Day 18 - good gifts of God

Make a list of 5 things that have taken place in your life that others might consider bad and yet you have come to see them as good gifts from God:
1. My broken leg in 8th grade - I have recently learned, from my parents, that God used that event to change my attitude for the better and break my will in some areas.

2. Broken relationship the night before buying an engagement ring - this was tough but it led to building a relationship with a young woman that became my wife and an incredible blessing from God.

3. Little money to go to college or graduate school - But, I followed God anyway, with my parents support, going where I believed God wanted me to go; and He supplied what was needed, financially to get me through. I learned to trust Him in that area.

4. Not taking the first pastoral job I was offered, right out of graduate school - voted in at 92% and offered a great salary for a single guy, I just didn't feel right about it. Instead, I took a teaching job and about a 50% pay cut that I would have received with the other job. But, God gave me a couple great years coaching (I loved it) and allowed me to date my future wife; as well as lead me to where He wanted me to pastor first: in Connecticut.

5. Only being in my first pastorate 3 years - and yet God led us to Florida, where we had a lot of support from our church, were able to buy our first home and after a few months of arriving, were able to receive our first two children - through adoption!

James 1:17,18 (a paraphrase) - Everything good, including my trials, comes from God, the Creator of all, and who never changes. His sovereign will brought me forth as one of His children, giving promise of a spiritual harvest to come.

The fact that God never changes greatly impacts my life:

• When others change, I have one person I can go to that is always the same
• It means I can count on God to keep all of His promises in His Word
• He will have complete and final victory over Satan one day, and I will also have final victory over sin and death

Day 17 - The Progression of Temptation

James 1:14-16 describes the progression of temptation: Desire, Deception,Destruction and Death
I have seen these in the world around me:

Desire - Advertisements are based on it...what desires does your flesh have? Whatever it is, the desires are heightened and enticed by things that look so good and so important to have.

Deception - These are the thoughts that impregnate our desires. The world's system tells us that we are the most important thing and pleasing ourselves is the greatest pursuit. God is placed to the side because He will keep us from enjoying life, and we just need to do what we want.

Disobedience - Eventually, this leads to the birth of sin. Look in the prisons for examples of this; but every day, we decide to disobey God and His Word in every aspect of life. As you walk through a normal day in the world, you see disobedience to God all around.

Death - People die every day because of their own sin or someone else's. There are major consequences, experienced by the guilty and innocent, from disobeying God's commands.

The connection between all of these is that it has to do with our sinful nature that lives within us; and except for the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God, we are doomed to repeat this cycle daily until the final consequence of physical death arrives.

The story of King David (II Samuel 11,12) demonstrates this progression:
Desire - When David should have been out with his army to battle, he was walking on the rooftop and noticed a beautiful woman bathing. He looked, he lusted, he allowed the fleshly desire to draw him.

Deception - He first was deceived into thinking that it was o.k. to keep looking and to let lust take over. He was deceived into thinking that it was o.k. to desire another woman, who was not his wife; and to consider having a woman who was another man's wife. Also, he was also deceived, thinking that since he was king, he deserved this and could have anything and anyone he wanted.

Disobedience - He called for one of his servants to bring this woman to him and he had sex with her. He knew what was right, but allowed his desire to rule his heart and he acted on his lust. He thought he got what he want, but it was in direct opposition to what God wanted for him.

Death - This sin brought many consequences, including actual physical death. This woman (Bathsheba) got pregnant, and David tried to hide it by having her husband (Uriah) come home to have sex with her. But, when he wouldn't (because of his loyalty to his fellow soldiers who were still fighting), David commanded that Uriah be put on the front lines so that he would die. The baby that was born to David through this sin lost his life. And moving forward, all kinds of sins and consequences followed in David's family.

Confession and Repentance: I am glad that God also included in His Word the fact, that when David was confronted with his sin, he confessed (agreed with God that He had sinned) and He repented (he did not continue in that sinful pattern). His prayer in Psalm 51 demonstrates this.

This is my prayer, as it was David's:
Psalm 139:23,24 - "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"

Day 16 - MY sin

This is a part of my personal workout in the book of James for today (extreme faith workout - www.gbcwestlake.org)

A paraphrase of James 1:14-16:
This is how temptation works: you have fleshly desires that are enticed by some deception of the world's philosophy. When you give in to you it, you have sinned, and then come the consequences, eventually bringing death. Don't allow yourself to be deceived.

