Come on Joe, just love

 S 1 COR 13NIV

13 If I speak in the tongues[a](A) of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.   2 If I have the gift of prophecy(A) and can fathom all mysteries(B) and all knowledge,(C) and if I have a faith(D) that can move mountains,(E) but do not have love, I am nothing.   3 If I give all I possess to the poor(A) and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[a](B) but do not have love, I gain nothing.   4 Love is patient,(A) love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.(B)   5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,(A) it is not easily angered,(B) it keeps no record of wrongs.(C)   6 Love does not delight in evil(A) but rejoices with the truth.(B)   7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(A)   8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,(A) they will cease; where there are tongues,(B) they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.   9 For we know in part(A) and we prophesy in part,   10 but when completeness comes,(A) what is in part disappears.   11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood(A) behind me.   12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;(A) then we shall see face to face.(B) Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.(C)   13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.(A) But the greatest of these is love.(B) 

O - I appreciate that Pastor Wayne knows how critical it is to read 1 COR 13 more than just a couple times a year. It always catches me off guard because it is not in order of the readings but it is timely.  Because as it turns out every two to three months I need to be reminded that the most important thing is love.  I need to be reminded because the stress and pressure of this fallen and broken world will lead us to focus on the urgent and not important stuff. 

Beware of donkey’s in your life, it could be you playing the JackAss

 Beware of the donkey’s in your life, it could be you Jackass

S-numbers 22 NIV

Balaam’s Donkey

21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials.   22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.   23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.   24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides.   25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.   26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.   27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff.   28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth,  and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”   29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”   30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”“No,” he said.   31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.   32 The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”   34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”   35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials. 

O - My observation is to acknowledge just how absurd but real this situation is with Balaam and his Donkey.   Many a times I have read this and thought what a fool Balaam was, and just thought of the movie “Shrek” where Donkey helps Shrek achieve his life’s mission.   There is a reason though God wanted to make sure we see and understand the symbolism and truth in this circumstance.   Here you have a prophet, Balaam who God is speaking directly to and telling him what to do,  yet he still disobeys him and get up to go do what he thinks is right, but was wrong in that God had given him clear direction.   So God reveals to his donkey that His angel is about to kill Balaam and Balaam still doesn’t get it, then he has the donkey speak to Balaam and he still doesn’t get it.  It is only when God open Balaam’s eyes to what is going on all around him that Balaam realizes how foolish he has been.    

A - This story is so me.     I am so excited to have found God in my life, to be loved and led by Jesus, but somehow I still find new and exciting ways to get out in front of Him and His plans for my life.  When I do, He is patient to wait for me to figure it out.  Sometime he allows circumstances to reveal my lost ness, sometimes other people, and even through the movies I watch , and the strangers I meet.   The question I have to answer for myself is why do I stray from what God has told me to do, and to believe.   The answer lies in my old nature, and not my new.  It is like I have a old favorite sweater that is full of blood, sweat, tears, dirt and bacteria from my past.    One day I realize God has given me a gift of a new sweater, it is warm,  cozy, comfortable and allows me a new level of freedom of movement.     After wearing this new sweater for a couple of months,  I begin to long for the old sweater.   It is familiar and used to be comfortable so I take off the new and put on the old.  Despite the smell, and now uncomfortable feeling it gives me after I put it on,   I convince myself I wore this once and there is no reason I shouldn’t were it again.     God has made all things new for us, but we have to choose to follow Him and leave the past behind us.

P -  Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for today’s lesson, may it be sealed to my heart.   Lord I confess I have reached back to who I used to be and put on the old stanky sweater recently and i confess I need to put the past behind me and move on.  I pray Lord you would help me forget the past, and live for the future you have in store for me.   

Simply Trust in the Lord

Simply Trust the Lord

S -  Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.   2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world,    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.  3 You turn people back to dust,    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”4 A thousand years in your sight    are like a day that has just gone by,    or like a watch in the night.(A)   5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—    they are like the new grass of the morning:   6 In the morning it springs up new,    but by evening it is dry and withered. 7 We are consumed by your anger    and terrified by your indignation.   8 You have set our iniquities before you,    our secret sins in the light of your presence.   9 All our days pass away under your wrath;    we finish our years with a moan. 10 Our days may come to seventy years,  or eighty, if our strength endures;yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,   for they quickly pass, and we fly away.  11 If only we knew the power of your anger!    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.  12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?    Have compassion on your servants.  14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,    for as many years as we have seen trouble.   16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,    your splendor to their children.  17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;    establish the work of our hands for us—    yes, establish the work of our hands.

