Smiling with God...

  Acts 3:6-8 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. The beggar was asking for gold and silver, he was asking for things that he thought would satisfy him. But in reality it wasn’t what he really needed.  God knew that his real needs differed from what he was begging for.  In those times, if you were not capable of work, or able to walk, you were just cast away to the side. Daily he was put there by someone, to just beg all day long. He did this his whole life. This is how he was born, he was regulated to fend for himself by asking for money daily.  It made sense, money equaled ability to buy food and then you are able to eat. The beggar knew his place in ...

Daniel 2:18-19 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven Daniel and the wise men were in trouble. They knew that Nebuchadnezzer wanted results. In fact he as about to kill them all because he wasn’t getting the results he wanted. Results is something the king wanted and for most bosses, as a work need to produce. But in this particular situation, no one was able to answer the kings request to have his dreams interpreted.  Now that’s not an easy task in itself, in fact somewhat impossible. So what did Daniel do? He did what everyone should do in time of trouble. Pray for help. And I am pretty sure that this wasn’t one of those, small prayers. I am sure it is one of those prayers there they were on their knees begging the Lord for revelation. They had ...

Luke 24:32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” When you read this verse, you have to put it into context of what is going on here. From the perspective of the disciples here, all is lost. Jesus was just crucified, his core disciples had scattered, and the bulk of his followers have fallen away. With all that just happening, this story picks up. A few of his disciples are walking to Emmaus, a short seven mile walk (which takes about two hours depending how fast or slow you walk) from Jerusalem. On the way these disciples encountered who they thought was a stranger but it was really Jesus. For the remainder of the day these disciples had full conversations and discussions with Jesus about what just happened. But they did not realize that it was him the whole time. He taught them showed the what the deal was with the scriptures, they got all excited. Then it dawned, or it was revealed, ...

Matthew 20:31-32 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. Sometimes it comes down to this. Calling upon God till you get an answer. Calling upon God till you hear something. Sounds desperate, but this is so necessary. It is necessary because sometimes we need to get to that point. On the surface it makes it as God that wants us to beg, but on in reality when we get to this point it changes the posture of our heart. You see, God wants us to give it all to Him. He wants us to depend on him completely. He wants us to fully be reliant upon Him and His word. Sometimes praying till we get an answer brings our heart to the point where we need to be. When we are at that point, God can be God. The amazing happens and He answers. So what does this mean for us? It means that we have to get our hearts to the point where God is God....

1 Samuel 21:1-2 David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. David was on the run. He was on the run from Saul. It was official, he became public enemy number one in Saul's eyes. In light of that revelation he runs to a temple. Great run to God! But that is not what really happened. Instead, what he does is to lie to everyone there. He lies to cover his behind and get the resources he needs to survive. Sounds logical. I mean it's not like he took a whole lot. Except, later we learn that Saul kills everyone in that town. Many people paid for the lie that David did. He lied to others in order to survive. However, other people paid the price for his surviv...

1 Samuel 18:8-9 Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom? ” And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. The last words to Saul from Samuel was that his reign over Israel was to end. Saul was very aware of this. So when his replacement comes into place and it is obvious that there is a replacement coming, he freaks out. He becomes jealous. He becomes a control freak and then he beings the end of his reign hunting David as a criminal of Israel. But all this could have been prevented back in the other chapters as he could have give his heart to God and followed Him, with all his heart. But Saul chose not to. Thus resulting in what we see here, the beginning of the end. But it's not sudden, no it isn't it is slow fade away. Like a horrible day that never ends, is the end of Saul's reign of Israel. There is so much to learn here...

1 Samuel 15:22-23 But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” Saul in trouble. He really did not follow the Lord in this instance. Prior to these verses, he was instructed by Samuel to absolutely destroy the Amalekites. Destroy everything, leave nothing alive behind. Which in a way is a harsh command. God wanted them totally destroyed and that is what Saul did. Well, mostly did. He took a prisoner and he kept the good cattle and was going to use it as a "sacrifice" to the Lord. Though he may have had good intentions to do that, it was not the instructions. However he justified in his head that it was okay to bring back the cattle and bring back a prisoner. ...

