by David Scott Robertson
The young Christian couple discovers that they are going to have a baby.
It's a boy and it's their first child.
You can just imagine their excitement!
Shortly after the announcement,
Their friends and family begin to ask them “what are you going to name him?”
They've been thinking a lot about that question lately.
Dad sits at the computer at work and can hardly think of anything else.
Mom is busily preparing for her maternity leave at her job
And has trouble concentrating on training her replacement because of thinking of baby names.
The happy couple want to give their son a noble name --
One that will speak to his destiny.
After much discussion, they finally come to a mutual agreement on a name.
They select a name of a man whom they both greatly admire,
A man that personifies bold change and aggressive Christianity,
Values that this young Christian couple prize and hold dear.
The name of their son shall be Paul, named after the great apostle.
Good choice, good man.
After all,
Without question, Paul was indeed a chosen man of God commissioned for a great work.
What Christian parent does not want their child to be a vessel of honor for God?
And as these new parents have correctly concluded, the apostle Paul was certainly that.
Paul was consecrated and dedicated to the Lord by his parents,
And in like fashion the couple pledges to dedicate their newborn son
To the Lord in a ceremony at church.
Paul did exploits for God
And blazed evangelistic trails to Jews and Gentiles who had embraced Jesus of Nazareth.
Paul was gloriously saved in a magnificent encounter with Jesus on a road one day (Acts 9),
And it wasn't to be the last time the Lord stood by Him in person.
At various times, angels from heaven visited Paul
And on at least one occasion Paul was translated to the angelic headquarters in the Third Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2).
Paul was used tremendously as an instrument of healing, preaching, and mentoring
A whole crop of young pastors.
Paul was mightily filled with the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts flowed through him constantly.
The young Christian parents are mindful that it was the vessel Paul
Whom the Holy Spirit chose to breathe on to write much of the New Testament:
The book of Romans,
The book of 1 Corinthians,
The book of 2 Corinthians,
The book of Galatians,
The book of Ephesians,
The book of Philippians,
The book of Colossians,
The book of 1 Thessalonians,
The book of 2 Thessalonians,
The book of 1 Timothy,
The book of 2 Timothy,
The book of Titus,
And the book of Philemon.
No wonder the new parents want their son to have this remarkable namesake!
They want their boy to be a world changer too…
To courageously burst religious wineskins…
To boldly blast through archaic paradigms in his generation that prevent people from embracing
The Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth -
The Truth being a Person and that Person being Christ Jesus.
Ah yes, Paul.
What a great name for their son.
There is laid up in heaven a great crown of righteousness for the apostle Paul
And that is the aspiration the young couple have for their little Paul --
To grow up to become a great man of God
Who receives the crown of righteousness from God at the end of his life.
It's at this point that the cross enters the picture.
For there can be no crown without a cross.
The apostle Paul was familiar with “the cross.”
Not just the barbaric instrument of death the Romans used to murder people,
But the cross that Jesus described when He said:
"...If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mat 16:24 NIV).
Oh, that cross.
It was that cross that caused the great apostle
To list in a passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 11
A few things that his association with Jesus had caused him to have to bear:
1. In labors, more abundant (v. 23).
2. In stripes above measure (v. 23)
3. In prisons [plural] more frequently (v. 23)
4. In deaths often (v. 23)
5. From the Jews fives times he received floggings of thirty-nine stripes (v. 24).
6. Three times he was beaten with rods (v. 25).
7. One time, Paul was stoned and left for dead (v. 25).
8. On three occasions he was shipwrecked (v. 25).
9. He spent one whole day and one whole night he on the sea in extreme weather (v. 25).
10. His ministry caused him to travel extensively and he was rarely at home (v 26).
11. His life was frequently in jeopardy by using dangerous transportation (v. 26).
12. He was in danger of being mugged by strangers constantly (v. 26).
13. He was in danger of being mobbed by his own countrymen (v. 26).
14. The very people he was sent to preach to, the Gentiles, often threatened him (v. 26).
15. Whether he was in the city or the country or out on a boat in the sea, he was in peril (v. 26).
16. He found his way into nests of false teachers who endangered his life (v. 26).
17. He wore himself out by working hard for the gospel and often went without sleep (v. 27).
18. Many times he went without food and water (v. 27).
19. Often he suffered cold because he wasn't dressed for the weather (v. 27).
20. Besides all this, his heart daily was bombarded with concern for all the churches (v. 28).
21. On more than one occasion, a plot to assassinate him was discovered and he had to flee
(v. 32-33; Acts 9:29; Acts 23:21)
The point here is simple:
There is no crown without a cross.
It is well and good to name our children after a great man or a great woman
Who have lived an exceptional and exemplary life before us --
But we must remember (and be prepared) that a great life and testimony
Very often carries the price tag of great suffering and sacrifice.
Although this is true,
Nevertheless we can trust God completely with our sons and our daughters.
We love our children as much as humanly possible,
But God loves our very own kids far beyond our ability to do so.
Regardless of what parents name their beloved children,
The God who fashioned the child in its mother's womb has a new name reserved
For all His children to be revealed to them at the end of the age…
(Rev 2:17 NIV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”
DSR
9/30/02
Monday, September 30, 2002
Monday, September 23, 2002
Learn to Encourage Yourself
by David Scott Robertson
I got up late this morning…again.
I hate it when that happens.
I hate what happens internally to me as a result of this kind of thing.
It may not happen to you, but for me it goes something like this…
When I have to hurry and scurry through my prayer time, Bible study, and so on
I don’t feel right charging into my day.
It’s kind of like going to work a job that requires hard labor without eating breakfast.
Then while you’re rushing to get showered and all the other necessary todos
To get on down the road
You start to think of all the other things that aren’t quite right in your world.
Things that are off just a hair -
Things that are not working in your life like they should.
Have you ever driven behind a car that is badly out of alignment?
It looks like it is driving down the road a little sideways.
The driver may not even be aware of it but over time it can devastate the tread on the tires.
Why? Because it is out of alignment and subtle friction wears the tires out.
My life feels like that sometimes.
I feel like today I need a front-end alignment.
I need a valve job.
I need an attitude adjustment.
Well, before I know it,
I’m having thoughts about how crummy my marriage is,
What a bad dad I am,
How things at work are stuck and all my pending projects seem to be hung up in mud,
My exercise program is flabby,
I’m not eating right,
And on and on and on the little fiery darts jab into my thought life.
Have you ever started down that pathway of self-pity?
Have you ever had something minor lead to something major?
Have you ever had a mountain erupt out of a molehill?
Now all of what I’m thinking may be facts, but I assure you they are not the truth!
If I allow myself to,
If I don’t confront these facts with the Word of God,
By personal experience I can tell you that this road can lead to
Discouragement, disappointment, doubt, and ultimately depression.
My advice:
Don’t go there.
Just don’t go there.
I counsel you (and me) to
Go to the Rock, Jesus Christ.
Go to the Word of God.
Go to the place of worship.
Go to a friend who will pray with you.
Go to a favorite praise and worship tape.
Go to an uplifting and inspirational video.
Go to a “secret place” with God even if it is the stall of a bathroom
And cry out to God.
He will come and save you.
He will rescue you for you!
He will step in, intervene and intercept the plot of the enemy to get you down.
The moral of this story is one that you and I must take to heart if were are to
Survive and succeed in the Christian life:
God’s love and acceptance of us is not based on our performance.
Who knows?
Perhaps God Himself is allowing some of the technical difficulties to stealthily creep in
In order to test us,
To train us,
To build us,
To prepare us to be combat ready at all times.
Keep in mind that the pathway of least resistance builds no spiritual muscle.
