“Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all, utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt. Send me where Thou wilt. Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever. Amen” (Betty Scott Stam).
This is another good prayer to pray. I mean, I have nothing against prayers about God blessing us and giving us the desires of our hearts, but the prayer that God will always honor is one that says, “God, Your will be done.”
I’ve learned over the years that I’m not the best at choosing what’s good for me. Sometimes, I feel what’s best instead of thinking it. Sometimes, I want something because I see that someone else has it. My motives are a mixed bag at best.
But when I leave the choice with God, I can rest assured that God will always choose the best. He will pick what brings Him the most glory, which in turn is what is always for my greatest good.
If God gives me something other than what I asked for, He is still good. If God doesn’t give me what I ask for, He is still good. If God gave me nothing else from this point on, He would still be good. No matter what, through feast or famine, through garden or desert, He is still good.
Lord, have Your way in me. I lay down every one of my desires at Your feet to do with as You will. Whether or not You ever give me any of them or not, You are and will always be good. Amen.
“Humility is not a character trait to develop, it’s the natural by-product of being with Jesus” (Louie Giglio).
Humility is an odd character trait to me. It seems that inevitable it’s the one thing that once you’re aware of having it, you lose it. At least for me. I almost always become prideful of how humble I am. It never fails.
But true humility is one of those things you don’t notice about yourself. It’s something you notice about others and hopefully they can see it in you. After all, it’s generally never wise to go around bragging about how humble you are.
But what Louie Giglio said makes sense. If you spend time with Jesus, His life starts to flow into you. The next thing, you’re exhibiting Christlike characteristics without even being aware of it. I remember an old married couple who had been together for so long that they even started to look alike. They’d even finish each others’ sentences because they knew the other so well as to know what that person would most likely say next.
Jesus is the only truly humble person ever. The rest of us show humility from time to time, but the vast majority of us still struggle with pride in one form or another. We either think too highly of ourselves or we go around with a false modesty that shames anyone who tries to give us compliments.
But the more I attune my ear to the voice of Jesus and set aside time for Him to speak to me, the more I find that I will live like He lived and be more and more like Him. At the same time, I may or may not be aware of all these changes. Hopefully, I will be too focused on Jesus to notice.
Lord, instead of me asking for humility, I’m asking that you’d draw me nearer to You. Let Your life so seep into mine that Your words flow out of my mouth and Your actions proceed from my hands and feet. As I wander, gently lead me back to my first love and keep my eyes fixed on You so that I can learn Your ways and Your heart. Amen.
“The stronghold of the Christian faith is the joy of God, not my joy in God. . . . God reigns and rules and rejoices, and His joy is our strength” (Oswald Chambers, Run Today’s Race).
i think too often we read that and take it to mean our joy in the Lord. Or at least I do. I somehow managed to go through most of my life reading the verse about the joy of the Lord being our strength and came away thinking that I had to conjure up or manufacture joy in the Lord to be strong. Anybody else? Just me? Cool.
I think we forget that the Lord has joy in His children, not for anything we are or anything we bring to the communal table, but simply because we are His. He has joy in what He has made. He has greater joy in what He has bought and paid for and redeemed.
To go through life in my own strength is like pushing my car from place to place instead of driving it. God’s strength is the fuel that helps me to become what He created me to be and to go where He’s called me to go. If I decide I don’t need that strength, I’m getting as far in life as I can push my car — not very far.
If you’re feeling spiritually weak, maybe the best thing for you and I do to is to rediscover God’s joy. I’m thankful that holiness isn’t something I work up in my own power. Sure, I strive for holiness, but not in my own strength. If only we could remember that God’s joy is endless and never runs out, we could always find our strength to live in the center of His will.
Lord, overwhelm us with Your joy today. Help us to lean on Your strength as we seek to please You and to do Your will in every area of our lives. Make us a people who are known for their contagious and overwhelming joy that can only come from You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents” (Luke 15:10, NLT).
The Message says that there’s a party in heaven every time even one sinner gets saved. I get that.
I know lately I find myself overjoyed when I read about any celebrity who comes to faith or someone who is coming out of a Muslim or LGBTQ or pagan background. I love that the gospel is for anyone and everyone, and there is no one who is beyond the reach of God’s grace.
I love hearing testimonies of being delivered by the power of Jesus. That never gets old for me (and I hope it never will). It always brings me ecstatic joy and reminds me of my own early days when I first experience the joy of my own salvation. It reminds me that God is still able to seek and to save the lost.
I do a lot more praying for people’s salvation than I used to. I think maybe it’s because I appreciate the gift of salvation way more than I did when I was younger. I also realize more and more that there are no political answers to what are ultimately spiritual problems.
At the root of every war and of every act of violence and every racial epithet is sin. We are all born into sin and we all need a Savior. We are not good people who need to be better or even bad people who need to be made good but dead people who need to be made alive.
That’s why I do what I do. If even one single person is in heave because of me posting these blogs every day for almost 16 years, then I can say it was worth it.
I hope you will join me in praying for lost people. If you want, you can comment on the people you are praying for or you can always text me at 615-556-5850. I’d love to pray for your loved ones as well. God is still good all the time, and all the time God is still good.
