is our only hope.

Without Jesus we are destined to spend eternity in hell - "outside the camp." We must repent AND allow Jesus to be Lord of our lives. Now.

Without the blood of Jesus covering our sins we have no hope at all.

But...

"Blessed be the name of The Lord from this time forth and forever more." - Psalm 113:2

The Great Equalizer?

When golfers play in a league they often use a handicap scoring system. It makes things easier for ANYONE to win. What if Jesus did that?

In Paul's letter to the church in Corinth he encourages all believers to live their lives, as if trying to win the race.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." - 1 Corinthians 9/24


Is Paul saying that we are in a race for our salvation? No. What he is telling us is to live our lives worthy of our calling as Christians. Basically, "You're Christians. Act live it!"

There is no handicapping system to gain access to heaven. Either you're in or you're out. Either you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, you have repented and have made Jesus Lord of your life . . . or you have not.

Salvation has a very simple scoring card. It's a single check box. Is this person a believer in The Lord, Jesus Christ? Yes? Or no?

We can SAY we are. But Jesus gets to check the box, not us.

Suddenly Paul's verse makes a little more sense. Paul is encouraging us to live our lives in such a way that, when Jesus looks into our hearts, he will smile and check "YES".

Now We Are Free

The battle you are waging right now - do you look forward to its end? Even the fiercest of warriors long for times of peace - when they can finally be free.

I spent Friday morning without any technology. No television, no computer, maybe a little phone time but that's about it. It was nice. A welcome break from all the "news" and political slop.

I look forward to the time when there will be no more tears or suffering and we all can live in peace. No arguments, no more enemies, no more sin. Peace from ALL battles. We will finally be free.

As I was visiting with a friend Friday morning, I was reminded of the story of Moses and battle that was being fought against the Amalekites. It was a tough fight. Back and forth. But Moses, with the help of his friends, won the day. They literally held him up in battle.

"The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up - one on one side, one on the other - so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword." - Exodus 17: 8-13

When we fight our battles in this life it can often feel hopeless. The enemy can seem so powerful. That's when we need to remember one thing. God has promised to never leave or forsake us. He has promised to "lift us up on wings like eagles" (Isaiah 40:31).

So lift up your hands! Engage the enemy. He is powerless against almighty God! And should your arms get weak, should you grow weary my friends, call on the name of The Lord! You will prevail!! Not because of YOUR strength, but because of His.

Blessed be the name of the Lord!!

Now We Are Free - Two Cellos

The Biggest Question

During a recent appearance on The Late Show, Stephen Colbert asked Keanu Reeves, “What do you think happens when we die?” Keanu replied “I know that the ones who love us will miss us.”

That was a big question to try to answer. But it is not THEE biggest.

Our pastor gave a message yesterday which he entitled "The Great Divide". And that it was. But it could also have been called "The Biggest Question."

The text for the sermon was Mark 8:27-30 but I'll narrow it down to one verse for you. Verse 20

29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

That is a HUGE question that we ALL must answer. Peter answered well.

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” - Mark 8:29

How would YOU answer that question? Thee biggest of questions.

Is God someone you call on only when you get into trouble? Is He your magic Jeanie or your spare tire in the trunk? Those are all answers that people give but none of those is not the best answer.

Jesus will ask us the question one day. "Who do YOU say I Am?"

Funny thing is, He just gave us the answer.

"I Am."

"God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." - Exodus 3:14

God needs to be everything to us. He needs to be our Lord, our Savior, our King, our Messiah, Our Hero, Our Example, The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, The First, The Last, The Beginning and the End, The Alpha and the Omega.

Is He all those things in your life? I hope and pray that He is, for that is the Biggest and Best Answer.

Who Am I? - Casting Crowns
Is He Worthy? - Chris Tomlin
The Biggest Question Promo - Wretched TV

Not For Long

I think I'm done with football now. I wasn't really sure before with the whole kneeling during the National Anthem thing. But now that they're calling penalties for good, clean hits, we'd be better off watching Dancing With The Stars.

Back in the late 80's the Houston Oilers had a head coach named Jerry Glanville. Nobody liked him much but he sure was a funny guy. He once told an official that "this is the NFL. That's Not For Long if you keep making (bleep)-ing calls like that."

