PRIORITIES

Depending on how God has wired you, you may be the kind of man who sets goals and has a plan for your life. Some of us set goals during the last days of the year as we think through the year looming before us. Some of us are disciplined enough that we have check points throughout the year to see where we are in terms of meeting and reaching our goals, and depending on the outcomes, make mid-course corrections so that we stay on track.

For many of us, life is like a treadmill that has been stuck on a fast speed and somehow we cannot get the control bottom to slow down. We constantly running and never quite able to catch up. When I first started in ministry at America’s KESWICK, I realized that every day was going to be an adventure. And you know what, over a month in my tenth year, it is still true. I cannot say that any day has been “boring.” There are some days that I find myself saying, “It would be nice to get to the end of the day and say, ‘I was bored.'”

With all that is going on in our lives, how do we stay focused? How do we keep from losing control and the perspective we need to stay on track? One of the ways is too established priorities in our lives. For many years I heard that my priorities should be God first, family second, and then work/ministry. Quite honestly, while that sounds good, it isn’t always to follow.

Oswald Chambers helped clarify priorities for me several years ago and I have turned down the corned of the page on the July 13th reading as each year when I read this devotional, it becomes for me my mid-year course correction:

“Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, ‘In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one by You.”

If we are really honest with ourselves, usually the first priority on our list seems to take the backseat. We get caught up in the stuff of life and our time with God gets put on the backburner. Yeah, we want to do it, but we oversleep or we get a late start. So we say, “I’ll do it later . . .” and later never comes.

Several years ago I was really stressed and came home from work to find that Zach wanted my undivided attention as soon as I walked in the door. I had a long day and had spent considerable time dealing with people issues. I really wanted some space to debrief and pull myself together. To my shame, I was very short with him and in a snippy voice said, “Can’t you give me twenty minutes of quiet so I can get my thoughts together?” Deflated, he left the room. Ten minutes later, the phone rang and it was a staff member asking me if I could meet with a man from the Colony who was in distress. I told Jan that I had to go and meet with him and an hour later returned to a very icy house. I could tell as soon as I walked in the door that I had stepped into a freezer.

Jan made this remark that whacked me on the side of the head: “We are tired of getting the leftovers!” Well, my friend, as you think about the priorities of your life, I want to suggest that God doesn’t want the leftovers! He needs to become our number 1#, number #2, and number #3 priority. And you know what I am discovering? When that happens all the other issues of life begin to fall into proper place, and life, even though it may feel like a treadmill, is easier to handle.

What are your priorities today? Maybe today is the day to make a mid-course correction in your life.

FEAR NOT

“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, HE is the one who goes WITH you. He will not leave you or forsake you. The Lord, HE IS the one who goes BEFORE you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord Your God is with you wherever you go. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and HE shall direct your paths. He HIMSELF has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ So we may BOLDLY say: ‘The Lord IS my helper; I WILL NOT FEAR.” (Exodus 33:14; Deut. 31:6,8; Joshua 1:9; Proverbs 3:6; Hebrews 13:5-6)

I was reminded this morning in my quiet time that “fear is a powerful controller. It either compels is to do what is IRRESPONSIBLE or it impedes us from living RESPONSIBLY . . . The most frequent command of Jesus in the Gospels is, ‘FEAR NOT.’ In anticipation of Israel’s entrance into the Promised Land, God tells His people four times, ‘BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS’ (Joshua 1). The writer of Proverbs says, ‘The wicked flee when NO ONE is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.’ (Proverbs 28:1).

The fact that God doesn’t look favorably on cowards and unbelievers is made evident in Revelation 21:8: “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’ Does it surprise you that cowardly, unbelieving people are listed in the rogue’s gallery with murderers and liars?

It is characteristic of the Spirit-filled life to be BOLD (“When they gathered, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the Word of God with BOLDNESS.” Acts 4:31) The early church did not pray for ‘divine appointments,’; they prayed for BOLDNESS. God’s kingdom can only be established by faithful courageous people.” Adapted from Neil T. Anderson’s reading for July 12th from DAILY IN CHRIST — A DEVOTIONAL

Is there an area in your life were you are fearful today? Listen to these words and apply them to your heart: FEAR NOT!

