Packed for a Purpose

 

Packed for a purpose

 

This Blog is going to spin off a thought or two and I’m going to borrow a little from author Max Lucado.  Yesterday I had some thoughts I was sharing with my friend Russ who I work with in children’s ministry.  My former pastor at Real Life Corpus had a term of “Leveraging Technology”.  When I originally started doing this Bible study blog thing it was an offshoot of doing a Bible study for people who worked nights because this is still something I feel churches fail at.  There are many people working nights who do so by choice like me and we don’t always do stuff in the day.  Too much sunlight, too many people, too much drama and stress.  Think about it for a second and you will see the humor because I’m an introvert working a shift where you don’t interact much with people, but I do a Bible study blog online for anyone to see which is also extremely extroverted.   There’s irony there.   Before you shut me off, hear me out on this, not everyone on the planet is on the same schedule as you.  Not everyone likes and does the same thing as you.  Scary I know.  Each of us is designed differently.  See here’s where we get back to my thoughts with my friend Russ.   In Matthew 28:19-20 it says this.  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.”  We live in a day and age where every one of us has access to a smart phone that can record a video, take a picture, scan something or do all kinds of things.  Why are Christians not leveraging technology to reach the nations?   I’m not good at a whole lot but God called me to write and encourage.  I will tell you when I do these blog videos or send them as email or post it online that’s something I know how to do but it’s also terrifying because I must share my thoughts. Here’s something those that have seen me do these videos don’t know that I’m about to reveal.  I took a speech class in college, and I did a five-minute speech one time and I can tell you the first two minutes I breathed.  That’s all I could do.  Here’s another weird fact, I’m a trainer at work.  I can teach people one on one to do the job but don’t put me in a big group.    For two days I had kept reading these verses in Galatians and I didn’t have a whole blog to write about it, but I knew it needed to be shared so I typed them and posted them on Facebook and let God use them in people’s lives.  God can use something that simple.    I can tell you this when I was at my lowest point sometimes all it took to get my eyes back on God was someone being kind, sharing scripture, just asking questions or showing an interest in my life.  You don’t know what the other person around you is going through.  I talked to my friend ‘s David and Jason recently and they almost jarred me into resuming the email portion of this and once again leveraging technology because they can read an email whenever and be encouraged.  I had given up doing this as an email.  See sometimes the person called to encourage needs encouragement too. 

 

That brings me to part of the Max Lucado Devotional I read today because it was a reminder to me about how you and I are designed by God. 

“You were born prepacked.  God looked at your entire life, determined your assignment, and gave you the tools to do the job.”    The weird way you and I act God can use that to glorify Him.  For some weird reason God decided Zac was going to like to write and read and share and somehow God has used that with a blog that was born from a Bible study for people working nights.  Somehow, He has me and my wife Becky helping with children’s ministry which is something I never ever planned on.  But if you went back to my past I helped with kids at nearly every church, I have been part of.  I sat and thought about that last night, and it was an odd thing to realize.   There are simply things God has designed you for that don’t always make sense.  The devotional also brought up this verse that caused me to think a little as well.  Exodus 35:35 says this  “The Lord has given them special skills as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine cloth, and weavers.  They excel as craftsmen and designers.”   Think about that for a second.  I’m a security guard, former waiter, cook’s assistant and customer service agent. My wife is a dang amazing cook.  King David was a shepherd that became a king.  Peter was a fisherman.  Matthew was a tax collector; Jesus was a carpenter.  Everyone of us a has skills and weird things we’re good at and God can use that.   You were meant to interact with people.  I said before we all have the technology at our fingertips to share God’s word.  Maybe we do it like my friend Darrell where he stood up in a country church and just read a chapter.  Maybe like Zac we do a full blog video.  My dad preaches full sermons.  Maybe you just pray with someone or listen and invite them to eat.  I encourage you though to use the gifts God has given you to help others.   

 

Meant to Be by Steven Curtis Chapman

Face the Nation by 4Him

 

           

Lost the Wonder

 

Lost the wonder

 

Somehow, I got talked into helping with the children at my church.  It’s weird in itself because I never really wanted kids.  But God can take you in strange directions.  So, my wife and I now help on Wednesday nights.  The kids have been memorizing two verses.  

