"Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord." Jonah 3:1-3
We all know what it is like to make a mistake. Many times we find ourselves wide of where we should be and what we should be doing. There are times when this is a result of pure unintended accident and times when it is through malicious rebelliousness. In any case, having had the opportunity to rethink our decision, usually due to consequences that range from guilt to something, let us say, a bit more substantial, there is not much we would not do for a second chance.
The good news beloved, is that more often than not, our God is a God of second chances. Time after time, His people have gone against Him, betrayed Him, been disobedient to Him and even left Him. And time after time, He has come to their aid. For one example of this, see Judges 10. Our God is long suffering toward us and loving of us in ways that some could not possibly understand and others no only to well.
Let us not take his kindness for granted. Our goal should ever be to live our lives in a way that second chances are not needed. That having been said, it is good to know that they, through the grace of God, are available to us.
In Revival,
Lee
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
What's It All About?-DD 9/29/2010
"This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me." Matt 5:23, 24
Many of us feel that if we "go to church," sing the songs, pray the prayers, drop a few bucks into the basket, listen to the message and take the communion, we are doing all that God requires of us. Of course we need to be "good people" and "do the right thing" but for the most part, we are in pretty good shape.
Others feel that all they have to do is (say they) believe. It is not even necessary to "go to church" because the people there are a bunch of hypocrites anyway. They get their morality from televangelists or worse, their own reasoning.
In reality, Christianity is about a relationship and in any positive, healthy relationship, there are a few things that are required. First, it needs to be sincere. We can all spot a fake, God more than any of us. For some it may take a little time, but insincerity will always be able to be discerned sooner or later. Second, it requires effort. Healthy relationships involve both give and take and that not always in equal measure. Similarly, sacrifice is almost always required in one way or the other. No party has things their way all the time, but willingly gives another priority at their own expense from time to time. Finally, positive and healthy relationships require some sort of structure. Whatever they may be, their are agreed to rules of behavior and interaction that define the relationship and govern the activities thereof.
Beloved, this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. I am sure we could all come up with a number of other things that would be true. The point is that it is not about "going to church." It is about participating in a relationship with both God and siblings in the faith. And it is about doing so with sincerity of heart rather than just going through the motions.
In Revival,
Lee
Many of us feel that if we "go to church," sing the songs, pray the prayers, drop a few bucks into the basket, listen to the message and take the communion, we are doing all that God requires of us. Of course we need to be "good people" and "do the right thing" but for the most part, we are in pretty good shape.
Others feel that all they have to do is (say they) believe. It is not even necessary to "go to church" because the people there are a bunch of hypocrites anyway. They get their morality from televangelists or worse, their own reasoning.
In reality, Christianity is about a relationship and in any positive, healthy relationship, there are a few things that are required. First, it needs to be sincere. We can all spot a fake, God more than any of us. For some it may take a little time, but insincerity will always be able to be discerned sooner or later. Second, it requires effort. Healthy relationships involve both give and take and that not always in equal measure. Similarly, sacrifice is almost always required in one way or the other. No party has things their way all the time, but willingly gives another priority at their own expense from time to time. Finally, positive and healthy relationships require some sort of structure. Whatever they may be, their are agreed to rules of behavior and interaction that define the relationship and govern the activities thereof.
Beloved, this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. I am sure we could all come up with a number of other things that would be true. The point is that it is not about "going to church." It is about participating in a relationship with both God and siblings in the faith. And it is about doing so with sincerity of heart rather than just going through the motions.
In Revival,
Lee
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Perseverance-DD 9/28/2010
"So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son." Ruth 4:13
The simplicity of this verse belies the rich tapestry of events that occurred to make it possible. You may recall that Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi. Through the course of time, Naomi's husband died, as did each of her three sons. Naomi encouraged her daughters-in-law to return to their own land and their own people, not being Jews, and make what they could out of the rest of their lives. Only Ruth refused, and pledged her undying love to her mother-in-law. In fact, the words she used can be heard in many a wedding ceremony to this day.
There were a number of different challenges that the women faced. In those days, to have no husband or son to care for you meant death from neglect of the basic needs of life. Naomi, however, instructed Ruth in the way she should go and the things she should do. The scripture of the day reveals the end result. The subsequent passage reveals that this Moabite woman is found in the lineage of Christ.
