How do we know Jesus is the Son of God?

1. His birth through a virgin.

2. His teachings were astounding.

3. His love was penetrating.

4. His miracles were supernatural.

5. His fulfillment of prophecy is mind-blowing.

6. His resurrection is indisputable (empty tomb, no evidence to the contrary, etc.).

7. His disciples’ martyrdom (who would die for a known lie?).

8. HIStory is supportive.

a. Archeology
b. Extra-biblical writers (e.g., Josephus).
c. Changed lives (disciples, Paul, and billions of others).

The best way to know Jesus is the Son of God is to receive Him as Savior and allow Him to be your lord and life!

How Can We Know the Bible is God's Word?

1. The Bible claims to be God’s Word. This does not make it such, but it does make it a document to be reckoned with.

2. The Bible is historically accurate.

3. Archeology and extra-biblical sources continue to verify its accuracy.

4. The Bible has been preserved over time despite many attempts to destroy it.

5. The Bible was recognized as having a divine author from early on.

6. The Bible displays an amazing unity (i.e, salvation in Jesus Christ) amidst incredible diversity.

7. The Bible points ultimately to the living Word of God, Jesus.

Lu. 24:44 “all that was written in the psalms, the law and the prophets was written about me.”
John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and wit is they that bear witness about me

8. The Bible provides supernatural insights into the world and life that extends beyond the human ability of the writers to know.

9. The Bible contains prophecies that demonstrate a divine author.

a. Predictions in O.T. history that have been fulfilled.
b. Prophecies fulfilled in Jesus (most written 700-1000 before He was born). Isa. 7:14; 9:6; 53; Ps. 22; Zech. 9:9
c. Prophecies yet to be fulfilled. Mt. 24; Rev. 15-21

10. The Bible has led to many changed lives.

With all of this said, the best way to know the Bible is God’s Word is to read it and experience its power firsthand.

Helping Men Spend Time with God

At our church we have "iron man groups." These are groups of 3-5 men who meet for encouragement, accountability, and support. Currently we have about 25 of these groups. I am in regular contact with the captains of these groups, and often they ask me about how to get their men to spend time with God. Here is what I tell them:

1. Be sure you are modeling this—leadership by example. The best way to motivate your men to spend time with God is to do so yourself and then to freely share with them what God shows you from His Word, how you are benefiting from it, how you pray, etc.

2. Almost every time you meet, talk about it. Ask them how their times with God are going! See if they want to be held accountable to this, and if so, do it with fierceness and love. Each time you meet simply ask, “So, how are your times with God going? Where are you in the Word? What is God teaching you from His Word? How many days this week did you spend some time alone with God?”

3. If they are not spending time with God, help them to identify what the barriers are: laziness, priority, conviction about its importance, not knowing how, etc.

4. Make a "pact" as a group to each have a Quiet Time for 21 consecutive days. Email them every day to remind them. Studies show that it takes 21 days to develop a true habit.

5. Don't be reading any other books for a "study" if the men are not spending time with God. In other words, if they are currently taking time to read another book, they can now substitute that time for time in the Word and prayer, which is more important! Leonard Ravenhill once said, “The best book is the one that makes you put it down for the Book of books.”

6. Teach your men how to have a Quite Time. Make it very "doable." Just ask them to read about 5-10 verses a day (going through a book like Ephesians, so that today I read Eph. 1:1-5 and tomorrow I read Eph. 1:6-10, etc.) and then spend about 5 minutes in prayer using the ACTS approach (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication).

7. Agree as a group to each have your time with God in the same book of the Bible. For example, say "Hey, let's all be in the book of Ephesians this month. So, for next week, let's each bring something that stood out to us in the first chapter."

8. Last but not least: pray for them, that God will give them the desire and the power to do this (Phil. 2:12-13).

To Tattoo or not to Tattoo - Biblical Principles for a Godly Decision

Recently a young person asked me what I thought about him getting a tattoo. He wanted a nice Christian symbol permanently inked into his body. I greatly admired the fact that he was truly seeking Godly counsel before making this very important decision. Rather than give him an “I am for it or against it” answer, I provided him with the following biblical principles to use in his decision:

1. Ask your parents what they think. After all, one of the 10 Commandments is to “honor your father and mother” (Ex. 20:12).

2. Consider your influence on others, “for all things are lawful but not all things are profitable” (1 Cor. 10:23). Make a list of all the possible effects this might have on others, young and old alike.

3. Consider the permanence of this, and ask yourself, “Is this something I want on my body when I am 50, 60, 70, or 80 years old?” It may be “cool” now but what about then?

4. What will your present or future spouse think about it? After all, when married your body does not belong to you alone but also to him/her (see 1 Cor. 7:4). What would it be like to be married to someone who did not like your tattoo and always had a bit of resentment toward it?

5. What will your future boss think about it? If the tattoo is not visible, this is not an issue. However, if the tattoo is quite visible to others, it could cost you a job. I know of employers who have interviewed potential employees, and upon seeing their tattoo offered the job to someone else. Whether right or wrong, this does happen.

6. Think through your future counsel and influence upon your children one day. What if your future child wants to get a tattoo and it isn’t a Christian symbol, and after you say “no” he says, “But you have one. It just looks a little different than the one I want to get”?

7. Be sure to evaluate your motives. It is always a good question to ask ourselves, “Why do I really want this? Am I doing this to be cool, to fit in, or to get acceptance from others?”

8. Be willing to give it more time before deciding. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isa. 40:31). You never go wrong waiting, but you can go wrong rushing a decision like this. I give this same advice to those unsure of marriage!

9. Last, but certainly not least, is to ask the Lord what He thinks. Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

One final thought: I know some will point to the following passage to say that all tattoos are sinful – “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD” (Lev. 19:28). However, I think a careful study of this passage will reveal that tattoos at the time of this prohibition were clearly connected with pagan worship. While some tattoos today would certainly fit that context, not all do, and therefore, this passage cannot be used to forbid any and all tattoos.

We must be prayerful, biblical and wise and in all our decisions.

