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Sometimes on Fridays I like to do what I call a “Quick Hit”…a small, little nugget to bounce around in your brain through the weekend.  I haven’t really done that with Song Lyric Weeks because most of the time there’s just too much in a song to break it down into a few paragraphs.  However, today’s wrap up for Song Lyric Week 5 is going to be a quick hit because the small segment of the song I’m using is pure truth in four lines.

The song is called “Unforgivable” by Plumb and it from their debut CD in 1997.  It really sums up the entirety of God’s grace and forgiveness in plain, easy language:

No matter what I’ve done
Or is done to me
Nothing’s unforgivable
Or unable to be set free.

We want to complicate salvation and forgiveness and grace so many times that we can lose sight of the fact it’s really that simple.   Nothing that you’ve done…or has been done to you…is something that cannot be forgiven by God.  There is no addiction, no bad memory, no item of guilt that cannot be set free through the power of Jesus.

As it says in 1 John 1:9 (ESV) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

What do you need to let go today?

(Listen to the Podcast at www.bibleblogpodcast.com or subscribe at iTunes.)

When I was a teenager I was not a believer in Christ.  Well, I believed in God and knew all the church things but I had not accepted Him as my savior.  As a result, I was seen as a prime target for many of the Christian kids that grew up in my hometown.  They would routinely try to witness to me and tell me about how great life was when you listened and followed Jesus.  It was the standard rap most churches try to indoctrinate upon their youth so that they sound like walking MP3 players repeating a recording of their youth pastor.

There’s a great song that was put out years ago by Grover Levy that takes on this idea first hand called “If You Want To Lead Me To Jesus.”   Check out the opening part of the song…

Your message is clear you sound so sincere your intentions are good
The forgiveness of sin life without end I’d believe it if I could
But I’ve watched from afar and I’ve seen how you are with the people you’re around
And I don’t see a trace of the love and the grace you talk so much about
If you want to lead me to Jesus you’d better find a better way
‘Cause your life is speaking so loud I can’t even hear a word you say

Sometimes I’m amazed the song was ever played on Christian radio because that’s about as in-your-face a take of a non-believer toward a Christian as I’ve heard in a “Christian” song.  It’s basically a song saying that you’re a complete hypocrite and that you’re a horrible witness for Christ.  And…he would be right if that’s the way you were living your life.

When I hear this song I think back to a time when I was a teen and invited by some Christian kids to take part in a Christian retreat.  This group of kids had a band and their drummer had up and bailed on them a few weeks before the camp was due to start.  I wasn’t a Christian…in fact, I often ridiculed Christians…but they were in a bind so they asked me to fill in.  I loved to play (and to be honest, had a serious crush on the girl singer) so I decided to go ahead and join up with them.

Over the whole time we were practicing, several things happened that completely undermined any attempts on their part to witness to me.  First, they were writing a song and I tried to make a suggestion regarding it.  The lead guitar player turned to me and said “you’re not a Christian so you can’t contribute.”  My response was less than enthusiastic about the warmth of the Christian experience.  Instead of taking an attitude of saying “well, do you understand what we’re writing about” the response is exclusion.  That spoke very loudly…even louder than his words.

Then they took me to a “Christian” rock concert because they thought it would be good for the whole band to go.  I went and I know now that I was feeling the presence of God there.  I didn’t know what it was at the time but I remember telling them that I felt something weird while I was in the concert.  Did they follow up?  Nope.  No one said a word to me about it.  So it seemed to be that what I felt and wondered wasn’t important.

The week before the event I went to the house of the guitar player for practice.  I met two other band members outside the house and we knocked with no answer.  One of them just opened the front door and we all walked in calling the name of the lead guitar player.  We made our way upstairs and threw open his bedroom door…to discover him and the female singer in the band on the floor on a sleeping bag sans apparel.  He jumped up and quickly shoved us out the door while she tried to cover herself.  When they came downstairs to practice not a word was spoken about any of it although she couldn’t look anyone in the face the whole time.

Then there was the day of the actual event…I was at a Christian youth retreat in my Metallica T-shirt.  I saw well over 100 kids at this camp that knew I wasn’t a Christian.  Did any of them bother to try and witness to me?  Nope.  None of them said anything.  Did any of the pastors or those in attendance say anything to me?  No.  In fact, they had dinner while I was setting up my drum set and no one bothered to even bring me a plate of food or tell me that everyone was eating.