HOW HUNGRY AND THIRSTY ARE YOU THIS MORNING?

Advertisers have been using subliminal advertising techniques for years to cause people to go out and buy their products. When I was working on the staff at Sandy Cove, one of our staff members would head to the vending machine room right before a big group check-in and put a bag a popcorn in the microwave. The smell would soon waft its way into the lobby and before you knew it, people were heading to the vending machine room to buy a bag of popcorn.

Since I struggle in the area of food, just the thoughts of certain foods can make be hungry. The more I think about it — hmmmm — what food does that for you? A crispy cream donut? A gelati at Rita’s? A steak at Charlie Browns? Right now a good donut and a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee are causing my stomach to rumble.

The real question this morning is are you hungry and thirsty for the only ONE that can satisfy the hunger and thirst of your soul? Those hunger and thirst pangs are there and we so try to fill them with other stuff rather than run to the only ONE who can take care of the longing of our soul. Listen to some verses of Scripture that were a part of my daily quiet time this morning:

HE satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. You have TASTED that the LORD is gracious. O God, You are my God; eagerly will I seek You; my soul THIRSTS for YOU; my flesh LONGS for YOU in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for YOU in the sanctuary, to see YOUR power and YOUR glory. My soul LONGS for YOU, yes even FAINTS for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the LIVING GOD. (Psalm 107:9; 1 Peter 2:3; Psalm 63:1-2; Psalm 84:2).

My friend, HE IS THE ONE who can quench the thirst of your soul. HE IS THE ONE who can satisfy the hunger in your heart. Thousands of men are using internet porn to fill their hungry souls. Others use drugs and alcohol. Allow HIM to fill you today. Get in the Word this morning and allow Him to fill you with HIS presence. You will be filled and satisfied, desiring more and more of HIM — and He is carb and calorie free!!!

Good words for you to consider today. God bless.

GROW IN GRACE

Grandparenting and gardening have a lot in common. Last week I had an opportunity to spend a couple of hours with my grandson, Tanner, and my granddaughter, Lindsay. It has only been a few weeks since I have seen them, but I was amazed and how much they have grown. Tanner’s vocabulary has increased and his little brain is going a mile a minute. And Lindsay, just born several weeks ago, has already grown and changed in appearance.

Our daughter Julie is expecting in September with our third grandchild, and we have had the fun of watching Emma grow and seeing her growth through ultra-sound pictures. Growth is important in the development of our kids.

I have enjoyed gardening more and more each year (I’m getting old!) and this year we expanded our garden. I don’t really know where my head was, but we put in over 18 tomato plants. The area that we are using for our garden is our old chicken yard. Last year the chicken were running around and, well let’s just say, that chicken droppings makes the best fertilizer. At the end of our garden last summer, Zach and I tossed the rotten tomatoes into the old chicken yard as they love vegetables. So guess what — we have 10 or 12 additional tomato plants that I didn’t plant.

In mid-June we went to Minnesota for a visit and before I left, I used Miracle Gro on my garden plants. During our time away, one of our maintenance guys who cares for our grounds, decided that he should put stuff on my plants to help them grow. The result? Tomatoes on steroids. I have plants that are taller than me with very thick stems and they are loaded with tomatoes.

Like babies and tomatoes, we should be growing in our walk with the Lord. Peter prayed that we would “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18). One of the ways we grow is to be fertilized with the WORD OF GOD. That’s why it is so important for you to spend time each day in God’s WORD.
The MIRACLE GRO of God’s WORD will help you grow and mature into the man that God wants you to be. As my good friend, Dr. John DeBrine, host of the daily radio program SONGTIME says, “If we don’t grow, we will groan!”

Are you growing in your spiritual life? If not, purpose today to get into the Word and allow it to fertilize your life.