Sometimes we need to do what King David did in Ziglag during a similar season:
“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (1 Samuel 30:6 KJV).
We need to learn how to encourage ourselves
And forget not all God’s benefits to us
And the unfathomable sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to
Forgive our past,
Occupy our present,
And penetrate our future.
DSR
9/23/02
I got up late this morning…again.
I hate it when that happens.
I hate what happens internally to me as a result of this kind of thing.
It may not happen to you, but for me it goes something like this…
When I have to hurry and scurry through my prayer time, Bible study, and so on
I don’t feel right charging into my day.
It’s kind of like going to work a job that requires hard labor without eating breakfast.
Then while you’re rushing to get showered and all the other necessary todos
To get on down the road
You start to think of all the other things that aren’t quite right in your world.
Things that are off just a hair -
Things that are not working in your life like they should.
Have you ever driven behind a car that is badly out of alignment?
It looks like it is driving down the road a little sideways.
The driver may not even be aware of it but over time it can devastate the tread on the tires.
Why? Because it is out of alignment and subtle friction wears the tires out.
My life feels like that sometimes.
I feel like today I need a front-end alignment.
I need a valve job.
I need an attitude adjustment.
Well, before I know it,
I’m having thoughts about how crummy my marriage is,
What a bad dad I am,
How things at work are stuck and all my pending projects seem to be hung up in mud,
My exercise program is flabby,
I’m not eating right,
And on and on and on the little fiery darts jab into my thought life.
Have you ever started down that pathway of self-pity?
Have you ever had something minor lead to something major?
Have you ever had a mountain erupt out of a molehill?
Now all of what I’m thinking may be facts, but I assure you they are not the truth!
If I allow myself to,
If I don’t confront these facts with the Word of God,
By personal experience I can tell you that this road can lead to
Discouragement, disappointment, doubt, and ultimately depression.
My advice:
Don’t go there.
Just don’t go there.
I counsel you (and me) to
Go to the Rock, Jesus Christ.
Go to the Word of God.
Go to the place of worship.
Go to a friend who will pray with you.
Go to a favorite praise and worship tape.
Go to an uplifting and inspirational video.
Go to a “secret place” with God even if it is the stall of a bathroom
And cry out to God.
He will come and save you.
He will rescue you for you!
He will step in, intervene and intercept the plot of the enemy to get you down.
The moral of this story is one that you and I must take to heart if were are to
Survive and succeed in the Christian life:
God’s love and acceptance of us is not based on our performance.
Who knows?
Perhaps God Himself is allowing some of the technical difficulties to stealthily creep in
In order to test us,
To train us,
To build us,
To prepare us to be combat ready at all times.
Keep in mind that the pathway of least resistance builds no spiritual muscle.
Sometimes we need to do what King David did in Ziglag during a similar season:
“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (1 Samuel 30:6 KJV).
We need to learn how to encourage ourselves
And forget not all God’s benefits to us
And the unfathomable sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to
Forgive our past,
Occupy our present,
And penetrate our future.
DSR
9/23/02
Monday, September 16, 2002
The Nightmare
by David Scott Robertson
SPECIAL NOTE: I have never written anything quite like this before. This thought contains reference to sexual and adult situations that some may find offensive. I felt compelled to share this dream I had as candidly and accurately as possible to accomplish whatever purposes God intends for it to accomplish to purify His Bridegroom, the church.
One recent evening, I attended a wonderful church service.
At the service, the speaker preached on the twin sins of America of immorality and pornography.
I returned home after the service and went to bed.
While I slept, in the early morning hours, I had a dream.
No, it was a nightmare.
I’ll describe the dream to you, then I’ll tell you what I think it means.
A man was walking through an unfamiliar house eating an apple.
As he wandered through the home, he climbed a flight of stairs.
At the top of the stairs,
To his surprise,
There was a woman crouching on the floor.