Now…the songs they were singing were all about Jesus.   They were making themselves out to be ministers through music and great witnesses for Christ and if you heard them talking you would have thought that they were kids who really had it all together.  As for me, all of their words rang hollow because of the things that I saw them do…and not do.

1 Peter 2:12 (ESV) says “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”  The world is watching everything you do and matching it up against what you say to them.  If you’re conducting yourself in a less than honorable way people are going to remember this and it’s going to be brought up against you at the times you want to point people to Christ.

Paul wrote in Romans 2:24-25 (ESV) “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.””  Now we know as believers we are not under the law but under grace.  Yet when you run around telling those who aren’t Christian that “you can’t do this, you can’t do that” it sounds like rules and regulations and in many cases you break in your daily life.  How can you really be a witness for Christ if you do those things in an unrepentant manner?

We all stumble and we all fall.  We’ll all do things that are going to look hypocritical and the whole crux of the matter is what happens when we face those situations.  If we humble ourselves and admit our shortcomings it can go a long way especially in a world where people routinely avoid personal responsibility in their times of mistakes and weakness.

Just remember…what you do can speak a lot louder than what you say.  If you want to lead someone to Jesus, you can’t do it by just talking.

(Listen to the Podcast at www.bibleblogpodcast.com or subscribe at iTunes.)

Every time I hear the song “Hanging By A Moment” by Lifehouse start to play my inner air guitarist comes alive.  When the band rips into the chorus of the song it’s air riff enjoyment to the highest level.  The song itself also has a really powerful message.

The chorus of the song says:

now.. i’m falling even more in love with you
letting go of all i’ve held onto
i’m standing here until you make me move
i’m hanging by a moment here with you

i’m living for the only thing i know
i’m running and not quite sure where to go
i don’t know what i’m diving into
just hanging by a moment here with you

It’s such a wonderful allegory for the Christian life and so many people think it’s a love song to a woman!  When I hear this song I want to shout out the words because it’s a declaration of how we all should want to live and all we should want to do in our lives.

When he sings that he’s living for the only thing I know…we have to say the same thing when we’re seeking Christ in our life.  The only thing that we can say we know for sure is that Jesus died for our sins and that we’re called to serve Him with all that we are.  That means we have to let go of everything in our lives if He calls us to lay it down for Him.  Then we start running in the path that He has laid out for us and we have no idea where we’re going but we dive in.

It makes me think of John 4:22 (ESV) that says “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know.”  We live for that one thing…Jesus.

So often we forget how much we love Him because we’re running and running as we do in our everyday lives.  Just like in our real lives when someone is around us all the time that we love we can forget the reasons we fell in love with them in the first place.  Then something happens…a surprise gift, coming home to find the dishes done, etc…and you remember all the reasons why and add yet another reason.

And the line “standing here until you make me move” is such a fine way to describe how we should surrender to Him.  To say that we’re going to be right there in front of Him ready to answer His call at any time is one of the things a Christian is called to do and believe.

The song is just so thick with things to consider when you realize the song is about Christ.  If you can get a chance to listen to the whole song you’ll find many more nuggets that you can take and apply to your Christian walk.  If nothing else, walk away with a determination to live for the only thing we know.

(Listen to the Podcast at www.bibleblogpodcast.com or subscribe at iTunes.)

There is an up and coming band whom I know named One Star Story.  I’ve mentioned them before in previous blogs and used their song “Near To Far” in a previous Song Lyric Week.  They released a new EP a few months back and just as in their previous effort the songs really reached me.  (It’s nice to be able to know a band and be able to tell them their music really does move you.)

One of the songs from their new EP The Empty Room (which you can get from iTunes for around seven bucks) is “Crushed Beneath the Wait” and it’s a message that I believe will resonate very loudly with so many people.  When we want to serve God with all of our hearts it’s sometimes not easy for us to sit and wait.  It can feel like the emptiness that surrounds us where we would like to see it filled with all kinds of various things almost in itself is like an two ton weight pressing down on us.

