Seek Him - Just Seek Him

Money. Health. Family issues and issues with our children. Friendships that are struggles. Controversies at work. The current events of the world. Will we be financially stable at the end of our lives or will we lose our jobs and struggle to find employment? The health of family members. The car won't start. Everywhere we turn, there are things to worry about.

I am not immune to the shackles of worry. If I am honest, worry rules large portions of my life. Most of the worry that I find meandering through my brain on a daily basis are the very things that I have no control over in life. Isn't it ironic that we believe in a God who is in control, yet we rarely trust Him enough to let go and let Him control things? We long to maneuver, to dictate, to assemble some sort of cohesion that rarely sticks beyond a minute, only to realize that we were never in control to begin with and that the Lord, who is in control, is more than capable of working things out according to His plan.

As I struggle with worry myself, I share my thoughts on this blog with you, in the hopes that, as I write these words, I help myself and that I am able to help you as well. If two things are accomplished, then the greatest accomplishment of this post will be that the Lord is glorified and in that, we have all been successful. A passage of Scripture that speaks to dealing with worry is found in the words that Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. As He spoke of worrying about food and clothes, He instructed those listening to do something other than worry about those things. He said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you." (Matthew 6:33 HCSB) Rather than worrying about what we cannot control, we should focus our lives on bringing glory to God, seeking the Lord, and allowing the Lord to be in charge.

Know this about worry - it drains you, it distracts you, and if left unchecked, it will destroy you. Worry drains us as it causes our minds to be filled with the scenarios and the "what if" questions that rarely see the light of day. The mental exhaustion leads to physical exhaustion and in that, we are unable to fulfill the things that God has called us to do. Worry distracts us away from the love of God and a loving God being in control and places ourselves in a position we are not equipped to be in. We cannot control things and that is the grace and mercy of God. He holds the world in place. He simultaneously holds us together. Finally, it destroys us because it lead us to make decisions that will rob us and deplete us because we trusted our understanding rather than leaning on the Lord and His understanding.

Here is what the kingdom of God and His righteousness brings to us - peace. We have peace in our soul as we know that whatever may arise on earth, our home is in heaven with Christ. We have peace in the understanding that God is working things out in our lives through the circumstances so that we have a better understanding of Him as a result. We have peace because we have trust, not in what we can do but a trust in the Lord because of what He has already done and will do. Here is something to remember about allowing God to lead us - Psalm 23 - "He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name's sake." (Psalm 23:2-3 HCSB) Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness leads us to a place where He is leading, we are following, and life is fulfilling.

So, today, we have a choice to make. We can either worry about everything or we can trust God and seek Him regardless of what storms are raging around us. We will never discover more fulfillment in our lives than those times when we are God-seeking and righteousness pursuing. Conversely, we will never find the blessing of experiencing the fullness of God when we are shackled by worry. So, which will it be today?

One of my friends, a guy I have known all of my life, has a way of getting my attention. He is filled with wisdom. He and his wife are genuinely invested in my life. He knows me and he knows that, when I am shackled by worry, my face shows it. Every time I get in such a rut, he comes to me and says, "Why pray when you can worry?" The intent of the question is to redirect my focus. Rather than worrying about what could be, I am called to seek the One who was, who is, and who is to come. So today, we can pray and seek the kingdom of God or we can worry? I think we will accomplish much more in prayer than we will ever accomplish by worrying.

May God bless you today as you seek Him in your life. Know that seeking God will always lead you to a place where the fullness of life is found and where joy is experienced in a lasting way.

Cascading from the Creator

Recently, we have had an abundance of rain. It has been like biblical proportions of rain here. Understand, I am not complaining. I'm just stating a fact that at the end of last week, I was studying ark construction. The incredible amount of rainfall led to a sight that always takes my breath away. I love waterfalls and I am blessed as each day, when I go to work, I pass a waterfall on the way. When the pond is low, no water flows over the rocks. But in times of increased rain, the pond level rises, and the waterfall becomes a reality.

Today, as I passed by the waterfall, I stopped for a minute to take a picture or two. For a moment, I sat there and stared, then a verse from Malachi hit me, reminding me of what God has promised to those to give to Him. As the Lord spoke to and through Malachi, he spoke of those withholding their tithes and contributions to Him. He asked how long the people would continue to rob Him. Such was a convicting question to be faced with.

The Lord continued and promised a blessing to those who gave to Him. His words were beautiful and the promise was to be fulfilling. The Lord said, "See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure." (Malachi 3:10 HCSB) The Lord challenged them to give to Him as they were instructed to do and He would bless them in a huge way. What would lead to the pouring out of the blessing was a change of heart through repentance and a change of action through transformation.

