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 Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:46 am
Bought, Branded, Bonded Part IV
“But . . . I . . . ” You're in shock. “I don't want to go, Master. I love you. I want to serve you.”
“You're choosing to remain even though I've granted your freedom?”
“Yes, Master. I love you so much, I choose to be your slave forever.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. There's only one thing that frightens me.”
“What's that?” he asks.
“Plow Man's threat to take me from you. If he kidnaps me, he'll attach his plow to my body. And no one will believe I really belong to you.”
“Hmmm.” The master was deep in thought. Then his eyes fasten onto yours, announcing a solution. “I will give you my mark,” he declares, “so everyone will know you belong to me.”
* * *
(I have to interrupt the story here. If I don't, you're gonna think, Yikes! What's he gonna do? Brand her like a cow? Sear her flesh with a branding iron? Relax. That's not gonna happen. As author, I'm in control of how the story continues, and I promise there's a really cool ending. But guess what-I'm not going to end the story. You are. That's right. YOU are in control of how this story ends. Let's get back to the present so you'll know what I'm talking about.)
Remember the Apostle Paul? When he wrote a letter to the folks in Rome, he began it by identifying himself as not only the author of the letter but also as someone who had chosen to be a slave of Jesus Christ.
Paul willingly devoted himself to being Jesus Christ's slave. He knew what Jesus had saved him from, and he was so in love with Christ, he voluntarily chose to remain bonded to Him.
Back in the days of slavery, every now and then a master would grant a slave his freedom. And, though it was rare, sometimes a slave loved his master so much, he would decide to remain-bonded to him forever.
Okay, you've never had to stand on an auction block. But Jesus Christ has paid a great price for you! He wants to snatch you away from Plow Man! (By the way, Plow Man is Satan.) God desires to save you from cutting yourself, wasting your body away through an eating disorder, false acceptance through sexual relationships-and all the other traps Plow Man tosses your way.
Know It!
Have you taken time recently to revel in the glorious realization of what Christ has actually saved you from?
Read It!
Romans 1:1; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Peter 2:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:13.
Pray It!
Pray that God will help you never ever ever take your salvation for granted.
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Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 5:54 am
Bought, Branded, Bonded Part V
It's as if Jesus opens wide the windows of heaven, parts the clouds, splits the sky right in half and announces to all creation, “I CHOOSE HER!” (Insert your own name here for greater effect.)
“I want YOU on My team.”
Whew! No more standing by the fence hoping you'll be selected. No more wishing that someone would want you. He chooses you! In fact, He selected you years ago. He knew Plow Man would engage in a bitter bid of wills offering all kinds of things for you-sex, attention, popularity. So He said, “I'll just go ahead and pay the highest price anyone could ever pay. I'll give My life.” And He did. He paid for you with His blood.
(If this is sounding too good to be true, you can find the proof in Romans 5:8 about how God selected you when you were still a sinner!) Isn't it exciting that He didn't wait for you to get your act together before choosing you? He could have said, “Whoa! Once you get off that filthy auction block and clean yourself up . . . once you've become involved in a youth group and have become a respectable person . . .” He saw you at your point of greatest need and said right then, “I want you! And I want you right now-just as you are!”
Wow! That's grace!
I like being chosen, you may be thinking. It feels great to be selected-to realize that God loves me so much, He looked inside my mom's womb even before I was formed and said, “I want her!” Wow. But really . . . what are we talking about here?
We're talking about you being so in love with Jesus Christ that you become enslaved to Him. In other words, as a slave would belong to his owner for a lifetime, you want to belong to Jesus for a lifetime and an eternity.
Yeah, I DO love Jesus, you're thinking. And I DO want to serve Him forever. But how do I become His bond slave?
1. Realize you've been bought. Remember, He paid for you with His life. You are incredibly valuable to Him. Don't ever take His death for granted. (If you start to think His death was no big deal, flip back to the devotions found on March 21-25 for a recap of what Jesus actually went through for you!)
Know It!
God is crazy about you! He loves you more than you can imagine. What are doing with His love? How are you responding? Are you sharing it with others?
Read It!
Romans 5:6-8; Romans 6:2-10; Romans 14:9-15; 1 Corinthians 15:3.
Pray It!
As you pray, ask God to show you specific ways you can share His love with those around you today.