O -  This psalm is a prayer of Moses.  Most likely related to the time that his own brother and sister Miram and Aaron, started questioning why Moses was above them.   God did not hesitate to correct them , bringing them into the tent, rebuking them, and then punishing Miriam with Leprosy.   Moses then out of deep empathy and love came back to the Lord and prayed for forgiveness of their sin and ask for the Lords’s loving kindness to be showered over them.    The observation is to recognize that Moses anointing and being set apart from everyone else out should have been obvious to all the Israelites but even more so to Aaron and Miriam, yet they too sinned despite everything God had shown them, through Moses.   

A -  The application for me is to recognize I am more like Miriam and Aaron than I am Moses.     I have a tendency to forget that God is in control, has anointed leaders who are over me, and has given me a clear and distinct role to play in all that He has planned.   I need not allow circumstances around me to create doubt and insecurity in my head that cause me to doubt God’s plan and by whom He desires to enact which part of His plan.  I must simply trust.

P - Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for today’s lesson , may it be sealed to my heart.  Lord I pray for forgiveness over situations where I have lost faith in your plan and those you have anointed over me.    I pray you would help me be a good steward of the gifts and resources you have given me.  I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.

Following God

 Following God

S- Num 9 NIV

The Cloud Above the Tabernacle

15 On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law,was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire.16 That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire.17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out;wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. 18 At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.   19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out.   21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out.   22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out.   23 At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses. 

O - what a visual example the cloud and fire over the tabernacle gives this, of how God lead, and how his people followed him. The picture Given, what is their reality how they knew God was with them, I. E. They physically could see his presence over-the-tent. And they knew when to move when the cloud lifted and moved, in the new went to settle, when the clouds settled on the tabernacle.

A- The applications for me is to recognize I won’t have a physical representation of God‘s presence in the leadership of my life. However it makes it no less true that  God is with me. In the old testament Israelites needed this cloud and pillar of fire so they would follow. God knew even despite their experiencing being set free from slavery through many miracles, the people were still too immature to follow him all the days. Well today I have the benefit of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior to in sure I know who it is that I am; that I simply seek with the Holy Spirit is doing in me, follow Jesus where he is leading me, and put my trusting God knows the best way for me.

P - dear heavenly father, thank you for this word, may it be sealed to my heart. Lord I repent for all the times that I have not followed you, when your Holy Spirit was prompting me, when I forgot who I was, And sought out my own ways.

A heart after God’s own heart

 Heart after God’s own heart

S -Psalm 23 (NIV)

A psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd,

I lack nothing.

2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3     he refreshes my soul.  

He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,  they comfort me.   

5 You prepare a tablebefore me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.   

6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord    forever. 

O -  David’s poem is one of the most know for a reason.  It cuts to the core of who God is and who we ought to be.     David,  a man after God’s heart shows that we are to position ourselves - heart, mind, and soul in this same way with regard to God. 

A - The application for me is to recognize I can have the same attitude as David, because I believe everything he writes about who God is , and what he does.   He is my Shepherd, and has shepherded me through life even before I knew him.    He has laid me down in green pastures, and led me beside quiet waters to rest and rejuvenate following tough seasons.  He has guided me through the darkest valley’s and never forsaken me.   He has put me before my enemies and provide a way.   He has given me the mantle of leadership at home, at work, and at times in the church.    I have confidence that God will always be with me all of my days, and then forever in eternity.

P - Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for today’s lesson, may it be sealed to my heart.  I  am so grateful for your grace, sacrifice and love and look forward to our walk together into eternity.

Prayer for Protection, Provision, and Pardon

Psalm 25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.

A Psalm of David. 

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in You I trust,
Do not let me be ashamed;
Do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
[a]Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.

