Judge me, O Lord

Psalms 7:8-12 (ESV)
⁸ The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. ⁹ Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! ¹⁰ My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. ¹¹ God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. ¹² If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;

As I read this Psalm, I ask myself, am I bold enough tell God to judge my righteousness and my integrity?  I know for the most part I’m a pretty good guy.  I try to live with integrity.  However, what about the little white lies that come out sometimes without even thinking about it?  How about when I get annoyed or lose my temper, even if I don’t show it?  What about driving 75 when the speed limit is 65?

These may seem like small things.  However, If I pray this Psalm, I’m telling a perfect and holy God to judge me.  It’s not even just my actions that this Psalm is asking God to judge.  It’s the integrity that is in me, it’s a heart issue.

When it comes to salvation of my soul, I know I am saved by faith alone.  My faith in Jesus as Lord means I was justified when He rose from the dead (Romans 4:25).  However, I don’t know that this Psalm is necessarily about my eternal salvation.

David was asking for protection from his enemies.  He was asking God to judge him, and then based on that judgment, save him from his wicked enemies.  We know David was just a man.  While a man after God’s own heart, he was able to fall to some serious sins in his life, like adultery and murder.  So how was he able to be so bold as to ask God to judge him before rescuing him?

I think the key is Psalms 7:12, “If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;”.  Before I seek God’s protection, I should first seek his forgiveness.

So what is the life application here for me?  At the beginning of this Psalm (Psalms 7:1-2), David is pleading with God to save him from his pursuers that want to tear his soul apart like a lion.  Can I really relate to this plea?  I don’t think I have anyone pursuing me like a lion.  Or do I?

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)
⁸ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Maybe I better get down on my knees and repent so that when I ask God to judge me and deliver me, he will find an upright heart.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The Lord’s Prayer – Deliver us from evil

Matthew 6:13 (ESV)
¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Here Jesus asks us to pray that our Father not lead us into temptation.  However, this is exactly what the Holy Spirit did to Jesus at the beginning of His ministry.

Matthew 4:1 (ESV)
¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

We also know that we are going to be tempted throughout the day.  Just turn on the TV, listen to the radio, walk out the front door and you are faced with temptation.  We live in a fallen world with temptation at every turn.  What does it mean to ask God not to lead us into temptation?  Even if we were to move into the desert we could never evade the temptations in our own minds.

There are avoidable temptations.  Maybe this prayer is for God to help keep us from walking down the slippery slope of temptations that we could and should avoid.

We don’t have to watch those TV programs or movies that put impure thoughts in our heads, ready to pop out when we least expect it.  We don’t have to let ourselves dwell on thoughts of envy, anger, or lust but we do.

The second half of this verse is a prayer for our Father to carry us through the temptations we do face.  These are temptations from the evil in our own hearts and temptations from Satan himself.

This part of the Lord’s prayer is a great reminder that we cannot face the temptations of this world alone.  We are promised that we will not face any temptation that is beyond our ability.  However, we are are also taught that we must wear the full armor of God to resist the schemes of the devil.  We can never be so cavalier as to think we can resist the evil in this world on our own.

Jesus added this last verse because evil is real, Satan is real, and we need our Father’s protection.

P.S. Are you protecting your own children?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Prowling like a lion

This is not a pretty picture. A helpless animal caught in the jaws of a ruthless lion. I thought about showing a YouTube video of a lion kill to illustrate my point in this post. However, the videos were too brutal.

God warns us that the devil is prowling around like a lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). He’s not looking to hurt, to wound or to make your life uncomfortable. He’s looking to tear you from limb to limb and devour you.

Have you had a time in your life where you felt like you were being devoured? Maybe you feel like that now? How do we protect ourselves from the lion’s jaws or free ourselves if he has already pounced and has his jaws on our throat?

Humble yourself, so that God may exalt you at the proper time (1 Peter 5:6). Pride is a favorite weapon of the devil. Satan fell for this himself and it was the temptation he used first against Adam and Eve – “God knows when you eat of the fruit you will be just like him (Genesis 3:5).”

Cast all of your worries on God because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). Worry can destroy us. It can take all of your joy and often turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Be sober-minded and watchful (1 Peter 5:8). This verses goes along with Ephesians 6:10-18. If we are sober-minded and watchful we will wear the armor of God. We have to be aware that Satan is a lion that does want to devour us and we have to protect ourselves with God’s truth, righteousness, gospel of peace, faith, salvation, Word of God and prayer.

But what if I am in the jaws of the lion right now? What do I do? How can I survive?

I’ve been there. When I was 12 my best friend drowned while we were all at the pool together. I saw his lifeless body at the bottom of the pool. I felt like I was being ripped limb from limb, devoured alive.

