Angels Watching Over Me

Amy Grant performed a song back in the early 90's about angels watching over us. The second verse went...

God only knows the times my life was threatened just today.
A reckless car ran out of gas before it ran my way.
Near misses all around me, accidents unknown,
Though I never see with human eyes the hands that lead me home.
But I know they're all around me all day and through the night.
When the enemy is closing in, I know sometimes they fight
To keep my fight from falling, I'll never turn away.
If you're asking whats protecting me then you're gonna hear me say:
Got his angels watching over me, every move I make,
Angles watching over me!

I have often thought about those lyrics. How many times has God spared us from tragedy that we were completely unaware of? Through out the Bible, God has used his angels to protect His people. The same is true today. So the next time that you call out to God for help, remember that His angels are already watching over you.

God is in Control

When all hope seems to be lost, take comfort that God is in control. When Joseph was in prison in Egypt, no one would have looked at his life and called him blessed, but he was. In fact, he was directly in the center of God's will and plan for his life. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were facing the fiery furnace, they didn't appear to be under the shelter and protection of God, but they were. Maybe you are in the midst of a discouraging situation in your life. If so, then know that God is in control and He works all thing together for good for those that love Him (Rom. 8:28).

But what about those times when the fire does consume and the prison has no release? You need to know two things. First, God's lack of intervention is no indication of a lack of power. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter pulled out a sword to defend him, but Jesus said: "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" (Matt 26:52-54) (ESV) God the Father had the power to protect Jesus. Jesus had the ability to call on the Father. Yet, Jesus went to the cross and suffered and died. Why? Because through His death He could reconcile the world to the Father. God could have intervened, but His will was for Jesus to go to the cross.

Second, like Joseph, the trouble in your life may not have been allowed by God. Instead, He may have orchestrated it for His purpose and for His glory. Slavery and imprisonment were just stepping stones to power for Joseph. And it may be that the difficulty you are presently facing is something that God is using to shape you into a new person or to move you to a new place.

As the old hymn says: "Have faith in God, He's on His throne. Have faith in God, He watches or' His own." I hope that you will be encouraged today, regardless of your circumstances, by the knowledge that God is on His throne and He is in control of your life.

The Urgency of Intercessory Prayer

We must pray for one another. Do not take this lightly! Many of us are naive concerning prayer, but the Bible teaches: "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:16). A few verses earlier James instructed us: "You do not have, because you do not ask" (James 4:2) I believe that most churches today are a mere shadow of what they could be, if all of their members would dedicate themselves to regularly praying for their church. In short, God answers prayers.

Paul was constantly praying for other believers and appealing to other believers to pray for him. His letter to the church at Colosse shows us his commitment to prayer. At the front of the letter he writes: "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you" (Col 1:9). As he closes the letter he writes: "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ"(Col 4:2-3). If Paul, one of the greatest missionaries and theologians of the first century, needed the prayers of others how much more do we need the prayers of other believers.

I promise you that your friends and family have far greater needs than you realize. They need your prayers. If one of our family members broke a bone or lost a job, you and I would not fail to pray for them. I assure you that there is a spiritual war taking place in the lives of everyone around us and their present need is just as urgent as if they had experienced some unexpected tragedy.

If you will pray you will see God do amazing things. He is still in control. He still loves us. And He still answers prayers.

Let me invite you to post a story of an answered prayer that you have experienced. Your testimony may encourage someone else to pray.

Most importantly, would you pray for me? I desperately need your prayers to be the man that God has called me to be. And if you will post your name or send me an email, I will pray for you. And let's be honest for a moment, if you are not willing to pray for me or to let me pray for you, you have wasted your time reading this blog, so please respond. God bless you. I can't wait to hear from you.

Depend on the Lord

Listen to the Word of the Lord in Psalm 127:1-2...

Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Each day I live I become more aware of how utterly dependent I am upon God. I truly can do nothing apart from Him. The things I thought I did in the past were just God working through me.

I know because of reason. Why would the God who simply spoke the world into existence need my help? Second, I know this because of experience. I have failed repeatedly to accomplish anything in ministry. Only when I become completely dependant upon the Lord and seek His working through prayer have I seen great things happen in ministry. Third, I know because of scripture. Psalm 127 clearly describes the vanity of working apart from the Lord.