We all have met them. People who claim that they don’t believe that God even exists. How do we reach them? Dr. Ron Rhodes shares how we can effectively reach atheists and agnostics on this weeks KESWICK TODAY broadcasts. Listen in right from our website: http://www.americaskeswick.org.

MAINTAINING YOUR FREEDOM

“It was for FREEDOM that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

“The Revolutionary War was a hard-fought battle, and many lives were lost in order to ensure the freedom of our country. There is always a price to pay for freedom, and the moment we take our freedom for granted, we run the risk of losing it.

Freedom in Christ from our sinful nature and the god of this world is the inheritance of every believer. Christ has set you free through His victory over sin and death on the cross. But if you have lost a measure of your freedom because you have failed to stand firm in the faith or you have disobeyed God, it is your responsibility to do whatever is necessary to maintain a right relationship with God. Your ETERNAL DESTINY is not at stake; you are secure in Christ. But your DAILY VICTORY in Him will be tenuous at best if you fail to assume your responsibility to maintain your freedom in Christ.

Remember: You are not the helpless victim of a tug-of-war between two nearly equal superpowers. Compared to Satan’s LIMITED attributes, God is IMMEASURABLE in His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience — and you are united with Him! Sometimes the reality of sin and the presence of evil may seem more real than the reality and presence of God, but that’s part of Satan’s DECEPTION. HE IS A DEFEATED FOE, and we are in Christ the eternal VICTOR. That’s why we worship God; to keep His divine attributes constantly before us in order to counter Satan’s lies. A true knowledge of God and our identity in Christ is the greatest determinant of our mental health. A false concept of God and the misplaced deification of Satan are the greatest contributors to mental illness. Are you walking in freedom today? — from Neil Anderson’s writings, DAILY IN CHRIST–A DAILY DEVOTIONAL.

There is a story told that during the Civil War when freedom from slavery was secured that many slaves continued to suffer oppression and bondage because they didn’t know that they had been freed! That’s the way many of us are living. My friend — CHRIST HAS SET YOU FREE FROM THE BONDAGE TO SIN! Now live like a free man!

Have a great Lord’s Day.

GRACE … IT’S AMAZING

We talk about it. We sing about it. But do we really comprehend it? The word is used 150 times in the New Testament so it must be important. Here are ten amazing realities of grace that Richard Blackaby, shares in his new book, PUTTING A FACE ON GRACE … LIVING A LIFE WORTH PASSING ON:

1. Grace is a gift of kindness given to someone who does not deserve it.
2. Grace is not reciprocal. It goes one way.
3. Grace is costly. Someone has to pay for grace.
4. Grace looks at what people CAN become and seeks to help them reach their potential. Grace does not condemn those who have not yet arrived.
5. Grace focuses on SOLUTIONS, not problems.
6. Grace leads to action.
7. Grace is what motivates God to relate to us moment by moment with perfect love. God looks at us through eyes of grace. If He didn’t, we wouldn’t have no hope.
8. Grace is the lubricant that eases friction in any relationship.
9. Grace expects the best but offers freedom to fail.
10. Grace celebrates success and does not keep score of wrong things.

The songwriter expressed it this way:

Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it,
Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden,
Setting my spirit free,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient grace for even me!
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than ALL my sin and shame!
O magnify the precious name of Jesus,
PRAISE HIS NAME!

Good truth to ponder throughout today as we prepare our hearts to gather with the body of Christ to worship corporately on the Lord’s day.

Sunday afternoon concert: Composer, arranger, organist, pianist, Harold DeCou, in concert, Sunday afternoon, July 9th at America’s KESWICK. 3:00 PM

DON’T WORRY

I have shared with you on numerous occasions that I have struggled at times with worry! I come from a long line of worriers. My grandmother thought that worry was a spiritual gift and she possessed it.

The past several days have been stressful for us, as our kids have moved from Minnesota to New Hampshire and Jan (my wife) flew out to help them with the long drive. There were lots of crazy things going on, and each day seemed to bring more and more stress. The more stress resulted in more fatigue, and with the fatigue, the old monster of worry came in like a flood.