Critique of "Love Wins" by Rob Bell

Today I read Rob Bell’s book “Love Wins.” I had my Bible in front of me as I did so. Frequently I turned to passages he addressed as well as many he tragically neglected. About every five pages I have question marks in the margin of my book.

My conclusion is that this book is quite unbiblical, reductionistic, misleading, universalistic, and caters to our feel-good culture. It is outright dangerous.

Here are my comments and concerns about the book:
1. He takes God’s love at the expense of God’s holiness. We cannot pick and choose which attributes of God we like and discount the ones we don’t like. Here is a good example: “Many have heard the gospel framed in terms of rescue. God has to punish sinners, because God is holy, but Jesus has paid the price for our sin, and so we can have eternal life. However true or untrue that is technically or theologically, what it can do is subtly teach people that Jesus rescues us from God. Let’s be very clear, then: we do not need to be rescued from God” (p. 182). What does Bell do with Romans 5:9: “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him”?
2. He is quite reductionistic (i.e. reducing the truths) about God’s character, heaven as a real place, hell as a real place, salvation as needing to “call on the name of the Lord” as Romans 10 says, and the Bible as God’s inerrant Word.
3. This statement pretty much summarizes the book and you can see how unbiblical this is: “At the center of the Christian tradition since the first church have been a number who insist that history is not tragic, hell is not forever, and love, in the end, wins and all will be reconciled to God" (p. 109).
4. Though he never says he is a universalist, he pretty much is in that he says everyone (except those who outright deny God and say they want nothing to do with God) is in God’s family and will go to heaven. He says “Jesus forgives them all, without their asking for it” (p. 188). So we don’t have to “believe on the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31) … “repent and believe” (Mk. 1:15) … “call on the name of the Lord” (Rom. 10:13) … “confess with your mouth and believe in your heart” (Rom. 10:9) … “receive Him” (Jn. 1:12) … etc., etc.?
5. He completed overlooks passages like 2 Thess. 1:5-12 and Rev. 20-21 that would be very problematic to his teachings about hell.
6. He allows the many complexities of sin and people’s issues cloud his theology. I am all for being sensitive to people’s pain and abuse and questions about God, but people’s experience can never trump God’s Word.
7. Unfortunately this smells of classic liberalism – reducing God’s truth to that which we can more easily stomach and present to others without offending them.
8. It seems he has an ax to grind with Christians who have turned off people by their “turn or burn” approach.
9. Bell admitted in an interview that much of this book comes out of his own struggles with things in the evangelical movement. It is dangerous when our experience in this respect shapes our theology.
10. He makes the “all” in certain verses about the atonement apply to the whole world, regardless of their response to Jesus. Yes, Jesus died for all in one sense, but this doesn’t guarantee the “all” respond in faith.
11. This book again shows how important Systematic Theology is. Bell takes a few verses about a topic and builds a case that excludes so many other verses that speak of the same topic. Systematic Theology takes the whole of Scripture about various doctrines.

Are there any positives? Well, at least in the last chapter he talks about the time he prayed to receive Christ as a child and how life changing this was. This was very good to hear since everything up to that point had been critical of the typical evangelical way of doing evangelism.

In conclusion, once again this is a reminder that theology matters. We must be sharp in our biblical understanding, because as the time of Christ gets closer, many will fall away (Mt. 24:9), be seduced into the doctrine of demons (1 Tim. 4:1), and gather teachers who say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Tim. 4:3). We better be like the Bereans who examined everything they heard (the teachings of Paul at that time!) to see if it is consistent with God’s Word (Acts 17:11)!

Oh Lord, we cry out to You for discernment and wisdom. Help us to stay true to Your Word in all we say, do, and teach others. And may we defend Your truth with love, in the power of Your Holy Spirit.

For a much more thorough critique of the book, I encourage you to check out the one by Kevin DeYoung found at the Gospel Coalition:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/03/14/rob-bell-love-wins-review/

Being Offended By God

In the book, The Fire of Delayed Answers, Bob Sorge says, “'Would Jesus purposefully offend me?’ Someone might ask. ‘He wouldn’t do that, would He?’ The answer is, yes. He not only would, but He will. If you choose to believe in Jesus, the time will come when you will have opportunity to be offended by Him. It’s inevitable” (p. 200).

Some of the greatest saints in the Bible have been offended by God. It is part of the process God takes us through to test our faith and obedience. Most importantly, this experience is divinely designed to move us to the “father” stage of maturity found in 1 John 2:14: “I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who has been from the beginning.” The road we must travel to “know Him who has been from the beginning” is the path of pain, perplexity, and trials. However, at the end of this journey is a faithful and loving Father who “rewards those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Being offended by God shatters our image of God and forces us to either hold fast to Him or abandon Him. If we hold fast, we pass the test. If we abandon Him, we fail the test. Be warned: for some, being offended by God leads to unbelief – they quit believing in God because He was not what they expected.

Being offended by God is a defining moment; it’s a turning point in our life; it may be the most severe test of our life.

So, what does it mean to be offended by God? Being offended by God is when:

• God allows or causes something to happen to you that is very unpleasant, but the difficulty is not due to any wrongdoing on your part – case in point: Job when he lost everything while being the most righteous man alive.

• Something happens that causes you to become angry at God – exhibit B: King David when his enemies were prospering while he was suffering.

• Trials come into your life and you feel betrayed by God – case in point: Jesus when He cried “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Mt. 27:46)

• God doesn’t meet your expectations of who you think He should be or what He should do for you – exhibit D: John the Baptist when he questioned whether Jesus truly was the Messiah. After all, if Jesus was the Messiah, then why was John in prison and Jesus not delivering the Jews from the Romans? After answering John’s question about whether or not Jesus truly was the Messiah, He said, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me” (ESV; Luke 7:23). There is an important lesson here: We must be careful that our expectations of God are biblical and not fleshly!

Perhaps you are experiencing something very difficult: divorce, cancer, loss of a loved one, disabled spouse, prolonged physical issues, depression, unanswered prayers, delayed answers to prayer, loneliness, unemployment, etc. If you are honest, you feel like God has not come through as He should. You are now realizing you have been offended by God.