Wherever God as called you to serve in the church, humble yourself and ask the Lord to work through you. It is only when we become completely dependent upon Him that we are able to experience His blessing. Jesus told the disciples to wait until they received power from Holy Spirit, then they were to be His witnesses. Just as they were not to go out and try to serve apart from the enabling of the Holy Spirit, you and I are not to try to serve God apart from His enabling through the Holy Spirit.

A common saying is: "pray like everything depends on God, work like everything depends on you." This is a good saying so long as we keep it in order and we pray before we work. This week why not commit to pray earnestly before attempting to do anything for the Lord?

Seeking Revival

The Bible tells us in Acts about a prayer meeting in the early church: "And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31 (ESV) I long to experience the movement of the Holy Spirit just as the early church did. And this past Sunday, our church experienced the power of the Holy Spirit at work. The building was not shaken, but I would be no more amazed if it had been. Christians sat with tears of joy streaming down their face as they heard again of how Jesus died for them. Sinners were convicted of their sin and repented. Two people rededicated their life to the Lord. Another two were saved! Truly, how great is our God!

We read accounts of revivals that took place in the past in which God moved entire cities and nations to repentance. If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, why do we not see these revivals in our own day? Friends, if God has not changed perhaps the problem is us. Let me urge you as brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for your church this Sunday. Pray urgently for your pastor that God would anoint him afresh with the Spirit that he might preach with a boldness and clarity he has never before experienced. And pray for every listener that God would open their heart to receive the gospel and to find forgiveness through repentance. And I ask every Christian that is reading this blog, would you stop right now and pray for me that God would fill me with His Spirit and empower me to preach the Word with the boldness and clarity of the early church.

To all who read my blog you are a great blessing to me. You are the reason I write each week. And especially to the churches in India who read this, you cannot know what joy and fulfillment you give me by using these articles. I long to come and see you soon. God bless you all.

Sink or Swim (Sermon: Acts 11:23-26)

A few years ago I was at a friend's birthday party. It was a pool party and the birthday boy was about 4 and had not yet learned how to swim. His parents had made him wear floats on his arms to keep him safe, but while they were distracted getting the cake and drinks ready he kept begging his grandfather to let him in the pool without the floats. "Sure, jump on in," said his grandfather. And so with eyes wide open in eager anticipation and excitement the young boy ran straight for the deep end of the pool and jumped in. He came to the surface, but only for a few seconds. Not knowing how to swim or even float, he immediately began to sink. I was the only other person in the water so I swam over and pulled him up and sat him on the edge of the pool.

When I think about that experience, it reminds me of how the church often treats new believers. They come to the church with an excitement and energy and they dive into the Christian life. What do we do as believers? Well, usually we just stand back and watch to see if they will sink or swim, but this should not be so. We are just as called to help make them disciples as they are called to be disciples.

Barnabas and Saul (also known as Paul) fully understood this and were committed to it. When they learned of the new believers in Antioch, they went and spent a year there instructing them and encouraging them to press on. If people join our church and then fade away, instead of doubting whether they were sincere, maybe we should ask ourselves what did we do to foster their growth. What did we do to encourage them? How did we instruct them and equip them?

The Christian life is too hard for anyone to try to live it apart from the help of the local church. When people are born again, they are babes spiritually and babes need our care. I want to encourage you today to invest your life in helping the new believers in your church to grow and mature. I believe ultimately that God will hold us accountable not only for whether we have shared the gospel with the lost, but also for whether or not we helped new believers to grow in Christ. May we each live our life so that on the day that we have to give an account we will not be ashamed.

Incognito Christians (Sermon: Acts 11:22-24)

When Barnabas went to Antioch to investigate what was happening among the Gentiles, he literally saw the grace of God. I believe what he saw was the work of God's grace in the lives of those Gentile believers. So here's the question we should ask ourselves now: "If Barnabas came to our workplace or to our home today what would he see?"

Many Christians today are what I call "incognito Christians." There is simply nothing in their lives that clearly communicates their faith and their salvation. If persecution breaks out today, they are in no danger of being singled out.

If the people that you live with and work with do not know beyond all doubt what God has done in your life, something is sorely wrong with your Christian walk. Let me challenge you today to live your life so that people look at you and see the grace of God!