In Advance

In advance 

Recently we had a sermon at Real Life about God’s plans.  I’ve been thinking about that since Monday night.  See God is not confined by time like we humans are.  Before creation he has seen it all.  From Genesis to Revelation if you study the Bible, God has had plans for the world and he has accomplished them.  Whether it is prophecy from the past or for the future he has plans and he fulfills them regardless of what humankind does.  See I want to start you off with something simple here.  Psalm 102:18 “Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord.”  Simple statement that God’s Word will be passed down so those in the future can praise him.  Pastor Micah showed us in Micah 5:2 that 700 years before it happened Jesus birth was predicted.  “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah.  Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.”  See in Matthew 1:23 it references Isaiah.  “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Immanuel, which means God is with us.”  So one of you may ask what does all this mean.  Jesus Christ is not still a baby.  You are going to hear people say thank you baby Jesus.  He’s not a baby anymore!  God had a plan that stretched through time and without Christmas you can’t have Easter.  Jesus was on a rescue mission that started when sin entered the garden through Adam and Eve.  For the Christian we have Immanuel or God with Us in our hearts.  That means we have a God who is not confined by time who has already seen our best and worst day and he has already overcome it all.  When we sing hymns like Victory in Jesus we already have that through the work on the cross.  Even as far back as Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  God has hope and a future for you.  Been thinking a lot about this non linear thing and it changes a bit the way you pray and trust God with a problem because he’s already been ahead and seen the end.  To you at the moment it may seem like a giant and you’re praying for a way to resolve it and he already has but he wants your focus on him.   If you go through it or around it that’s not the end goal; drawing closer to God is the end goal.  God wants your heart.  That’s the plan.  It’s always been the plan.  If you follow the people of Israel out of Egypt, God wanted a special people set apart for him.  

Hark the herald angels sing by Chris Tomlin this is the gospel in a Christmas Carol pay attention to the lyrics 

Strange way to save the world by 4 Him

Not that far from Bethlehem by Point of Grace 

Emmanuel by Amy Grant and Anthem Lights

El Shaddai and Thy Word by Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith

For a dream by Phillips Craig and Dean 

What did he die for by Twila Paris 

Blessed Messiah by DeGarmo and Key

Victory in Jesus by Bart Millard

Dying to reach you by Point of Grace 

Renew

I have a t-shirt that has the comic book hero Ghost Spider or aka Spider-Gwen and she is rummaging through a box of comics and it says “Can’t wait till Gwensday.”  See Wednesday is new comic book day however this blog is about other new stuff.  For  the Christian, God makes us new.  

God wants to renew us from the inside out.  He looks at our hearts first.  I read this cause and effect verse about renewing that got my attention.  Colossians 3:10 says this.  “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and become like him.”  This involves spending time in the Bible and singing and praising God.  It’s cause and effect in a lot of ways.  See today I left for work and I could have listened to any music on my MP3 player but I chose Christian music because I was about to start my job and a foul mood would accomplish nothing good.  I’ve gotta have the right mindset.  Colossians 3 is all about fixing your eyes on Jesus.  See I as a security guard try to make dealing with me as painless as possible and I try to be helpful.  If my mind is in the wrong place I can’t do that.  We need to be renewed and changed and sometimes that is a moment by moment battle.  But Paul gives us marching orders because we are at war in regards to what we think. 

Colossians 3:16-17

“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.  Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.  Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

Fix your focus and be renewed!  

In this blog I try to provide scripture and music to fix your heart on God.  Maybe the music isn’t always your favorite but I try.  We are called to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  I once asked my wife if I was adding too much music and being the wise woman she is she told me “You just leave links to it and it’s up to the reader whether they click on it or not.”  She’s right I can’t make you read the blog or listen to anything it’s all your choice.  That being said though I hope you invest the time and draw closer to God.  

Memoir by Audio Adrenaline 

Think on these things by Petra

Mind’s eye by DC Talk

Secret Hideaway by 4 Him 

What a friend by Kathryn Scott

All things new by Steven Curtis Chapman 

The Crippler

Unbelief and fear are liars but they can cripple you.  Being a wrestling fan I’ve seen a lot of submissions.  Moves that cause one to tap out or give up.  Gideon faced it.  Some people I’ve heard give him a bad reputation and not the Joan Jett song variety.  Gideon was not completely wrong in his tests because he came face to face with God who met his fear and unbelief called them liars and said “Gideon you can trust me.”  All through the Bible you can see God meeting us at our point of need and sending those trolls fear and unbelief packing.   None however is more evident however than what we find in John 20:24-29. 