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Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:32 am
Bought, Branded, Bonded Part VI
Okay, this is starting to make sense now, you may be thinking, and I really want to be so in love with Jesus that I become His bond slave forever. But how does that work?
1. Realize you've been bought. Remember, He paid for you with His life. You are incredibly valuable to Him.
2. Realize you've been branded. Ranchers brand their cattle. Loggers carve a symbol on their trees. Dignitaries seal important papers with their insignia on melted wax. All these are marks of ownership.
Jesus Christ also has a mark of ownership. It's His Holy Spirit. We're told in Ephesians that we were marked with the Holy Spirit. Having God's brand-the Holy Spirit ruling your life, energizing you, saturating you, filling you-should be as evident as a brand is on a cow. The Holy Spirit wants to make such a difference in your life that people around you know you're owned and energized by a supernatural power!
Imagine . . . you walk into a room and people immediately think, Whoa! She's not her own. She's plugged into something way more powerful than I've ever been connected with!
In other words, shouldn't your lifestyle and the reflection of the Holy Spirit within you shine brighter and shout louder than a branded scar that's been seared into your skin?
Yeah! you may be thinking. How can the Holy Spirit make that kind of difference in my life? Total surrender. But we'll chat more about that in a minute.
Having His brand means we take on His name. We become like Him. For proof you can check out Ephesians 5:1 where we're told to be copycats of God. What's that mean? It means you begin to act like Jesus! You try to please Him in all you do. You take on His resemblance.
You may have heard your folks say, “Don't embarrass the family! You're wearing our name.” People may have told you, “You look like your mom.” Guess what-as a Christian, you should be looking more and more like your heavenly Father, and as a Christian you're bearing His name.
Know It!
It's obvious you're not going to wear a burned-into-your- flesh brand, but is the Holy Spirit that obvious in your life? Just as people would no doubt notice a burned mark on your flesh, do they see God's Spirit shining clearly through your actions?
Read It!
Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 5:1; Psalm 139:23-24; 2 Peter 3:11.
Pray It!
Ask God to show you anything in your life that's keeping His Spirit from shining clearly through you.
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Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 8:29 am
Bought, Branded, Bonded Part VII
Quick recap: Are you so in love with your Master, Jesus Christ, that you're willing to become His bond slave forever? If so, here's the process for becoming enslaved to Him.
1. Realize you've been bought.
2. Realize you've been branded.
3. Realize you're bonded to Christ forever. In other words, don't simply fly through these devotional pages thinking this is just one more fad. Another creative commitment. Choose, instead to be chained to Him. Not simply attached to, but a part of! Make your prayer: “I willingly take on His name and His lifestyle.” There's a difference in being attached and being a part of! Being bonded to Christ forever is saying, “I'll put everything I have into bonding ever closer to Him.”
This is an ongoing process. And to become a bond slave of Jesus Christ, this needs to be your highest priority. This is your job right now: To become as close to Jesus Christ as you can. To become so tightly bonded to Him that the world just can't comprehend it.
Your job really isn't to worry about how much money you can earn or how you can push your way into the most popular clique or look better than anyone else at your school. Repeat: Your job right now is to become as close to Jesus Christ as you can. To become so tightly bonded to Him that the world just can't comprehend it!
If you truly want to become all God calls you to be, then this commitment to become His bond slave will affect everything in your life. From this point on, you'll have a new standard. You'll use a brand-new measuring stick for everything in your life.
From now on, you'll measure all you do according to the seal, the brand, the mark of Jesus Christ-His Holy Spirit.
For example, imagine I actually jumped through the pages of this book and burned the name of Jesus Christ and all He stands for (His character, His will, His plan for your life) on your forehead. That would become the measuring stick for your life.
“Will you go to this R-rated movie with me?”
Hmmm. Does it match the brand on my forehead?
“Will you go to this party?”
Does it reflect His brand?
“Come on! Show me how much you love me. We won't go all the way; let's just mess around. Everyone else is.”
Will my behavior echo the brand I'm wearing on my forehead?
Okay. You don't really have a scar on your forehead. That's not where the brand, the mark, the seal of Jesus Christ is anyway. That was only an example. His seal, His mark, His Holy Spirit is branded on your heart. And inside your mind. It becomes your lifestyle.
My language. The magazines I read. What I do on the Internet. Does it reflect the Holy Spirit in my life? No? Then, sorry. It's not for me. See, I have a new standard now for which I'm measuring my life!
