“Give Us This Day….

Our Daily Bread”

 

In the eyes of man Moses had absolutely wrecked God’s plan—-not only His plan for Moses but His plan for all people.

 

God had rescued him from death at the hands of the Egyptians and he had traveled from slavery to royalty, from a hard life to life in the palace, and from a life of rejection to a life of prosperity.

 

But his heart had grown cold and in a moment of weakness, he had killed a man.

 

Exodus 2 11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

 

And when I say “moment of weakness”, it probably was more than that.  Jesus warns us, again and again, about our thoughts. Our thoughts control our actions, and they might just be the result of weeks, or months, or even years of thoughts that lead us into a moment of action.  I believe this is why He warns us, again and again, about what we would put our minds, and our hearts, on.

 

And our reality is this:  We are just like Moses.

 

God sets in motion things that walk us right into our destiny.  He puts people, things, and circumstances in order that we might truly be “in the will of the everlasting and all-knowing and all-powerful” God.  And like Moses, we have a penchant for messing it up. Discouragement, sin, despair, and past circumstances all have the ability to push us into a mindset that can ruin the plans that might very well lead us into the “Promised Land.

 

But……..

 

This is not the end of the story.

 

Not for Moses.

 

And not for us.

 

The Bible shows us that God meets Moses in the wilderness. He heals him, strengthens him, prospers him, and prepares him to walk into his destiny.……and it is THE SAME destiny that He has planned from the beginning.

 

Exodus 2  10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am . F6 This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

 

This……is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

In all of our weakness, we have free will.  And that free will, combined with a sinful nature, can often lead us in the wrong direction.

 

In the case of Moses, it took him out of the destiny that God had for him…….or so it seemed.

 

But this is simply a house of cards when stood up to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

 

We have freedom.

 

And our freedom, when combined with the broken world and the freedom of everyone else in this broken world, can lead us to a place that is broken just like everybody else.

 

But we can not mess over God’s great plan.  His plan will reign. His will will prevail.  And His kingdom will ultimately rule. And there is not a thing that we can do about it.

 

In the eyes of man, we see everything in the flesh.  But we neglect sometimes to see the very thing that is needed.  God.

 

And with God all things are possible.

 

This reality can never be emphasized enough.  It is the truth for all ages. And it is the truth that was sealed in stone as Jesus paid off the debt on the cross.

 

You can tell me whatever you would like to about your failures and shortcomings and all the things that you have messed up.  But I can tell you, in one sentence, that none of that matters. Romans 5 assures us that no matter HOW BIG our brokenness can get….God’s grace GETS BIGGER.  (Romans 5)

 

And as true as it is on the side that is not broken as well.

 

I believe that Moses, away from God, did not have all he needed to free God’s people on the inside of the palace.  Because….without God, we do not have, in any circumstances, enough.

 

You see…..

 

I could give you a million dollars, but without God you will be in the grip of poverty.

I could give you perfect health, but without God you will be on death’s door.

I could give you the perfect love, but without God you will be in utterly miserable and alone.

I could give you incredible strength, but without God you will be indescribably weak.

 

The good news of the gospel is the reality that we all face:

 

We need God to fortify our lives that we might have victory.

 

And without it, we have nothing.

 

When you ask God

 

“Give Us This Day….

Our Daily Bread”

 

You are asking for the ONLY thing that you truly need.

 

And you don’t need anything else.

 

Take a moment to say the Lord’s Prayer….or listen to this song and sing it out in worship.  He will take whatever you’ve got. And remember what you are saying when you say: “Give Us This Day….Our Daily Bread”, because without the bread that God has for us—-we might as well have nothing at all.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eIVSWdBaTE

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J

“Thy Will Be Done”

 

The Lord has convicted me to write a series on the Lord’s prayer….

And as I began to pray and read scripture, it was not at all what I thought it would be.

 

And so I write from a point of humility and open this writing in a prayer:

 

Lord-

Teach me—teach us—about prayer.  

Teach us how to pray.

Teach us how to live.

Teach us how to walk out the call.

Teach us.

 

So here goes……

 

From a hillside in the middle of the night, Jesus was at the moment of truth.

 

He knew it was time.

 

Men were coming to apprehend Him.

He had been betrayed.

They were coming to accuse Him.

And soon the sins of the world were going to be put on Him.

 

Being fully man—-He felt what all of us would feel.  

Fear

Indecision

Rejection

Betrayal

 

He was not exempt from these–nor any other–human emotion.

 

And He was tempted….

To run.

To wash His hands of the whole thing.

To abort the mission.

 

Luke 22 39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

 

In a couple of words, He changed my eternity.  He changed your eternity. He changed all of eternity.