What has happened to the NFL? Well, I know exactly what's happened to it. It's gotten all warm and fuzzy, like a helicopter parent watching over a spoiled child. And the fans don't like it. The NFL is bending over backwards trying to please everybody and protect everybody. That doesn't please anyone. Especially God.

They are also driven by the almighty dollar. Take away their uniforms and we'd all be staring at a bunch of naked politicians. Everybody has an opinion. And whoever makes the most money, well, that's whose opinion matters most.

Don't hurt the quarterbacks. They make big plays and big plays sell tickets! It must be frustrating to be an NFL football player. It sure is frustrating being a fan. That's why I have opted out.

What does all this have to do with Jesus? Not much. Although the NFL teaches us several things that we should NOT do that God says we should.

"For the love of money is a root of all evil." - 1 Timothy 6:10

Speaking of Timothy, Tim Tebow took a knee on the field - to pray. He was chastised for it and is no longer playing football. The thing is, the NFL needs more players of Tim Tebow's character and faith. The NFL banned Tim from wearing Bible verses on his eye black. Sad.

Think about that for a moment. They ban someone from displaying their faith yet allow other players to express themselves during the national anthem, even though they are demeaning our service men and women and our police officers. Confusing.

And let's not even talk about the prideful "look at me" end zone celebrations.

The NFL needs to learn a lesson. By siding with "the world" and rejecting His children I am sure a big lesson will be coming soon.

So, have you looked up Isaiah 40:31 yet to see what words the NFL banned?

"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:31

We need to remember that verse because you will never hear those encouraging words from the NFL - The No-Faith League.

End of rant.

I encourage you to turn off the football game and pick up the Bible. We should analyze how we spend our time. 1st John says we are to be in the world but not OF it. We are to be holy - set apart. I'm not saying that if we watch football we're not Christians. What I AM saying is that we will be judged by our works - held accountable for our actions.

If Jesus returned during a football game, what would He find us doing?

Jerry Glanville vs AFC Central
He Is Lord - MercyMe

The Thinnest Of Veils

As we walk through this world we live in, we are never more than one bad decision away from disaster. One misstep can change "what could have been" into "what have I done."

Many factors make up our day-to-day decisions. Often we choose what we want in life by our own selfish desires. Does any of this sound familiar?

"I really want that new phone!"

"Sure, I'll have another drink."

"See that girl over there? She's gonna be mine tonight. I got me some Rohypnol!"

"I'll make some copies at work. Everybody does it."

Can I ask you a question? When you look at Facebook, what do you see? Do you see an endless stream of pictures, updates and memes? I see something else. I see windows. Windows into the hearts of millions. The screen we stare at each day is simply a veil . . . between perception and reality.

We need to ask ourselves . . . . is this how I want to live my life? Just watching the lives of others and the things they do? Or should we unplug ourselves from the computer screen and the phone and live the lives we were meant to live. A life filled with peace, hope and love awaits anyone who wants it. Yet few grab God's offer of eternal life, unconditional love and the endless supply of hope a life in Christ can bring.

So ask yourself this morning. "Is this all there is? Is this life I am living REALLY what life should be? Or is there more? Should I keep walking through this world wishing it would get better? Or should I give up on the day-after-day "surfing" in hopes of finding happiness and finally, fully surrendering my heart to Christ?

My life was forever changed 10 years ago when I chose to walk a different path. Your life can change today. Chose life, not death. Walking around with no hope is not really any way to "live." Choose Christ. Embrace the veil that was torn. Look at His example of a life lived . . . and live like that. You'll be glad you did.

"50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,  52 and the graves were opened;" - Matthew 27:50-52

Live Like That - Sidewalk Prophets

Devotion

We have two of the most annoying cats you could possibly imagine. One of them, which I have lovingly nicknamed "The Scrawn," loves to get into things. He grooms himself so much that there is a bald spot on his back. And he likes to clean his nether regions right in the middle of the living room floor with his hind leg held high in the air for all to see. He also loves my wife's lap. Wherever it might be, there shall he be also (That almost sounded like a Bible verse!) He loves my wife's attention!