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. In the beginning everything was blank. Better described, it was formless, it was empty. God did not take the liberty yet to engage in creation. It was all in His mind, it was ready, oh it was so ready. But not yet. He was just about to begin the creation. He was about to engage in a beautiful medley of creation. But that's it, it was just the beginning. He is ready to bring out the fruition of His plan, that will eventually lead to His son dying for us. God was about to start something big. It is a new year, 2016, the start of something new. As I read this I am just perplexed and awed by God and why He did what He did. As I look into this year, there will be many things that need to be accomplished, many plans that are made. But I must remember that God is the start of it...

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Usually we just pass by this verse and say some cliché thing like, "Oh it's all about the heart." It's such a great thing to think, but often times that's all we really do. We just think about it. Do we mean what we say? Or do we just say it? Does it really mean that our hearts is connected to Jesus and the will of our Father that we use our treasures for His kingdom? Are we really okay with not splurging money on ourselves? I'm not saying we shouldn't take care of our needs, but seriously, do we really need so much stuff? Here God is saying, what is your treasure? What are you doing with the resources I have brought you? R...

1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." We all have a part to play in this great body of Christ. We all have something to contribute. The Kingdom is so large that we all need to take part in it for the body to grow. We all also don't need to be ashamed of what we do. Though it may seem lesser to some, it is not a diminished job in the eyes of the Lord. In the Lord there are jobs that we may not find as not important. But to Him it is very importnant. In fact we all need to do our assignment from God. It is all so important. We will not be effective without each other. In Him playing our part is vital to everything. This is kind of encouraging to me. Though what I feel like I do right now is worthless in my eyes, and not what I really wanted to do in life, but this verse gives me the encouragement to keep going. To keep the fight and keep the faith which is not an easy thing. Especially when I feel like we are...

Mark 14:10-11 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Now prior to this verse we see Jesus being anointed with oil by a poor woman. Some people became indignant and were upset. Judas was the one who lead that. Not sure if he really started it, but he was the keeper of the money, and there are many references saying he was not being a faithful steward of his position. With that in mind, when he saw this act, he decided it was good idea to betray Jesus. He was so upset over the situation that he let his emotions take over and then bam, he is lead to betray Jesus. It seems that he let his emotions over the situation get the best of him and it lead him to some really bad decisions. I can say, hey no big deal, but really, emotions can get the best of you. The NY Mets just lost the MLB World Series. One commentator said...

Job 17:11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart. Yes, sometimes God breaks and shatters dreams. In this case Job has come to the realization that he has lost everything. Finances, family, friends, all of it gone. But what he doesn't know is that later in the book God blesses him with so much more. Job does not know the end yet. He is stuck in the middle. He knows only pain and suffering. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, it does not come for a long time. In fact he won't know for like another 20 chapters. The lesson here is that sometimes that in order for God to bring blessing, there needs to be a changing of things. Even when you lose everything, and you feel you are in the depths of despair, God is breaking your old dreams, to create new ones. And ones that are greater than what we could even imagine. It is not fun to be in this part of the narrative. It is a time of great uncertainty and great unrest. ...

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. You know that studying the law of the Lord is such an awesome thing. We all need to study it and know it and have it in our hearts. But Ezra takes it to a place where, if we are serious, we should all go. Now, we know that we should all strive to know the Lord and His commands. But here in this verse is where the kicker is for most of us. It’s that little saying in the verse: “Ezra set his heart…” Ezra set his heart in the right direction. He set His heart. Meaning he willfully, knowingly, and purposefully turned his full attention to God and His laws. He set his heart on the right things. He set his heart on the Lord God. He set his heart to know His laws and by knowing His laws, Ezra gained understanding and knew God. I just read something about how this generation can barely hold 15-20 seconds of attention. The TV, the internet, the social media, h...

Ezekiel 8:14-15 Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.” Here the Lord is showing Ezekiel that there is something going wrong with Israel. Here a woman is mourning over a Sumerian god. The Lord is obviously grieved and saddened over this. It is not a normal thing to do for the people of Israel. They have stepped away from serving the true God. The nation of Israel has stepped away from their calling, they have rejected God, and the worst was yet to come. I believe that the Lord is truly saddened when Christians step away from their calling and retreat away from their God. Now whether or not you believe that “once a Christian always a Christian”, or in the theory of “were you ever saved at all” we can all agree that God is not happy when it happens. Especially in this case where they not ...

Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own, it is not for man to direct his steps Jeremiah knows who is really in charge. Unlike the rest of Israel, he recognizes that God is the one who is controlling the destiny of the people there. Jeremiah is fully aware that God is the one who can withhold punishment, bring peace, and administer judgement. In this statement, Jeremiah also submits. There is something submission does to people. It brings them to humbly come before God and ask what to do. It means that the individual must rely upon God for everything. And that is exactly what Jeremiah does. His reliance upon God is unprecedented. At this point there is nothing that Jeremiah can do but to whole submit his request and wait for God to execute His plan. Jeremiah’s only option is to sit and wait. His reliance is on God. You know, there are times in life where I have come to this point. There is nothing I can do but wait on God. Couple of years ago I had a ...

Jeremiah 7:22-23 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. Nothing wrong with rituals. I at times enjoy having going through a church service that is very ritualistic. The Israelites seem to have got that part down also, but as time goes on, it seems that the Israelites tend to forget that following God is more than just doing the rituals and going through the motions. He desires here that the Israelites actually walk the walk. His true desire is that He wants is for them to obey. He wants them to walk in obedience to Him. Offerings and sacrifices are just part of the equation The rest of it is that very important command: "Obey Me". I have, in times, put God in a box. I separated "rituals and sacrifices" from...

Romans 4:19 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith and he gave glory to god, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Here Paul talks about Abraham and his faith. He talks about how strong faith directs and guides your life. It gives you confidence and strength during times of trouble and doubt. Not only that, it gives assurance and security in life. Yet, faith is tough, it’s not easy to believe in something that is not seen and act as if it is real. Not knowing if it will happen sometimes known as suspense is what we don’t like. We like knowing. But like the popular quote says, “The opposite of faith is certainty”. We love certainty, we love knowing, we love having it written down on paper signed and sealed. Yet that is exactly what faith is not. Not knowing what will happen or if it will ever happen in your life time but trusting that it will happen. That is the nature of faith. It’s not easy. It is no...

Matthew 15:15-16 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us?” “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. Wow. Nothing like being called stupid by God. Peter by far is the most interesting disciple. Sometimes he’s the person you admire other times he’s the idiot. Here Jesus called him “dull” But in other translations it literally says stupid. Imagine Jesus saying to you, “Are you stupid?” Nothing like being embarrassed like that. Let’s take things into perspective and take a look at this. The parable they are asking about is the one where Jesus is explaining to the Pharisees what goes in to the the mouth does not make you unclean but what comes out of the mouth makes you unclean. Pretty basic right? And really we weren’t there so I’m thinking…. maybe Jesus did not understand the question. But he is Jesus. So that’s probably not the case. Now being called stupid requires you to either one, already know something that is being said, or two it is common knowledge. So I’m thinking the...

Genesis 2:20-21 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. This is an interesting. Prior to these verses, God states that it's not good for man to be alone. Then he makes Adam name all the animals. Kind of weird, but if you ask me there is something up about that. So I had to go and look it up several commentaries and see what others though about this. Surely I was not the only one who wondered why in the world did God just not make someone for Adam, seems to make the most sense. Little did I know that after some digging, it was not that God there were some that were some crazy explanations, then one that just hit me like a ton of bricks. That was this, sometimes we don't recognize that we need something till we need it. In th...

Mark 1:38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” Now there was much to do here in this town. Jesus was preaching and healing, so people were coming all over to see him here in this town. But all of a sudden, after a quiet time in the desert, Jesus tells his disciples, “Let’s go.” I’m sure the disciples were thinking what we are all thinking, “WHY?” But what see is the right thing to do is not necessarily the thing to do. Jesus knew what His mission was: to please the Father and do what He called him to do. Obedience, to the call and to pleasing the Father, that is what Jesus modeled. He knew his mission on earth was to call the sinners to repentance, be the sacrifice for all, and therefore it will bring glory to God. It seems that he does this at every level here. From the get go he was obedient to God and stayed true to the calling that God had on his life. Jesus knew what to do, when to do it, and how ...