 

42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.“

 

“Thy Will Be Done”

 

Thy Will Be Done:  “I’m not here to do what I want, but what you want.”

 

When we say it in the Lord’s prayer—what are we saying?  Are we saying it like Jesus did? Do we know what we are saying?

 

Toughen up.

 

He stood up and faced His oppressors, took our sins, and was punished as a hardened criminal in the most humiliating fashion.

 

He watched as men cowered away in the middle of the night and left Him in His time of greatest need.

 

And He stayed on that cross until He had completed the mission, looking skyward and saying:  “It is PAID IN FULL”

 

And He did it so that we can say to Him:

“Thy Will Be Done”

To follow Jesus is simple—but it’s not easy.

It is a free gift—but we must OPEN it.

It is a chance to be born anew—but we must RECEIVE it.

 

Take a moment to say the Lord’s Prayer….or listen to this song and sing it out in worship.  He will take whatever you’ve got.  And remember what you are saying when you say:  “Thy Will Be Done”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eIVSWdBaTE

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J

Emotions and feelings can betray you.

 

No one knows this more than a pilot.

 

To keep perspective, pilots use an instrument panel named after an important instrument, the gyroscope.

 

“Trust your gyros” is the common phrase from pilot to pilot.  That is because, in the world of pilots, trusting your instincts can actually “work against you”.

 

And so it is with each of us.

 

Our feelings can betray us….and how we feel can lead us down the wrong path.

 

And there is one thing worse than the physical death a pilot could face.

 

Spiritual Death.

 

God warns us about this:

 

Jeremiah 17  9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

 

Throughout life, I have often used the phrase:  “Follow your heart”…..so to read that verse was a shock to me.  We can actually lead ourselves in the wrong direction. Pray about your decisions.  Weigh your next move. “Trust your gyros”.

 

The Word of God is our Gyroscope.  It is our bearing and gives us alignment with the horizon.  It keeps us from falling and going into engine failure. It points us in the way that we should go.

 

Luke 16  10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

13“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

 

God has entrusted us with much.

 

He has given us resources, and abilities, and has put us here on earth for a season.

 

He is calling us to a life of purpose.

 

Where is He calling you?

 

I want to again say:  Start small.

 

Ask Him what He is calling for you to do?

 

Are you lacking an audience?  He changed a city with one encounter.

 

Are you lacking resources?  He was a homeless wanderer.

 

Are you not respected by others?  He was the illegitimate son of a carpenter.

 

Are you afraid?  He faced off with a Roman government, called out powerful Jewish religious leaders, and dealt with a disciple who was a political revolutionary—probably a brutal soldier.

 

You are not called to have things to do things….you are called to have the faith of a mustard seed.

 

Allow the Lord to lead your steps.

 

Start with a small step, a tiny faith, and a BIG God.

 

He is able.

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J

 

FCA January 25, 2019

 

Jumping Out Of A Plane

Trust Your Gyros (Gyroscope)

Follow Your Heart

Don’t Follow Your Heart

 

Life Is A Trust

Life Is A Test

Life Is A Temporary Assignment

 

The faith hall of fame, as many call it, is Hebrews 11.

 

And my wife said something Friday that made me think of these faithful followers of the Lord.

 

Live With Eternity In Mind

 

That is a good word.  Live with eternity in mind.

 

Hebrews 11 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

 

Hebrews 11 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

 

I want to be a man of great faith……and perhaps this word from the Lord is a good call to all of us.

 

Do we know that there are promises that will be fulfilled AFTER we are gone?

Do we know that there are promises that we can only see from a distance?

Do we know that there is a city with FOUNDATIONS?

Do we know that there is a better country, a heavenly one?

 

All of these are reminders that the battle is already won…that the Lord has built the city…that He has prepared the place that we all long to live in……

 

And it is our job to share that good news with all who would care to listen…or watch.

 

Live with eternity in mind.

And preach Jesus to the lost:  

And when it’s needed…..USE WORDS

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J

One of the most convicting verses in the Bible is Jesus speaking to the church in Turkey.

 

Revelation 3  17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

I often read verses like this and I am caught off guard.

 

Never has there been a time when we might be MORE LIKE THIS then the time when Jesus spoke this verse to John on the island of Patmos.  And even though He was speaking to a church in Laodicea—-I am taking this as He is talking to me.

 

He also mentions, in THIS chapter of Revelation, that the church is lukewarm to the point that he could “spit them out of His mouth.”

 

Christ has called us to a life that makes a difference.

 

He has called us to be true followers of Him.

 

He has sealed the fate of those who would call on Him to walk into His Kingdom and live for an eternity.

 

It is a free gift to all who would choose.