 

Ephesians 2:8-9

 

“God saved you by his grace when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”  

 

I’ve been thinking about these verses for a few weeks now.  Over the years I think Christians sing and talk about salvation and the grace of God and I think sometimes we lose the wonder and awe of it all.  There was nothing we could do to save ourselves from sin.  We could never be good enough and we were enemies of God.  I watched a video a few days ago and Charlie Kirk was talking to this young lady who was convinced she had no soul. We all have an eternal soul and the free will to choose God or reject Him.  There are people out there who are so confused and need God so badly.  Sometimes as Christians we forget how wonderful our salvation is and how much those around us need God.  People need God to change them, and we need to recapture the wonder and share the love of God.  There’s a book that became a movie called Ready Player One and I’ve been asked why I never watched the movie.  My reason is this.  There was a chapter in the book that depicts the main character completely rejecting God.  That broke my heart.  I have sat and listened to people I work with at various jobs talk about rejecting the existence of God and it is heartbreaking.  If you go back and read the account in Exodus where Moses goes to Pharaoh and asks him to let the Israelites go it says Pharaoh hardened his heart.  Then you get to the last time Moses shows up and it says, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”  God gave him so many chances to change and do the right thing.  It’s scary to realize God will give us so many chances and then simply leave us to our own choices.  God will at various times in our lives let us see the weight of our sin and give us chances to seek him.  

 

Romans 5:8 to me has always been one of the greatest examples of God’s love and mercy.  

 

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  

 

We were at war with God.  If you are a Christian just sit and remember the awe and wonder that verse shows you.  Absolutely nothing we could do to save ourselves it is all a gift from God because of his love for us.  

 

Don’t reject God but seek Him while you still can.  

 

Geoff Moore and Charlie Peacock said it best in the song Aware of Wonder

 

“It is a wonder, a wonder 

I live in wonder, amazed at all 

You’ve done for me 

How can it be?

 

It is a wonder, a wonder 

I live in wonder 

This is the greatest mystery 

Your love for me, it is a wonder.

 

All I cannot see

I will still believe 

It drives me to my knees.”  

 

God’s love humbles us and leaves us in awe and wonder.  

 

I haven’t done this in a few years but humor me.  At least once this week I challenge you to sit down and read the words to the hymn Amazing Grace and think about the words.  

 

Aware of Wonder by Geoff Moore and the Distance 

Wonder of it all by Point of Grace 

Amazing Grace by Petra

Hallelujah by Tenth Avenue North 

 

 

Thoughts

 

Thoughts

 

I watched a small interview with Christian musician Michael W. Smith and something he mentioned I needed.  He was asked what his go to verse is and he mentioned he tries to rely on the promises of God.  He also mentioned two verses.  Psalm 139:17-18.  “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.  They cannot be numbered!  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!  And when I wake up, you are still with me!”  

I get stressed out very easily and my wife can tell you I often think I’m failing both of us.  I needed the reminder that God is still with me.  Years ago, when I was attending Real Life Corpus I remember Pastor Micah doing a series called Life Verses and it was about verses in scripture you base your life around.  If you’ve ever gotten an email from me, you’ve seen mine but I’m going to share those.  

 

Psalm 18:19 “He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because he delights in me.”  

Going to let you in on some minor Zac facts about this.  I have trouble believing a human could care about me yet my wife and my family do.  But here’s a verse where King David said God delights in him.  This is a man who spent most of his life being hunted by King Saul, the Philistines, his own son and many others yet he says God delights in him.  That means something.  He felt safer knowing that.  Years back I discovered a very little-known Christian music group called Clear that did a song called Wide Open Spaces about this Psalm.  There will be a link to the song in the written portion of this.  

 

My other life verse is Romans 5:8.  

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  

Absolutely nothing we can do to earn salvation it’s all by God’s grace alone.  

