Category: From Pastor

This week’s devotions are based on the Week 2 “Explore God” – Is there a God? (WATCH HERE)

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If God is real…

To be clear, I have no doubt that God is real.  What the challenges of this week is being prepared to speak to the question with those that aren’t so convinced.  A tactic used in a debate I watched a while back led the Christian in the debate to give up the use of the Bible to speak to the existence of God.  That’s like disallowing a biography on a person to prove the existence of that person.  (So hint, when you discuss this question, don’t give up a primary source on the existence of God!)

Here’s the logic.

If God is real as the BIble describes, I would expect to see evidence of what the Bible speaks of in the world around me or vice-versa.  Recently our younger daughter had a pick a world leader from a long time ago.  She picked Cyrus the Great of Persia.  What was a “lightbulb” moment for her was realizing that this very king was referenced a few times in the Bible.  If Cyrus was real, not only would he appear in secular recordings of history, but since he intersected with God, he would be referenced in the Bible.  It would only make sense that the things the Bible claims of God would be noticed and seen in the world around us.

So what are those claims?

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  The chapter then goes on to describe the six days of creation on which God spoke the world into existence and then formed and created mankind on day six.

So if God is real as the Bible assumes and claims and God’s first activity was the creation of all things, you would expect to see evidence of him in nature.  So do we?

Last night our area experienced a strong thunderstorm, winds and hail over 2” in diameter (fortunately it was a short burst and quantity of the big hail…we have no noticeable damage but need to get the roof looked at.) Even though there are those who try to seed the clouds, claim that weather is man-directed, or put the onus on humanity to change the climate, one must acknowledge the power of something greater than ourselves.  Some would explain it away, but the power seen in nature is evidence of a powerful God. 

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

When I came into church yesterday, I noticed a structure built on the table in our kids church out of the magnetic connectors and steel marbles.  It had order, pattern, and structure to it.  My observational assumption was, “Someone made something out of the marbles and connectors.  It’s pretty cool.”  Our observational conclusion when we see design, order, and structure is that it was designed by someone.  We DON’T assume the marbles and connectors just fell off the shelf and landed in the intricate pattern I saw.  If God is real and is the creator of all things, we would expect to find order, structure and design in creation.  One need not look any farther than the human body to discover an order, structure, and design.  The multiple systems that make up our body are organized, structured and design in such an amazing way that they testify to a divine designer.  When we see order in creation, it points to a divine Designer.

A third aspect of creation that speaks to the reality of God is complexity and information.  The double helix design of our DNA contains a myriad of information to instruct each cell its formation and function.  We know that the terabytes of information that can fit on a phone in your pocket is a complex design to store all that information.  We recognize there were pretty smart people in the room to design the complexity of the hardware and then program the complexity of the information.

So it is with God, when we see evidence of complexity and a storehouse of information, we must assume there is a divine being with all wisdom.

If God is real, I would expect to see him in creation…I do…in his power, in his design, and in his wisdom!

 

Apply: What aspects of nature lead you to conclude that God is real?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving evidence of your existence in all the work of creation you did.  The heavens truly do declare your glory and the earth the work of your hands! AMEN

This week’s devotions are based on the Week 2 “Explore God” – Is there a God? (WATCH HERE)

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A poll done in 2022 indicates that 85% would strongly agree or agree that God is real.  15% had doubts or certainty that God was not real.  Another part of that poll indicated that in the last 10 years (2012-2022) there has been a 11 percentage point drop in those that believe in God (92% to 81%)

So while perhaps the question, “Is God Real?” was not as common 10-20 years ago, the question is being asked more today, challenged by many and answered in the negative by a growing number of people.

So is God real?

What if someone asked you that?  How would you respond?

On the surface, the answer as a Bible-believing person is, “Of course, God is real.”  On the other hand, the situation that has led a person to deny or dismiss the reality of God, let alone the God revealed at the true God in the Bible becomes more complicated.

Two questions I like to use when this topic has come up in conversation are these:

1. What’s led you to question the existence/reality of God?
2. What would you need God to do to prove to you he was real?

The answer to number one is often an incongruency between what is happening life and what the person believes or feels like God should be doing in their life or the life of others.  When the incongruence is too great, instead of changing one’s understand of God and how he operates, the concept of God is dismissed an other explanations sought after.

The answer to number 2 is often challenged by specific “miracles” that are demanded of God and then the specific request isn’t granted and the reality of God is challenged in the person’s heart.

Remember the story of the person stuck on a roof during a flood and eventually drowned?  Before he drowned, two row boats and a helicopter came to his aid, but he responded to each when asked if he wanted to get aboard, “No I believe God is going to save me.”  When he died and stood before God, he asked, “So how come you didn’t save me?  I trusted  you would.”  To which God responded, “I sent you two rowboats and helicopter.  What more did you want?”

