It’s pretty gloomy out there isn’t it? I’m not talking about the weather; I’m talking about the state of the union, our nation.
To hear some speak the end is near and God is no longer on His throne. He has forgotten America and His Church here. While God has removed His hand of protection from America, at least in some part, He can still be trusted to save us.
Today is February 1st, which means it is the first day of February. That means today will be the first day of the succeeding 28 days of February (2012 Is a leap year). So that means we are starting February 2012 today.
You’re probably thinking I must be starving for a topic on which to write. Actually, God gave me this topic as I opened my eyes and laid in bed after my alarm awoke me. God told me He wanted me to write about beginnings. Why? Because everything starts somewhere. There is always a beginning.
The Lord Jesus Christ teaches us how powerful love can be. We have all heard of the cases where a child lifts up the back of an automobile to rescue his father who has knocked the car of its jack. This kind of power is supernatural; it is not something of which man is normally capable. Another amazing display of love is the power it can bring out in us when it comes to laying down our lives for those we love. That love drove my son to face a fierce enemy, both physical and spiritual. Jesus said:
The Lord gave me a lot to meditate on after yesterday’s devotional. I ended it by writing “I must never forget to live through my Savior.” How is that possible? Well, let’s look closer at what is my daughter Tiffany and many others’ life verse:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Early voting started this past Saturday in Florida. And yesterday we began being inundated with ads by a SuperPAC that supports Mitt Romney. To say these ads were full of half-truths would be generous.
That’s the one thing that bothers you the most about politics, isn’t it dear Christian? You cannot stand all the lies and mudslinging. As my sweet bride always says, “I want to hear what each candidate’s plan is to help turn our country around.”
Today is my grandson Benjamin’s third birthday. It is hard to believe that little guy is three until you spend some time with him. He is all of three years old and then some. He is also a miracle in my life; part of the abundant joys the Lord provides in my life.
The miracle of joy I experienced on January 9, 2009 came 478 days after I spent one of my worse days on earth. That was the day I lost my only son. In between those days, the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to me (and still is) in ways I could not imagine. He showed me how it was an act of mercy that He took Eddie home to be with Him. He also showed me that although I had lost my only son, through my son-in-law and grandson He had given me two more sons.
There is an old urban legend (meaning I don’t know if it is true or not) about Lee Trevino being approached by a woman who told the famed golfer that her little baby needed an operation or the baby would die. Lee gave the woman a few thousand dollars for the operation and later it was discovered the woman was a scam artist. When “The Merry Mex” Trevino was told of the scam, he reportedly replied, “Oh so you mean the baby isn’t going to die, that’s wonderful!”
That is what you call being generous to a fault!
How do I go about changing the way I think about my material goods, and that includes our income, homes, automobiles, boats, toys, etc.? Well Paul told the Philippians earlier in this chapter to be anxious for nothing. We must have a thankful heart for all we have and not dwell on the things we don’t.
We should also look at others who have less than us with some sympathy, even if they’ve placed themselves in their current predicament. Now I am not advocating that we enable bad behavior, but that person is in his or her bad place because of a lack of Biblical wisdom.
What causes stinking thinking, and just as important, how do we clear it up?
First, we use worldly principles to guide our thoughts and actions. Even as Christians we can get to the point that the world’s point of view governs our actions. One example is how Christians elected to office end up rolling over to a godless edict sent down from the courts. To bow at the steps of an unlawful judicial ruling not only is godless, it is also unconstitutional.
I woke up with a song in my head that I was listening to yesterday. It is Chris Tomlin’s “My Soul Magnifies The Lord.” Here is a YouTube video of the song with the lyrics:
In February 2007, The Barna Group did a fascinating study titled “American Lifestyles Mix Compassion and Self-Oriented Behavior” which revealed mixed traits of Americans that showed a “willingness to sacrifice and impulses toward self-oriented behaviors.” We as a nation, according to this study, display a strange dichotomy of beliefs and behaviors.
I have seen this mix in the church as well. It is a struggle, at least in my own life, to walk the talk as well as talk the walk. I could probably blame a number of reasons on my inconsistent Christian life, but as Karen and I were talking about with friends yesterday at lunch, my own flesh can be all the enemy I need. I too often grumble and mumble about things I should be praising God for, because they are blessings in my life. Paul warned against grumbling and mumbling:
Yesterday we talked about vanity and presuming upon tomorrow. I got a lot of responses testifying to how this has manifested itself in a number of lives. Last night I got a text from my best friend since the sixth grade and brother in Christ Don Roberts asking for prayer for one of his church brothers who had just been killed in a motorcycle accident. Please continue to be in prayer for the Pena Family as they deal with the loss of Juan.
So should we use apologetics, that is the defense of Christianity, with an atheist? Well let me ask you this question, similar to what our new friend Mrs. J asks in the book Unexpected Journey by Thom Rainer. Did you learn about apologetics before you acquired faith and was it apologetics that caused you to have faith?
So how can we actually reach out to someone who is intent on destroying Christianity? Or how do we reach out to someone who is apathetic towards God? Like we do with any person we first meet, we build a relationship.
Mark Harris’ music is very special to the Jeffers Family. I’ve used two of Mark’s songs in videos I did right after Eddie died. Karen and I have had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Mark on two occasions, the last one just three weeks ago. He is a very godly man and lives his faith out loud. One of his songs is appropriate for today’s devotional on lifestyle evangelism. The chorus of Mark’s song “Use Words” explains:
The question that is this morning’s title is a form of the Socratic method of evangelism. You begin by asking a person what they believe, and then use a continuation of other questions to get their beliefs “on record.” William Fay, author of “Sharing Jesus Without Fear”, has used this method with great success. It is by far my favorite method. It is also a method used by Jesus:
I realize I should have assigned both chapters 1 & 2 of Romans as we look at the first two verses of chapter 2:
Let’s go back to our foundational verse and this is the foundational verse of our new venture starting in three weeks.
I was once told by someone, and no doubt you’ve heard a variation of this, that he did not need to go to church because he had a personal relationship with God and he just did church at home. What do you say to that? God simply had me ask this person a simple question: “How’s that working out for you?” Silence was the answer.
Why is our nation in the state it is? Many blame this political party while that party blames the other party. The church blames the atheists and the atheists blame the church. Seems like there’s a lot of finger-pointing going on these days. The concept of personal responsibility long ago left American society with Dr. Spock’s admonition to not spank children, the government enabling bad personal behavior, and the mainstreaming of immorality, just to name a few.