I don't know about you, but I would like my life to be like a waterfall, where the blessings of God and the love of God cannot be contained within but is spilling over causing all to look and see. Rather than having everything contained inside, I want it to be rushing out of my life like those waters rushed over the rocks of that dam today. What will lead to such an existence? Giving all I am to the Lord and believing that He will do what He has said He will do.

When we believe in God's promises and when we have experienced the love of God, there is nothing that we want to withhold from Him for what He offers is of far greater value than anything that we have. The floodgates are there. God has promised to open them. What remains to be seen is if we will repent of holding back in the past and experience a transformation of our lives that leads us to give it all to the Lord. When we do, the beauty of that waterfall is witnessed in our lives as the Lord opens the floodgates of heaven and it pours out of our lives and reaches into the lives of those around us.

What are you holding back today? Wouldn't you love to experience the blessings of the Lord in a way like never before? Have enough faith to believe that God will indeed do what He promised to do and you will feel the blessings of God as they cascade down from the Creator.

Editing Our Lives

The rough draft is finished. To reach such a place is an amazing feeling. The rough draft was printed today, all 263 pages of it, and now, I sit tonight with the job of reading it, adding to it, taking away from it, and polishing it to make sure the message is clear. Such is the job of an author. The message has to be heard. The message has to be clear. The work is done when everything is said how it needs to be said and the audience can hear the truth of that message and hopefully, it resonates within them.

Today, you have a rough draft written in your life. Whether you are a teenager or a senior citizen, a rough draft of what you have been has been written. Because the Lord has given you today, you get the chance to edit that rough draft, to add to what has been written, and to take away that which you know doesn't belong.

So often, people live life as if there is no possibility of change. Sometimes, we live our lives without thinking about the message we are sending to other people. Here is the truth - we can make changes. The draft is there and it is up to us, and to the Lord, to rewrite that draft, adding the things of God that need to be added, while cutting out the things of the world that do not help to reinforce our message.

Here is what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. As he concludes his first letter to them, he instructs them, “Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 HCSB) Rewrite. Edit. Make the message of your life loud and clear by the words that are written on the pages of your life, the words written by the actions you take from this day forward.

We have all made mistakes. We have those chapters that we wish were never written because of the pain that we experienced, the pain that we caused, and the shame of what was. But remember, who you were yesterday is not who you are today. You have a rough draft today, one that can be changed if you are willing to make the changes that need to be made. As Paul said, hold on to the good things and get rid of the things that are eating away at your life and your message.

           

What is the message of your life and are people hearing that message clearly? We all have things that need to be edited out of our lives. There are the silent sins, the selfish desires, the idols that we set up in our lives, and the blatant things that others see that fail to lead them closer to God. The beauty is that you have a chance to clarify that message this very moment, and when your message is that Christ is Lord, He will help you to edit your life in a manner that is pleasing to Him.

Is There Evidence?

I love watching television dramas, especially those involving court cases or detective work. There are some cases where the detectives have to dig deep and look everywhere to find the evidence needed to bring charges against someone. For others, it is an open and shut case, no real stretch to find the evidence of what had taken place.

As I was reading to our church Sunday night, a verse of Scripture hit me in a way that I have never noticed before. Here is the passage and here is what opened my eyes. John wrote, "My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples." (John 15:8 HCSB) We know that we are called to produce fruit. Scripture says it more than once. We are to desire to glorify God in our lives. These are things that most everyone knows, especially those who have spent more than a month in church. What caught me was the end of the verse.

Notice what Jesus said. God is glorified not only by the fruit that is produced in our lives, but also by the proof that we are disciples of Christ. Think about it. Anyone can say that they are a believer. Anyone can attend a service. Anyone can sing a hymn or a praise and worship song and furthermore, anyone can say a prayer. What is to be seen is whether or not there is evidence, or proof, that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

There was a saying I heard years ago that said "If someone accused you of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict?" Such was the heart of Jesus' words in this passage. Not that we simply say we are Christians, as acknowledgment of our faith is important, but do we live what we say we believe? Are we living what we are proclaiming? Is it a lifestyle or just another box to check off on some form we are filling out?

As we live in a day and time of increasing "convenient Christianity", a type of faith that is used only when it is necessary or needed, the Lord is looking for evidence. He is looking to see if the cross is etched into our hearts and if the Spirit is flowing through our veins. The Lord is looking to see if our lives show marks of being crucified with Christ or if they are a reflection of the world without any real transformation. Convenient Christianity turns out to be costly when we stand before God. Being a true disciple of Christ brings reward when we are face-to-face with the Lord.

Tonight, I pose this question to myself and to anyone who is reading these words. Is there evidence of your faith beyond what you say? If you were on trial by a jury of your peers, would they convict you of being a Christian or would the verdict be that there was not enough evidence to convict? Jesus did not say that God would be glorified if we said that we are Christians, then walk on with our lives. Jesus said that God would be glorified if we proved to be disciples of His, that the evidence was there to substantiate the claim that we are followers of Christ, that we have, in Paul's words "been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20 HCSB) That is the evidence that the Lord is looking for today.

