Author: Ragamuffingospelfan

A Billboard of God’s Grace

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“O my Father, give me eyes to see, a heart to respond, and hands and feet to serve you wherever you encounter me! Make me a billboard of your grace, a living advertisement for the riches of your compassion. I long to hear you say to me one day, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ And I pray that today I would be that faithful servant who does well at doing good. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen” (Max Lucado).

That’s what I want to be. A billboard of God’s grace. I want people who see me to want to know God not because I have such a wealth of spiritual knowledge or am super holy and righteous but because I have known and experienced grace. I want people to look at me and say, “God did that.”

That’s how it should work. I heard a pastor say that we need to lead questionable lives. Not in the sense of being immoral or unethical but in the sense of living in a way that causes people to ask questions. Our lives should invite conversations about what they see in us that’s different. Those conversations then become gospel conversations because we tell them, “Not I but Christ in me.”

I still think a lot about the 3-open prayer I learned a while back. It goes something like open an opportunity to share my faith, open the other person’s heart to be receptive, and most importantly, open my mouth. It’s no good unless I speak the words. My lifestyle and actions won’t be enough.

I think so many people see Christians for what they’re against. But that’s not helpful. If my life is falling apart, I need to know what you’re for. I need to know you believe in something that can help me and make my life better. We sometimes forget that we have the greatest “for” in the fact that Jesus died on the cross and rose again so that anyone who asks can receive salvation and eternal life.

May we be billboards of grace in a world where people deserve it least but need it most, remembering that we were the very ones at one time who also deserved grace least but needed it the most.

Above All

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I was listening to the latest weekly installment of 1 Degree of Andy with Andy Chrisman of 4Him. In today’s episode, he interviewed Lenny LeBlanc, who went from a southern rocker to a writer and singer of worship songs that helped to propel the modern worship movement.

One such song that he brought up was Above All, made famous by the one and only Michael W. Smith. I honestly hadn’t thought about that song in a long, long time. But even hearing the title triggered a flood of memories for me. I suddenly could remember most of the words and the chorus. It’s an oldie by modern worship standards, but I sure wish they’d bring it back once in a while. Here are the amazing words:

“[Verse 1]
Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

[Verse 2]
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth

[Chorus]
Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

[Verse 1]
Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

[Verse 2]
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth

[Chorus]
Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all
Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

[Outro]
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all” (Lenny Leblanc, Paul Baloche).

Reset

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“Sometimes, God allows the reset because He’s removing the wrong foundations so He can build something that will actually last” (from the app formerly known as Twitter).

I read that sentence and I think that’s me. I feel like maybe I’m in reset mode. I know sometimes with the wifi, you need to shut it down and leave it unplugged for a bit to get it working again. When that doesn’t work, sometimes you need to hit that tiny reset button to fix it.

I’d rather go through the reset than have the wrong foundation. After all, we know what happened in Jesus’ parable to the man who build his house on sand instead of a solid foundation. It was fine until the storms came and then it wasn’t. It simply wasn’t there anymore. It was gone.

I want my foundation to be secure. I want to know that when life gets messy, my bedrock is sure. I know that God’s not going to allow anything that’s not for my good and His glory. But I want to get that order right. First, His glory then my good. But really, His glory IS my good. Because God is good, He can’t want anything that’s not good. He can’t want anything that’s not the absolute best for His child.

So I can rest in the reset. I can relax in the rebuild. I can trust that God knows what He’s doing even when I don’t feel that I do. When the train goes into the tunnel and everything gets dark, I can trust that the Conductor is taking me somewhere good. I can rest assured.

Revisiting Mitford

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Sometimes for me, rereading old books is like visiting familiar places on vacation. Sometimes, when you’re there, it sparks a memory or reignites a long-buried memory you’d forgotten. For me, the Mitford series by Jan Karon does that.

I’m re-listening to the audio books, narrated by John McDonough and featuring some of the most unique, idiosyncratic characters ever put to the page. Each time I read about Father Tim or Rose or Sadie, I feel like these are more than people I’m reading about. I feel I’ve known these people and could almost recognize them if I ran across them in the street.

Mitford is a lot like Mayberry in a lot of ways. There’s the small town charm on every page. There’s no violence or gratuitous sex or profane language. In a lot of ways, it feels like an escape from an increasingly explicit reality yet it also seems more real because the characters and the settings seem so real.