Here’s the lyrics of One Star Story’s song:

The room, it starts to spin
And I begin
To realize that you may
Not find the way

The walls begin to push me in
It’s hard to see where this could end
The shadows start to fill this room
I’m hoping you will be here…

Soon, don’t be late
I’m crushed beneath the wait
Crushed beneath the wait
Of this empty room

Room, frustrating
Hopes are fading
As I’m waiting here
For the call to come and let me know

As the walls now push me in
It’s near impossible to see the end
The shadows now fill this room
I’m hoping you will be here…

Standing and staying
And praying and saying
You’ll find me
You’ll find me

As I hear the song, I picture someone sitting in that big empty room on their knees just screaming out to God for something.  It could be a prayer for health or to meet a financial need or just to open a door to ministry or service.  You desire something so badly and God is essentially telling you it’s not time yet.  So you pray and pray and nothing seems to happen and the silence from heaven is crushing your hope.

It’s not a fun place to be.  Trust me.

The situation reminds of something I heard in today’s Daily Audio Bible reading regarding King David from 1 Chronicles:

“Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place. And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him. But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away; and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”” - 1 Chronicles 19:1-5 (ESV)

You don’t think the men who were told to stay in Jericho weren’t chomping at the bit to go after the Ammonites as they knew King David would do? Yet they were told to essentially sit and wait and they would be fetched at a later time. It had to be frustrating and lonely and in itself crushing to them.

Now, this is the point in the blog where I usually have some snappy answer or word of advice to help you get through these situations or to try and make you walk closer with the Lord. Today, I really don’t have a snazzy, “fit it on a T-shirt” kind of answer for you. These times where everything seems crashing down around you and God is standing far away can’t be solved with a bumper sticker phrase or picture of a cat hanging from a tree limb. The wait can turn to pain and frustration and it’s very real to you. It’s not something that you can just dismiss and pretend that it’s not happening so you can put on a happy face for everyone else.

The important thing to keep in mind is that no matter how much you may feel abandoned by God…and believe me, the enemy do all they can to make you feel that way…He has not left you. I could spew at you the stock verses that most Christians know when they face someone dealing with a situation of despair…verses telling how He will never leave you…but instead I want to turn this a different direction and look at what will happen to those faithful to God even in the times where it seems everything is hopelessly lost.

The story of Job is well known even among people who are not believers in Christ. The story of the man who lost everything he owned, all of his children and even his health because Satan said the Job would turn away from God.  If you’re looking for someone in the Bible who was crushed beneath the wait it would be Job.  Now, people tend to focus on the pain Job experienced and they’ll say at the end God blessed him again but have you looked at the depth of the blessing?

“And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters.” - Job 42:12-14 (ESV)

And for the record, Job’s daughters were total babes.  Job 42:15 (ESV) says “And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters.”

So after enduring the time of silence from God…because until the end of Job the Lord gave him no answer as to why things were happening to him…Job was given twice what he had lost and he was father to the most beautiful women in the land.   The Lord could bless us beyond anything we can possibly imagine but we have to endure the hard times as well as the good times and even those times when we’re crushed beneath the wait.

If you’re in that place of despair this likely isn’t much of a help.  I’m pretty sure it’s not going to pull you out of it or if you know someone facing it this blog isn’t going to be the thing that pulls them out of it.  Still, I hope that it can be something you can look at and perhaps begin to focus your prayers not on the problem at hand but the Lord who is greater than all of it and the only solution to the problems crushing you.

(Listen to the Podcast at www.bibleblogpodcast.com or subscribe at iTunes.)

One of the songs I’ve wanted to do for previous Song Lyric Weeks was Joan Osbourne’s hit “One Of Us.”  The song was the only major hit Joan’s ever had and it was written by Eric Bazillian of the 80s/90s Philadelphia based rock band the Hooters…who had the hit “All You Zombies” which was filled with God imagery.

For those of you who don’t know the song, the chorus goes like this:

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us?
Just a stranger on the bus trying to make His way home.

And when I hear that chorus, I can’t help but think of this passage from Hebrews 4:14-15 (ESV):  “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  God has been one of us!

I can see where I believe the song generated because the message isn’t quite a simple as the lyrics would lead you to believe.  I think even Bazillian…who does all he can to hide his personal faith…would readily say the surface answer to the song’s question is that he was one of us.  The song goes deeper, however, into longings in our hearts when we’re having those times that we have questions about all we see around us.