If you have been offended by God, what do you do? How can you pass the test? What can you practically do to insure that you hold fast to God and experience Him in a fuller way rather than drift into unbelief? Here are my suggestions:

1. Do not neglect spending time with God, even though many days you will not feel like it. I highly recommend the book of Psalms because of the honesty of the authors. Speaking of honesty:

2. Be totally honest with the Lord in prayer, but do not allow a “demanding spirit” to surface within you. A demanding spirit is when you demand God to do what you want Him to do, instead of submitting to His will in the midst of pain.

3. Analyze carefully and biblically your expectations of God. Many are “offended” because of fleshly and selfish desires. If you realize your offense is due to selfishness, surrender this selfishness to God.

4. Be still and know that He is God (Psalms 46:10). In quietness and trust shall be your strength (Isaiah 30:15). Allow God to show you His love when you are hurting (Romans 5:5).

5. Share your heart with at least one “Garden Friend.” A Garden Friend is someone you can be totally honest with, like Jesus when He told His select disciples in the Garden that His soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (Mark 14:34). In addition to sharing your heart with this person, be open to his/her counsel.

6. Ask God to encourage you when you feel discouraged.

7. Guard your “fatal flaw.” A fatal flaw is the area you are most vulnerable to sin and temptation. When we are going through hard times, our flesh will want to sin more than ever. Therefore, be aware of this and take steps to avoid falling to your fatal flaw.

8. Find Scriptures that apply to your situation and pray them back to God. God loves to hear His Word. God is delighted when we take Him at His Word. This is called faith, and “without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Obviously, being offended by God is no fun at all. In fact, it can be painful to even admit you are offended by God. After all, He is perfect, so how could you be offended by Someone who is incapable of wrongdoing?

In any case, we all have times when God does not come through like we expect. When this occurs, the key question is this: Will we confess as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15)???

Corrie Ten Boon, while in a concentration camp during WW II, once said, “The deepest level of faith is choosing to trust God when there is no apparent reason to … except that He is God.”

“I write to you fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning” (1 Jn. 2:14).

When You Don't Like God

Have you ever found yourself not liking God? I know this sounds like an almost irreverent question, but I believe if most of us are honest we will at some point go through times when we still love God, but we don’t actually like Him. We don’t like what He is doing—or not doing, so we think.

Have you ever been frustrated over how God is running the universe? Do “natural disasters”—shouldn’t they actually be called “supernatural disasters”—ever disturb you wondering if God somehow gets pleasure in wiping out large groups of people with a hurricane, storm, or other force of “mother nature?”

Or, what about when you claim a biblical promise on prayer, and believe with all your heart that God is going to come through with a miracle of healing, but the person you are praying for ends up dying? If and when this type of thing happens, you probably don’t like God for a season. I have a friend who lost one of his best friends to cancer, and afterwards could not pray for about six months.

I hope I haven’t caused you to stumble by simply asking these questions. Instead, my intent is to help those who are struggling with such issues, because I believe they are far more common than most of us want to admit. Being a fully devoted follower of Christ does not mean we never wrestle with such difficult issues. Instead, it means that we actually do face these struggles head-on and don’t pretend they aren’t there.

King David was a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22), and at times he struggled with such questions as, “Why, O Lord do you reject me and hide your face” (Ps. 88:14); “Awake, O Lord, why do you sleep?” (Ps. 44:23); “My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?” (Ps. 6:3). We can establish from his example that having a heart for God does not mean we don’t struggle and question. In fact, sometimes it is because we so deeply love God that we do struggle. If we did not care about the things of God then we would not struggle because the issues in question would not matter to us.

So, what is the answer when such questions trouble us? Faith. We must believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do, even when our mind is flooded with unanswered questions. After all, God’s Word says to “lean not on your own understanding” but to “trust in the Lord with all your heart” (Prov. 3:5-6). You see, it is ultimately a heart issue and not a mind issue! God does not promise to answer all of our questions (“the secret things belong to the Lord but the things revealed belong to man”—Dt. 29:29), but He does promise to “never leave us nor forsake us” (Hebr. 13:15) and to be a “very present help in time of need” (Ps. 46:1).

What is faith? “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen” (Hebr. 11:1). It is that “not seen” part of faith that is difficult, isn’t it? We don’t see something now but we believe in God—that is faith! The “not seen” time may be when we are actually seeing bad things or circumstances that challenge or “test our faith” (Jas. 1:3). I don’t think we talk enough today about this biblical concept of the testing of our faith. A test is something we are put through to determine what we know or how we will respond. If we pass the test we are advanced, but if we fail the test we will either have to retake the test or be sent back in life.

When Jesus was asked about a tragedy that occurred (tower falling upon and killing eighteen persons—Luke 13:4), I find it interesting that instead of giving an answer about why it occurred, He simply used it as an object lesson on repentance and judgment. Perhaps rather than ask, “Why did this happen to me,” we should be asking, “What do You want me to learn from this?” Based on Luke 13:4 when natural disasters take the lives of many people, God would want this to remind us of the final judgment and the need to live with an eternal perspective. I must be willing to not have all the answers. After all, I am not God. I must be willing to accept my human limitations and just trust in what I do know about God. Someone once said, “Don’t doubt in the darkness what God has revealed in the light.”

I must not allow the clouds of questions and doubts about life block the sunlight of what I do know about God. We know far too much about God (i.e. holy, loving, sovereign, faithful, merciful, gracious, powerful, eternal, etc.) to allow the few things we don’t know about Him cause us to stumble or lose faith.

In a wonderful little booklet called “When the lights go out” by Graham Cooke, he says, “Faith depends on one thing—your understanding of the nature of God … It is not essential that we understand everything, but that we trust God in everything” (p. 16, 28). This is why I believe the most important part of the Christian journey is gaining a proper understanding of who God is!

So, when things occur that cause us to question and not like God, it is good to be honest about this, especially with a trusted friend. And at the end of the day we must exercise faith by clinging to the truths of who God is. We must cry out to God in desperate prayer, asking for His help and strength.