One of the amazing aspects of a daily devotional life is how the Spirit of God knows what we need and when we need it. On the morning when the “worry monster” seemed to be hanging over my head, this was the reading for the day from my friend, Oswald Chambers (If you haven’t figured it out — Chambers is one of my favorite guys!):

“Do not fret — it only causes harm!” — Psalm 37:8

“Fretting mean getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, ‘Do not fret,’ but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It is easy to say, ‘Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him’ (37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people.

Is it possible to ‘rest in the Lord’ then? This ‘Do Not’ must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.

Worry always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worries and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.

Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and ‘abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’ (Psalm 91:1). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.” from My Utmost for His Highest

Well, God spoke to my heart! I needed that message. Thank You, Lord, that YOU KNOW exactly what your kids need.

Maybe this is something YOU NEED today. I trust it will bless and encourage your heart. Don’t worry!

SECRET SINS AND MY PRAYER LIFE

“All Christians have their secret sins. Psalm 19:12: ‘Who can understand
his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.” O friends! Who can
reckon up the secret imaginations, the secret inclinations, or the
secret pride, the secret blasphemies, the secret hypocrites, the secret
murmurings, the secret filthiness, the secret discontentment’s, the
secret unbelievings that God might every day charge upon his soul!
Should the best and holiest man on earth have but his secret sins every
day written on his forehead, it would not only make him blush, but it
would make him pull his hat over his eyes, or cover his face with a
double scarf.

Sin is the greatest plague in the world, but never more dangerous when
it reaches the heart. Secret sins commonly lie nearest the hear, the
fount from where that take a quick, immediate, and continual supply . .
. And as every secret sin lies nearest the heart, so every secret sin is
the PLAGUE of the heart.

And as all Christians have their secret sins, so all Christians have
their secret temptations. And as they have their secret temptations, so
they have their secret needs; yea often they have such particular and
personal needs that there is not one in the congregation, nor one in the
family, that has the same. And as they have their secret needs, so they
have their secret fears, and secret snares, and secret trials, and
secret troubles, and secret doubts, and secret jealousies! And how do
all these things call aloud upon every Christian to be frequent and
constant in secret prayer!” — The Secret Key to Heaven by Puritan
Thomas Brooks

Is there a secret sin in your life? Confess it to the Lord and live in
freedom! Taking care of secret sin will have a profound impact upon your
prayer life.

Good words for your consideration.

SATAN HATES WHEN I PRAY

I keep asking myself the question, why is praying such hard work?
Shouldn’t it be easier than it is?

I have been working through a book written by Puritan Pastor Thomas
Brooks, who served in England during the Civil War. The book is
entitled: THE SECRET KEY TO HEAVEN – The Vital Importance of Private
Prayer published by The Banner of Truth Trust.

Brooks writes that one of the enemies of prayer is the enemy himself,
Satan. Listen to these powerful words:

Secret prayer is a scourge, a hell to Satan. Every secret prayer adds to
the devil’s torment, and every secret sigh adds to his torment, and
every secret groan adds to his torment, and every secret tear adds to
his torment.

When a child of God is on his knees in his secret addresses to God, oh,
the strange thoughts, the earthly thoughts, the distracted thoughts, the
hideous thoughts, the blasphemous thoughts, that Satan often injects
into his soul! And all to wean him from secret prayer. Sometimes he
tells the soul, that it is vain to seek God in secret; and at other
times he tells the soul it is too late to seek God in secret; and at
other times he tells the soul it is too late to seek God in secret; for
the door of mercy is shut, and there is no hope, no help for the soul.

Sometimes he tells the soul that it is enough to seek God in public; and
at other times he tells the soul, that it is but a precise trick to seek
the Lord in private. Sometimes he tells the soul, that it is not elected
and therefore all his secret prayer will be rejected; and at other times
he tells the soul, that it is sealed up until the day of wrath, and
therefore a secret prayer can never reverse that seal; and all this to
dishearten and discourage a poor Christian in his secret [prayer times].