Sometimes it’s very easy to be facing a harship in your life and wonder if God really is there and really understands what’s going on.  When you’re not in that place, it seems absurd to say that, but when you’re in the midst of tragedy or pain or just overwhelming spiritual attack it seems like a reasonable thought path.  We wonder what would happen if God could be sitting next to us facing the same things that we face in our lives not realizing that there’s nothing we can face that Jesus didn’t face when he was here.

A death of a loved one?  Jesus lost Lazarus.  Money’s tight?  He had to get a coin from a fish’s mouth to pay taxes.  Temptations for power?  The devil offered him everything to bow to him and Jesus stood up to him and did not sin.  God was one of us. God is one of us.  God will always be one of us.  He’s just perfect at it and we have a long way to go.

(Listen to the Podcast at www.bibleblogpodcast.com or subscribe at iTunes.)

A lot of you know of my love of music (and hence the reason we’ve had “Song Lyric Week” four times and next week will make five) and there are many times where songs really start to make me think about different parts of the Christian life even when the songs themselves are not overly Christian.

Yesterday, I found a song that I hadn’t heard in a long time from Kendall Payne called “Closer To Myself.”  The song has always been one that resonated deeply within me because I can think of the many times in my life where instead of being me and who God created me to be I was playing a role for someone else.  I was the good son or the good employee or the good student when the whole time I would have rather been playing music or writing or performing.  I always allowed myself to conform to those around me because I was always trying to not cause waves or just fit in.

Now, if you download the podcast, I’m planning to actually play Kendall’s song in it’s entirety.  I don’t normally do that when I’m doing a song related podcast (I’ll just play a snippet that includes the lyrics I’m speaking about) but there’s just something about this song that I think is powerful and people should hear.  I have asked Kendall for permission but have not heard back from her yet.  If she objects, I’ll be posting an edited version of the podcast without the song included so if you download the podcast and it’s not there, you’ll know why.

In the song, Kendall sings “Jacob walked a limp to remind him of the greater gift of the greater one.  But when I fell, I fell to my own resources how can I carry the truth if I can’t even crawl to you?”

Wow.  Talk about a powerful thought.  Now, the reference in the song is from Genesis 32 where Jacob was wrestling with God.  While the wrestling was going on, Jacob was holding his own so God struck him on the hip and took it out of it’s socket.  After it was over and Jacob had received God’s blessing and was now called Israel, it reads in Genesis 32:31 (ESV) “The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.”

We may not end up with a physical ailment to remind us of our wrestling with the Lord…which to me is in essence wrestling with sin…but we can end up with mental stresses and blocks that keep us in bondage to sin and away from the Lord.  We feel as if we’re horrible Christians because we’ve committed some sin and the shame and guilt the enemy heaps upon us gets us to the point that we feel like we’re stuck.  That we can’t even crawl back to God and ask for His forgiveness for what we’ve done.

I’m sure many of us have felt that way at some point in our lives.  I know I have!  You find yourself laying on your bed or the floor with tears streaming down your face and you feel as if there’s no one anywhere that would show you any mercy.   You feel so dirty, so used, so worthless that you can’t even physically lift up your head to cry out to God.

Here’s the good news…there’s no such things as being too far gone for God.  In those times where you feel you can’t crawl back to Him, just look to Him in prayer and He will come to you.  God is not going to abandon any one of us in our time of need if we humbly turn to Him and just say we can’t do it on our own.

When we reach that point we strip off all pretenses and we drop all the acts and just be who we are before a loving Father.  We stop being “everybody else” as Kendall sings in her song and we become closer to ourselves because we know that we can be who we are…our broken, humbled, strugging selves..and that we can feel the freedom that comes from being who we truly are in Him.

So if you’re struggling today or if the song from Kendall touched your heart realize that you’re not too far gone.  That you CAN be closer to yourself and who you are inside by turning to Him and letting Him mold you into the you that you know you can be.  (Say that ten times fast.)

(Listen to the Podcast at www.bibleblogpodcast.com or subscribe at iTunes.)