Know It!
When you become Christ's bond slave, you're actually living out your love for Him.
Read It!
1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 7:14; Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:22.
Pray It!
Tell God your desire to become His bond slave forever. Ask Him to take complete control of your life.
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 5:58 am
Bought, Branded, Bonded Part VIII
Let's take another look at our strategy for becoming a bond slave to Christ:
1. Realize you've been bought. Remember, He paid for you with His life. You are incredibly valuable to Him.
2. Realize you've been branded. God has given you His own special mark-the Holy Spirit-that should distinguish you from the world.
3. Realize you're bonded to Christ forever. This isn't a passing fad. You're making an eternal commitment!
4. Realize you've been bought. (Yeah, I know this is a repeat of number one, but it's so important, we gotta talk about it again.) To truly realize this is to say: “I don't own my life any more. I willingly accept His purchase. He's the Master. I'm merely the slave. But I love Him so much, I'm saying YES to being branded and bonded to Him forever.”
Guess what! You're not really saying yes to living in chains. You're saying YES to Kingdom living! You're saying YES to being the princess of the King! (Guys, you can change the wording to “being the prince of the King!”) So act like it. Live out your title.
Hey, you don't have to be owned by Him. He won't force you. But to be a part of His forever Kingdom requires much more than settling for casual Christianity. We're talking about radical obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
You have a choice: You can be owned by Him (as in total surrender), or you can maintain control of your own life.
One more thing. If you become His bond slave- committed to Jesus Christ forever, wearing His mark, living through the power of the Holy Spirit-you can't be selective with His will. In other words, when the Master says, “Mow the lawn and do the laundry.” You don't respond with, “I'll mow the lawn, but hey, I don't do laundry.” Your life is not your own, remember?
Who Would Make Such a Commitment? Out of the thousands who are eyeing reading this devotional book right now, I have absolutely no idea who would commit to such a pledge. I don't have a clue who would make the decision to become a bond slave to Jesus, not only in this lifetime but throughout eternity. I do, however, know what they're called. They are known as radically obedient disciples.
Know It!
If you'd like to become a bond slave of the Messiah, I'd love to help you do it. If we were together in person, I'd wrap my arms around you and pray with you. But I don't really need to be there. You can pray on your own.
Read It!
1 Thessalonians 3:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Timothy 1:9; 2 Timothy 2:21.
Pray It!
Ask God to help you understand the seriousness of becoming a bond slave to Him.
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Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 5:37 am
Bought, Branded, Bonded Part IX
Maybe you've decided to become a bond slave to Jesus Christ. And perhaps you've already asked Him to take total control. But I'd still love the opportunity to pray with you. Let's do it now.
Dear Jesus:
Wow. I never thought about loving You so much that I'd consider myself a slave to You. But it makes sense. You have saved me from so much! And You've bought me with such a tremendous price! I do love You, Father. And I want Your mark. I want to be branded with the seal of Your Holy Spirit.
I realize this is more than a simple prayer; it's a commitment to radical obedience. So right now I ask You to forgive my sins and help me live for You. I surrender my will. I give up the right to own my life. I lovingly yield to Your plan, Your way and Your will for me.
Father, release the power of your Holy Spirit within me and sanctify me. Help me become one with You. Break me and reshape me in Your image. I want to be bonded, marked, sealed forever with Your image. I want the world to see Your Holy Spirit's mark on my life.
I now submit to Your authority, Father. Thank You for forgiving my sins and cleansing me. Help me to draw ever closer to You through the Bible, through a strong prayer life and through daily fellowship with You.
I love You, Jesus. Thank You for being my Master and for saving me from all the sin that Satan desires to use to destroy me.
In Your powerful name I pray,
Amen.
Know It!
Wow. If you prayed that prayer and meant it, you're living with all kinds of supernatural holy power within you now. Think about it: The same mighty power that hung the stars in the sky, set the world in motion and raised a dead man to life . . . is yours! So through total surrender now, live daily in His mighty power.
Read It!
Ephesians 1:19; Galatians 2:20; Titus 1:8; Revelation 22:11.
Pray It!
Spend some time telling God how grateful you are for High mighty power.
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Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 5:51 am
Quiz Time
1. Being a BOND SLAVE of Jesus Christ means
a. I'll spend the rest of my life in chains.
b. I'm so in love with Him, that I voluntarily choose to bond with Him forever.
c. I'll never be any good at auctions.