4 Make me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day.
6 Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been [b]from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

8 Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the [c]humble in justice,
And He teaches the [d]humble His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will abide in [e]prosperity,
And his [f]descendants will inherit the [g]land.
14 The [h]secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
[i]And He will make them know His covenant.
15 My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will [j]pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am lonely and afflicted.
17 [k]The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses.
18 Look upon my affliction and my [l]trouble,
And forgive all my sins.
19 Look upon my enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all his troubles.

What if I gave everything?

S - What if I gave everything - Casting Crowns

All my life I longed to be a hero
My sword raised high, running to the battle

I was going to take giants down
Be a man you would write about

Deep in my chest is the heart of a warrior

So why am I still standing here
Why am I still holding back from You

I hear You call me out into deeper waters
But I settle on the shallow end

So why am I still standing here

So afraid what it might cost to follow You
I’d walk by faith if I could get these feet to move

But I don’t want to live that way
I don’t want to look back someday

On a life that never stepped across the line

So why am I still standing here
Why am I still holding back from You

You’ve given me a faith that can move a mountain

But I’m still playing in the sand

Building little kingdoms that’ll never stand

I hear You call me out into deeper waters
But I settle on the shallow end

I’m so tired of standing here
What if I gave everything to You

What if I gave everything
What if I stopped holding back from You

Starting now I’m stepping out onto deeper waters

What if I gave everything
What if I stopped holding back from You

Starting now I’m stepping out onto deeper waters

I want to see some mountains move

Ready to give everything

Say goodbye to standing here

O -  This Casting Crowns song spoke to me this morning.  It reminded me of the hero's of legendary faith in the bible like David, Moses, Abraham, Joshua,  Paul - who stepped out boldly and served God.   I can imagine they went through a similar conversation with God as these lyrics represent.   As they were being prepared to serve a part in God's plan for His people, they certainly faced self doubt, self deception, and at times even false sense of self worth. 

A - The application for me is the title of the song.  What if I gave everything.  I find myself asking myself this question because I know I have given my heart to Jesus,  but the question still remains why am I holding back all of me.  I know the answer to that question lies in an underlying fear of losing other parts of me that I have built up without God's help necessarily.   The treasures of security in my job and paycheck from the Navy,  the Castle of my house in Hawaii,  the entitlement of my position as Operations officer at a large Naval Shipyard.   The application remains to lay it all down before the Lord as an offering. None of what I have achieved has come from me but rather through the gifts and talents God has gifted me with, the provision He has provided, and the grace over my mistakes and missteps.  

P - Dear Heavenly Father, I come this morning humbled by what you have done in my life, how you are able to use all of me, in all my weaknesses for your purpose.  My prayer is that you would help me lay it all down before you and give you everything,  all of me and all I have, for all of you.  I pray all this in Jesus Christ name, Amen. 

"Believer" - Imagine Dragons

Believer

Imagine Dragons

Produced by Wolf Cousins, Mattias Larsson,Robin Fredriksson & 2 more

Album Evolve

[Verse 1]
First things first
I'ma say all the words inside my head
I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh-ooh
The way that things have been, oh-ooh
Second things second
Don't you tell me what you think that I could be
I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh
The master of my sea, oh-ooh

[Pre-Chorus]
I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulking to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look to me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the...

[Chorus]
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down and build me up, believer, believer
Pain!
Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer



A -  God often redeems the pain in our lives for his Glory.   Reminder that God works everything for His good, for those who trust Him!

The Truth of the Character of God

The Truth of Gods Character

S - Psalm 19 NASB

1The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2Day to day pours forth speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge. 3There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard. 4Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their utterances to the end of the world.

In them He has placed a tent for the sun, 5Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;

It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. 6Its rising is from one end of the heavens,

And its circuit to the other end of them;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

 7The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. 10They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;

In keeping them there is great reward. 12Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. 13Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;

Let them not rule over me;

Then I will be blameless,

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. 14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

O - There is not much nuance to observe here, this word is direct and in need of no interpretation or context. This is a a timeless simply stated facts about the truth of who God is. 

A - The application for me is to take this TRUTH bomb and let it be implanted into my heart and mind so that it might “grant me peace beyond understanding, and guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

P - Dear Heavenly Father this is my prayer, that your word and your truth would become so real and so apart of how I think and believe,  that it would guard my heart and mind against the enemy of my soul, and the distractions that are in this world.  I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.