The sanctification process in the Christian life is not easy. It is filled with times of doubt and despair. The people God has used the most throughout history have often been sifted, tried, persecuted, and depressed. But in the end, they remained steadfastly trusting in the nature of God.

“This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles … A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all” (Ps. 34:6, 19). “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18).

In the words of the famous Winston Churchill, “Never give up; never give up; never give up!”

Digging Out of Discouragement

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” Ps. 42:5a

We all get discouraged from time to time. Life is just plain hard at times, whether this comes from troubled relationships, health issues, or merely the “hassles” of life such as mounting bills, a computer failure, or a cancelled flight. Sometimes we find ourselves discouraged, or even depressed, and not really know why. Our emotions can be a weird thing!

So, what do we do? How do we dig ourselves out of discouragement? Let me offer six suggestions:

1. Speak truth to your soul.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Ps. 42:11

When the psalmist says, “put your hope in God,” it is as if he is speaking truth to his soul – “come on soul, put your hope in God. You can do it.” I get the feeling this was an act of his will. He probably did not feel this inward excitement to trust God. After all, he already told us he was confused as to why his soul was downcast. He was discouraged and didn’t know why. However, as an act of his will he talked to himself. And he talked truth to himself.

There was a popular book years ago titled, “Telling Yourself the Truth.” This title says it all: we need to tell our self the truth when we are discouraged. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Speak to yourself the truth about God, your identity in Christ, forgiveness, life, heaven, etc. Do this until you feel different. I had a counselor tell me once, “Act your way into a new way of feeling.” This doesn’t mean you fake it and live a plastic life, but what it does mean is sometimes you have to will to do something that will help, even when you don’t feel like it.

2. Give thanks.

I realize this sounds like a cliché, but bear with me here. Recently our pastor introduced communion by sharing a neat insight on Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples. The bible says, “On the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus took break, and after giving thanks….”(1 Cor. 11:23). Did you catch that? He gave thanks on the night He was betrayed. When someone close to you betrays you, giving thanks is not the thing you naturally want to do. Yet, this is exactly what Jesus did. We are not told what He gave thanks for, but there is always something to thank God for, regardless of our circumstances or emotions. Therefore, make the choice to rejoice and put on an attitude of gratitude, especially when discouraged, and see what a difference it makes! “In all things give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:18).

3. Dwell on God’s character.

Here is faith at its finest. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebr. 11:1). Focusing on God’s amazing attributes will get our eyes off our selves and onto the One who is most able to strengthen and help us. Give praise to God that He is eternal, strong, loving, faithful, gracious, unchanging, forgiving, and patient.

Notice in this Psalm how this is exactly what he does to encourage himself in the midst of being downcast: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan … “(Ps. 42:5). Be sure to remember God!

4. Fight the fight of faith.

Living for Christ is a battle. We fight with the world, the flesh, and the Devil. On top of that, we are aliens and strangers in a place that is not our true home. We can retreat or stand up and fight. I suggest it is time we make war! Ask God to give you a warrior spirit to fight against that besetting sin, anxiety, fear, and depression. Stand up and claim the victory that is rightfully yours. Don’t sit there and let Satan beat you up. Get up, receive God’s forgiveness, and move forward. Satan gets one victory if he can knock you down, but he gets a greater victory if you stay down. God is all about picking us up and encouraging us to get back on the field to finish the game. “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:12).

5. Ask others to pray.

One of the biggest temptations when discouraged is to isolate your self. We often don’t want to be around others. We want to be alone and sulk in our depression. But what we need to do is ask others to pray for us. Paul did this in 2 Cor. 1 when he said, “we were burdened beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life …. and you helped us by your prayers” (2 Cor. 1:8, 11). He opened himself up by talking about his pain, and as a result, others prayed, and he benefited from their prayers. Avail yourself of the power of prayer from others. God gives grace to the humble, and it takes humility to admit to others that you are in pain.

6. Take physical care of yourself.

The Bible does say to “love others as you love your self.” One way to properly, and not selfishly love your self, is to exercise and eat right. There is an unavoidable connection between our spirit, soul, and body. If you are seriously depressed, one of the first things you should do is schedule a physical with your doctor. There may be a chemical imbalance or other medical issues that need attention. I find it interesting that the way God dealt with Elijah’s discouragement was telling him to “get up and eat” (1 Kings 19:5).

Once again, it is normal to go through times of discouragement, doubt, and even depression. Living for Christ is not easy in the least. Do not beat yourself up for being downcast, but do take steps to dig out! God is the lifter of your head. He wants to help you in your time of need!

"Warrior Spirit" for God

Recently the Lord has been speaking to me about the need to develop more of a “warrior spirit.” A warrior spirit is when we make war on sin, Satan, the flesh, and anything that is ungodly in our lives. Too often we are passive in our walk with God. We go on the defensive by staying in our fort, with the hope that nothing negative will come our way. I find God’s Word calling us to live on the offensive. Besides, Jesus said He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against her (Mt. 16:18). Gates are for defense. Therefore, the church is to advance the mission of God against the gates of the kingdom of darkness. This may be what Jesus meant when he said “the kingdom of God has suffered violence but the violent take it by force” (Mt. 11:12). We are to be appropriately violent in our walk with God: violent against sin in our lives, violent against the attacks of Satan, violent against passivity, violent against injustice, violent against carnality, violent against ingratitude, violent against impure thoughts, violent against not reading God’s Word, violent against prayerlessness ….. but this violent action must be done in the energy of the Spirit and not the flesh: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10). “We are pulling down strongholds and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking captive every thought and making it obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5). May God grant us a warrior spirit for His glory.

If you get a chance, listen to the 6-minute video presentation of John Piper on this subject because he says it much better than me: http://wn.com/War_John_Piper_Sermon_Jam

The 29:29 File

Some times in life we have to "file things away" that we don’t totally understand, knowing that one day we will be able to open that file and understand it. This is true with simple things like our will, and even truer in our relationship with God.