2. Jesus Christ has MARKED Me with
a. a four-color glow-in-the-dark tattoo.
b. a neon-orange nose ring.
c. the seal of His Holy Spirit.
3. This mark GIVEN to us by Christ means
a. that I belong to Him.
b. that I no longer need a passport.
c. that I can do whatever we want.
4. Christ BOUGHT me
a. with Master Card.
b. on sale.
c. with His precious blood.
5. To MEASURE everything in my life against the MARK Christ has given me means
a. I count off two yards and call it even.
b. I evaluate everything next to the Holy Spirit. If it doesn't measure up to His standard, I don't participate.
c. I always use the metric system.
6. Having Christ's BRAND means I
a. never have to buy generic stuff again.
b. can use His name like a credit card.
c. take on His name.
Know It!
God desires to share Himself with you intimately. That requires total surrender on your part. No more casual Christianity. No more playing games with the Creator of the universe. He wants to fill you to the overflowing point with His love, His purpose and His meaning.
Read It!
Psalm 139.
Pray It!
Spend time in prayer thanking God for giving Himself totally to you, and tell Him you want to be totally His.
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 5:52 am
God's Love For Us
“He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.†Psalm 18:17-19
God is our best support. Many of us often use God as our last support, including myself. We try to work out the problem on our own, until it gets out of hand and then we try to ask God for help with it. God can rescue us, just like that, but He needs to be our first support. God is with us the whole walk through our life, but unless we reach over and tap Him on the shoulder and tell Him we need help and accept his help, then how are we suppose to get it?
Psalm 18 in general, is about God helping us with our enemies and helping us conquer them. Psalm 18:17-19 in specific talks about how God will rescue us. He takes our enemies away from us when we cannot win. God does all of this because He loves us. The last part of these verses, Psalm 18:19b says, “He rescued me because he delighted in me.†This verse is showing God’s love for us. God rescues us because He loves us. It’s not for His good to keep the planet in order, but because He loves us. “He delighted in me.†Four powerful words, separate, they mean very little, but when they are put together, it shows God’s unconditional love and grace toward us.
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:58 am
How Serious Are You?
The Old Testament prophet Elijah had lived an adventurous life! He was instrumental in turning people back to the Lord, and he defeated the 450 heathen prophets of Baal. When his time on earth was coming to an end, God instructed him to find a young man named Elisha and to anoint him as Elijah's replacement as God's prophet.
Elijah found his replacement plowing a field with 11 more teams of plowers in front of him. Elijah went to the back of the line and tossed his personal coat across Elisha's shoulders. A person's coat was the most valuable piece of clothing he owned. It served several purposes: Not only was it used to keep him warm and protect him against the wind, sun and cold, but it was also used to sit on, to lie on as bedding and even to carry things in as a piece of luggage.
Elisha, a man of God, knew exactly what the significance meant. He understood that God was calling him to become Elijah's successor. Elisha's response was, “First let me say goodbye to my parents before I come with you.” Elijah agreed.
We're told in the New Testament of another time when someone asked to say goodbye to their parents before accepting God's call, and Jesus denied the request. Christ was issuing the call for believers to follow Him wholeheartedly. One young man asked to bury his father first. Jesus told him to let the dead bury their own dead.
Was Jesus being mean? No. Culturally, it was common to make excuses regarding your family, to get out of things you didn't want to do. It was very likely that this man's parents were actually in excellent health. Jesus was in essence telling him to be concerned with matters of living instead of focusing on problems he hadn't even encountered yet-the future of his parents death.
Elisha's situation was different. His father expected him to fulfill his obligation of working the fields. To honor his father, Elisha wanted to explain why he was leaving. He wasn't using this as an opportunity to let his parents talk him out of following Elijah. Rather, he was actually showing respect to his parents.
Elijah sensed Elisha's genuine spirit and granted him permission to do so. To prove that he wasn't second- guessing his commitment to Elijah, Elisha told his folks goodbye, and then killed his oxen, and burned their plows. With his tools now gone forever, Elisha knew he couldn't return to the fields. He was serious about answering God's call on his life!
God wants total commitment from you. Those who follow Christ half-heartedly, don't follow Him very far. Elisha was demonstrating that he desired to follow God's call on his life with abandon.
Know It!