Beloved, tough times befall us all. There are many things that happen to us that are beyond our control. In such situations where we have been perhaps victimized, we have two choices. We can give up and go back to the life we once lived or we can persevere and put our faith in God. Should we chose perseverance, we will not find ourselves in the lineage of Christ, but we will find ourselves co-heirs with him as fellow sons and daughters of God.
In Revival,
Lee
The simplicity of this verse belies the rich tapestry of events that occurred to make it possible. You may recall that Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi. Through the course of time, Naomi's husband died, as did each of her three sons. Naomi encouraged her daughters-in-law to return to their own land and their own people, not being Jews, and make what they could out of the rest of their lives. Only Ruth refused, and pledged her undying love to her mother-in-law. In fact, the words she used can be heard in many a wedding ceremony to this day.
There were a number of different challenges that the women faced. In those days, to have no husband or son to care for you meant death from neglect of the basic needs of life. Naomi, however, instructed Ruth in the way she should go and the things she should do. The scripture of the day reveals the end result. The subsequent passage reveals that this Moabite woman is found in the lineage of Christ.
Beloved, tough times befall us all. There are many things that happen to us that are beyond our control. In such situations where we have been perhaps victimized, we have two choices. We can give up and go back to the life we once lived or we can persevere and put our faith in God. Should we chose perseverance, we will not find ourselves in the lineage of Christ, but we will find ourselves co-heirs with him as fellow sons and daughters of God.
In Revival,
Lee
Monday, September 27, 2010
Prioritizing God-DD 9/27/2010
"A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.' "Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' "Another one said, ' I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.'" Luke 14:16-20
It is true that God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. All the people of the earth are blessed in one way or the other. We as Christians enjoy additionally spiritual blessings that are unavailable to those who fail to call upon the name of the Lord.
Our problem can sometimes be that we enjoy our temporal blessings so much that we forget about He who bestowed them upon us. We prioritize the gift over the giver. We become distracted easily and lose focus on who we are, what we should be doing and how we are to live our lives. In the Old Testament, this was called idolatry. In effect, it is the same thing under the new covenant.
Beloved, blessings are wonderful things. They are made even more so by the fact that most of them are designed to be shared. Whether it is with those who are in need or not, we never experience God's blessings in a vacuum. We should never take them for granted and allow them to cause us to lose sight of our main objective, serving God.
This passage of scripture goes on to reveal that God becomes angry, calls those who are most needy to the banquet and permanently shuts out those who squandered His opportunity.
Where are your priorities?
In Revival,
Lee Lewis
It is true that God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. All the people of the earth are blessed in one way or the other. We as Christians enjoy additionally spiritual blessings that are unavailable to those who fail to call upon the name of the Lord.
Our problem can sometimes be that we enjoy our temporal blessings so much that we forget about He who bestowed them upon us. We prioritize the gift over the giver. We become distracted easily and lose focus on who we are, what we should be doing and how we are to live our lives. In the Old Testament, this was called idolatry. In effect, it is the same thing under the new covenant.
Beloved, blessings are wonderful things. They are made even more so by the fact that most of them are designed to be shared. Whether it is with those who are in need or not, we never experience God's blessings in a vacuum. We should never take them for granted and allow them to cause us to lose sight of our main objective, serving God.
This passage of scripture goes on to reveal that God becomes angry, calls those who are most needy to the banquet and permanently shuts out those who squandered His opportunity.
Where are your priorities?
In Revival,
Lee Lewis
Friday, September 24, 2010
No Middle Ground-DD 9/24/2010
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."
Rev 3:15-16
Far too often, our Christianity consist of lip service. We behave as if claiming to be a Christian or claiming to believe in God is all that is needed. We construct our own customized religion in which everything we like, goes, regardless of whether it is right according to the word of God. We rarely trouble ourselves with the real work of the Lord and life of the Christian.
Sure, we go to church, some even regularly. But in so doing, we are merely checking a mental box as if to say, "I've done my duty for the week and as long as I keep doing that, I'll make it to heaven." We might not sing when we go to worship. We might not fellowship with the saints nor give heed to he message through which we sleep. We might not pray or give either, but we are there and that's enough isn't it? In reality, we are trying to eat our cake and still have it.
Beloved, this is the very definition of being lukewarm. We want to do just enough to make it. You should know that "just enough" never is. Jesus says that he would rather you be completely turned off of him than sort of into him. In fact, knowing better but not doing better is worse than not doing at all. In so doing we delude ourselves and cook up a recipe for spiritual disaster. Imagine being spewed out of God's mouth like something that has sickened his stomach.