Imagine…if you will…a man.  A man who looks like your average, ordinary guy.  He’s around 5′7″, 200 lbs and has a buzz cut to hide his slightly receeding hairline.  He’s actively involved in his church and does a lot of good for the community.  He volunteers at the local food pantry stocking shelves.  He leads a home group Bible study and he even takes the time to scrub the toilets at the church because someone has to do it.  A guy who would buy two sandwiches and walk to a downtown park for lunch and give the second sandwich to a homeless man who’s hungry.

I’m not saying he’s perfect in any way but he’s one of those guys that you look at and think that he’s a guy after Christ’s heart.  A guy that you can look at as living out his faith rather than just talking about it.

The man’s grandfather dies.  The grandfather had invented shoelace eyelets and therefore was very very wealthy.  In his will, he left over $50 million to our story’s hero.

Now, would you say that he’s automatically become a sinner who needs to repent?

I’ve recently seen discussions on Christian blogs and message boards who believe exactly that.  It doesn’t matter if this person dedicates their lives to doing the work of Christ…because they have a large bank account they’re automatically a sinner.

I don’t want to use the word stupid when discussing matters but it’s just stupid to say someone who has been blessed with money is a sinner.

The people who immediately write off anyone with money as not being a Christ-follower base their belief on the actions of the Pharisees (who were usually well to do) and the words of Jesus in Luke 18:25 (ESV): “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”  In their rush to cry out that someone loaded with money is a sinner they miss that Jesus never said it was impossible…just very hard.

There’s no doubt that money can produce tempatations and it can make your life a place where comfort and possessions can become a god in your life.  However, just because those temptations would be around you doesn’t mean that someone gives in to them.  A nice house is not a sin.  A nice car is not a sin.  Having enough food to feed your family without struggle is not a sin.   If you make that more important than doing what Christ is calling you to do then you’re moving into the territory of sin.

Even not giving your money to certain groups and organizations is not a sin.  You are not required to give money to every Christian group that comes to call.  In Luke 12:48 (ESV) Jesus says “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”  You’re going to be held to account by God for the things you’ve been given and since we know that we are guided by the Holy Spirit that means we give as we are lead to do so.

I have noticed that the majority of the churches and/or Christians who complain the most about those with money being sinners who need to repent are the ones who aren’t given large amounts of money from those same rich people for their “ministries.”

At the end of the day, being rich is not a sin.  Living in a large house is not a sin.  If you stay focused on Jesus and you do all that Christ calls you to do with the money you’ve been provided then there’s no reason our Father, who gives all good things to us, would not give a nice home or other things to those who love and follow Him.

So when you’re faced with someone who is railing against those blessed with money stop and ask them to really back up their belief from the Scriptures.  When they bring up the eye of a needle ask them where Jesus said it was impossible to have money and serve Him.  They can’t do it.

Now, I’m sure some are ready to post comments saying that you know some rich person who walked away from God when they came into money and everything related to that.  I’m not going to debate that because we all know it can happen.  However, when you look at the actual Scriptures, we cannot say that being rich is a sin and as such we have to keep the mindset of Christ.

(Listen to the Podcast at www.bibleblogpodcast.com or subscribe at iTunes.)

According to the US Census Bureau, based on 2005 data, this is the poverty percentage of the total population for some US states:

Mississippi 21%
Louisiana 20.2%
New Mexico 18.4%
West Virginia 18%
Texas 17.5%

I was out for a walk when I saw a sign in front of a church asking everyone to pray for their teen mission trip. I did, of course, but then I began to think about mission trips that were taken by various churches I’ve attended and of which I’ve been familiar with the things they do. As I went through the list I realized that all of them were to foreign lands. They were aimed at building churches or improving the quality of life for people in Africa or Mexico or South America.

I’m not against that at all. There’s no question there are places on the Earth that are significantly worse off than America and those in poverty in America would be considered very well off in many parts of the world. It’s just that I’ve seen so many of these churches plan these trips and get people on board because of the “exotic” locales for the trips. It’s fashionable to say you’re going to Mexico or Brazil or Botswana on a mission “for God.” No one really makes a big deal out of going on a mission trip to Harts, West Virginia.

Now, I’m not passing any judgment on the churches that do foreign mission work or who send their youth around the world to build outhouses in Outer Mongolia. Clearly, that is doing good works presumably based out of a desire to serve Jesus and that is something all Christians should strive to do. Yet the common perception among so many churches is that mission work has to be done “over there” instead of right here.