The point is sometimes we set in our minds how WE want God to prove his existence and fail to see what God IS DOING to show his reality and existence.

So we don’t miss it, where is God showing his reality?

By the fourth English word of the Bible, God shows up.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

There is not a page in Scripture that eliminates the reality of God.  Every book of the BIble is filled with references to God, God’s name, God’s activity, God’s interaction with people.  If what the Bible says is true, then we ought to find evidence of God in places he indicates he will show up.

Perhaps at times we look too hard or simply don’t want to confront the reality of God.  God is making himself plain in different venues of life.  It’s these clear manifestations of God we will explore this week so that our faith in God is strengthened.  These evidences have a purpose – so we know God is real and have no excuse to believe or say otherwise.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  

 

Apply: If you were to make a list of things that prove God’s reality to you, what would they be?

Prayer: Lord, send your Spirit to open my eyes to the many and  varied ways you show yourself to be real in my life and the world around me.  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on the Week 1 “Explore God” – Does Life Have Purpose? (WATCH HERE)

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So, does life have a purpose?

This question we’ve been contemplating all week needs an answer.

Actually nearly 85% of people surveyed about this question would strongly agree or agree that life has a purpose.  However, what that purpose is varies greatly.  Some would say life is about enjoying the moment.  Some would say the purpose of life is love and relationships.  Some would focus on impact and making a difference.

The point is most people would answer the question, “Yes, life has a purpose.”

However, any purpose attached to something temporary always has opportunity to be a disappointment.

The common theme in all of these is attaching my purpose to something that is temporary.

Yes.  Life has a purpose.

However, a quote I heard this week and don’t know to whom to give credit is this, “One can’t know their purpose until they know their Creator.”

The fulness of life’s purpose is found when we know our Creator.

God gives life its fullest purpose.

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Here’s two things that give life ultimate purpose:

First: Live each day to glorify God. 

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

When I recognize I am a creation of the almighty Creator, I ask the question, “God, what do you want me to do today?”  At the core is to live out the two greatest commandments of “Love God” and “Love neighbor.”  We do this not out of obligation or performance to earn something from God, rather we live in response to the love God has shown to us.  “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19)  We live to love because we have come to know how deeply loved each of us is.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  We also live recognizing that all we are and have is a gift from God.  Martin Luther put it this way as he commented in the “Small Catechism” on the first article of the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

What does this mean? I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

So it is only natural for us to use the unique strengths, personality, giftedness and resources to glorify God and be a blessing to others.

Second: Live each day with an eternal perspective.

Live A.L.I.V.E!  What does it mean to be alive? “Always Living In View of Eternity!”  My purpose moves beyond the temporary to the eternal.  Sure, one can enjoy relationships, advance in career, or have material blessings, but those temporary things are not our ultimate purpose.  Rather, these are gifts God gives us to carry out our eternal purpose and perspective.  Time is God’s gift for us to know him and to make him known to others.  God’s ultimate purpose for us in this life is for us to spend an eternity with him in the next.  

It’s that perspective that gives today purpose…that gives every day purpose!

 

Apply: How would you answer, “Does life have purpose?” to someone who asks?

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for creating me and giving me purpose in life.  With your help, lead me to live each day to your glory and with an eternal focus.  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on the Week 1 “Explore God” – Does Life Have Purpose? (WATCH HERE)

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Perspective and purpose.

Sometimes our perspective gets skewed.

As we go through life we allow events to skew our perspective of purpose.  How so?

We have a desire to be a world class athlete and we suffer a career ending injury in high school.  Suddenly our purpose in life is shattered.

We have a desire to lead a company and be in a “C” suite job.  Only to be fired from the company we thought one day we would lead.

We have a desire to be the greatest parent in the world, only to find out that we are unable to have children.

In these and many other situations we may have our hopes dashed that our purpose is now out of reach.  These events may even trigger us to feel like our life has lost its purpose and we are destined for a life of wandering aimlessly.

At times we can fixate our life’s purpose on an event or situation we perceive we will achieve or experience in the future.  When we fixate our life’s purpose simply on an event, another event can occur in life that prevents the purpose event from taking place.  When that happens we think that we have lost life’s purpose.

Perhaps, though, our perception and perspective have been skewed.

Whenever we wrap up our life’s purpose SIMPLY in something this world offers, we risk the chance of missing really what our purpose in life is all about.

What do I mean?