The woman was extremely obese, very ugly, and her body was covered with all sorts of sores and acne. The woman was naked.
While the man was standing there with the apple in his hand,
Suddenly another man ran up the flight of stairs.
He was grossly overweight, naked, grotesque and malformed in appearance.
This man literally ran directly to the woman.
Immediately the woman began to fondle the naked man to the point of sexual arousal.
As this scene took place, the man who had stumbled upon this situation stood across the room eating an apple.
The scene in my dream suddenly expanded to include another man.
He was a well dressed man sitting on the floor.
Strangely, I knew this man.
He was a very hard worker in the church.
In fact, he was one of the most diligent workers in the church
And I had often admired him for his devotion to the ministry.
The seated man was watching the nude couple engage in sexual activity
And although fully dressed, it was apparent that this dressed man was sexually aroused.
And the first man in my dream still stood there eating an apple.
The scene expanded yet again to include a little girl in a nice dress.
Even though I was dreaming, I remember thinking in disgust and horror to myself how wrong, so very wrong it was for this child to be witnessing such illicit perversion.
Suddenly, as if on cue, all eyes in the bizarre scene seemed to look at the man eating the apple.
As he stood there with the apple in his hand,
They looked at him like he was some sort of moderator as if to say to him, “shall we continue?”
He said nothing and sat down in a chair continuing to eat the apple.
Then the “paused” scene restarted and took a tragic turn for the worse.
Here is where the most hellish part of the nightmare took place.
The woman, after the momentary pause,
Instead of returning her attention to the nude man,
Immediately turned her attention to the little child and began to perform a sexual act on the little girl.
At that moment, the man in the chair eating the apple stopped eating.
The dream ended.
I woke up and thought a long while about the meaning of this bizarre dream.
Here are some thoughts I had about the interpretation of the dream.
First, we have no business wandering through or exploring unfamiliar territories and be in places or situations where we know as believers we should not be.
The woman crouching on the floor was like a lioness waiting to pounce on her prey and devour it.
The woman’s body was neglected, wasted, and diseased. The harsh effects of sin and the toll of an immoral lifestyle.
Her nudity suggests that her brazen lust overrode even her natural shame.
The naked man who ran up the flight of stairs was running in a familiar place to him.
A house of pleasure to his flesh but a house of horrors to his soul.
His running indicates his urgency to rush into sin in an unrestricted fashion, devoid of boundaries.
The neglect of his body was profound and his outer ugliness seemed to be a manifestation of his inner moral depravity.
He ran to the woman and without words they began to engage in illicit activity.
That they traded no words indicated that there was no relationship whatsoever – driven on only by raw and unabated lust.
The well dressed man represented a religious man whose piety and good works at church
Had earned him a reputation of being “faithful”, “reliable”, and “a really nice guy”.
But this man secretly enjoyed watching other people commit sexual acts. This churchgoer was entrenched in pornography. He lived a double life.
The child is the hardest part to write about.
She represents the innocence of children being shamelessly stolen away by careless and unregenerate adults.
Children should never be exposed to such wanton corruption, but in our society of easy access porn, they are but a few mouse clicks or remote control buttons away.
The man eating the apple throughout the dream represents a person who neither approves nor opposes the decadence before his eyes.
The fact that he can eat an apple while witnessing acts of moral depravity indicates the level to which our society, by and large, has been desensitized to the blatant boldness of sin.
I feel there were at least three occasions when the man eating the apple could have stopped the scene from advancing down the road to absurdity.
The first opportunity was when he first encountered the naked woman. He could have covered her nakedness and connected this person with another woman for help.
The second opportunity was when he first encountered the naked man. He could have confronted this man concerning his deviance and connected him with a qualified man to help him (or walked him through deliverance himself.)
The third opportunity was when the expanded scene “paused” and the group looked to the “moderator” as if to say “shall we continue?” The man eating the apple should have/could have objected at this point and put an end to the foolishness.