Have you given your entire life to God with reckless abandon? When you do, you'll experience true freedom and joy of total commitment and obedience.
Read It!
1 Samuel 15:22; 1 Kings 19:15-21; Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:59-62.
Pray It!
Ask God to reveal any excuses you've been making in regards to your commitment to following Him with total abandon.
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Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:41 am
Have You Burned Your Plow?
Elisha knew God was calling him to become Elijah's successor. He didn't know everything that would involve, and he certainly didn't know what the future had in store for him. But though Elisha wasn't sure what God was calling him to, he knew what God was calling him from.
God was calling Elisha from an ordinary life of daily routine to an extraordinary life of adventure. Is it okay to live an ordinary life of routine? Absolutely! In fact, it's how we discipline ourselves to God during the ordinary days of our routine living that often determine how we respond when God allows the extraordinary to cross our path. Because Elisha had been faithful and consistent in being all God called him to be while working the fields, God knew He could trust Elisha with miracles.
But God was also calling Elisha to leave the familiar behind. He knew how to work the fields. He was comfortable with the oxen and plows. But being a prophet? This was a whole new game for Elisha! And God was asking for total commitment-no more leaning on the past of what Elisha was comfortable with and knew best.
When Elisha answered God's call by burning his plows and killing his oxen, he was showing his willingness to leave his wealthy life of farming and to follow God wholeheartedly. Without his tools and animals, there was no possibility of returning to what God had called him from.
While God wants you to be faithful in the daily routine of your ordinary life, He also wants you to be willing to be stretched and removed from your comfort zones at His leading. Have you begun to lean too heavily on what's familiar instead of trusting God for the extraordinary?
Are there things in your life that God wants you to “burn?” Are there some friends you need to walk away from? Some habits you need to release? An environment of which you shouldn't return?
Know It!
Following Jesus isn't always comfortable, but it's always an adventure! Where are you in this spiritual adventure? Are you waiting to get involved, weighing the cost, in the middle of the action or looking back?
Read It!
1 Kings 19:15-21; Psalm 4:5; Psalm 9:10; Psalm 13:5.
Pray It!
Ask God to reveal anything in your life that He needs you to turn completely away from . . . never to return again.
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Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:24 am
Sometimes . . . it's Tough
Following God with reckless abandon isn't always easy or comfortable. In fact, sometimes it's downright tough! Elisha knew the adventure of following God, but he was also very well aware of the obstacles. The issue when following God isn't how many miracles you'll experience or what kind of trials you'll encounter. The issue always remains total obedience.
It's easy to obey God when miracles are happening! When it's cool to belong to the Bible club on campus or receiving praise for carrying your Bible to school, it doesn't take much effort to call yourself a Christian. But when people are making fun of you or spreading false rumors about you, it's not cool any more, is it?
Because of Elisha's obedience, God did more miracles through him than He had through Elijah before him. But Elisha's obedience remained strong through the tough times as well. Often it's after we've experienced a spiritual “mountain top” high, that we encounter a spiritual “low valley.” After healing the infected waters of Jericho (high moment), Elisha was mocked and made fun of because of his baldness (low moment). Did Elisha's faith teeter during this low time? Not at all! He had learned that the God he served was not only King of the mountain but also Lord of the valley.
Elisha had just left Jericho and was headed toward Bethel. On his way, a gang of young men began verbally assaulting him. Though they laughed at his baldness, they were also mocking the fact that he was a prophet of God. And since Elisha was on a mission to speak out against immorality, it's likely they were also warning him not to speak against their own sin. By doing this, they were flaunting their disrespect for God, His call to holiness and His chosen prophet.
There will be times you'll be mocked for your faith. When you walk through the valley of difficulty, don't allow your faith to falter. Keep your eyes focused intently on obedience to your Master. Chances are high that if you participated at the annual “See You At The Pole” event on your school campus this past September, you received some teasing. And chances are good if you reach out to the weird kid at your school, you'll be classified as weird, too.
Following Christ with reckless abandon requires great cost and sacrifice. That's why Jesus never pulled any punches when talking with those who followed Him. He let them know the cost would be high.
Know It!
Following God in total obedience may cost you some friends, some parties and some dreams. In fact, you probably don't know the full cost yet of following Him. But do know this: The eternal rewards will far outweigh the temporary earthly cost!
Read It!