Recently my wife and I had our wills redone, with the help of an attorney. I don’t totally understand all the legal language, but now that the wills are done, I have properly filed them away. One day in the future I may have to bring out the file, and then, with the help of an expert, I will be able to make sense of it all.

This is similar in our relationship with God. There will be some things in our journey with God that have to be filed away, knowing that in the future God will help us understand it all. I call this the 29:29 file. The 29:29 file is based on Deuteronomy 29:29 which says, “the secret things belong to the Lord, but the things revealed belong to man.” When I can’t make sense of something, I have to chalk it up as one of those “secret things” that God will reveal to me one day in the future, even if the day He reveals it to me ends up being in heaven.

The area of greatest perplexity and struggle for me is healing and death. Because Jesus performed so many acts of healing and God’s Word has many promises about prayer and healing, I believe God still heals today. I believe we are to boldly ask and believe God for healing when someone is sick. However, when you do this and a close friend dies, it can challenge your faith. When you see someone die of cancer at the age of 46 and leave behind a wife and two daughters, it can be hard to swallow. When you see someone in the prime of ministry taken from the mission field of life on earth, it can cause you to question, “Why?”

And yet, I have found that it isn’t fruitful to linger for long on the “why?” question. Some questions won’t be answered until we get to heaven because “now we see in a mirror dimly, then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). It is when the “why?” question is not answered that we need to file it in the 29:29 file. We do this by exercising faith in God’s sovereignty, goodness, and love (which the Bible repeatedly affirms) even when things happen that frustrate and disappoint us.

Someone wisely told me once, “Don’t doubt in the dark what God has clearly revealed in the light.” In other words, He has clearly revealed that He is in sovereign control (Mt. 5:45; Eph. 1:11), works all things together for good (Rom. 8:28), loves us with an inseparable love (Rom. 8:31-39), and uses tragedy and hardship to accomplish His purposes (Gen. 50:20) even when things happen that we do not understand or like.

What is it in your life that needs to be filed in the 29:29 file? It takes faith in God’s Word to do so, and when we do, He will give us supernatural peace and power to move on.

In Honor of Dr. Rick Campbell

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a good friend and colleague, Dr. Rick Campbell. I ministered with Rick at INJOY Stewardship Solutions, participated in a small group with him, and enjoyed a deep friendship.

The Bible says, “It is better to go to a funeral than a party, because death is the destiny of every man, and the living should take it to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). So, what have I “taken to heart” as a result of going to Rick’s funeral? I take to heart three things:

1. Life is really short, so live it fully for Christ.
Rick was only forty-six years young. He was diagnosed with cancer less than a year ago. He left behind a wife of twenty-three years and two daughters, one in college and the other in high school. Forty-six is way too young to die. Forty-six means you don’t even outlive any sibling or parent. Forty-six means there is so much more you could have done, had you had more years.

God’s Word says our lives are but a vapor, a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Even if we live to be ninety or a hundred, in light of eternity this is still a very short period of time. Anyone with children knows how very quickly time passes.

I have often walked through a cemetery and reflected upon the degree to which anyone still remembers the deceased. Certainly those who have recently passed are remembered, but what about years later? It is very sobering to reflect on how little people will remember us a few years after we die . . . unless we invest in what is eternal.

What we do for Christ will indeed last. What we invest in the Word and the Gospel will last. Rick gave his life to Jesus and the things of His kingdom. Therefore, his impact will last for many generations, and even into eternity. His daughter spoke of how he led her to Christ. Pastors spoke of how he coached them. And friends shared of his joy and zest for life.

I led a discipleship group this year in which one of their assignments was to write their obituary. They were to write it to read they way they would want it to at the end of their life. One of the members of my discipleship group, after attending Rick’s funeral, texted me, “Rick’s funeral today is how I want my obituary to read.”

2. God is really faithful, so boldly step out in faith.
Rick’s deepest concern in dying of cancer was that his daughters might conclude that God was not faithful. I remember on many occasions Rick speaking of God’s faithfulness. He knew of God’s faithfulness financially, relationally, professionally, and even emotionally. It was this confidence in God’s faithfulness that led him to take some pretty bold steps in faith in his walk with God. The biggest of recent days was that of buying INJOY Stewardship Solutions. Before INJOY he had planted two churches, gone overseas, and was willing to move to new places to serve Christ.

I experienced Rick as a man who would rather step out of the boat, even if only to walk on water for a brief moment, than to never get out of the boat. This challenges me. I too often live a very safe life. I too often chicken-out when it comes to boldly sharing my faith. I too often sleep a little longer in the morning instead of getting up and meditating on the Word. With God’s help this is going to change . . . because of Rick!

3. Relationships are really important, so fully invest in people.
I carefully observed the slide show that preceded the funeral. As is almost always the case at a funeral, the pictures were not of Rick at his desk or Rick by himself or Rick with some physical project he had accomplished. Instead, they were pictures of Rick with family, with friends, and with pastors he served. It is all about relationships.

Next to our relationship with Jesus, life is simply about the relationships we have with others. This explains why Jesus said life is totally about “loving God with all our heart” and “loving our neighbor as our self.” So simple and yet so difficult at times to live out. So simple and yet often hindered by other “things.” So simple and yet so eternal.

So, as a result of being exposed to Rick’s rich life in Christ (even if only through this blog), live more for what is eternal; take more risks in the name of Christ, and love more richly those God has put in your life. And may God receive all the glory, and may your funeral be as full and biblical and eternal as Rick’s was yesterday.

True Brokenness

True brokenness is when God brings us to the end of ourselves . . . that we might learn to more fully lean on Him! Often this comes through very difficult circumstances that “break” us of self-dependence . . . that we might depend more fully on God. The circumstances are showing us how weak we really are, and how little we are in control of the universe.

The Apostle Paul experienced this through his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7). He asked God to remove his thorn, and God said “NO,” so that he might experience spiritual strength through human weakness.

One thing I have often seen, particularly in men, is that God will bring them to brokenness, but once the circumstances start getting better they go back to pride and self-reliance. Therefore, I believe God wants our brokenness to be much more than just circumstantial brokenness. Instead, He wants us to live in constant brokenness.