Our other cat is kind of slow, both physically and mentally. His favorite thing is to sneak up behind us when we are in the kitchen and just sit there, waiting for one of us to trip over him. His other favorite trick is to simply fall over. That must take REAL skill! But late in the evening, after we have put both cats in the basement for the night, he loves to sit at the top of the stairs and meow. He almost yowls, it's so loud. He doesn't like to be separated from my wife.

I tell you about our two cats and their affection for my wife because they have something that many of us, including myself, lack in our faith lives. Devotion.

When I think of the word devotion I always think of those little booklets you can get at church. Devotionals are those little daily, encouraging stories we can read each day. We read the three or four paragraphs and the Bible verse at the bottom of each page and think, "There, now I'm good to go for the day." That is NOT devotion.

The 1828 Webster Dictionary defines "devotion" magnificently. There are eight different usages of the word. Read them all and let the meanings soak in. Do we live as though we are devoted to our God?

1. The state of being dedicated, consecrated, or solemnly set apart for a particular purpose.
2. A solemn attention to the Supreme Being in worship; a yielding of the heart and affections to God, with reverence, faith and piety, in religious duties, particularly in prayer and meditation; devoutness.
3. External worship; acts of religion; performance of religious duties.
4. Prayer to the Supreme Being. A Christian will be regular in his morning and evening devotions.
5. An act of reverence, respect or ceremony.
6. Ardent love or affection; attachment manifested by constant attention; as, the duke was distinguished by his devotion to the king, and to the interest of the nation.
7. Earnestness; ardor; eagerness.
8. Disposal; power of disposing of; state of dependence.

How often should we be devoted to God? Five minutes each day? An hour?

Let us live our lives in devotion to God. Not by simply reading a few lines of encouraging text each morning, but by living out our daily lives, each day and every day, totally devoted to God.

Today, instead of picking up that romance novel, pick up the Bible and spend some time with God or with someone you love. Instead of turning on the television, leave it off and call someone on the phone and tell them you love them. Bring honor to God by devoting yourself to Him today.

God gives us these days as gifts to be used to bring Him glory. Let's do that, as long as it is called today.

"12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." - Hebrews 3:12-14

If you do not have a devoted relationship with God, get one today. To do that we must repent of our sins, acknowledge that Jesus truly is who He said He is, the Son of God, and surrender your life, your heart, your devotion, to Him. He died for you, accepting the punishment for YOUR sins on Himself. How deoes one repay a gift like that? Devotion would be a good start.

Devotion by Hillsong United

LORD

There is something uplifting about discovering a new truth in God's Word. It's like being an archaeologist and finding a clue to the location of an ancient lost city. Or like piecing together clues on a treasure map to find hidden treasure!!

The Bible, in its compiled form, has been in this world for nearly 2,000 years. It has been in MY life since I received my first one back in Iowa nearly 60 years ago. The only problem was I never read it. I never read the Bible until I was in my 50's. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I fell away from the faith during college. Sad.

I ran across something interesting the other day, not while reading the Bible, but by reading a book by Tony Evans called Kingdom Man.

About half way through the first chapter there is a sub heading entitled God's Authority. That is where a new truth was revealed to me. Doctor Evans was writing about who God is and why the the Bible is written the way it is, in terms of God's identity. Open your Bibles to the Book of Genesis, Chapter one, verse one.

"In the beginning, God . . ."

Notice how the word God is spelled - capital "G", small "o" and"d." In Hebrew, God, spelled this way, is Elohim, which means "Creator God." God is referred to by the name Elohim while He is creating the universe, the animals, etc. Always spelled G-o-d.

Now skip ahead to when Adam comes onto the scene. Genesis 2, verse 4, after the heading Adam and Eve. How is God referred to in THIS verse? Now God is written of as "LORD God." Now there are two words to describe God and the first one, LORD, is all caps! Why?? What does that mean?

LORD, with all caps, means Yahweh (master and absolute ruler) and we already know that God means Creator. So now God is referred to as not only the Creator but He is Adam's master and absolute ruler.

Things were good in the garden up to this point. God was Adam's master and absolute ruler. Chapter 3 now, verse 1 . . . The Fall.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”"

Did you catch the change? Satan is only referring to God as "the Creator," NOT as his "master and absolute ruler." Satan is not giving God the respect He deserves. So, what else is new, right? But look what happens next in verse 2 & 3.


"2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, . . ."