Sometimes Satan will bring before a poor Christian the greatness of his
sins; and at other times he will bring before a Christian the greatness
of his unworthiness. Sometimes he will bring before a Christian his lack
of grace; and at other times he will bring before a Christian his lack
of gifts to manage such a duty as it should be managed. Sometimes he
will bring up past difficulties [defeats] in secret prayer; and at other
times he will bring before a Christian his weak desire for secret
prayer; and all to work the soul out of love with secret prayer, yes, to
work the soul to loathe secret prayer; so deadly an enemy is Satan to
secret prayer …

If there were not a kind of omnipotency in it, if it were not able to do
wonders in heaven, and wonders on earth, and wonders in the hearts and
lives and ways of men, Satan would never have such an aching tooth
against it as he has . . .

The more glory God has from any service we do, the more Satan will
strive by all his wiles, and sleights to take us, either off from that
service, or so to interrupt us in that service, that God may have no
honor, nor we no good, nor himself no hurt, by our prayer [prayer
times].”

The bottom line is this – the enemy doesn’t like it when we prayer. He
knows that God HEARS and ANSWERS prayer. So be encouraged, when you
don’t feel like praying, press on, press in and PUSH – Push Until
Something Happens.

WHAT PRICE FREEDOM

Philadelphia! 1776! Fifty-six men met together and signed a new document. That parchment was to stand forever as a partnership between the living and the dead, and the yet unborn. We call it the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

There is a price tag on liberty. You will recall the last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence states: “We must mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor.” The fifty-six signatures on the Declaration of Independence were kept secret for one half year because the gallant fifty-six who made that promise knew when they signed that they were risking EVERYTHING! If they won the fight, the best they could expect would be years of hardship in a struggling new nation. And if they lost … they’d face a hangman’s noose as traitors.

Now these were men of well means, well educated. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants; nine were farmers and owners of large plantations. But they signed the pledge and they did indeed pay the price.

In the Pennsylvania state house, now called Independence Hall, the best men from each of our colonies sat down together. On June 11th, a committee was formed to draw up a Declaration of Independence. We were going to tell our British fatherland, “no more rule by redcoats.”

Thomas Jefferson finished the draft of that declaration in seventeen days. Congress adopted it on July 4, 1776. That much is familiar history.

Now here is the documented fate of the heroic fifty-six who signed the Declaration of Independence:

Of the fifty-six few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes looted or destroyed by the enemy. Nine of the fifty-six died in the war from its hardships and bullets. Wealthy planter and trader Carter Braxton of Virginia saw his ships swept from the sea in battle. To pay his debts he sold his home and all his properties. He died in rags.

Thomas McKean of Delaware was so harassed by the enemy that he was forced to move his family five times in five months. He served in Congress without pay, his family in poverty and hiding.

Thomas Nelson Jr. raised two million dollars on his own signature to provision our allies, the French Fleet. After the war he wiped out his entire estate paying back the loans. He was never reimbursed by the government. He died bankrupt and was buried in an unmarked grace. Thomas Nelson Jr. pledged his life, his fortune, his sacred honor.

John Hart was driven from his dying wife’s bedside. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves and returned home after the war to find his wife dead, his children gone and his property worthless. He died a few weeks later of exhaustion and a broken heart.

John Hancock, one of the wealthiest men in New England, stood outside Boston one terrible night of the war and said, “Burn, Boston, burn! Though it makes John Hancock a beggar, burn!” He too lived up to the pledge.

I don’t know what impression you had on the men who met that hot summer night in Philadelphia, but I think it’s important that we remember this about them: They were not poor men or wild-eyed pirates. They were basically rich men who enjoyed ease and luxury in their personal living. They were not hungry men – they were wealthy and prosperous. But they considered LIBERTY so much more important than security that they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. They fulfilled the pledge … they paid the price … and freedom was born!

Adapted from WHAT PRICE FREEDOM by Derric Johnson

GOOD WORDS AS WE CELEBRATE THIS FOURTH OF JULY, 2006.