Constant brokenness is when we are constantly aware of our weaknesses, human limitations, and propensity toward sin that we walk in constant awareness of our desperate need for God. Even when the initial circumstantial difficulty is lifted, we still walk in brokenness. Less in less do we need circumstantial difficulty to make us dependent on God’s power.

However, when the circumstantial difficulty does come our way, by the sovereign decree of God, then we will be able to say with Paul, “That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

The Proverbs Challenge

This is a very practical and helpful exercise to do when faced with uncertainly about a decision.

Here is how the Proverbs’ Challenge works: whenever you are faced with a major decision, read through the entire book of Proverbs and ask God to give you a “word of wisdom” in what to do. Preferably read the entire book of Proverbs in one sitting. For the average reader this takes about two hours or less. Before you begin to read, ask God to give you wisdom and fill you with His Spirit. Draw a line down the middle of a page, with the choices of your decision on either side (i.e., take the new job, stay where I am).

As you read through Proverbs, record in the appropriate column the verses that seem to speak to you about that choice. Now, be careful here: at the end of your reading, it does not mean that the column with the most verses is God’s “word” to you. Instead, go back and read all the verses you placed in each column and ask God to have one of them “jump off the page” telling you what His will is for you.

I have done this seven times in my life, and all but one time God has used it to speak a direct word of wisdom to me. I look forward to hearing how He uses this in your life. Please let me know by emailing me at davidholt08@gmail.com.

Spiritual Lessons from a Physical Hike

Recently I completed a thirty-mile hike on the Appalachian Trial (AT) with my twenty-year old daughter, Catherine. The AT is a 2,175 mile trail that runs from Georgia to Maine over mountains, hills, beautiful streams, and fourteen states. My father has hiked the entire trail; I have now completed 227 miles; and this was Catherine’s first time hiking the AT. I have not hiked the AT in over seven years, thus forgetting how difficult and tiring it is. However, I see many parallels between a hike like this and the Christian journey. I will give nine ways in which hiking the AT is like our walk with God:

1. Don’t hike alone. It is much more enjoyable with someone else. The first day of our hike, Catherine and I met a young woman who was hiking alone. I asked her if she had it to do all over again, what would she do different, and she responded, “I would find someone to hike with me.” God made us to need others, and our maturity in Him will be greatly enhanced as we are in intimate fellowship with others. “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another, and all the more, as you see the Day approaching” (Hebr. 10:24-25). “Bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).

2. Progress takes perseverance. To make progress on a hike, and especially to get to the places of excellent views, requires hard work and perseverance. There were many times on this hike when I wanted to give up. I got tired, had sore feet, and a few times wondered when the top of the mountain would ever come. But once I made it to the top and looked out on the magnificent view, it was all worth it! In the same way, spiritual maturity takes prayer, Bible meditation, resisting temptation, obedience, and keeping on keeping on! “Do not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9).

3. Always have a weapon. For this hike I carried a gun, and I did so for several reasons: snakes are not uncommon on the trail; there were reports of a bear that had torn into five hikers’ packs within the past few weeks; and there have been a few killings on the trail over the years. I felt much safer having a 40 caliber Glock strapped to my side. In our walk with God, we face a variety of oppositions as well, namely the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Therefore, we should always have in our heart the weapon of God’s Word, and be sure to put on the full armor of God each day. “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the Devil’s schemes” (Eph. 6:11).

4. See people’s needs along the way. One thing I enjoy about hiking is the many interesting people you meet. On this particular hike, we encountered some heavy situations. One man told me he was hiking because his wife had just informed him she wanted a separation. Another man told me of how he had come back early from serving the Army in Panama, only to find another man living with his wife. Then his second marriage ended because his wife did not want to live with a man who kept getting deployed. He was now in his third marriage. Oh, how our world is full of hurting people. They are all around us, every day, if we just take the time to be interested in peoples’ lives . . . and listen to their stories. The song I hear on Christian radio challenges me: “Give me Your eyes for just one second. Give me Your eyes that I might see . . . "

5. Take breaks to rest and enjoy the journey. Some hikers are so intense about making the miles each day, they forget to stop and “smell the roses.” I made sure to notice the plants, flowers, smells, and views. I even took pictures of small flowers along the path. Catherine and I had no problem stopping and resting when we needed it, because we often got tired. Catherine developed nine blisters on her two feet. Ouch! I am now forty-nine years old, and felt every bit of my age on this hike. I have no problem admitting my need for rest. God wants us to rest in our walk with Him. We need to schedule into our lives those things that will help to recharge us. Jesus said, “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28).

6. Follow the map. We had an excellent map showing us where to find water, the locations of shelters, and the exact mileage to various points of interest. As long as we stuck to the map, we did fine. Had we taken a side trail, we could have gotten lost. In the same way, following Christ means we must follow the map of God’s Word. His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Ps. 119:105). “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6).

7. Make good use of water. This hike reminded me of how important water is to life. We needed water to drink, bathe ourselves, cook our food, and wash our clothes. A pure flowing mountain stream was like pure gold to us on the trail! One night we were able to camp right by a beautiful stream. Therefore, we pretty much had everything we needed! It is no surprise that Jesus calls Himself the living water. We need Him for everything! Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘streams of living water will flow from within him’” (Jn. 7:37).

8. Do your part and trust God’s sovereignty. We certainly had to prepare our packs, plan well, bring the right supplies, etc. but at the end of the day, we chose to rest in God’s sovereignty over the weather, the bears, our bodies, and the people we came in contact with. In the same way, with God we do our part (i.e., obey, trust, pray, witness, etc.), and we rest in His sovereign control. Being a strong Calvinist (which I am!) is not only biblically sound, but immensely practical. We can trust that everything entering our life has first been sifted through the loving and sovereign will of God. “The mind of man plans his ways, but the Lord directs His steps” (Prov. 16:9; NASB). “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13).