I almost wish Mitford were a real place I could drive to and visit for a weekend. I could walk around and visit the local haunts and talk to the people. The problem is that I probably wouldn’t ever want to come home. But I can always go back to the books. That for me is a very good thing.

A Prayer for America

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This is not original, and it is a bit lengthy, but it is worth the extra time to read. I think what this nation needs more than any Republican or Democrat answers is revival and spiritual awakening in the hearts of the people of God first and foremost, followed by many of the lost in our land coming to faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Let your revival fall in our time and in our land, and let it begin in me.

“Let’s Pray for America:

Father, we plead the blood of Jesus over our nation, and call on the power and the presence of God to sever all cords that would cause principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places to control the leaders of our nation in local, federal, and executive offices in our generations. Father, give us godly leaders who will carry on the heritage of the dedication of our nation to Jesus our Lord. Father, Your Word, the Bible, said that when godly men reign, the people rejoice. It also says that the people cry out under the rule of the ungodly, deliver us from the oppression of the ungodly, and appoint us Christ centered, bible believing, righteous, godly leaders to rule.

Have mercy on our nation, forgive the sins of our forefathers and those of our present generation. Forgive us for every law that builds strongholds in the mindsets of the present and upcoming generations through perversion and the bloodshed of the innocent. Remove from our eyes the veils and scales of welcoming false religions and idolatry into our nation. Let all leaders who promote idolatry, sexual perversion, illegal activity be delivered and exposed immediately and be delt with. Let every under-cover agenda of the enemy which promotes, satanic networks, racist spirits, witchcraft, antichrist spirit rising in political and religious offices be exposed and be delt with.

Let every agenda set to hinder, cause compromise, and calls for persecution against those who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ be judged.

Father, we pray for the people and leaders of our nation that they might live peaceable lives in goodness and honesty (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Raise up leaders in our nation who will worship and serve You (Psalm 72:11). Raise up leaders who will help the poor and needy find deliverance (Psalm 72:12-13). We declare that there is no deliverance without Jesus. Father, we pray for revival on Capitol Hill that will cause America to sing a new song of praise to Jesus our Lord. (Psalm 96:1-3). Raise up leaders in our nation who will call the people to tremble before the Lord. Give us leaders who love your Word, listen to your Word, obey your Word, who will cause ethe families of our nation to be blessed (Gal. 3:14).

Let your glory be declared among the people of our nation and let the healing waters flow in our nation (Ezekiel 47:9). We pray for repentance that will bring healing to the land, and that every leader in this nation will submit their rule to the reign of Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord over America and the nations. In Jesus name we pray Amen” (Fady Al-Hagal).

Why I Love Narnia

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“But between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the green grass that even with their eagles’ eyes they could hardly look at it. They came on and saw that it was a Lamb.

‘Come and have breakfast,’ said the Lamb in its sweet milky voice.

Then they noticed for the first time that there was a fire lit on the grass and fish roasting on it. They sat down and ate the fish, hungry now for the first time for many days. And it was the most delicious food they had ever tasted.

‘Please, Lamb,’ said Lucy, ‘is this the way to Aslan’s country?’

‘Not for you,’ said the Lamb. ‘For you the door into Aslan’s country is from your own world.’

‘What’ said Edmund. ‘Is there a way into Aslan’s country from our world too?’

“There is a way into my country from all the worlds,” said the Lamb; but as he spoke, his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane.

‘Oh, Aslan,’ said Lucy. ‘Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?’

‘I shall be telling you all the time,’ said Aslan. ‘But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder. And now come; I will open the door in the sky and send you to your own land'” (C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader).

I know Narnia isn’t a real place. I also know Narnia represents and stands for so many things that are real. Narnia was Lewis’ way of writing a series of good children’s books, which he thought meant that any adult should be able to pick one up and enjoy it as well as any child. It just so happens that the stories ended up revolving around a Christ-like main figure named Aslan.

I think what I love about the Narnia series is that you see practical truths and lessons taught in a way where real people interact within a fantastical setting with real problems and find ways to solve them that work just as well in the real world. That’s why I also loved the Harry Potter series because it used magic as a metaphor for the challenges of growing from childhood to adulthood.

