Keepers of His Word

As I was reading some passages from Psalm 119 this week, I came across a verse I had read many times that never before spoke to me in the way it did on this particular day. In verse 101, the psalmist makes an incredibly profound statement that I have missed for many years. In the midst of declaring an endearing love and adherence to the word of God, a steadfast commitment to the truth of God, many statements about the benefits of keeping the statutes and judgments of the Lord, the psalmist says, 'I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.' (Psalm 119:101 - NKJV) A seemingly simple statement that has eluded me in it's depth for quite some time. The purity of what the psalmist writes here in not just that he would turn away from actions that are sinful, but that he would 'keep' the word of god. The action of restraining his feet from evil was in order that he would 'keep' the word of God. Often we stop at not sinning as the final accomplishment in keeping His word, but the truth is that keeping the word of God is much more than just a statement of not sinning or turning from a wicked path. It is allowing the seed of the word to grow within us, producing His purpose. Keeping speaks of: holding as one's own; continuing in; maintaining; adhering to; to have the care, charge, or custody of (these are just a few of the definitions for this word). When the psalmist said that he would 'keep' the word of God it was much more than a simple following of do's and don'ts, it was reaching a place of holding the word of God as something dear that we had been entrusted with in order that we would accomplish it by the grace of God. The result of this type of mindset is that there will always be a tangible manifestation of the inward workings of the Father's word and His Spirit. This takes us far beyond not having sin in our lives as the final goal, to the place of the realization of God's destiny for us. The cry of this verse is not just one of, I'll remain pure at all costs, or I'll not go in the way of unbelievers, but the deeper cry is, I will remain pure and set apart to the end that your word will produce in me what it was sent to do; believing that the very utterances of God will prosper in what they were sent to do (Isaiah 55:10-11). Not just keeping us from sinning, but releasing us to establish His kingdom in every area of our lives and in our world at large.

Today, keep your heart with all diligence (Prov. 4:23), be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16), renew your mind (Romans 12:1-2), but remember to do these things not just for the sake of remaining pure or sin-free, but for the sake of his purpose, plan and promise being established in and through our lives as we keep His word.

Worship Defined

Someone sent me this video yesterday and I believe it eclipses anything that I had to say to you for today. This is certainly one of the most powerful video presentations I have seen to date.


Be challenged, encouraged and impacted as you watch.

Harvest is Coming

As we've just enjoyed another time of sowing seed financially in our house, I wanted to delve into this topic a bit and stir our faith. My desire is that we would realize, to the fullest extent, that the words spoken by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:7 are the absolute truth: "God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." The power of this statement uttered by Paul is that it holds true whether we're dealing with positive or negative actions. Acts of kindness, giving money, loving someone, forgiving others and serving others are all excellent opportunities to declare our faith and love for our God and others. These acts will produce a great harvest of the same, and even more, back into our lives. In contrast, sinful actions, disobedience, unkindness, selfishness and unforgiveness are certain to produce a harvest as well. Even though we sometimes wish that only positive actions produced a harvest, the reality is that everything we do is a seed sown which will inevitably have its day of being harvested. Just like the farmers bringing in the stalks of corn, bales of wheat and other crops, we will undoubtedly "reap in due season if we don't lose heart." (Galatians 6:9)

As I bring this short post to a close, my desire for us all is that we take seriously the reality of seedtime and harvest. In our service to one another, in our examination of our lives, in our obedience to the word of the Father, in our giving, in all things let us sow good seed, not lose faith and expect the harvest (a.k.a. return on our investments) to come in the timing that God establishes.

Excuse Me

Lately I have been more stirred to eliminate any form of excuse from my life due to the climate of our nation. It seems that more and more people, Christians and non-Christians alike are willing to shift blame for their circumstance, their socioeconomic status, spiritual growth or lack thereof (this list could go on and on for days, but I won't do that to you) onto someone else. With busy schedules, responsibilities and unexpected difficulties we face, it can become incredibly easy to buy into the thought process that says, "It's not my fault" or "I couldn't help it" or "With everything I have going on, I just couldn't do it." We seem to have excuses for everything that we don't accomplish or things that we simply choose not to do. With all of these thing considered, I have been freshly stirred by my friend Jim McKenzie to examine myself in the area of personal responsibility. [Take a look at this post if you have some time, it's a great read, full of fun satire: http://revolutionaryparenting.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-was-going-to-write-my-blog-but-i.html]

In light of personal responsibility, the fundamental question I believe we need to ask ourselves before we ever make an excuse for something is: Was there any way I could have positively affected this situation? It could be about being on time, being debt free, avoiding a temptation that the enemy places in front of you, helping someone, finishing a book, studying your Bible, praying for someone, encouraging someone, spending time with a friend or loved one, or a host of other situations. Regardless of what is, we must be willing to allow the responsibility for something we could have avoided or changed to fall squarely in our lap. By doing this we become those who truly take dominion as God called us to in Genesis 1:28. Until we have that mindset, excuses will plague us throughout life and lead us into a place of mediocrity. Now don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean living in a place of continual defeat and discouragement because we beat ourselves up about all of the things we've failed in. Instead, we take the 'high road' as a certain smiling preacher from Texas often says. Rather than succumbing to mediocrity, we strive for excellence and the extraordinary. We can be like Paul as he spoke in Hebrews 6 when he said, "...we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation..." We must be confident of better things concerning ourselves and those around us and take responsibility to apply the word of God to our lives by the leading of His Spirit in order to see them fulfilled.

The great thing about living in God's Kingdom is that there is no question about God's heart for us. In Jeremiah 29:11 he tells us that his plans and thoughts for us are good. To give us a hope and a future. We also know that His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Therefore, I humbly submit to you that excuses should not be a part of how we live. God has not only called us to great things, but graced us to accomplish them. Excuses aside, be all that He's called and graced you to be so that you can honor and glorify Him with every part of your life.

What are You Looking At?

Today's blog title is often posed as a negative question. We'll hear this statement uttered when a person feels as if they're being singled out or potentially mocked because someone is looking at them in a funny or strange way. I, however would like to take a different approach to this question and pose it as a point of life introspection. In your daily life, in your work, in your ministry, in all you do, the question is: What are you looking at? Do you look at circumstances? Examples from the world? Goals that society tells you are worthwhile? A negative image of yourself? A limitation of what you can accomplish? My proposition for you today is today is to look away from all of these things and to look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2 - NKJV).

So much of our lives can be driven by what we see, which often leaves us falsely secure, misled and eventually discouraged just to name a few. Rather than taking the course of being visually driven by the world around us, we must embrace the challenge to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. The reality of that statement is that all of what we look to Jesus for will be found in the word of God. Those words, both written and spoken, will set us apart from those who are driven by the imagery they take in with their natural eyes. Father God spoke to us in Deuteronomy 8:3 saying that "... man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. That statement was also echoed by Jesus in Matthew 4 when He was tempted by Satan. Even Jesus, in a moment of temptation, due to what he saw with His eyes, declared that the source of life does not come from what we see and partake of, but the words of life that we receive. The true manifestation of looking to Jesus is not about what we see with our natural eyes, but the word we hear and obey.

Regardless of what we see with our eyes, we must be willing to take a deeper look at life through the lens of scripture and the discernment by the Holy Spirit within us. This will always ensure that we are embracing what Father God has to say so we can be certain that we are walking in His ways and not a worldly counterfeit. As the old hymn says:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace (Helen H. Lemmel)

Remember, Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith so who better to look to for guidance and direction in all things.