2 Kings 2:23-25; Matthew 8:18-20; Luke 14:25-35; 2 Thessalonians 1:5.
Pray It!
Tell God you're ready to count the cost and follow Him with reckless abandon.
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Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:00 am
Giggles, Grins and Falling Asleep
To say we've come a long way in the arena of medicine is an understatement. Ancient Egyptian doctors made sure their patients were unconscious before surgery by hitting them on the head with a mallet.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., the dad of the Supreme Court Justice, coined the term “anesthesia” when he discovered the adrenal gland. When anesthesia was first discovered, some very conservative Christians believed it was against the will of God and fought to banish it. The controversy didn't last long, because Christians finally came to believe that when God removed Adam's rib to create Eve, the “deep sleep” God placed him under would have been similar to using anesthesia.
In 1800, Sir Humphry Davy discovered the intoxicating results of nitrous oxide and used it for laughing gas at parties he had with his friends. Ether had also used anesthetic gas at his own parties a few years earlier, but it never occurred to either men to use the drugs for surgical purposed, and eventually the interest in these substances declined.
Flash forward half a century. A dentist named W.T.G. Morton, from Boston, finally realized how useful these two drugs could be for surgery and gave a demonstration for a group of doctors. He anesthetized a patient with a tumor then stepped aside so the surgeon could operate.
Dr. J.C. Warren was the surgeon and was shocked he could actually operate on a patient who wasn't screaming in pain. As he finished the surgery, he endorsed anesthesia. The news began to spread, but people were still skeptical. A dentist named Horace Wells tried to demonstrate using anesthesia on one of his patients, but he didn't give him enough nitrous oxide, and the patient began screaming during the operation. The group of doctors left unconvinced that it was possible to have surgery without pain.
But the man who really put the story together was Samuel Cooley. He had attended a demonstration of nitrous oxide in 1844. At the end of the lecture, the speaker released 40 galloon of NO2 into the audience. Reacting to the “laughing gas,” the audience began to giggle and move about freely. Samuel Cooley was laughing so hard, he fell and severely injured his leg but didn't even know it! It was his story that convinced physicians to try using nitrous oxide in surgery.
Years before Samuel Cooley, Dr. Warren, Mr. Morton, Sir Humphry Davy, Mr. Morton and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., there was another young man who fell asleep without laughing gas. His name was Eutychus, and he had a little trouble staying awake during the apostle Paul's sermon.
To make himself a little more comfortable, Eutychus stretched out inside an open window and soon started counting sheep. In a matter of minutes, he was dead. He had fallen out of the window from the tall building in which the Christians were meeting and died.
Know It!
It's a natural progression: We get comfortable, we fall asleep. Have you become too spiritually comfortable?
Read It!
Mark 13:33; Acts 20:7-12; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Peter 5:8.
Pray It!
Ask God to wake you up from any areas in your life in which you may have fallen asleep spiritually.
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Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 5:55 am
Spiritual Snoozing
No one was laughing when the crowd of Christians rushed to the side of Eutychus. Paul, full of God's power, exerted his faith and raised the dead young man back to life. You can imagine the ripple of relieved laughter that spread through the crowd when Eutychus promised never to sleep through church again.
He had just gotten a little too comfortable, and unfortunately when we become too comfortable spiritually, there are always consequences. God wants you to live a spiritually defensive life. He knows that Satan, your greatest enemy, is just waiting and watching for a chance to trip you! If you're on the defensive, you'll be ready. If you've fallen asleep spiritually, you could be Satan's next victim.
To live out your spiritual defense strategy, put these two ideas into action:
o Determine not to become cozy with the sin around you. You live in a fallen world where sin is rampant; that you can't escape. But you can escape embracing it! Once you become comfortable with sin, you start to relax and doze off.
o When God sounds an alarm in a specific area of your life, don't push the snooze button. God won't let you fall asleep without a fight. He'll use His precious Holy Spirit to sound a spiritual alarm in your heart. When you hear God's alarm, react in obedience.
It may be relaxing to giggle and snooze in the dentist's chair, but falling asleep spiritually is no laughing matter. Unless we allow the Holy Spirit to wake us up, spiritual sleep will eventually result in spiritual death.
Know It!
God wants to teach you how to live a spiritually defensive life against Satan's sleep strategy. That's the only way you'll develop spiritual tip-toes. Allow Him to wake you up spiritually.