 

But…..much like the country we live in…..freedom is NOT FREE.  There is a cost. And those who do not understand that there is a cost soon find out that they are in fact, NOT FREE.  If we TRULY want freedom, we must be willing to PAY THAT COST.

 

It is January 18, 2019.  We are beginning a new year.  There are urgent things that lie in front of us…..but I am calling you out right now to take a step back and to focus on the IMPORTANT things in front of us.

 

There was a song I listened to growing up that used to hit this point spot on.  I am not advocating this song…..just pointing out that they new the truth:

 

When The Dave Matthews Band, in a song called Ants Marching, sang:  

Take these chances

Place them in a box until a quieter time

Lights down, you up and die

they might have meant many things, but one thing I know is true:  When we put off the things that are important we tend to wait too long before we move in the direction that we are called to go.

 

Delaying.

Waiting.

Putting things off.

 

All are passive responses that ultimately are as bold and decisive as saying NO in the first place.

 

Jesus has called us to the opposite.

 

He has called us to great things and compelled us to be world changers.

 

He has even encouraged us in our shortcomings.  In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, He uses the tiniest seed, a mustard seed, as His encouragement to all of us….

 

If we have Faith the size of a Mustard seed we can do GREAT, GREAT, things.

 

Where are you man of God?  Where are you woman of God?

 

Are you taking these chances….and placing them in a box until a quieter time?

 

Because God is calling you to step it up…..not on the urgent things…..

 

But on the IMPORTANT ONES.

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J

Abram jumped in the wheelbarrow.  He went “all in” and reacted to the Lord with great faith, and he was rewarded for it.

 

God told him that He would make his descendants as numerous as “the stars in the sky”.

 

This is the typical God-promise.

 

A man with no children, with a barren wife, who was very old….would not just have children—but God told him that he would make him into a great nation.

 

How can this be?

 

But Abram, in spite of all of these facts, ACTED IN FAITH.

 

And he ACTED IN FAITH in a big way….packing up and leaving a place where he belonged to go to a place where he did not belong.

 

Genesis 12  2 “I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;  I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

 

You are free.  You get to choose who you will be and what you will do.

 

This is the founding principle of our great Christian Faith—that we are free to reject the Lord or invite Him in.

 

We are free to invite Him to lead our lives….or not.

 

Abram had to make this choice……and so do I……and so do you.

 

And when he made this choice, there would be challenges.

 

No sooner than giving Abram Isaac, this happened:

 

Genesis 12  2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up……

 

Sometimes this word, this PERFECT WORD, is hard to process.

 

He promises Abram a son.

He gives him a son.

He directs him to get rid of him.

 

And then Abram’s response……EARLY THE NEXT MORNING he gets up and proceeds with the plan!

 

The rest of this story, and for our talk today, is in Hebrews:

 

Hebrews 11 17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

 

Abram, now Abraham, knew that God was not a killer.  He knew His promises were good. And so he reasoned that God would raise Isaac from the dead……and this lead him to respond “early the next morning” to an incredible command.

 

That IS FAITH.

 

God makes a promise….

 

And then He makes sure that we don’t make that promise our idol.

 

He makes sure that we worship the Promise Maker, not the promise.

 

So what do you choose?

 

Joshua 24 14 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness.  Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

 

God has a plan for all of us.  It is better than anything we could ever concoct on our own accord….but it is not always prepared by our own personal recipe.  Sometimes the roadblocks that we see are not what we might consider them to be.

 

And the enemy would love us to think that we are not walking in the direction of our destiny…….

 

But it is God, and ONLY God, who makes descendants from nomads, who raises the dead, who brings life to dead bones…..

 

So get in the wheelbarrow…..

 

And enjoy the ride of your life.

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J

“Work Harder” is not always the answer.

 

As a “football guy” I certainly get this.

 

I talk with many people and listen to talk radio and sports reports and hear that “work harder” comment a lot.

 

Is it that simple?  Most of us know, deep down, that it is not.

 

When you compete in an arena, as many of us do, where the other side is ALSO trying to win, it is much, much more complicated than that.

 

On a record setting touchdown completion to Brandon Stokley, Peyton Manning showed FAITH.  Yes, he worked hard….but it was much more than that.

 

As Stokley began to work outside and “set” his defender outside, Manning began to make his throw back inside.  In other words, Peyton threw it to the right when Stokley was going to the left……

 

When Stokley broke back to the inside, the ball was on him and the Colts scored.

 

To watch this develop from the back was utterly amazing.

 

Before it was, Peyton saw it……

 

That’s FAITH.

 

And as we walk into 2019, that is the word that God has put on my heart to give to you.

 

FAITH.

 

If you are like me, you have worked very hard at something—-and failed.  So you know in your heart that working hard is not the only recipe to success.