I’m not advocating for increased social media usage. Is it addictive? Probably. Is it mostly a waste of time? Most of the time. Can you learn useful and edifying things from social media? Absolutely.
The medium itself isn’t good or bad. It all depends on the person using it and the people who are creating the content. One such person fairly blew my mind with this little nugget of truth.
He was speaking about how a tree grows. Honestly, I don’t give much thought to it since I am not an arborist (or whatever you call people who make a living studying trees).
He said that trees grow in two directions: upward and downward.
The tree grows downward into the deep richness of dark soil, developing a system of roots that can sustain the tree. The tree also grows upward toward the sky. That part wasn’t the mind blowing part.
The part I’d never thought about is the tree has to have the roots first before it can bear the fruit. If a tree has no root system, it won’t last. It will topple over at the first gust of wind or hard rain. A bit like those who hear the gospel but never go deeper with it to combine it with faith.
So many of us want instant success. We want immediate gratification. We don’t understand that for successful vertical growth we often need to go deep into the dark and the damp and the dirt to develop a foundation of roots that can sustain upward growth. We need to be grounded in the truth of God through His Word and His work in our lives to make us more like Him.
So much of what God does in us is something that is in secret. Not even we can see all that God does in us. I seem to remember posting about how God can do 10,000 things in us and we are sometimes only aware of 3 or 4 of them at any given time.
So much of what seems like God’s silences or inactivity might just be working underneath to nurture those roots and give us the foundation we need for upward spiritual growth. We are becoming the kind of people God can then use to bless multitudes when we in our own power could bless no one because we have nothing of worth to offer.
Remember God is always at work whether you can see it or feel it or not. God is always keeping His promises to finish what He started in you and in me. Trust the process even when you can’t see it or see the results right away. Know that He will be faithful to do what he says because He is a promise keeper.
“The great paradox of life is that those who lose their lives will gain them. This paradox becomes visible in very ordinary situations. If we cling to our friends, we may lose them, but when we are nonpossessive in our relationships, we will make many friends. When fame is what we seek and desire, it often vanishes as soon as we acquire it, but when we have no need to be known, we might be remembered long after our deaths. When we want to be in the center, we easily end up on the margins, but when we are free enough to be wherever we must be, we find ourselves often in the center.
Giving away our lives for others is the greatest of all human arts. This will gain us our lives” (Henri Nouwen).
I think Jesus said something similar. He said those who seek to save their lives will lose them but those who lose their lives for His sake will find them. I do believe that when we die, we can only take with us that which we’ve given away. Primarily, we give away our faith when we share it with others so that they can also know Jesus and have eternal life.
It does seem like a paradox that if you seek after fame and fortune and wealth, you end up missing out on so much and not even getting what you were after. Or worse yet, you get all the fame and fortune and wealth and find out that it didn’t satisfy you like you thought it would.
But if you seek after God’s kingdom first, then everything you need is added in. When you deny yourself and take up your cross and put others first, you find utmost fulfillment and you discover your true self in the process. It’s almost the complete opposite of the way the world works.
It seems to me that life is more enjoyable when you’re less focused on yourself. The old saying goes that humility isn’t thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. I have found in those moments when I was absorbed completely in something other than me I made my best memories.
Lord, help us to live for You first, live for others second, and trust You to take care of our needs at every moment of our lives. Teach us that it’s better to give than to receive and that we are never more like You than when we are giving ourselves away for Your sake. Amen.
I was listening to my Daily Devo through the Worship Initiative, and they brought out a genuine, old-school hymn. written in 1752 and translated in 1855. I’m sure I sang it growing up, but these lyrics really hit me different today. So many people I know either are dealing with health issues or have passed away. This hymn speaks volumes to those who are walking down that road for themselves or loved ones. Plus, the words are beautiful and fitting for life in general:
“Verse 1 Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change, He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Verse 2 Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake To guide the future, as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Verse 3 Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart, And all is darkened in the vale of tears, Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart, Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears. Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay From His own fullness all He takes away.
Verse 4 Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord When disappointment, grief and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last” (Words: Katharina von Schlegel, 1697 / Translator: Jane Borthwick (1855) / Music: “Finlanda” by Jean Sibelius 1899)
“O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
I’m still processing a lot of what happened today.
My church met at the Fisher Center today while our sanctuary is being renovated. It was a bit like having church at Carnegie Hall or at The Met. It was a different kind of Sunday, but I believe God still knew where to find us. He still showed up as always.
I’m still so thankful to be a part of an amazing congregation that is growing not only numerically but spiritually as well. I love how so many of our members have such a willingness to serve and to be flexible to do whatever God asks, whenever God asks.
Ultimately, that’s the only fulfillment. Learning to discern the voice of Jesus and to follow where He leads is the only pathway to joy. Any other voice that promises joy only delivers disappointment.
Jesus spoke about how He knows His own sheep and calls them by name. Each one of them. He knows the very number of hairs on our heads and cares for each one of us. He said that we in turn are learning to recognize His voice and only heed His voice above all others. We know that where He leads is better than any other way that promises fame or wealth or power.