To Pull Away

As you who are part of my world know, life has been hectic and somewhat tough here recently. The great part is that I love my hectic life. The tough part has been that my hectic life allows little room for me to take a breath when needed, to grieve when something or someone is loss, to find clarity when chaos abounds. If we're all completely honest, we have found ourselves in those situations far too often. When we do, we often tell ourselves to just push through, to occupy our minds even more, and then, after an even greater depletion of what is inside leads to exhaustion, we will be okay.

Sound familiar to you? We live in such a fast-paced world. I remember when I was younger, there seemed to be more time for a cookout, to sit out on the porch and stare off in the distance, to enjoy a movie, or to simply relax. With the ever-increasing demands of life, we are run so much that we allow decades to pass without realizing that we never stopped to live. What a dangerous time we live in, don't you think?

I have long thought my job was to outwork everyone else, to keep going even when everything inside said to stop. This week, it all changed. A day that was scheduled from the morning through the late evening was changed to a day where I could go play golf with my uncle and cousin. What seemed to have to be done on Friday is no longer on the schedule, as Friday will be a day when I pull away. No cell phone. No internet other than a few postings on social media. No email. I have to get myself taken care of before I can possibly take care of someone else.

I was reading recently about a time when Jesus pulled away in Luke 6. The preceding verses revealed a couple of altercations with the Pharisees, once over what the disciples were doing on the Sabbath and then, a disagreement with Pharisees because Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Then, in verse 12, Luke noted, "During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God." (Luke 6:12 HCSB) He took time to remove Himself from what was going on to connect with the Father. Jesus needed that time and as I once heard a friend say, "If Jesus needed time to connect with the Father, how much more time do we need to connect with the Father?" What my friend was saying was that if Jesus needed a whole night of connection with the Father, we needed even more time invested in connecting with the Father.

What I found even more encouraging was located in Luke 5. This was not a one-time pulling away from everything by Jesus. In fact, it was more common than we might have imagined. Luke 5 tells us how the crowds heard of Jesus and sought to find healing through His words and actions. Then, Luke pointed out, "Yet He often withdrew to deserted places and prayed." (Luke 5:16 HCSB) Notice that word often in that verse. Were there legitimate needs in those crowds? Of course there were. But the need to connect with the Father was also present.

Sometimes, pulling away for a few hours or a day or even a week is as important as answering phone calls, emails, texts, or having meetings. The world will always have needs. In fact, in our world today, you will see that most people cannot see beyond their own needs to recognize that you have needs as well. Taking a breath away from the crowd and from the circumstances allows us to be refreshed by Christ and reconnect with the Lord so that we are, in fact, better equipped to help those around us. We can be run into the ground by trying to do everything and be everything, only to find that when we are completely depleted, we are no longer able to do what truly needs to be done.

I'm going to the mountains to breathe and to grieve. We should all find time to pull away as, when we look at Scripture, that is what Jesus did. May you find time this week to connect with God, away from everything else, so He can refresh you like no one else can do.

Can I Just Stay in Bed?

Today was a day. Honestly, the past four have been. Today, I struggled as I gave the message at my grandfather's funeral. He was my hero. He was larger than life but was a simple man of deep faith who loved me and loved Jesus. Being his pastor, as well as his grandson, made today one of those moments when you try to get through the pain and grieve later.

For the past four days since he passed away, I haven't wanted to get out of bed. I wanted to stay inside, lay in my bed, and be away from it all. Life wouldn't allow it. There were places to be, things to be done, and my grandmother needed us in this time in her life. So, I trudged out of bed each day, tried to force a smile and tried to do the best I could to do what I could for others though I could barely take another step myself.

Today, as I prepared for the funeral, I received three rejection letters for book proposals. As I thought about the struggle of never seeing my grandfather again on this earthly plain and I thought about the rejections, if I had my way, I would have laid back in bed, covered my head with the sheets and blankets, and allowed myself a chance to call it a day. But, I couldn't. I had to keep going. I had a funeral to speak at and I had other responsibilities.

As the time came for the funeral, I tried to focus on the family, tried to encourage them and support them and grieve the loss myself simultaneously. You see, I wanted to go to sleep. I wanted life to stop, for the day to give mercy, for the next lethal blow to my life and my future to be avoided. I looked at my bed as I got ready for the funeral. "If only I could lay down, I would be able to sleep and forget it all for awhile." Such thoughts nearly drove me to the bed. I was ready to give up on life.

Then, it happened. I am the type that if I make a commitment, I will do all that I can to fulfill it unless it simply cannot be fulfilled. So I went to the funeral. Paw Paw was gone. I had experienced the rejections. The question in my mind was, "What is going on, God?"

