Archive for January, 2008

 Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB95)
²⁵ “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
²⁶ “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
²⁷ “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
²⁸ “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
²⁹ yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
³⁰ “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
³¹ “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
³² “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
³³ “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Have you ever stopped to just look a Lilly, much less smell it? Many of us, me included, are so busy with “real world” activities that we don’t have the time or even think of a lilly in a normal year, much less in any given day.  Jesus tells us in Matthew Chapter 6 that we should watch how the Lillies of the field grow. Jesus also tell’s us that they (Lillies) neither labor or spin and that in all King Solomons splendor that he was not dressed like one of these.  Yet, why do we labor and spin knowing that we don’t really have much of a chance of accomplishing OUR goal without God’s direction and blessing.

Matthew Chapter 6 is what I like to call the worry chapter. It is also what I read when I get so busy trying to build my kingdom I forget about Gods Kingdom. Over the past year  I have been so focused on my work that I have slacked in building Gods Kingdom. As a bi-vocational pastor (work for my self and preach) I have been laboring and spinning for the wrong reasons, MY kingdom. I feel as if I have been building my ”empire” and leaving God on the back burner. I have been trying to seek the glory and the spledor of Solmon without realizing what I have done. I have begun to worry where the next sale will come from, the next dollar that will be made, and the next toy I can buy. All the while keeping God out of my decisions about my “kingdom”.  This chapter always brings me back to what I am supposed to do. And that is in verse 33, ” Seek yea first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you” .   

Wow, how can anyone really screw this up. Jesus tells us the formula for a quailty life. Seek, build His kingdom first and all these things mentioned in this chapter will be given to you. But WHY can’t we do it? WHY do we always seek the kingdom of ourselves instead of the kingdom of God?   

First, I believe we loose sight of what God has planned for us when we stop having daily devotion. When we don’t take time to read God’s word, we become forgetful about what is said in the Bible. We start getting our advise from friends, relatives and even pagan aquintances. We start living of the world instead of in it.

Second, I believe when we stop having devotions, we stop having prayer. This is one time that we can take a moment and let God talk back to us. It is impossible for God to get through if we are always on the move. He wants a word with you, a moment He can let you in on what His plan is for your life. If you don’t slow down for God to speak to you, He might just slow you down Himself.

And Third, I believe that when the first two stop, SIN steps in. Sin will hinder your life in more ways that you want to imagine. If the Bible isnt being read and if prayer is not in your life, then I would bet that sin’s arent being asked to be forgiven. God is waitng for you to ask for forgiveness of your sins in order to erase them in your life. Don’t allow your devotion and prayer life to fall behind. Because when it does and the sin sets in we no longer look toward God and his kingdom. It’s then we start to worry. 

Most will say that worrying is human nature, but God promises if you will seek His kingdom first you will have nothing to worry about. Don’t let the world tell you something different than what God promises you. Take time to watch the lillies grow and even stop for a while to smell them.  

God bless and read your’re Bible,

Pastor Jody Burkeen

I was very blessed last night to see something that in the “Christian World” is far to rare. I watched 14 adults sit down and discuss items in their lives that had caused conflicts between the group and the emotional affect of those conflicts on each member. It was an anomaly for my 24 years as a Christian. I watched the men and women cry, vent, explain, and be totally honest in a forum that would make some people want to absolutely crawl in a hole. In my opinion it was a beautiful example of what Jesus meant as he told the disciples how they were supposed to treat one another and how their relationships were to be founded… John 15:12-17

12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Now no one litterally stated that they would take a bullet for someone or stand in front of a speeding bus and I dont think this was Jesus’ meaning; however they did exactly what Jesus commanded. They laid down their hurts, their vulnarabilities, their pride, and their hearts and basically told the others that they loved them and wanted to have fellowship with them in the most honest, loving, commpasionate way possible…LIKE JESUS DID!

I basically watched 13 adults walk their talk! This is something that is not only tough to do but somewhat of a rarity among believers and even society on a whole. I hope to those that were involved they realize how special that event was and that they will hold tight to that bond and to those who are just reading this and were not involved I encourage you to seek friends that are modeling their lives after Christ. The “community” between two believers that are putting their faith in Jesus Christ and as scripture tells us to investe their life into each other is amazing and irreplacable.

God Bless ~ Tyler

By the way after many requests and much deliberation I am now allowing comments on my posts.

As I was reading in my Bible this morning I was directed to the scripture where God speaks to Ananias. I was struck with the reaction of Ananias, I have included the scripture below:

Acts 9:10
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

I was struck by the immediate reaction that Ananias gave. How often do we as Christians really respond with the immediate “Yes, Lord”. We spend some much of our time trying to debate with ourselves on whether or not this is from God or not when we know that we know it is from God. One of the things that I know that God expects from us is immediate obedience. Now even Ananias does not do that, in verse 13-14 he debates with God a little bit to which God responds:

Acts 9:15
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Bold Added)

Take a second and look at God’s response. Go with an exclamation, which I am sure is the same exclamation that I give my children when they do not obey immediately. My point being as Christians we need to keep ourselves in a place of immediate obedience. When God calls say “Yes, Lord” with the heart that whatever God gives we will do, without debate. Just as we as parents expect our children to obey without debate and to go when we say go and to stop when we say stop our Heavenly Father expects the same. So you ask well how do we keep ourselves in that place, well I am glad that you ask. We must make sure that we are diligent with our devotions (funny that I say that right since this is only my second blog in Jan…for you Edenites I am pulling a JB and preaching on my own conviction ;o)) and our prayer lives. We must make sure that we are constantly in His will and spending daily time with Him talking, reading, and worshiping. As I finish today’s blog I urge you to remember that we are on this Earth as a preparation tool for our enternal destination. We are here to be prepared for eternity!

God Bless ~ Tyler