Lord, we are Your sheep. We don’t always know where to go. We recognize that without You, we are lost and helpless as any other sheep would be without a shepherd. Teach us more and more to know and love Your voice. Teach us to follow You as You lead and never doubt that they way You lead us is the only way that leads to life everlasting. Grant us to lead others to follow as You lead us in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Amen.
I liked this one so much I decided to borrow it for my own blog post. It’s by Douglas McKelvey and it’s for those who are seeking biblical community. I’ve been learning recently that there’s a reason why there are no Lone Ranger Christians in the Bible. We were designed and created for community. We’re better together. So here’s the post (with a link to the actual liturgy at the end):
"Good Father Who Gives Good Gifts to His Children,
Like Abraham, in a step of faith I have journeyed from the comforting sameness of all I once knew—my family and home, my friends, my neighborhood, my church, my old school, my settled rhythms and routines.
I have moved far from all that was familiar, foundational, and steadying. The distance is disorienting in ways I did not foresee.
For now I have little to anchor my life. That organic and interconnected web of community was so deep a part of my identity.
In this new place I do not know where I fit.
I feel myself adrift. So let my life here take root, O Christ, and flourish again, nurtured by your Spirit and your people, and bearing good fruit in time. I do not yet have here the same resources of vital relationship to sustain me.
I feel like a weary pioneer recently arrived with one meager pack of supplies, who must now find a good place to begin to carve out a homestead, a place to sink new roots in hopes of finding good soil for flourishing. A meaningful life must somehow be constructed in this open prairie of undefined possibilities.
O God, I am lonely here. But you are present with me. I am unmoored, but you are my anchor. I am unsteady. But you are my rock.
Now lead me into good community. Let me forge new friendships. Give me a place in this place. Graft me in to your Body, and into this community, in ways that I might be blessed, and also be a blessing. Plant me in places where I might find delight—in serving and in receiving, in fellowship and celebration, in sharing the many joys and griefs and labors, and small and meaningful moments of which friendships and fellowships and the community of saints are finally built. So let my life here take root, O Christ, and flourish again, nurtured by your Spirit and your people, and bearing good fruit in time.
Use now even this time of disorientation to draw my heart closer to yours; to teach me how better to trust and hope in your promises, how better to rest in your love.
Let whatever hardships I endure for a time be turned—under the sway of your Spirit—into a more mindful and active compassion extended toward others who might suffer similar dismay.
Give me grace enough that I might, even in my own season of discomfort, still offer friendship and fellowship to others who also struggle to find their place. Let us build good community and strong friendship by serving one another. So let my life here take root, O Christ, and flourish again, nurtured by your Spirit and your people, and bearing good fruit in time. Amen."
Starting this Sunday, my church will be temporarily meeting in a new location. We’re doing some upgrades and improvements to our sanctuary, so we can’t meet in the building for a few weeks. That means that we’ll be in the Fisher Center at Belmont University for a bit, then over to Sevier Park for an outdoor worship service.
It will be different, and different isn’t necessarily bad. Sometimes, different can be a good thing. I imagine people that have no connection to The Church at Avenue South might be intrigued by Sunday services on the Belmont campus. Some people might be driving by the park one Sunday and see a bunch of people gathered in worship. People who might not step foot in our present location might still hear the gospel and see the tangible love of Jesus on display.
That’s definitely a good thing. I know ideally in a perfect world, all the improvements would have been completed before we moved into the present location. But as my pastor always says, this is a beautiful but broken world we’re living in, so perfect doesn’t exist. Still, God can take what’s less than perfect and work good from it.
I imagine when the people of God first arrived into their new homes in Babylon, it took some adjusting. They had lost everything they knew and loved back home and were completely unfamiliar with their new surroundings in Babylon. But what did God say? He said to plant gardens and get married and have lots of kids. You’re going to be here for a while.
In our case, the exile is only for four weeks, but God is reminding us that the Church is not brick and mortar or a location. It’s the people of God gathered to proclaim the praises of God and live out the purposes of God through the preaching of the Word and worship. We are the living stones that make up God’s dwelling place in this world.
Right now around the world, people are gathering together in homes and in sheds and under a canopy of trees to worship. Some aren’t allowed to have large gatherings. Some don’t have a building to meet in. But they are serving and singing to and loving the same God as the ones meeting in megachurches. It’s the same Holy Spirit power that lives inside of them that lives inside the ones sitting in comfortable chairs in air-conditioned buildings.
It’s like in the Christmas Vacation movie when the kid asks how Santa will know where to find them since they’re staying with the Griswolds. Church isn’t like that. The Holy Spirit knows exactly where to go on Sunday when the people of God are temporarily displaced. God is still showing up and we can still experience that presence if we’re prepared and prayed up.
Thank You, Lord, that wherever Your people are gathered in Your name, even if it’s only two or three, You’re there in the midst of them. Make Your name famous wherever we are, whether it’s at 901 Acklen Avenue or 2020 Belmont Boulevard or 3021 Lealand Lane. Do what only You can do and draw people to Yourself and thank You that we get to be a part of it. Amen.