 

Today I need to know that God has thoughts about me, he delights in me and loves me.  Some of us are having bad days and need the reminder.  I had this whole blog written out and I was going to share it last week, but my wife got sick and then her cat got sick.  I spent my time off work praying a lot.  One verse I kept coming back to was this.  James 5:16 “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”  I keep praying that last part back to God and I barely think my life even qualifies as being a righteous person because I fail in so many ways but all I want is for my wife to be healed.  When we were in premarital counseling, I told our pastor that I pray often for Becky when she’s sick and he told me not to stop especially when she is well just keep praying for her.  I want my marriage to succeed, and I want us to be the people God wants us to be.  I love my wife dearly.  Sometimes you have hard days and weeks and you need to stop and remember that God thinks about you and cares for you.  Because life is hard.  I don’t know what you’re going through but the pop singer Jewel put it best.  “We are loved beyond our ability to comprehend.”  Lately I come home from work so stressed out by bills and life and then I must deal with cleaning up and feeding 3 cats and a full grown dog and trying to potty train a puppy I keep saying “all I want is peace.”  I’ve had a rough few days and I need the reminder that God loves me and maybe you do too.  There’s way more I could say but I want to end this simply with something we all need to remember.  

 

Lamentations 3:22-23 “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”  

 

 

Steadfast love of the Lord by Kathy Troccoli 

Wide open spaces by Clear

The Overflow by Shine Like Stars 

 

We're singing

 

We’re singing 

 

The Psalms have been called a songbook for God’s people.  I’ve even heard of some churches specifically using them only for music.  I could debate Christian music with people for hours because of how I was raised and some of that would be getting into a pointless argument.  Mostly because I’ve seen too many well-meaning church goers who only like certain styles of music.  Instead, I want to use this blog to encourage you to praise God.  Why because like King David we all need a “But as for me moment.”  Some of you just said, “Do what now?”  Before you completely make the Scooby Doo confused look let me explain what I mean.  We need music that points our hearts to God.  You need to seek and praise God because it gets your focus off of you and on Him.  I’ve seen this thing on facebook that as a Christian makes zero sense to me.  It says,  “It’s Sunday time to get my praise on.”  If your relationship with God doesn’t cause you to praise God, the rest of the week and you only sing praise to Him on Sunday you might need to read your Bible and ask some questions about what you claim to believe.  

 

Psalm 59:16-17 is about to drive my point home.  

 

“But as for me, I will sing about your power.  Each morning, I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.  For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.  O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.”  

 

Every morning David is praising God.  That’s more than one day a week.  

 

In Ephesians 5:18-20 we are called to praise God.  

 

“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.  Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves and making music to the Lord in your hearts.  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  

 

Kari Jobe said it best in her song called I’m singing.  

 

“I’m singing 

To the God who brings redemption to the nations

Kings and oceans bow to Him in praise 

And I’m singing to the God 

Who wrote the book on our salvation 

To the One who covers me in grace”. 

 

We owe our Creator and redeemer praise.  

 

 

I’m singing by Kari Jobe

All in all by Charmaine 

Sing your Praise to the Lord by Rich Mullins

View changed

 

View changed

 

I grew up a preacher’s kid, and I’ve been around a few churches. I was saved at the age of 16.  Listening to pastors and deacons praying in church can be one of the most intimidating things for a younger Christian.  I’m going to endeavor to take you on a journey of how my view of prayer changed because I’ve heard a lot of prayers from other people.  Some have lengthy flowery prayers with big fancy words.  I understand that from a certain perspective, but there was a time when the way I looked at prayer simply changed.  God wants us to communicate with Him often.   If you spend time in the Psalms and I have spent a lot of time, there you will find King David is the most vulnerable person you will ever hear praying and singing to God.   

 

Psalm 51:16-17

 

“You do not desire a sacrifice or I would offer one.   You do not want a burnt offering.  The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.  You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”  

 

See years back in my college days I went to this place called Disc Go Round and I bought my first Margaret Becker cd.  That’s when I discovered the song that changed the way I viewed prayer and talking to God.  Years before in 1989 she wrote this song called Honesty and it is for everyone who has sat in church and heard the fancy prayers and thought “I don’t understand how to pray because I can’t wrap my head around all these strange words.”  I’m here to tell you along with Maggie B that you don’t need all that.  What you need is an open and contrite heart before God.  Sometimes we have to come to God in prayer with our broken mess.  