Since these opportunities were squandered and ignored, the end result was a violation of a child that was so distasteful and criminal that it caused the non-confrontational witness to lose his appetite and stop eating the apple. When good men do nothing the advance of evil is inevitable. People die, women are ravished, and children are exploited.
I don’t know the full implications of this nightmare.
I don’t presume this to be a dream that is prophetic in nature but the Holy Spirit can add His revelation to it.
I do know, however, that we cannot allow toleration of sin to go unchallenged.
We, as a society, as a culture, as a people group, and most specifically as Christian believers in Jesus Christ,
Cannot ignore opportunity after opportunity to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness.
Those that find it in their heart the tolerance to allow into their home and hearts
Television shows that promote immorality…
Videos that import compromise into their living rooms…
Internet web sites that open doors to the demonic…
Or any number of other opportunities to “lower the standard”…
May one day find an innocent person in their life being violated as a direct result of their refusal to allow boundaries to exist and a Christian moral code to reign.
DSR
9/16/02
SPECIAL NOTE: I have never written anything quite like this before. This thought contains reference to sexual and adult situations that some may find offensive. I felt compelled to share this dream I had as candidly and accurately as possible to accomplish whatever purposes God intends for it to accomplish to purify His Bridegroom, the church.
One recent evening, I attended a wonderful church service.
At the service, the speaker preached on the twin sins of America of immorality and pornography.
I returned home after the service and went to bed.
While I slept, in the early morning hours, I had a dream.
No, it was a nightmare.
I’ll describe the dream to you, then I’ll tell you what I think it means.
A man was walking through an unfamiliar house eating an apple.
As he wandered through the home, he climbed a flight of stairs.
At the top of the stairs,
To his surprise,
There was a woman crouching on the floor.
The woman was extremely obese, very ugly, and her body was covered with all sorts of sores and acne. The woman was naked.
While the man was standing there with the apple in his hand,
Suddenly another man ran up the flight of stairs.
He was grossly overweight, naked, grotesque and malformed in appearance.
This man literally ran directly to the woman.
Immediately the woman began to fondle the naked man to the point of sexual arousal.
As this scene took place, the man who had stumbled upon this situation stood across the room eating an apple.
The scene in my dream suddenly expanded to include another man.
He was a well dressed man sitting on the floor.
Strangely, I knew this man.
He was a very hard worker in the church.
In fact, he was one of the most diligent workers in the church
And I had often admired him for his devotion to the ministry.
The seated man was watching the nude couple engage in sexual activity
And although fully dressed, it was apparent that this dressed man was sexually aroused.
And the first man in my dream still stood there eating an apple.
The scene expanded yet again to include a little girl in a nice dress.
Even though I was dreaming, I remember thinking in disgust and horror to myself how wrong, so very wrong it was for this child to be witnessing such illicit perversion.
Suddenly, as if on cue, all eyes in the bizarre scene seemed to look at the man eating the apple.
As he stood there with the apple in his hand,
They looked at him like he was some sort of moderator as if to say to him, “shall we continue?”
He said nothing and sat down in a chair continuing to eat the apple.
Then the “paused” scene restarted and took a tragic turn for the worse.
Here is where the most hellish part of the nightmare took place.
The woman, after the momentary pause,
Instead of returning her attention to the nude man,
Immediately turned her attention to the little child and began to perform a sexual act on the little girl.
At that moment, the man in the chair eating the apple stopped eating.
The dream ended.
I woke up and thought a long while about the meaning of this bizarre dream.
Here are some thoughts I had about the interpretation of the dream.
First, we have no business wandering through or exploring unfamiliar territories and be in places or situations where we know as believers we should not be.
The woman crouching on the floor was like a lioness waiting to pounce on her prey and devour it.
The woman’s body was neglected, wasted, and diseased. The harsh effects of sin and the toll of an immoral lifestyle.