9. Keep the goal before you. Our goal was to make it from Springer Mountain, GA to Neels Gap, GA—thirty miles. Having this goal made our progress more enjoyable and our destination more anticipated. As our bodies got more tired, our minds were hopeful as we got closer and closer to the end. Finally, when we reached Neels gap and the little store where we could buy some goodies, we were quite excited. In the same way, God wants us to look forward to our final destination and reward of heaven. What a great destination we have to look forward to. No amount of suffering or hardship on earth is ultimately comparable to eternity with God in heaven. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the eternal glory that will be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). God wants us to live with an eternal perspective, fixing our eyes on Jesus, for whom one day we will see face to face!

Catherine, the best part of the hike for me was being with you! You are great company and an amazingly tough hiker. I love being your dad and friend.

Consequences of a moral fall … for teens by Dr. David Holt & Lisa Grant

Recently I (David) put Randy Alcorn’s article from an old Leadership magazine titled “Consequences of a Moral Fall” on my blog. In this article, Alcorn gives a long list of possible consequences if he were to have an affair. He said he found it helpful to review this list any time he felt particularly vulnerable or tempted to sin.

After reading my blog, Lisa Grant (who has her own blog for parents of teens) asked if I knew of such a list for teens who struggle with sexual temptation. I told her I did not, but we should come up with one together. Thus, this blog that Lisa and I are writing together.

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Every day, teens must manage the transition from childhood impulsivity to adult self-control. Raging hormones and societal or peer pressure only add fuel to the fire in the area of sexual temptation.

When I (Lisa) counsel young Christian women, I advise them to develop a list of standards before they begin dating. This might include situations to avoid, how far they will go, and how they plan to keep themselves accountable. The list below would be additionally helpful to carry on a date, serving as reminders of the potential fallout of giving in to temptation.

CONSQUENCES OF SEXUAL SIN FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
If I have premarital sex or go too far with someone, here are some possible consequences of that act:

1. Possible pregnancy and all the responsibilities that come with having a child, as well as possibly affecting my future education and career.
2. Experiencing a guilty conscience.
3. Weight of responsibility for causing another to sin.
4. Having a difficult time erasing the sin from my memory. God forgives and forgets my sin, but I will never forget.
5. Developing a “soul tie” (an unhealthy emotional and spiritual attachment) with the person I am intimate with. It’s like giving away a piece of my heart, and I will never get it back.
6. The danger of giving myself to someone who has not made a life-long commitment to me.
7. Probably needing to tell my future spouse at the time of engagement and the embarrassment that comes from this.
8. The possibility of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease, which, if not cured, could be passed on to anyone else I have relations with, including my future spouse. Remember, when I have sex with someone, it is as if I am having sex with everyone they have had sex with.
9. The loss of a special wedding night.
10. Once married, the regret that I was with someone other than my spouse.
11. The poor example and possible cause of hindrance to all my friends who learn about this. There may even be a loss of friendships.
12. Causing disappointment and shame to my parents, as well as loss of trust.
13. Damaging my credibility with younger siblings or others who look up to me.
14. Loss of dignity and regard for self.
15. Most importantly, it will hinder my relationship with God – as all sin does.

Let us be very clear - if you have already fallen into sexual sin, there is forgiveness and healing available through the blood of Jesus Christ. He, and He alone, can cleanse at the deepest level. “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse of all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). “He who conceals his sin shall not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes it shall find mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

There will still be consequences for your sin, but your relationship with God can be fully restored, and you can be given a fresh start. Often, it is additionally helpful to share your struggle with a trusted friend who can help you through the healing process. “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).

Finally, as you seek to move beyond your sin, remember that you cannot do it in your own power. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit each and every day if you want to live in obedience to God and resist the many temptations that will come your way.

May God bless you as you remain in the one true love, the love of Jesus Christ.

Batteries Included

I wonder how many frustrated parents assembled some special toy for their child this Christmas, only to discover “batteries not included”? To have the shell without the power to run the device is quite irritating. No toy should be sold without the batteries to run it, wouldn’t you agree?

Well, praise God that salvation comes with “Batteries Included”! You know what I am talking about – the power of the Holy Spirit. When we repent and trust Christ for salvation, the batteries are included because we immediately receive the person of the Holy Spirit. He comes to indwell our lives! “If you have not the Spirit of Christ, you have not Christ” (Romans 8:9).

For a Christmas toy, the batteries serve two important functions. First, they enable the toy to do what it was created to do. Without the batteries, the toy is lifeless. Second, the batteries empower the toy. They give it energy and power to fulfill its everyday function.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit gives us life. The Holy Spirit brings us to salvation. The Spirit convicts us of sin, enables us to repent, and gives us the faith to receive Christ. At salvation, the Spirit enables us to begin our purpose for which we were created – to know God and make Him known.

Furthermore, once we are in relationship with God, the Holy Spirit empowers us. He lives through us. He directs us. He gives us the strength to do God’s will. He works in us to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Apart from Christ’s indwelling presence through the Spirit, we can do nothing of any eternal value.

Praise God the batteries are included! Just be sure to keep them charged!

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Ephesians 3:16-17

Lessons From Tiger Woods

In light of the recent tragedy in the life of Tiger Woods, I want to include on my blog something I read several years ago that really spoke to me. It was written by former pastor and author, Randy Alcorn. It was first published as an article in Leadership Magazine.

He simply shares the many possible consequences if he fell into sexual sin. It is good for us to remind ourselves of what “could happen” if we gave into temptation.

Satan is very crafty. He only wants us to see the immediate gratification in sin. He wants to blind us to what is on the other side of sin. Let us seek to live holy lives, and thus experience the great joy and peace that comes from staying in God’s will!

