Reset

Jonah1:12

Pick me up and throw me into the sea….

And this storm will calm.

I know it is my fault

This storm has come upon you.

When I sin, I know…..

It is my fault we suffer…..

My sin has brought this upon us.

Do with me as God leads you in all this.

Guys…..

The beginnings of a reset….

The start of setting things right…..

It all begins with my own confession.

It is my fault this storm has come….

In our sin….

What kind of storms are we bringing into the lives….

Of the people God has brought our way?

I have sinned

This is not who I am, but….

I have done this thing that is hurtful….

I want to…….

Do

Act

Think

And Speak…..

Better.

I am sorry.

Christ in me……

He is better……….

Than I have shown.

Do with me as God leads you in all this….

Be it hard or compassionate…..

Do with me as God leads you.

Holy Spirit

Search me and reveal to me

Anything in me that is not of Jesus.

Give me real sorrow over my sin.

Give me a hatred of my sin.

Do with me as You will…

To bring me Life.

Amen

Running to Tarshish

Jonah 1:3

But Jonah ran away from the LORD

And headed to Tarshish.

The voice in my head sounds something like this…..

There is no way…..

God couldn’t be telling me…..

Are you kidding me…. Really God… You want me to…..

And off I go to Tarshish.

I wonder what it is…..

What it is I might have heard from Jesus….

But instead, turned away……

And headed off to my Tarshish...

My place……… of escape.

I even wonder if maybe……..

Maybe I have become so accustomed to running…..

That I scarcely hear from Jesus at all.

He starts….. I run……

He begins with a word…..

Immediately I turn a different direction.

Reason, logic, busyness, food, lust, work..…….

Anything to drown the voice of God.

Guys,

He is calling us.

He’s calling us to join Him.

He’s calling us to participate......

He’s calling us to participate in the Life…….

He will bring to Nineveh.

Can we stop being afraid of what He might say?

Wait….

What’s that I hear….

Could it be……

Nahhhhh…..

Oh….. look at what time it is…….

Man…… I’d better get going……So much to do……

I wonder what the weather will be like today…..

I hope it doesn’t storm.

Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit,

Give us the courage to hear from You.

Give us the faith to follow You……

Even to our Nineveh.

Amen

Sin (Part 3) I Hate Tickets

2 Chronicles 19:7

Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you.

Judge carefully,

For with The LORD our God

There is no injustice or partiality……..

I hate tickets….

Driving down the road….

Enjoying some awesome tunes.…..

Thinking about seeing my beautiful wife…..

Some beach time….. Some restoration time……

Tybee Island here I come!

Until….

No it can’t be…..

Not that…. I couldn’t have been….

Blue Lights……No, not the blue lights…….

Aaarrrrghhhh……

Why me?

Why me……

Well I suppose……

Because I was speeding……

Breaking the established standard…..

Going against what has been laid out as…

The good, established order……..

The order established……

For my own benefit.

Guys,

There is a sense in which that is exactly what sin is……

At least that’s how it shows up.

There is either a……

Deliberate defiance of God’s order……

Or a brand of carelessness which pays Him no mind……

As I do……

What I do.

I love tickets…….

There is a way to live…..

A way to live that lets us participate……

Participate in the very Love and Life  of our Creator.

Guys….

Sometimes I just get careless…..

Other times I just live in blatant defiance and denial……

Either way…..

I miss Life.

Either way…..

I need reminders…

I need consequences……

Proverbs 3:11-12

 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not resent His rebuke,
 because the Lord disciplines those He loves,
    as a Father the son He delights in.

Father,

Thank You for using even the consequence of my sin to move me toward Life.

Thank You that You have not abandoned me or left me to my own ways.

Holy Spirit,

Help me to know the consequences of my sin even today and so…

Turn to You for Life.

Lord Jesus,

Thank You for opening the way….

For being……. The Way…..

To Life.

Amen

Sin (Part 2)

Genesis 4:7b

……..But if you do not do what is right,

sin is crouching at your door;

It desires to have you, but you must master it.

Sin desires to have you…..

To control you….

To own you.

This thing…..

This power…….

This death dealing manifestation…..

It stands in opposition to…..

Goodness......

And Hope…..

And Love….

And Life…

And….

God Himself……

This sin….

It is an evil…..

It desires to have you…..

To lure you into pain and death.

Its subtle.

Its deceptive.

Its unrelenting in its attacks.

It seeks to destroy you…...

You, and everything, and everyone, you care about.

To make matters worse,

This thing called sin…..

Though it is not us…

Still exists in us.

We carry it around with us….

Like some phantom that haunts our soul.

We cannot escape its allure….

We cannot get away from its callings…..

There is no avoiding it………. and so…….

We must fight.

Ah, but Christian…..

There is much good news.

Though this enemy be formidable….

Though sin’s wooing be inescapable…….

Though there be an ongoing fight for Love and Life…….

It is a fight……..

That has been won.

We have the means…….

The means to master this enemy…..

Until he be put away….

Once and for all.

Guys,

I tell you now….

The victory is sweet………

And will be all the sweeter……

As we take our place in the battle…..

In the battle for Life.

The Very Life of God has invaded this earth in Christ Jesus….

This same Christ Jesus who lives…..

In you and I.

Let’s take our place in our Lord’s great story of Life.

Let’s take our stand for all that is good.

Let’s join our Lord Jesus, and so…..

Even today…..

Live!

Ephesians 6:10-14a

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

¹¹ Put on the full armor of God,

so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,

against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God,

So that when the day of evil comes,

you may be able to stand your ground,

 and after you have done everything,

To stand.

Lord Jesus, Almighty God, Holy Spirit,

I ask for Your Life and Love and Energy today to stand.

All Praise be to You.

Amen

Sin (Part 1)

Psalm 51:4

Against You,

You only have I sinned,

And done what is evil in Your sight…..

Sin….

Tough topic.

I wonder what you think of when you see the word.

Maybe you go philosophical/theological on me……

Sin- Actions, attitudes, words and thoughts that contradict

God’s order. Living (and dying) apart from the rule of God.

Trying to live independently from God- Self Sovereignty.

Then again……

Maybe it quickly becomes more personal for you……

Maybe there’s that one place in your life….

That one place where you feel……

Shamed and defeated.

Maybe you have just tried to put the whole ugly concept out of your mind.

Maybe you prefer not to think about it at all.

Yep……

Definitely a tough topic.

Over the next couple of days I want to throw some ideas out there……

Sin as a virus- In you…… but not you.

Sin as a power that waits to destroy you.

Sin as the cause of all pain in this world.

Sin as a defeated foe……defeated by Christ

So we will try to go beyond specific acts…..

We will try to go beyond simple sin management……

Are you up for it?

Psalm 51:10

Create a pure heart in me O’ God

And renew a right spirit within me.

Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit

I pray over these next days You help us experience

Incredible, Wonderful, Powerful Victory over our enemy…..

Over sin itself.

All praise to You our Lord Jesus, for what You will do.

Amen