I am on a woodworking group on Facebook and once in a while a picture of an old or unique tool will be posted with the question, “Does anyone know what this is used for?”  After reading through the silly comments and then some of the good guesses and possibilities, someone posts a similar tool picture with a clear definition of what the tool was used for.  Only when we understand why we were created from the one who created us will we understand our life’s purpose.

If we think we exist because of a series of random occurrences over billions of years, we will be wandering in empty pursuit of a purpose that is as random as the theory of how we came to be.  Without a Creator, we have no purpose.

With a Creator, we do.

A very familiar passage given to the prophet Jeremiah is one that shifts our purpose from just this world to the purpose and plan our Creator has for us.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

What does this mean?  Well read this verse again with your name in it.  This means that even when our plans do not happen, God’s plan will prevail.  Even when we perceive the event that happened to us is bad, God’s purpose is always to bring good from the bad.  Even when we perceive our life is worthless because our plan and purpose didn’t succeed, we can have confidence in the Lord’s promise that his plan and purpose for us will always give hope and a future.

So we go back to the examples at the beginning.  We may have wrapped up our purpose in being a professional athlete, but God’s purpose was for us to use our love of a sport to be a Christian mentor and coach on a youth sports team.  Our purpose may have been wrapped up in being a “C” suite leader…the Lord’s plan may have allowed firing from the job to be able to use your skills to lead a ministry that brings Jesus around the world.  Our purpose we may have wrapped up in being the best of parents for our own children and the Lord’s purpose was to be godly parents to adopted children who were abandoned by their parents.

God’s purpose for us is to always have us connected to and active in his kingdom.  When we have been impacted by our Creator, we will live to make an impact for our Creator.

 

Apply: Where do you  find your purpose today?  Is your purpose wrapped up in your perception or God’s promises?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for creating me as who I am and saving me to become who you want me to be.  Help me to live and do all that is in front of me to your glory and the salvation of souls.  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on the Week 1 “Explore God” – Does Life Have Purpose? (WATCH HERE)

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We make a lot of plans in life…plans for school…plans for sports…plans for career…plans for marriage…plans for vacations…plans for retirement…plans for ______…the list goes on.  If you were to evaluate the number of plans you have made compared to the number of plans that actually happened just as you planned them, it would not be 100%.  Then if you think of all the plans that you made and many that you executed that still have impact on you today, the percentage is probably relatively small comparatively.

King Solomon realized as he went through life that man makes plans, but finally the Lord’s will and purpose will prevail.  In Proverbs 19:21, he wrote, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

What is interesting is the Lord’s purpose has been at work since the creation of the world.  His purpose to have mankind as his crowning creation in a loving relationship with him has always been at the heart of his purpose.  When sin entered the world and death through that sin, the Lord’s purpose did not change.  Rather he methodically worked through generations of people and nations to bring about the birth of his Son Jesus into the world.  With deliberate intent Jesus went through his life of growing up, teaching, healing, and performing miracles all with the purpose in mind that one day he would suffer, die and rise again.  This phrase rolls off our tongues, yet the significance of those events STILL has impact today and will have impact forever.

God’s plan has and always will have an eternal purpose.

However, it’s not just God operating in heaven who has an eternal purpose.  When we are connected to the Lord by faith, we too are given and eternal perspective and an eternal purpose.  I start asking a different question.  Instead of asking, “What is MY purpose in life?” I ask the question, “God what is YOUR purpose for me in my life?”

So my focus becomes different.  Sure we still plan practices, education, date nights, vacations, and big events, but they have a different place in our hearts.  We know that our plans for this life are small in comparison to God’s plan for our life…which is eternal.  We know that the temporary nature of our plans which often fall through or don’t happen as we think they should are superceded by God’s purpose which is always working for our eternal good.

So as you begin another day, the question to ask yourself as you begin your day is this, “God how do I carry out your purposes in my life today?”

Then I think through the opportunities on my calendar and ask:

• How can I use these interactions to show the love of God?
• How can I use these interactions to show love to others?
• How can I use all that I do to glorify God?

And then you head out to take the kids to practice…encouraging them to play to the best of their ability and show good sportsmanship to the other team.  It means heading off to work with a peace in your heart that you get to show up and give your best to the glory of God, even if the boss doesn’t recognize it.  It means I can take a walk outside anticipating God may allow my paths to cross with a person that needs a kind hello or a more deliberate conversation.  It just changes our days from our plans to God’s purposes.

So enjoy your day living for the Lord…it’s importance and impact will last longer than today!

 

Apply: Think through the questions above.  What difference can it make if you live purposefully today carrying out God’s purpose instead of exactly your plan?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for orchestrating your plans and purposes in my life.  Help me each day to see the eternal plan and purpose you have for me!  AMEN.