Archive for May, 2008

As I talked with a neighbor the other night I told about an incident that happened to their middle daughter where she and everyone in her car were attacked by another group of teenagers.  There is very visible damage to her car and I am sure that it must have scared all of them fairly well.  So as a dad of 3 daughters I had a lot of questions as to what was being done about the incident and how they were handling things.  Well as I thought about it more and more I began to wonder the best way to make sure my daughters are always protected, so I started thinking…Jujitsu lessons?, Hand-gun training?, do I hire a body guard?, big dog that we claim is a seeing-eye dog?  And then in my devotion my Heavenly Father who knows my heart and knows all of my concerns leads me to this…

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4: 6-7

Now, I have read this verse hundreds of times but I don’t know that it was ever at the exact time that I was actually pondering something of a “worry” type nature, and in it God showed me several things.
First He showed me that through prayer and spending time in His lap talking with Him is how we can best handle these things.  We have to petition God with our concerns and our worries.  Secondly, upon doing that He will bestow upon us “…the peace of God” (notice not a peace like God’s but His actual peace) which is past what we can understand to be peace.  And thirdly, He will through Jesus Christ guard our hearts and our minds.  What kind of better protection could we ask for?

That was so encouraging to hear from Him, however as He usually does with me, with comfort comes correction.  He reminded me that for God to bestow that peace and that comfort we must be striving to live closer to Him every day.  We must be living a life that is of a higher standard.  He reminded me that lukewarm Christianity is one of the biggest lies the Devil tells us.   To call yourself a Christian and to not have a heart that is striving to live above reproach is unsatisfactory.   Look what scripture tells us…

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
1 Corinthians 9:24

To run and win a marathon you simply cannot show up the day of the event and expect to win, you must spend hours, days, weeks, years training to win.  Training for such an event is something that most runners do daily!   Our walk with God should be the same, why should we expect to be given His peace if we are not training ourselves daily in His word and on our knees.   Then your attempts to “run that marathon to God” in times of trouble will end up with you grasping for worldly things that will never satisfy instead of resting on a foundation of peace and fulfillment in Jesus Christ.  To steal a line from Holk Hogan (yea I’m going to) “train hard, say your prayers and eat your vitamins.”.  Ok the vitamins is just good advice but the other two are vital.  We must train hard and we must say our prayers!! 

God Bless ~ Tyler

Well as you read yesterday we had a passionette service Saturday (that was awesome by the way) and we sang several songs but one of them spoke to me more than any other.   And even though the song is awesome one particular line in that song was really the catalyst for several days of thought.  Well I was given a true example of what I had been pondering yesterday and it hit me like a lightning bolt.  First let me share the song with you…

Indescribable – Chris Tomlin

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
You are amazing God

Now I gave you a little bit more just because this song is amazing but I bolded the line that really made me think about things.  As we were growing up in school we learned about lighting and how it works and why we get it and so forth and so on.  And we look at it when it streaks through the sky and it is scary and kind of cool all at the same time.  But most of us think that it is random in where it goes how it goes and so forth, hence the statement “lightning never strikes twice”.  But never once have I considered that God told it where to go.  Now you may be more spiritual than I but I know He created it and I know He controls everything but to direct its very path seemed almost ridiculous for God to do.   Well yesterday He handled a situation for me that I had been praying about and He handled it in a way that I would have never expected.  I was praying and praying for it to be handled but in a way that I thought would be the best way (basically giving me an easy out so that I didn’t have to deal with it), but instead he handled it in a way that I never would have considered.  And it was just phenomenal to see God work right in front of me.  I just sat in awe for few minutes and then I just praised Him and thanked Him for His help.   So, if He takes the time to direct every single lightning bolt down to the earth then why do we ever question whether He hears us or whether He is going to take care of us?   I think we sometimes forget how involved God is in our daily lives, remember He is not just sitting back watching and helping whenever He wants, He is directly impacting and providing our steps every day, every hour,  every minute, every second…etc.   If you feel like you have not experienced that I urge you to write down your prayers and review them I think you will see His hand move a lot more than you praise Him for now.   Keep lifting up your concerns your Heavenly Father is listening and moving!!

God Bless ~ Tyler

As you were growing up did you ever have a favorite band or singer that if they came within 200 miles of where you were you weren’t going to miss it?  I have heard stories of people driving 10-15 hours to go to one concert and then turn around and drive right back home.  Well, news flash I don’t like anybody that well but if I were to ask you how far would you drive to go see Jesus, what would your response be?  Now I know that if you are already a believer that you know He never leaves you, however there are times that the spirit will move among a group of believers and you can feel His presence as if He physically walked in the door.   And as a pastor I want as many people to experience that as possible.  I want other believers to want to be in His presence and in the presence of other believers for worship, growth, and a constant spiritual check.  So on that note; what an awesome blessing Saturday night was.  I know that the majority of our congregation missed it and I am truly saddened by this as it was a time of reflection, release, and healing among those of us that were there.  We worshiped God with singing and with a video that gave us true perspective into how accurate we are in our thoughts about how “BIG” God really is.  I truly feel fortunate that I was able to participate in this worship service and I cannot wait for another one.  I hope that the people that attended will express how awesome it was so that those who weren’t able to make it this time will come next time.  I guess the best thing about the whole evening was (I type with tears in my eyes) that I got to watch my spouse worship her Heavenly Father without interruption and without hesitation.  And as always Christ did not disappoint, He came and met her and He began restoring her in areas where she was down and hurting.

Matthew 18:20 (New American Standard Bible)
 20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

 Jesus tells us in the verse that He would come be anywhere we as Christians are gathered and as usual He honored his promise.  If you missed Saturday night I urge you to try everything in your power to make the next one!  I promise you will be blessed, not because of anything that we do but because of God Almighty and His Son!

God Bless ~ Tyler

Well, I guess sometimes this blog is more therapeutic for me that beneficial to its readers, with a blank box waiting for me to type words every morning it becomes sometimes difficult to provide insight when the Devil or life is pounding pretty hard.  We as Christians should always take the valleys of life and look at them through Christ’s eyes; we should evaluate them with His standards.  And it is very easy to say but sometimes it is very hard to do. There are times that we get so bogged down in the garbage that we don’t even want to take our head out of the sand.  Well we (my family and I) have had one of those weeks!  I have fought tooth and nail to keep from just sticking my head in the sand and saying “forget it”.  And there have been a time where looking at things from Christ’s eyes was very easy and other times when it was extremely difficult.  But as always the Lord has ways of providing hope and ways to convey His love.  This was sent to me in an email and I thought it was a great insight for the day, so I wanted to share it with you.

Remember…..Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Each and everyone one of us is going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith.

 This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let’s continue to pray for one another.

The Prayer:

Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those that I care deeply for, who are reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through Your grace. Where there is need, I ask you to fulfill their needs. Bless their homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings. Amen.

So that is what I pray today and will continue to pray that we are no longer thinking of the garbage but that we allow God to show us a new revelation of His love and power.   So to the question…”What am I?” I answer this…

I am a son of the Alpha and the Omega, the Most High, and the Ruler of the Universe.  I shall not worry because I am simply not in control.  I know that He has my best interest at heart and that He will always work good from the bad.  I hope that if you are having a tough week you will stop and pray and ask our Heavenly Father to comfort you and give you a peace that only He can give.

God Bless ~ Tyler