Her nudity suggests that her brazen lust overrode even her natural shame.
The naked man who ran up the flight of stairs was running in a familiar place to him.
A house of pleasure to his flesh but a house of horrors to his soul.
His running indicates his urgency to rush into sin in an unrestricted fashion, devoid of boundaries.
The neglect of his body was profound and his outer ugliness seemed to be a manifestation of his inner moral depravity.
He ran to the woman and without words they began to engage in illicit activity.
That they traded no words indicated that there was no relationship whatsoever – driven on only by raw and unabated lust.
The well dressed man represented a religious man whose piety and good works at church
Had earned him a reputation of being “faithful”, “reliable”, and “a really nice guy”.
But this man secretly enjoyed watching other people commit sexual acts. This churchgoer was entrenched in pornography. He lived a double life.
The child is the hardest part to write about.
She represents the innocence of children being shamelessly stolen away by careless and unregenerate adults.
Children should never be exposed to such wanton corruption, but in our society of easy access porn, they are but a few mouse clicks or remote control buttons away.
The man eating the apple throughout the dream represents a person who neither approves nor opposes the decadence before his eyes.
The fact that he can eat an apple while witnessing acts of moral depravity indicates the level to which our society, by and large, has been desensitized to the blatant boldness of sin.
I feel there were at least three occasions when the man eating the apple could have stopped the scene from advancing down the road to absurdity.
The first opportunity was when he first encountered the naked woman. He could have covered her nakedness and connected this person with another woman for help.
The second opportunity was when he first encountered the naked man. He could have confronted this man concerning his deviance and connected him with a qualified man to help him (or walked him through deliverance himself.)
The third opportunity was when the expanded scene “paused” and the group looked to the “moderator” as if to say “shall we continue?” The man eating the apple should have/could have objected at this point and put an end to the foolishness.
Since these opportunities were squandered and ignored, the end result was a violation of a child that was so distasteful and criminal that it caused the non-confrontational witness to lose his appetite and stop eating the apple. When good men do nothing the advance of evil is inevitable. People die, women are ravished, and children are exploited.
I don’t know the full implications of this nightmare.
I don’t presume this to be a dream that is prophetic in nature but the Holy Spirit can add His revelation to it.
I do know, however, that we cannot allow toleration of sin to go unchallenged.
We, as a society, as a culture, as a people group, and most specifically as Christian believers in Jesus Christ,
Cannot ignore opportunity after opportunity to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness.
Those that find it in their heart the tolerance to allow into their home and hearts
Television shows that promote immorality…
Videos that import compromise into their living rooms…
Internet web sites that open doors to the demonic…
Or any number of other opportunities to “lower the standard”…
May one day find an innocent person in their life being violated as a direct result of their refusal to allow boundaries to exist and a Christian moral code to reign.
DSR
9/16/02
Sunday, September 8, 2002
Only in the House of God
by David Scott Robertson
“He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
[8] That He may seat him with princes--
With the princes of His people.
[9] He grants the barren woman a home,
Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 113:7-9 (NKJV)
What a place!
What a deal!
What an opportunity awaits you and I in the house of God!
God has arranged it (think of it!) so that you and I have a place to go
Where we can experience genuine
Acceptance
Belonging
Meaning
Friendship
Purpose
Love
Without having to worry about
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Education
Economic status
Physical appearance, condition, or handicap
Or past failures.
It’s like a talented young man living in the ghetto
Whose unusual gift in athletics lifts him out of his poverty.
It’s like a young girl living in the inner city projects
Who doesn’t view going to school as a punishment or necessary evil
But joyfully applies herself and excels and eventually earns a college scholarship.
What a place!
What a deal!
What an opportunity awaits you and I in the house of God!
God is presenting you an opportunity to be a “rags to riches” success story!
Right now, you may be earning minimum wage on your job,
But in the house of God you can be groomed to be a leader of leaders.