 

And, certainly, God would say the same thing.

 

The Word is our one connection to the Lord that we can literally hold in our hand—–but today, I am going to go with a story.

 

Understand this…..Only God, through His word, can give you something that will truly bring life…..so if today you are inspired by this writing—-I want it to give you inspiration to do just that—PULL OUT YOUR WORD AND BEGIN TO READ IT….EVERY DAY.

 

You may have heard the story of the man who brought a crowd of people up to the top of a skyscraper in New York City and allowed them to see the tightrope he had extended out to see the true “reality” of the situation.

“Who believes that I can walk this tightrope?” he asked.  Almost half of them raised their hands. After gathering the vote, he walked the line—going all the way across and all the way back.  The crowd was amazed.

He then pulled out a wheelbarrow and turned to the crowd:  “Who believes that I can walk this tightrope with this wheelbarrow?”  A few more raised their hands. After gathering the vote, he took the wheelbarrow and walked the line—going all the way across and all the way back.  The crowd was amazed.

THEN, he asked the crowd:  “Who has FAITH that I can walk this tightrope with this wheelbarrow?”  “What do you mean,” they asked, “we said that we believe”. To which he responded:  “Which of you would like to get in the wheelbarrow?”

 

As we begin the journey into a new year I want to encourage you to start, and end, with FAITH.  God makes it clear that our work will not be good enough. And, as many of us know, our hard work is never enough.

 

FAITH, on the other hand, takes a little bit of work and a little bit of letting go.

 

It is trusting God to act in situations where we might not have control.

 

It is trusting that God knows what He is doing.

 

It is ….. TRUSTING GOD….and acting out our life with that as our primary belief.

 

God has written us a love letter over 1500 years.  It has been written by 40 authors, on 3 continents, by a crowd of people as diverse as you could gather.

 

And yet…..it ties together perfectly and works from the same theme:

We Are Created

We Are Flawed

We Are Offered A Choice Of Redemption

 

Make 2019 the year of your greatest acts of FAITH.  Trust that you can “throw the ball” before your receiver is even open…….CHOOSE to get in the wheelbarrow.

 

Have FAITH that Your God will do a new thing.

 

Have FAITH that you, and everyone around you, is a miracle of creation that God desires to bring to life.

 

Have FAITH…….that this life can ACTUALLY WORK.

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J

A few nights ago, as I was listening to K-Love, I heard one of their hosts say:  “A Willing Heart is more important than an Able Body”

 

Amen.

 

And this is, indeed, the beginning of the story of Christmas.

 

And, with that in mind, I want to encourage all of us to begin our quest of truly honoring God and the birth of His ambassador, Jesus Christ.

 

The story of Jesus began (in our earthly sense) with a visit from an angel to Mary…..and the angel tells her some awful news.  Her wedding, and her plans to be married with honor, are going to be thrown away. She is going to be God’s servant. She is going to carry the Son of God.  She is going to be scrapping her plans and carrying out the will of God. And she replies:

 

Luke 1 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

 

Mary’s obedience is the beginning of the story of Jesus.

 

It is the ultimate model on how we are each called to respond to the Lord.

 

And as we head into 2019, it is a model for what we are called to do…….

 

What would the world look like if each of us said to God:

 

“I am the Lord’s servant”

May it be to me as you have said”

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J

Today’s post is inspired by Billy McMahon, a pastor at Rocky Mountain Christian Church.

 

What do you do when your plan seems to be going in the wrong direction?

 

I have asked this as a football coach.

I have asked it as a teacher.

And I have asked it as a person.

 

I am sure that Paul and Silas might have considered this question as well.

 

When men realized that they could no longer capitalize on the sickness of a woman Paul had prayed over and God had healed, they had them thrown in prison.  I am sure that the enemy planted the seed of doubt in Paul and Silas as they sat in shackles and awaited what their next option was.

 

But they did not receive the seed of doubt.  And they did not receive it because they knew who would be giving The Final Word.

 

How are we to deal with outcomes that are not what we expect?

 

To draw from Paul and Silas, we are to remember who has The Final Word.

 

Acts 16  25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

 

When you know The Final Word….it changes everything.

 

So what is The Final Word?

 

It is simple:

Jesus Christ came to save the world and offers eternal life to all

who would receive Him.

 

There is a reason that Paul gave up all of his comfort to become a servant of the Most High God.

 

It is because Paul realized something that we all must come to face:

 

The Final Word belongs to the Lord.

 

The Final Word is about making “children of God out of all who receive Him” (John 1).

 

The Final Word will trump all that the earth might show us:

 

Sickness

Death

Persecution

And, in Paul’s case, even Prison

 

The Final Word belongs to none other than Jesus.

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J