I stood in front of over three hundred people and talked to them about Jesus. I told of the faith of the man who had affected so many lives and I told of the love that God has for each person there. I shared from the gospel of John, the 23rd Psalm, 1 Corinthians, and Romans. For thirty minutes, I had a chance to share Jesus. Had I just said "no more" or just stayed in bed, what an opportunity would have been lost!

There are so many times in life where we feel like waving the surrender flag and saying, "I'm going to lay down and never get up again." There are those moments when a wave crashes over you and before you catch your breath, another is pummeling you and leaving you beaten, battered, bruised, and bloodied. Do you give up? Do you just stay down so the next one cannot crash over you? Do you just scream, "I can't do this anymore"? Such would be the easy way out. Such would be the way that leads to regrets later.

In 2nd Corinthians, Paul writes in the fourth chapter, "Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up." (2 Corinthians 4:1 HCSB) As I read those words, I thought about where I had been in my past. To even be here today is an act of mercy by God. To be given the ministry that I have been given is an even greater act of mercy by God. I read on. Scripture has a way of drawing us to a place where our emptiness finds fulfillment, where our depleted selves find renewed passion. Paul wrote, "We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed." (2 Corinthians 4:8-9) Oh, the strength that comes from the Word of God. Then, again, Paul wrote, "Therefore we do not give up." (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Life will give you a series of events that will lead you to a place where you say, "I don't think I am going to get up again." But faith leads you to get up again, lean upon the strength of the Lord, and to know that there will be moments that present themselves that are inexplicably inspired by God, where you can proclaim the reason you have hope. I wanted to stay in bed, but the Lord wanted me to talk to over 300 people about the love of Jesus, the cross of Christ, and the life that is found in Jesus' victory over the grave. I am so glad I didn't just stay in bed!

In Memory of Clifton Clapp - July 23rd, 2018

Faith or Failure

The bottom line. An “A” means passing, while “F” is failing. First place is winning, last place is losing. The number of people means more effective. In our culture today, we have unlimited numbers of ways to measure success and failure. The longevity of something prides itself as success, while the brevity of something immediately points to failure. What is concerning is when these same thought processes, these same ways of measuring success and failure, are applied to our faith. But so often, they are.

I am not the pastor of a megachurch. I am the pastor of a medium-sized congregation in rural North Carolina. I serve a group of people who have the heart of God, the faith of mountain-movers, the love that is rarely seen in a world self-absorbed, and the work ethic of world-changers. It is indeed a blessing. I serve as their enigmatic leader, who is constantly one misstep away from a nervous breakdown. Yet, they love me anyways.

Today, I kept thinking about different things in ministry over the years and measuring them according to the standards that I mentioned to open this blog. This program gets an “A” because it has lasted for five years. The attempt at that ministry was a failure because it didn’t do what I thought it would do and was shut down. Even more dangerous than that assessment came when I started to do the same with the ministry I have had over nearly two decades and started assessing myself in the same manner.

On my way home tonight, the idea of failure overly fresh in the mind, the Lord reminded me of the cross. On crucifixion day, the cross seemed to be the sign of failure. Jesus, the leader of the group of disciples now fearing an equal fate, was dead. Jesus, the opposition as the Pharisees saw Him, had been overcome. Jesus, the very One Satan wanted to see gone, was gone. To have looked at the cross at that moment would have been to see something the world regarded as a failure. Here, the Rebel who had come had taken His rebellion too far and paid the ultimate price. The cross – the place that appeared to be a great “failure” but was anything but. You see, you can’t have an empty tomb without a cross before it.

You are wondering where this is going. When it comes to faith, we cannot measure things by results, for in the workings of faith, there are results that are unseen. We cannot simply assess things by numbers, by giving it a grade on appearance, by judging it through the worldly lens of winning and losing. There is no failure in faith when faithfulness has been taken to its extreme. When we are working out things in faith, rather than asking if we failed, we are presented with this question from the Lord – “Were you faithful?” Faithfulness to God is never a failure, even if the results appear to be a failure in our eyes. Our goal is to be faithful to God and allow Him to work about the results.

Philippians 2:8 tells us “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even to death on a cross.” He was faithful. What could have been seen as failure to the world, was seen as faithfulness in the eyes of God.

This is a reminder to you, and myself, to avoid seeing yourself, or your efforts for the Lord, as a failure. God can see what we cannot see and God can do what we cannot do. Satan is the one who likes to label us as failures and longs for us to give up because we have appeared to fail. God tells us just to remain faithful to Him and watch Him work through that faith. Whether it is a ministry you are involved in, or a work you are writing, or an idea God has planted in your mind, remain faithful and it will never be a failure. What may seem like a cross today might just lead to an empty tomb a few days from now.