You may play second string on the ball team or play second fiddle in the band,
But in the house of God you can be groomed to play an important role front and center.
You can be a private first class in the military
But in the house of God you can be a mentor, a coach, a disciple-maker, a person of influence and be the key person to lead a hardened drill instructor to Christ.
God wants to take the foolish things of the world,
The lowly things,
The weak things,
The despised things,
The humble things and exalt them in due season.
Who is God talking about? You.
Why? For the praise of His glory.
Where: In the house of God, the community of believers, the local church.
“He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
[8] That He may seat him with princes--
With the princes of His people.
[9] He grants the barren woman a home,
Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 113:7-9 (NKJV)
DSR
9/8/02
“He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
[8] That He may seat him with princes--
With the princes of His people.
[9] He grants the barren woman a home,
Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 113:7-9 (NKJV)
What a place!
What a deal!
What an opportunity awaits you and I in the house of God!
God has arranged it (think of it!) so that you and I have a place to go
Where we can experience genuine
Acceptance
Belonging
Meaning
Friendship
Purpose
Love
Without having to worry about
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Education
Economic status
Physical appearance, condition, or handicap
Or past failures.
It’s like a talented young man living in the ghetto
Whose unusual gift in athletics lifts him out of his poverty.
It’s like a young girl living in the inner city projects
Who doesn’t view going to school as a punishment or necessary evil
But joyfully applies herself and excels and eventually earns a college scholarship.
What a place!
What a deal!
What an opportunity awaits you and I in the house of God!
God is presenting you an opportunity to be a “rags to riches” success story!
Right now, you may be earning minimum wage on your job,
But in the house of God you can be groomed to be a leader of leaders.
You may play second string on the ball team or play second fiddle in the band,
But in the house of God you can be groomed to play an important role front and center.
You can be a private first class in the military
But in the house of God you can be a mentor, a coach, a disciple-maker, a person of influence and be the key person to lead a hardened drill instructor to Christ.
God wants to take the foolish things of the world,
The lowly things,
The weak things,
The despised things,
The humble things and exalt them in due season.
Who is God talking about? You.
Why? For the praise of His glory.
Where: In the house of God, the community of believers, the local church.
“He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
[8] That He may seat him with princes--
With the princes of His people.
[9] He grants the barren woman a home,
Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 113:7-9 (NKJV)
DSR
9/8/02
Monday, September 2, 2002
The Way Back
by David Scott Robertson
“Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” (Galatians 5:7)
Was there ever a time in you life when you felt closer to God?
Have you recently felt a tiny bit estranged from your Heavenly Father?
Do you feel like your spiritual life has taken two steps backward?
Are you in “dry season” where you feel God may be driving your roots down deep instead of enjoying the refreshing rains of His presence?
If that’s you,
Then consider the following…
Delete from your life any toleration for anything less than God’s best for you.
Don’t put up with crummy prayer times. Press through them and pray anyway. Make an appointment with God is a special place and show up. Faithfully.
Don’t accept mediocrity in your walk with Jesus. Refuse it. Be dogmatic about it. Exercise “stubborn love” and “divine tenacity” to grind forward in your love affair with Jesus Christ despite an “emotional high” or lack thereof. You supply the desire and God will supply the power by His Spirit.
Don’t stand for Bible reading that has become a “habitual ritual.” Read until something happens. Or meditate on a significant verse until the Spirit provides enlightenment and illumination and understanding of how it actually applies to your life and situation.
Use worship as a weapon to defeat the enemy who hates your worship of God.
Return to your First Love.
Retrace the ancient paths that once led you to righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Go back to the basics of the faith and train yourself – through steadfast consistency - to do them well again.
Return to the spiritual disciplines that once were proven habits in your life to build spiritual muscle.
Don’t just talk about fasting – actually do it (start by replacing one meal with prayer).
Pull out music that once caused your spirit to soar when you heard it.