After our fourth child. My wife suffered through postpartum. I saw her enter dark places that people should never have to enter. Satan used this time to attack relentlessly. He did his best to devour her, me and our entire family.

So what do you do in times like this? How do you survive? If you’re in the jaws right now, I don’t have any magic words of wisdom for you. If you don’t know Jesus I can tell you that if you seek him, he will answer and he will deliver you. If you already know Jesus, I can tell you to stand strong and believe, he will deliver you. I know he will because he promises to do so and because he delivered me.

1 Peter 5:10 (ESV) 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Red pill or blue pill?

You want to be a godly man. This means choosing sides, as you are either a godly man or you’re not. Once you’ve decided, God has given you the armor you need to withstand the attacks of your enemy (Ephesians 6:11)

The question is do you really believe all this. Is there really a spiritual war out there or is this just church talk?

How can I believe all of this spiritual talk when I have real physical and emotional pain?

I can’t see God, the devil, angels or demons. How can they be real? I can feel pain. I know that’s real.

The pain of this world is real. Sin brought this pain into the world. Jesus is real. He has saved us from the sin and the pain.

God came in the flesh as Jesus to our physical world. He died a physical death in the world for our sins. He physically rose again to conquer death. We all still die (unless Jesus returns before we do), but we can have eternal life if we believe.

We all have the same choice as Neo in the Matrix. We can choose to take the red pill and join the battle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Or you can choose the blue pill and continue to live oblivious to this very real battle.

Believe and join God’s army. Be a godly man.

Popularity: 1% [?]

What I learned at kid’s camp last summer

Below is a message God laid on my heart to give to my church after I went to Centri Kids with my son Crayton and a couple dozen other 4th through 6th grade students last summer. It was a faith impacting experience in my life.

I had never been to a church camp before, even as a kid, so I asked Pastor John if I could share my experience with our church.

I did not know what to expect. If I had to guess I would have said I expected to be doing a lot of chaperone type work – making sure kids got to all of their activities and stayed out of trouble (especially working with the boys). Maybe have an opportunity to help one or more of the boys out with questions raised at camp.

What I experienced was more than I could have imagined. What I experienced was…

Have you ever had a really great worship experience at church, where after a few songs you really start to feel God’s presence? Then the message hits home and you leave church feeling like you spent time with God?

Well picture that type of experience as slowly wading into a cold pool. First you get your feet wet, then you move down to your waste, then to your shoulders and finally you put your head under the water.

Centri Kids was more like taking the Nestle Tea plunge. Almost immediately I was completely immersed in worship with God like never before and it was really around the clock through the entire week of camp.

I have often felt guilty about there being more passion (including from myself) at an Aggie football game than passion for Jesus at church. There was more passion for Christ at this camp from the kids, the adults and the staff than I have ever experienced at Kyle field.

You cannot be immersed in worship for a week and not have some deep conversations with God.

So here I am, to tell you what God laid on my heart in one of our conversations this week.

I was on a 3-mile run and since my MP3 player was not working (another story) I had time to think.

After the first mile (which was a lap around the camp) God said – why don’t you pray for the camp while you run around it.

Towards the end of my run, I was worn out and I prayed “God what happens to these kids after camp? There is a battle raging and these kids are in the thick of it. God you can protect and keep each child safe for the life you have planned for them. But God, you want the parents to join the battle”.

I immediately realized that those were not my words to God, but God’s Spirit speaking. I also immediately started crying during my last ½ mile.

During the rest of the week I thought about what God had told me. Some verses came to mind to help me think this out and I want to share them with you.

1 Peter 5:7-9 (ESV)
⁷ casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
⁸ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

God says to resist him by standing firm in the faith? How do we do this?

Ephesians 6:10-11 (ESV)
¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

My kids have access to this same armor. However, what kind of parent am I if I expect them to figure out how to use this armor on their own? I struggle figuring it out for myself.

If a physical war was raging around me I would not expect my kids to figure out for themselves how to protect themselves.

Why do I struggle with the spiritual war? The devil is an adversary much worse than the worst terrorist.

How can I ever be too busy or too tired to pray fervently for and with my kids?

How can I ever be too busy of too tired to read God’s word with my family?

Why would I ever not want my kids with me at my side as I worship my God so they can see that their dad loves their God and they should too?

Why do I not act like I fear that Satan might devour my child?

Why am I not doing all I can do to make sure they are fully dressed in the armor of God?

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (ESV)
⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Because while I know it is true in my head, I fail to believe it in my heart.

What God told me this week is that I better start believing with my heart.

Matthew 18:2-6 (ESV)
² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them
³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
⁵ “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,
⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

What judgment awaits me if I neglect my children’s spiritual well being?

Let us believe every little tittle and dot in this Book in our heart.

Let us join the battle.

Popularity: 1% [?]