 

Her song says this.  

“Tonight, by the glow of the firelight 

You found the courage to speak your mind

And tear down the walls 

you’ve been hiding behind 

You spoke of your struggle 

And you cried from the pain 

You spoke of your failure 

And then you turned in shame

You said, you knew you’d never be alright.

 

God’s not afraid of your honesty 

He can heal your heart if you speak honestly 

Humble sorrow and honest cry 

He will not pass by no.”

 

See, those words changed me.  It made me realize that I didn’t have to sound all fancy when I prayed and made me realize God wants me to talk to him as I would talk to a friend.  Yes, I’m to be respectful because He is almighty God but he doesn’t want me to try to pretend to be something I’m not.  

 

Philippians 4:6-7 

 

“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank him for all He has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”  

 

In Luke 18:9-14 there is a story Jesus tells about prayer between the Pharisee and the tax collector, and I’ve always related more with the tax collector because of what he did.  

 

“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed.  Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’”  

 

Even on my best day I’m a screw up and yet God wants me to pray to Him and he listens.  Let your guard down don’t try to be something you’re not.  Speak to God honestly.  He created you He sent his Son to die for your sins and be raised to life and He loves you.  

 

I want to end this with one of the most important verses you will ever learn about prayer.  

1 Peter 5:8

 

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”  

 

That verse tells you when to pray.  When you’re worried and concerned.  And then it tells you why.  Because He cares about you.  

I rarely ask for prayer but if you feel led to pray, please pray for Becky and I as we are getting married this coming Saturday.  Please pray that we would be the people God wants us to be. 

 

Honesty by Margaret Becker 

Humble yourself by Mylon Lefevre and friends

Praying man by Petra

 

Short

 

Short

 

We’re not promised tomorrow.  Life is short.  I make it a point each day to tell my fiancé Becky that I love her.  The first day we met she told me I mattered to her and she loved me.  This week I was relaying this story to her.   Christian singer Sandi Patty had a relative who was slowly dying and she was learning to cherish every moment with him, and she taught herself to say to him each day.  “I love you, today.”  Emphasis being on the word today because we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.  I’m 49 and my fiancé is 45 we’re getting married late in life and that timeframe is not lost on us.  We try to make the most of our time together.  I’m approaching my upcoming wedding with a certain attitude, and I’ll do my best to explain it.  Growing up my dad introduced me to the music of Don Francisco.  He sang a song about marriage that says, “Love is not a feeling it’s an act of your will.”  Each day you must choose to love the person you’re married to.  Too many people end a relationship because they no longer feel like they’re in love.  Had it happen to me.  I know going into this that each day I must choose my spouse.  We can have good and bad days, but I have to choose her regardless of my feelings.  DC Talk said it best in their song “luv is a verb.”  

 

“Pulling out my big black book

‘Cause when I need a word defined, that’s where I look

So, I moved to the l’s quick, fast in a hurry 

Threw on my specs thought my vision was blurry 

I looked again but to my dismay 

It was black and white with no room for gray

You see a big V, stood beyond my word

And Yo, that’s when it hit me, that love is a verb.”

 

WWE general manager Adam Pearce does videos online and he always ends them with this sentence that we all need to remember.  “Love somebody today.”  You don’t know what kind of struggle the people around you are dealing with, but God calls us to love.  I’ve said before that a lot of the friends I have are because they took the time to be nice to me and I remember that.  

 

Romans 12:18 is a verse I try to live my life by.  I don’t always get it right, but I try.  

“Do all that you can to live at peace with everyone.”  

We don’t know who our life is affecting but we need to love people and treat them as better than ourselves.  I said it in church one Wednesday night because it’s true.  “We talk a lot of smack for people who almost fall over putting on underwear.” Don’t think so highly of yourself.  Treat people with love and kindness wherever you go.  If you need a reason why I’m about to give it to you in two verses.  

Galatians 6:9-10

“So, let’s not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a blessing if we do not give up.  Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith.” 