I still sometimes wish Narnia was real and there was a place where animals could talk. It would be so nice to be able to visit from time to time and come back to this reality with no time having passed. That sounds ideal to me.

But if you don’t know about Narnia, I can’t recommend those books highly enough. The best place to start is with The Magician’s Nephew, the book that starts the series with the creation of Narnia. They may have been written for kids but they’re good for kids of all ages — from 6 to 106. They’re that good.

Always More

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“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not.10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty’” (Luke 17:7-10, NLT).

That’s the secret to obedience and serving. There’s always more. You never get to the place where you’re done. It seems like one task leads to another, usually harder. But you find that if you remain faithful and available, God will equip you and empower you to fulfill the duty and the calling.

We forget sometimes that half the joy is in the journey. It’s not so much finishing what God calls us to do that energizes us and motivates us — we’re never really finished until God calls each of us home — but the process where we find we can do more than we thought and we find that God is bigger and stronger than we thought.

Obedience doesn’t lead to joy. For the one who serves not out of obligation but out of the overflow of God’s love in his or her heart, obedience is joy. We realize that serving God isn’t a “have to” as much as it is a “get to.” We get to participate in what God is doing, and we know that what God does always succeeds and has a good outcome. We can rest assured that our labors for God are never in vain.

Even the small stuff matters to God. Me showing up to serve in the parking lot at my church or someone else serving in the nursery is just as vital in the eyes of God as the pastor preaching the sermon or the worship leader calling us to worship. Every single act of obedience is a win for the kingdom and a blessing not only for the receivers but also for the person who obeys.

The harder the task, the more of God you get to do the job. The more your faith grows when you see it through. The more you want to serve God no matter what it looks like or how dirty you get. The more other people see it and want to know about this God that is worth our obedience.

A Blessing for You

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“‘“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’

That’s my prayer for anyone reading these words.
May you know the joy of true salvation in Jesus Christ.
May you find peace in the center of His will.
May God grant you the desires of your heart as You draw near to His.
May you know each and every day that you are dearly loved.
May your light so shine so that others may come to know and glorify God because of you.

Love in All Its Forms

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“Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace” (Dr. Donald Barnhouse).

I think the first two are possible because of the third. There is no worship or affection without grace. Unless God had first loved us, we couldn’t have loved Him — or anybody else.

I also think that sometimes God enables us to give the kind of love that stoops to those less fortunate. Sometimes, we’re the givers and sometimes we’re the receivers. But in every case, it’s grace. It’s where we look most like the Father.

I love this definition of worship because it’s more than singing songs. As great as it is to be caught up in a moment in the midst of praising God through music, we neglect the true nature of worship when we limit it to the three or four songs we sing on Sunday.

Affection is a word we need to take back from a society that has sexualized it. Affection can exist without there being any hint of romance. It can be between parent and child, brother and sister, or between friends. It’s tangible kindness on display.

Lord, teach us how to love like You have loved us. Help us not to be a Dead Sea of love where all the love in us never goes anywhere but stagnates. Help us to be rivers where the love flows in and through us to those who need it as much as we did (and still do). Amen.

Your Daily Dose of Spurgeon

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
We cry to you to be delivered from the power of sin, to be delivered from the power of temptation outside of us, but especially from indwelling sin within us. Lord, purify our heads, hearts, and hands. If it is necessary that we should be put into the fire to be refined as silver is refined, we would even welcome the fire if we may be rid of the dross. Lord save us from sins of temperament and from sins of our surroundings. Save us from ourselves in every shape, and grant us especially to have the light of love strong within us.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)“Flee from youthful passions…” (2 Timothy 2:22)What would you think of a man who went as near as he could to burning his house down, just to see how much fire it would stand? Or of one who cut himself with a knife to see how deep he could go without mortally wounding himself? Or of another who experimented as to how large a quantity of poison he could take?These are extreme follies, but not so great as that of a man who tries how much sin he may indulge in and yet be saved. Do not attempt such perilous experiments. “Come out from their midst and be separate … and do not touch what is unclean” (2 Corinthians 6:17). Shun with horror Satan’s old compromise; do not dream that you can love the world and yet have the love of the Father in you.

Sometimes, you just need a little Charles Spurgeon in your day. He was called the prince of preachers for a reason. I hope this will uplift and inspire you today.