Read It!
2 Chronicles 16:9; Psalm 73:28; Psalm 91:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:6.
Pray It!
Pray for discernment to recognize Satan's strategy in trying to make you fail.
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Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:47 am
Wanted: More Faith!
You know them . . . the people who just seem to naturally have it together spiritually. They live with a deep faith, and you know their prayers get through. Maybe there's someone like that in your life-parents, pastor, youth leader. And sometimes you find yourself thinking, I want a stronger faith like that.
Some people are just naturally more trusting. For others, faith is more difficult. Remember the apostle Thomas? He wanted to see the nail scars in the Lord's hands before he believed. Faith was hard for him.
But guess what! You don't need a lot of faith. Jesus tells us all we need is a small amount. In fact, He compares how much we need to the size of a mustard seed. Have you ever seen a mustard seed? It's about the size of a pin point. Microscopic!
The fact that you're a Christian and have trusted God to forgive your sins proves you have faith. And yes, there are some things you can do to increase the little bit of faith you have.
1. Read your Bible consistently.
2. Pray daily.
If you're not used to doing these two things, start by setting a small goal for yourself. Start with something you know you can reach. For instance, say, “I'm going to read the Bible and pray for one minute every day.” Anyone can spend one minute with God!
You'll easily meet your goal, and after a few weeks you'll probably want to increase it to two minutes, then three or five. But if you start out saying, “I'm going to spend an hour a day praying and reading the Bible,” you may not follow through. So be realistic and set a goal you know you can easily reach.
3. Surround yourself with other Christians.
4. Get involved in your local church. You may be thinking, If I surround myself with a bunch of Christians, I won't have anyone with whom to share my faith. Yes, you will. God isn't going to take you out of the world. You don't have to exclude the non- Christian people in your life in order to surround yourself with Christians. But the reason it's important to be around other Christians is because they can encourage and challenge you in your spiritual walk.
And what's the big deal about going to church? A church body provides spiritual growth through preaching, teaching and accountability. Corporate worship is essential to mature faith.
If you're already doing all these things, watch that person's life whom you spiritually admire. What is she doing that you're not? Ask her. Close friends should be able to share their spiritual highs and lows. Ask her to pray with you about your concerns.
Know It!
Bottom line: If you truly desire to grow spiritually, you will. You do what it takes to deepen and stretch your faith.
Read It!
Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 19-25; James 4:8; 1 Peter 2:9.
Pray It!
Be open with God. Tell Him your desire to draw closer to Him.
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Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:58 am
Stuff That Irritates!
God understands the things in your life that irritate you. But sometimes it helps to write them down. So grab a pen and add to this list:
• Having to explain to six different sales people that you're just looking around.
• Reaching under the table to pick something off the floor and banging your head on the way up.
• Losing your keys . . . for the third time in the same day.
• Trying on a pair of sunglasses with that yukky little plastic thing in the middle of them.
• The radio station you're listening to doesn't tell you who sang that song you're dying to purchase.
• Accidentally leaving a Kleenex in your jeans pocket and having to pull the entire load out of the dryer covered with bits of lint.
• You had that pen in your hand just a second ago, and now you can't find it anywhere!
• Setting the alarm on your clock radio for 7 p.m. instead of 7 a.m.
• Having to listen to that one person in class who always knows the right answer.
• Putting lotion on your hands and not being able to open the bathroom door.
• Hearing people crinkle candy wrappers in the library.
• Getting interrupted in the middle of your story. • Having your glasses slide down your nose when you get hot.
• Leaving your notes in your locker when the test is tomorrow.
• Having 13 people in one day say, “What's wrong?”
You can probably add at least a dozen more things to this list, and as frustrating as the little things in life can be, we can draw encouragement from the fact that God really does understand. Isn't it refreshing to know that Jesus, too, had to deal with homework, misplacing a sandal and possibly forgetting to feed the cows once in a while? He knew what it was like to be human, because He chose to become human and walk through the same feelings of frustration you experience today.
Know It!
Instead of becoming overwhelmed at those little irritating things in life that tend to trip us up, rejoice in the fact that you're not alone. The Creator of the universe knows exactly how you feel!
Read It!
Proverbs 17:22; Proverbs 24:19-20; Proverbs 25:28; Proverbs 27:9.
Pray It!
Ask God to give you His perspective and help you see things through His eyes.
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