 

This past week Becky told me something and it shook me.  I don’t blog like I used to.  Years back I placed a lot of stress on myself to have something to say every week when this was an online blog.  I got criticized by people after my divorce and had to heal, it kept me from saying anything.  When it was sent as an email to people it started being returned with no explanation.  I blog on rare occasions now.  But one of Becky’s friends told her to tell me, “He hasn’t done a video in a while.”  I honestly thought no one was paying attention when I did them.  What I often say is that if just one person is drawn closer to God by something I have said then I have accomplished what I set out to do.  I had to stop and pray and tell God if I was going to do this again, he would have to provide something to say because I didn’t have it.  I’m no one special I share what God lays on my heart.  What happens after that is completely up to God.  I pray before I post stuff that God would use it to glorify himself.  This is not about me and if that’s what you focus on that’s not the point I’m trying to push you back to the cross of Christ.  I simply show up and share.  I’m nobody special.  

 

Meant to be by Steven Curtis Chapman

Love Revolution by Natalie Grant 

Middle of a Miracle by Emerson Day

Light Up the Sky

 

Light up the Sky

 

At Second Baptist Church we’ve been slowly working through the book of John and I do mean slowly.  I was talking to Becky, Wednesday night after church about some of these verses we had been going over in church.  I’m going to share the first five verses quickly and then get back to that conversation.  

 

John 1:1-5

 

“In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

He existed in the beginning with God.  

God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. 

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.  

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.”  

 

Wednesday night I was telling Becky, at my lowest point when I got most depressed I had been praying often for a purpose and I can tell you God used the rising of the Sun each day to reassure me that if the Sun was still shining He wasn’t done with me and there was a reason to go on.  

 

In verses 1-5 it talks about the Word and that’s another name for Jesus and we find that confirmation in verse 14.  

 

“So, the Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”  

 

This blog has always been about hope being found in God’s Word.  But you see the Bible is alive and to read it you interact with Jesus because he is the Word in human form.  We all need hope and light and Jesus is that.  There’s a song by a group called The Afters called Light up the Sky.  Sometimes we need to stop and look up and remember that the very God who created us and the world around us is very much a masterful artist.  This is what the song has to say about all this.  

 

“When I’m feeling all alone with so far to go

The signs are nowhere on this road

Guiding me home

When the night is closing in 

Is falling on my skin 

Oh God will you come close

 

You light light, light up the sky 

You light up the sky to show me that you are with me.  

No, I can’t deny that you are right here with me.”  

 

John 1:5 said, “the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.”  Some of you need to take a step back from your busy life and look to the sky and see where God is allowing the Sun to shine each day and remember he’s not done with you.  

 

Also Casting Crowns took a hymn and made it more of a modern song in 2009 to remind us of all this.  

 

“One day when Heaven was filled with his praises 

One day when sin was as black as could be 

Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin 

Dwelt among men, my example is He

Word became flesh and the light shined among us

His glory revealed.

 

Living, He loved me

Dying, He saved me

Buried, He carried my sins far away 

Rising, He justified freely forever

One day He’s coming oh glorious day.”  

 

We just went through a time of Christmas where the people of Israel were expecting a savior in a time of darkness, and it was proclaimed by Angels to lowly shepherds.  Each day God gives us a sunrise and lights up the sky to give us a reset element for a new day and a fresh start to remind us there is still Hope and Hope is a person named Jesus Christ.  

Psalm 19:1

“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the works of his hands.”

Philippians 1:6

"For I am confident 0f this one very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” 

I want to flip the script a bit for a moment.  I work at night.  I have told you, a few times during the blog to go outside and look at the sky.  When most of you get to see the sun rise and set, I see the night sky and due to the city lights, I can sometimes see the moon and stars if McDonald’s could just tone down those Golden Arches a tad bit, I could see more.  But I used to live in the country, and we could see the night sky for miles laying on a trampoline.  I long for the dawn and the rising of the sun and getting home from work.  But God has created a masterpiece day by day for us to see in the sky and He’s not done with you.  I don’t know what you’re going through but I do know you are loved more than you realize.   

 

Light up the sky by the Afters

 

Glorious Day by Casting Crowns 

 

The Word by Sara Groves