Romans 3:1-18 and accountability for our sin:
Everyone sins...everyone! We do no good, in God's eyes. We have chosen to go out of the way. Our mouths have spoken deceit, our feet have taken us to do wrong. Going our own way, there is only destruction and misery. We are accountable for our sin.

Statement: I will not blame God for putting me in a situation where I feel I have to sin. I will not blame the Devil or even this evil world's system of thinking. I will not blame my wife, my children, my neighbors or my enemies for my sin. All blame, all responsibility for my sin can be found in the mirror: it's me, my flesh, MY sin. May God the Holy Spirit make me sensitive to it, so that when I choose to sin, I will also then choose to be humbly in confession and repentance (I John 1:9).

Day 15 - 3 thoughts on James

One of the exercises for my spiritual workout today (www.gbcwestlake.org) was to make a list of what I am thankful for and to pray through that list. Here are my top 10:

• my godly heritage through my parents example
• Jesus Christ, who died for my sins
• Teresa, my wife and best friend
• My 5 children, all unique, all helping me grow, all awesome
• a good education
• a great church family
• the warmer weather
• good friends
• my staff at church
• the opportunity to fellowship with God each day

This morning, I read through the book of James, again, and here were the 3 key thoughts that came to my mind:

1. Hang in there. Do not give up. Endure through your trials for growth.

2. Treat others as you want to be treated, seeing them as God sees them.

3. You are responsible to do what you know to be right.

Day 14 - God's testings

God does not tempt us, James writes, but He does test us

• When God came down in thunder and lightning to the people of Israel, Moses told them that God was testing them. At the time they responded well. But, throughout their time in the wilderness, they failed His tests soon after great victories.
• God tested Abraham's faith when He asked him to sacrifice his promised son Isaac. Abraham passed the test by getting ready to do so, and then God provided another sacrifice
• God tested His only Son Jesus, by allowing Him to be tempted by Satan. Jesus resisted the temptation, even as He went through the testing, by quoting Scripture
• God tested Job by allowing Satan to take Job's health and family. Job struggled but did pass the test, and ended up more blessed than ever.

When God has brought trials into my life, I have often struggled with temptations that come from within. I want to be rid of the trial, immediately; but have had to learn that these trials are a good gift from God. And if I will endure, then will come the growth God intended.

Day 13 - Trials and Temptations

James 1:13-18
God is not to blame for my temptations - I am. My flesh desires something and my thinking is deceived; so that I give in to sin, which has dire consequences.

verses 13-18 in the overall context of chapter 1:
In the beginning of chapter 1 is the topic of trials, which Christians go through for their faith.
If we endure those trials, we gain spiritual maturity. In order to endure, we need the wisdom of God to do so.

verses 13-18 bring in the connection between trials and temptation. The words translated such are from the same Greek word group but depending on the context are translated differently. When we go through trials, there are temptations that come. When those temptations come, we cannot blame God because they have nothing to do with Him. He brought the trials to grow us, but we are to blame for turning it into a temptation.

The connection is that these verses show that God is not to blame for our temptation to sin, while we go through God given trials. Everything bad is from our flesh and everything good comes from God.

Day 12 - Just what I needed

Day 12 of the Extreme Faith Workout (www.gbcwestlake.org) called for a 30 minute time period of prayer, broken up into two and a half minute time segments. I was able to do this as a walked around the neighborhood early this Saturday morning. One nice thing about an iphone is that as I am walking, I also have the extreme faith workout list to look at as well as a Bible!

This was just what I needed. It is way too easy for me to jump right into my day and all the things planned, the things that just have to be done, even many good things, important things, spiritual things! But, there is nothing more important, than to spend time with my Creator, my Father, my Friend, my Guide, my Counselor, my God!

I was able to pour my heart out to Him, confessing my sins, praising Him, and asking Him to do great things on the behalf of others. I took time just to listen, to allow God the Holy Spirit to use His truth in His Word to fill my mind and heart with what He wants me to think and pray about.
I was encouraged, I was refreshed, I was challenged.