Heat up.
Catch fire.
Burn bright.
In Revival,
Lee
Rev 3:15-16
Far too often, our Christianity consist of lip service. We behave as if claiming to be a Christian or claiming to believe in God is all that is needed. We construct our own customized religion in which everything we like, goes, regardless of whether it is right according to the word of God. We rarely trouble ourselves with the real work of the Lord and life of the Christian.
Sure, we go to church, some even regularly. But in so doing, we are merely checking a mental box as if to say, "I've done my duty for the week and as long as I keep doing that, I'll make it to heaven." We might not sing when we go to worship. We might not fellowship with the saints nor give heed to he message through which we sleep. We might not pray or give either, but we are there and that's enough isn't it? In reality, we are trying to eat our cake and still have it.
Beloved, this is the very definition of being lukewarm. We want to do just enough to make it. You should know that "just enough" never is. Jesus says that he would rather you be completely turned off of him than sort of into him. In fact, knowing better but not doing better is worse than not doing at all. In so doing we delude ourselves and cook up a recipe for spiritual disaster. Imagine being spewed out of God's mouth like something that has sickened his stomach.
Heat up.
Catch fire.
Burn bright.
In Revival,
Lee
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Spiritual Development-DD 9/23/2010
"But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." Heb 5:14
Beloved, Christianity is about growing and maturing. To be sure, we are all babes out of baptism that need to be feed milk from the bottle. There is so much to learn and so much to understand. But if years hence we are still on that milk rather than having advanced to strong meat, we would have become stunted in our growth and would have failed to live up to both our potential and our responsibilities. Imagine having to feed and diaper a 10 year old. We would regard them as having serious developmental problems.
Let us not exemplify these things in our Christian walk. We must leave the rudimentary elements of the basic faith and advance in our knowledge, understanding and practices. Surely we must crawl before we can walk, but we are called upon to eventually run.
In Revival,
Lee
Beloved, Christianity is about growing and maturing. To be sure, we are all babes out of baptism that need to be feed milk from the bottle. There is so much to learn and so much to understand. But if years hence we are still on that milk rather than having advanced to strong meat, we would have become stunted in our growth and would have failed to live up to both our potential and our responsibilities. Imagine having to feed and diaper a 10 year old. We would regard them as having serious developmental problems.
Let us not exemplify these things in our Christian walk. We must leave the rudimentary elements of the basic faith and advance in our knowledge, understanding and practices. Surely we must crawl before we can walk, but we are called upon to eventually run.
In Revival,
Lee
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
In Times of Pain-DD 9/22/2010
"Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,
and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
Jesus wept.
So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"
But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
So they removed the stone Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
"I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." John 11:32-42
In a time when we are at our lowest and most hurt, it is comforting to know that our Savior has been there. He has experienced all that we have experienced and was yet without sin. He maintained his faith and confidence in the Father as also seen in the Garden of Gethsemane. Most importantly, he cares for us when we experience our own deep hurts and disappointments.
It is best when we let the Spirit speak through the word, for therein lies peace, comfort, truth, love and healing. Let us rely even more heavily on the scripture today by simply amplifying points that are represented in this passage.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,
and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
Jesus wept.
So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"
But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
So they removed the stone Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
"I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." John 11:32-42
In a time when we are at our lowest and most hurt, it is comforting to know that our Savior has been there. He has experienced all that we have experienced and was yet without sin. He maintained his faith and confidence in the Father as also seen in the Garden of Gethsemane. Most importantly, he cares for us when we experience our own deep hurts and disappointments.
It is best when we let the Spirit speak through the word, for therein lies peace, comfort, truth, love and healing. Let us rely even more heavily on the scripture today by simply amplifying points that are represented in this passage.
- Jesus is aware of our suffering and comes to our aid
- He is personally affected on both spiritual and emotional levels
- He weeps for our pain and his own that is rooted in his love for us
- There were others present who cared enough to lend their support
- Jesus encourages us to remain faithful
- He reminds us of his teaching
- He maintains his connection to Father
- He (subsequently) heals and restores
Beloved, we experience and endure many things in our lives. Some of these things are due to our own actions and some over which we have no control. The key is to maintain our faith regardless of what brought us to these points in our lives and rest in the knowledge that we serve a God that knows, cares and heals.
In Revival
Lee
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