Oh my . . . Eve has already demoted God, her LORD God, to just a simple G-o-d. God is no longer her "master" or her "absolute ruler." So . . . who is? I'll give you one guess. Satan. And Eve hasn't even taken a bite out of the apple yet!

Eve sinned BEFORE she even did anything! She sinned in her mind and in her heart when she thought of herself before her LORD God. Eve and Satan referred to God as simply the "Creator." They never refer to God as their "master and absolute ruler."

And Adam? He doesn't mention God by name at all. He didn't know what to think it seems. We never, EVER had it right.

Is God simply "God" in your life? The Creator? Or is He "Yahweh Elohim?" - your "Master and Absolute Ruler?"

I wonder. If the New Testament would have been written in Hebrew, would we have seen a translation of "LORD God" when referring to Jesus? As it is, Jesus is referred to simply as "Lord" in the New Testament. Make Him Yahweh Elohim, "absolute ruler" of your life today.

Agnus Dei by Michael W. Smith

Privilege

We here in the United States of America are very privileged. We can come and go as we please for
the most part. We don't need to carry any "papers" with us to tell the authorities who we are. We can even burn the American flag if we so choose, not that I ever would, but we are free to protest our own government. That is rare - a freedom that not everyone on this planet has. Freedom is truly a privilege, earned.

We can stand in the middle of our towns and pray to our God. We take that for granted. There are other Christians in this world who risk their very lives every time they even mention the name of Jesus. Yet, we take that for granted.

Many of our freedoms and our privileges come from those who have served in our military. Lives have been lost, sacrificed willingly, to defend and protect us and our country.What a privilege to live in a country like ours.

This past Wednesday I had the privilege of addressing our church's youth group. I got to deliver the Easter message - the story of Jesus and his resurrection. What an incredible miracle that was - the resurrection of Jesus that is, not my talk. It was because of that miracle, God raising Jesus from the dead, that you and I have the privilege of calling ourselves sons and daughters of the most high God. It is through our belief and through our repentance that we have been saved.

Not everyone, however, sees that as a privilege. There are people who detest Christians and make it their life's work to battle against us. There are kids in our youth group who do not believe in Jesus yet. That's sad but true. There are others who say they believe but they don't seem to be bearing any of the fruit typically associated with their faith. They have not made Jesus "Lord" of their lives yet. That may seem like servitude or enslavement of sorts but I can tell you first hand that it is truly a privilege, yet few choose to grasp it.

This was interesting. The night I spoke, I asked the kids in my small group, “How many times during the day do you think about Jesus?” One said, “Umm, two . . . maybe three.” Another said, “Three.” Another said, “Two. Once in the morning and once at night.”

One kid at least had a somewhat better answer. He said, “It all depends . . . on the kind of day I am having.” Honest, yet still far from what is required of us. Honestly? I am about ready to explode . . . in frustration. We, and I'm talking about all of us now, not just teens in a Wednesday night youth group. We need to get back to basics. Like, what is the greatest commandment?

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." - Deuteronomy 6:5

God wants us to be obsessed about Him. He wants our full attention. He wants our devotion and obedience, not just to be thought about when we need him.

My friend at work and I cannot STOP thinking about God. He is constantly on our minds. How can we serve Him? What is His will for our lives? We pray, we fast, we spend hours each week listening to faith-based pod casts & sermons, and STILL we feel we aren't doing enough for Him. We aren't spending enough time with him, in prayer or in His Word.

I think the difference between TRUE Christians, and those that just "Honor Him with their lips,"

is the word "privilege." I have been so blessed by God! I pray that I never take Him and His blessings for granted. I feel extremely privileged that God would even care about me, yet alone desire to walk with me in the garden one day. I am so unworthy of His grace, yet God gives it freely, and without measure.

I came across this last night. As I read it I thought, "This really applies to how we should feel every day of our lives." We ALL should feel that it is a privilege to serve our God and King.

"And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you - see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have." - 2 Corinthians 1:12

It is a privilege to be called a Christian. Though some of us may be persecuted for our beliefs, we choose to stand firm for our King. He is our savior, yes, But he must also become our Lord. Then, and only then, will we be given the greatest gift of all - to dwell with Him . . . forever. :)

"What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer . . ."

What a Friend We Have in Jesus - Alan Jackson