Consequences of a Moral Tumble

By Randy Alcorn

“Whenever I feel particularly vulnerable to sexual temptation, I find it helpful to review what effects my action could have:

• Grieving the Lord who redeemed me.
• Dragging His sacred name into the mud.
• One day having to look Jesus, the Righteous Judge, in the face and give an account of my actions.
• Following in the footsteps of these people who immorality forfeited their ministries and cause me to shudder: (list names)
• Inflicting untold hurt on Nanci, my best friend and loyal wife.
• Losing Nanci’s respect and trust.
• Hurting my beloved daughters, Karina and Angie.
• Destroying my example and credibility with my children, and nullifying both present and future efforts to teach them to obey God (“Why listen to a man who betrayed Mom and us?”).
• If my blindness should continue or my wife be unable to forgive, perhaps losing my wife and my children forever.
• Causing shame to my family (“Why isn’t Daddy a pastor anymore?”).
• Losing self-respect.
• Creating a form of guilt awfully hard to shake. Even though God would forgive me, would I forgive myself?
• Forming memories and flashbacks that could plague future ministry with my wife.
• Wasting years of ministry training and experience for a long time, maybe permanently.
• Forfeiting the effect of years of witnessing to my father and reinforcing his distrust for ministers that has only begun to soften by my example but that would harden, perhaps permanently, because of my immorality.
• Undermining the faithful example and hard work of other Christians in our community.
• Bringing great pleasure to Satan, the enemy of God and all that is good.
• Heaping judgment and endless difficulty on the person with whom I committed adultery.
• Possibly bearing the physical consequences of such diseases as gonorrhea, syphilis, Chlamydia, herpes, and AIDS; perhaps infecting Nanci or, in the case of AIDS, even causing her death.
• Possibly causing pregnancy, with the personal and financial implications, including a lifelong reminder of my sin.
• Bringing shame and hurt to these fellow pastors and elders: (list names).
• Causing shame and hurt to these friends, especially those I’ve led to Christ and discipled: (list names).
• Invoking shame and life-long embarrassment upon myself.”[i]

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[i] Randy Alcorn, “Consequences of a Moral Tumble,” Leadership Journal Volume 9, Issue 1, Winter 1988: p. 25.

Why We Should Give Thanks

The bible has a lot to say about giving thanks. During this Thanksgiving season, I want to offer four reasons why we should give thanks.

1. God commands us to give thanks. "In all thing, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:18). We often hear people ask, "How do I know God's will?" Well, we know God's will on this issue - it is His will that we give thanks. Therefore, when we are thankful we can know we are doing God's will.

2. God is deserving of our thanks. The Bible says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (Jas. 1:17). Every good thing in our life is ultimately a gift from God. Therefore, He deserves our thanks for all He has done for us.

3. Thanks does us good. We all know how giving thanks helps to get our eyes off of ourselves and onto what is important. It is too easy to focus on things in our life that we do not like, circumstances that are difficult, or other struggles we are having. However, when we make the choice to rejoice and assume the attitude of gratitude, it actually serves to change our emotions for the better.

4. Giving thanks is contagious. When we have a thankful attitude, it spreads to others and can sometimes cause the complainer around us to stop! Wouldn't that be something! Better yet, people like to be around others who are positive.

So, this Thanksgiving (and every day for that matter), let's be a thankful people. For those who are followers of Christ, the most important thing to be thankful for is salvation in Jesus!

Facing Disappointments in Life

Life is full of disappointments. We all have expectations that are not met, whether it be in our jobs, health, churches, marriage, finances, or even relationship with God.

Jesus experienced disappointment. He was certainly disappointed with the religious leaders of the day for how they were leading people astray. In addition, we see Jesus on numerous occasions being disappointed with His disciples ("how long shall I put up with you?").

Perhaps one of the reasons Jesus often got away to spend time with His Father was to release those disappointments and to get His Father's perspective.

One of the greatest challenges of disappointment is how it often leads to anger and potential bitterness toward others. Now the Bible says to be angry ... but to sin not. Jesus was angry in the temple because of His disappointment over how they were using the temple for financial gain instead of worship. His anger was righteous anger; however, most of ours is not. Most of our anger is due to selfishness.

Another challenging component of disappointment is whether or not to tell the person toward whom we are disappointed. Will this help this situation or make it worse? Is the disappointment justified or due to pride and selfishness? Are we the vessel to confront the other or is God wanting to teach us a deeper level of dependence on Him or 1 Cor. 13 love? These are all very difficult questions to answer and take a deep work of the Holy Spirit to show us the true answer.

Most of my blogs I try to give answers. On this one I am simply posing the dilemma and challenging us all to seek the Lord for answers. Feel free to share with me in the comments section below your thoughts on this and what God has taught you.

"Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and besides Thee I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalms 73).

"My soul finds rest in God alone ... Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge" (Psalms 62:1, 8).

Is 100% Required?

Does God really expect us to commit 100% to Him? Isn’t it good enough to just go to church faithfully and try hard to live a good life? Cannot God be an important part of our life without actually being the center of everything? Isn’t it a bit extreme to think about God in all we do? These are great questions, and the Bible has answers.

Let’s examine God’s Word and discover whether or not God wants us to be 100% committed to Him.

“He is the image of the invisible God … He is before all things and in Him all things hold together … He is the beginning, and firstborn from among the dead so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything” (Colossians 1:17; NASB)

“And you shall love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” (Mark 12:30)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart … in all your ways acknowledge Him” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

“Trust in Him at all times” (Psalms 62:8).

“I wish you were either hot or cold … because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15).

I think you can see from these passages that God does expect us to give 100% to Him. Being a follower of Jesus means that we seek to grow in our commitment and loyalty to Him. It means we put Jesus at the center and have everything revolve around Him.

Obviously maturity takes time. Certainly we never feel as though we are giving God 100% of our life. But this does not change the fact that total allegiance to Christ is what we should go after – 100% commitment, 100% heart devotion, lordship of thoughts, surrender of all our possessions, etc., etc.

100% only seems radical when you don’t understand who God is and all that Christ has done for us.

In conclusion, here are 6 reasons why God deserves our 100%:
1. He is God and has a divine right over our lives.
2. He created us and knows what is best for us.
3. Without Him we would be nothing.
4. Jesus gave His all for us.
5. In giving God 100%, we find the greatest fulfillment and joy in life.
6. Living all out for God is the most eternal thing we can do.

May God bless you as you seek to live totally devoted to Him! Let’s not settle for anything less than 100%!