“One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came.  They told him.  ‘We have seen the Lord!’  But he replied.  ‘I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.’  Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them.  The doors were locked; but suddenly as before, Jesus was standing among them.  ‘Peace be with you,’ he said.  Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and look at my hands.  Put your hand into the wound in my side.  Don’t be faithless any longer.  Believe!’  ‘My Lord and my God!’  Thomas exclaimed.  Then Jesus told him, ‘You believe because you have seen me.  Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.’”

There’s a few things I want you to notice here.  Jesus went through locked doors after being raised from the dead.  He waits eight days after Thomas made his proclamation.  Now pay attention to that for a second because Jesus had appeared to a few people already and Thomas had a chance to see and hear some things since he had said what he did.  Things have been ruminating around in his brain.  Now grasp this for a second.  Jesus has healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead and so much more yet Thomas is still having problems believing.  So Jesus leaves the marks of his death which yes he could have healed but he didn’t because Thomas needed to believe.  It was a pivotal moment for Thomas.  But the chapter doesn’t end because Jesus said “Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”  Then in my best infomercial voice “But wait there’s more!”  Because verses 30-31 give us more depth into what Jesus told Thomas.  See Thomas plays a bigger role than we seem to give him credit for.  He’s all of us who need God to tell Fear and unbelief to go jump in the Marianna Trench.  But then there’s the others who believe without seeing.... “The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book.  But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”

See in Mark 9:24 a man asked Jesus to help him in his unbelief.  That’s what Gideon and Thomas did.  When we first come to God for salvation we ask a lot of questions of God typically and he meets us at those stages then we continue to have to trust him day by day moment by moment it’s a growing process.  I ask my wife and parents questions because I don’t know everything and I have to trust the responses I get.  The principle is the same.  Trust God he has been proving and providing for longer than you have existed.  

"Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before him.  God is our refuge."  Psalm 62:8

Years ago I was at Beach Reach 1996 where during spring break we tried to reach students for Christ.  I was very scared at the time and this friend of mine Rhonda said something that I have held onto for years and I'm going to share it with you.  I don't know who originally said it but she passed it on to me.  "Fear knocked at the door; Faith answered and there was no one there."  

Friend of a wounded heart by Point of Grace

Do I trust you medley by Twila Paris

I believe by Wes King

We Believe by Newsboys 

Everyman by Rich Mullins 

Fear is a liar by Zach Williams  This is one of my wife's favorite songs.  

Desert Rose by Whiteheart   So the minor history lesson here is.  I discovered this song years ago in the 90's at Skateland West in Annaville, Tx I probably requested it be played more than anyone and it was the reason I became a White Heart fan.  

Rejoice in God's forgiveness

Rejoice in God’s forgiveness 

We sometimes forget the great debt our sin caused us before God.  But we have victory through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  Not many people today have really heard or paid attention to the third verse of the old hymn It Is Well With My Soul.  I want you to read the words and then consider some scripture.  

“My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought 

My sin, not in part but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more 

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Oh, my soul.”

God didn’t forgive just one of our sins but all of them and this is a reason for Thanksgiving.  

Psalm 32:1-2. “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!  Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty.”  

Colossians 2: 13-15 “You we’re dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.  Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.  He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.  In this way he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.  He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”  

There was so much going on that day at Calvary that no one could conceive the spiritual war that was being waged.  See before the cross Jesus and Pilate had a conversation where Pilate was scared of who he was talking to.  In John 19:7-11 there was spiritual warfare being played out.  

“The Jewish leaders replied, ‘By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.’  When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.  He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him.  ‘Where are you from?’  But Jesus gave no answer.  ‘Why don’t you talk to me?’  Pilate demanded. ‘Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?’  Then Jesus said, ‘You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.  So the one who handed me over to you has the greatest sin.’”

At any point Jesus could’ve stopped the whole thing but because of love he still went forward with the cross to forgive not one but all of our sins.  It was nailed to the cross and we bear it no more.  We have somewhere to turn for forgiveness.  You the reader come to the blog for hope I send you to the cross where blood was shed for your sins.  

How great is the love by Meredith Andrews

We are the reason by Avalon

No need to explain by Geoff Moore and the Distance 

Once and for all by Whiteheart

Because you are by Point of Grace

O, Praise the name by Hillsong

At the cross by Chris Tomlin 

Shaken by Rachael Lampa