Renew friendships that once spurred you on toward love and good deeds.
Press on, press in, and press upward toward the high call of God on your life.
Recount your spiritual markers.
Revisit those monuments in your life that were special times and seasons of spiritual growth and consider what “worked”. The thing to do is the thing that worked well.
Pull out your spiritual journal or diary and read it. If you don’t have one, start one today.
Write your testimony out on paper.
If possible, contact the person who led you to Jesus in the first place and tell them how you feel about your relationship with Jesus right now.
Bear in mind that God always rewards “baby steps.” The anything you’re doing (to improve your relationship with Jesus) is better than the nothing that you have done.
Don’t let the devil fool you into thinking the way back to a strong sense of God’s presence is a LONG way back.
It is NOT a long way back.
The place of closeness, of intimacy, with your Best Friend, Jesus, is but a few…
Decisions, confessions, lifestyle modifications, adjustments, tweaks, and priority changes away.
The way back
To the very center of God’s will
Is a road paved with grace, tenderness, and the love of Father God.
Jesus is waiting for you to renew your journey with Him where you left off.
The Holy Spirit will be your Leader and your Guide to the way back.
Come now, it’s time.
It’s time to go home.
DSR
9/2/02
“Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” (Galatians 5:7)
Was there ever a time in you life when you felt closer to God?
Have you recently felt a tiny bit estranged from your Heavenly Father?
Do you feel like your spiritual life has taken two steps backward?
Are you in “dry season” where you feel God may be driving your roots down deep instead of enjoying the refreshing rains of His presence?
If that’s you,
Then consider the following…
Delete from your life any toleration for anything less than God’s best for you.
Don’t put up with crummy prayer times. Press through them and pray anyway. Make an appointment with God is a special place and show up. Faithfully.
Don’t accept mediocrity in your walk with Jesus. Refuse it. Be dogmatic about it. Exercise “stubborn love” and “divine tenacity” to grind forward in your love affair with Jesus Christ despite an “emotional high” or lack thereof. You supply the desire and God will supply the power by His Spirit.
Don’t stand for Bible reading that has become a “habitual ritual.” Read until something happens. Or meditate on a significant verse until the Spirit provides enlightenment and illumination and understanding of how it actually applies to your life and situation.
Use worship as a weapon to defeat the enemy who hates your worship of God.
Return to your First Love.
Retrace the ancient paths that once led you to righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Go back to the basics of the faith and train yourself – through steadfast consistency - to do them well again.
Return to the spiritual disciplines that once were proven habits in your life to build spiritual muscle.
Don’t just talk about fasting – actually do it (start by replacing one meal with prayer).
Pull out music that once caused your spirit to soar when you heard it.
Renew friendships that once spurred you on toward love and good deeds.
Press on, press in, and press upward toward the high call of God on your life.
Recount your spiritual markers.
Revisit those monuments in your life that were special times and seasons of spiritual growth and consider what “worked”. The thing to do is the thing that worked well.
Pull out your spiritual journal or diary and read it. If you don’t have one, start one today.
Write your testimony out on paper.
If possible, contact the person who led you to Jesus in the first place and tell them how you feel about your relationship with Jesus right now.
Bear in mind that God always rewards “baby steps.” The anything you’re doing (to improve your relationship with Jesus) is better than the nothing that you have done.
Don’t let the devil fool you into thinking the way back to a strong sense of God’s presence is a LONG way back.
It is NOT a long way back.
The place of closeness, of intimacy, with your Best Friend, Jesus, is but a few…
Decisions, confessions, lifestyle modifications, adjustments, tweaks, and priority changes away.
The way back
To the very center of God’s will
Is a road paved with grace, tenderness, and the love of Father God.
Jesus is waiting for you to renew your journey with Him where you left off.
The Holy Spirit will be your Leader and your Guide to the way back.
Come now, it’s time.
It’s time to go home.
DSR
9/2/02
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