Once I was involved with a ministry that wanted to sponsor a mission trip. All kinds of foreign countries were listed on a blackboard for everyone to consider. When I suggested a mission trip to help food kitchens in south central Los Angeles I was greeted with blank stares. When the time came for people to vote on which places should be taken off the board, Los Angeles was the first one of the board.  In fact, they didn’t even bother to discuss the fact there are legitimate needs and people facing problems…it was removed because it “was in the United States.”

I think about Jesus’ words in John 12:8 (ESV) where he said “The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.””  When I think of how he said the poor will always be “with” us I think of those around me who despite our living in a land of plenty have no food, worn out clothing and not even enough money to get medicine when they’re sick.  If the Christians in America focused on helping those in need…and not just when hurricanes hit…we could really make a serious impact on our country and perhaps it might make the attitude of most non-Christians a little less hostile toward Christians.

If you’re involved with a group or church that’s wanting to do a mission trip, perhaps you should consider taking a look around where you live before you make plans for that week in Mexico where you spend four days working and three days seeing the sights.  Imagine what God could do in your own backyard if you took that week and instead of going away spent the day volunteering to fix a homeless shelter.  Maybe canvass neighborhoods for canned goods for local food pantries.

The poor, my friends, are with us right where we are.  We have to stop thinking the missionary work starts when you cross the US border.

(Listen to the Podcast at www.bibleblogpodcast.com or subscribe at iTunes.)

I’ll have to be completely honest with you and say today’s blog (and the podcast that goes with it) are intensely personal for me.  I had some things happen yesterday that are weighing heavy on me and while I’m praising the Lord for His faithfulness and His plan and His strength it’s still hard.  In this time of less-than-joyful circumstances for my family I’m struck with the way we’re to praise the Lord when times are tough.

I know I wrote recently about how the things that we consider “good” are not the things that are necessarily the good things in God’s plan.  How we need to change from a worldly perspective of good and bad and understand the concept of God being in total control of all things.  Little did I know that blog was going to be a precursor for me and probably many of you.

Now that I’m in the middle of one of these good/bad situations, I’m amazed at how keeping a Godly perspective on things allows a clearer mind and a sharper focus on the things around us.  In a time where I should be angry and depressed and frustrated I feel a calm along with sadness.  I know beyond a doubt that God is still in control of all things and while it’s nothing like I wanted it to be it’s the best for me.  I rest in that.  You can too.

I’ve had a song in my head all day from Matt Redman that many of you likely sung in church on Sunday mornings called “Blessed Be Your Name.”  (I know I’ve sung it hundreds of times.)  How often when you hear that song or sing it do you REALLY stop to think about the lyrics you’re singing to God?  Here’s a snippet:

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed by your name

And another…

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be your name

Deep down…do you mean that?  Do you really praise the Lord when you’re faced with suffering or when he takes away something that you really love?  Something that drives you in your life?

Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-5 (ESV) “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”  I read about Paul rejoicing in suffering and think about how he was sitting in jails chained to jailers singing praises to our God.  Most of us would be sitting there thinking how much our situation stunk and wondering why God was leaving us there.  Again, it’s the God persepective of good and bad.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 (ESV) reads “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.”  It’s so easy to be joyful in the times of prosperity but in that joy how often do we truly thank God for it versus a quick “thanks, Dad” like we do our earthly father when they give us a new toy?  However, I digress from the main point.  We’re told to consider in times of adversity that God makes all and that our trials are opportunities for joy.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” - James 1:2-4 (ESV)

We need to really focus on praising the Lord all things so that when we face anything from a job loss to illness to having your children move away from you to a miscarriage that you can sit there and say “blessed by the name of the Lord” and honestly mean it.  In this, you can find a freeing peace from God that He is in control of all things and that there is nothing He does that is not ultimately for true good.

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(Note: posted late Sunday night because of tomorrow’s event.)

If you’re reading this during daylight hours on July 7th then there’s a good chance right now I’m walking under the hot Missouri sun with God.

Today is the day those who are involved in the Daily Audio Bible are remembering the movement of God on 07-07-07 by taking the day to walk with the Lord.   A time to unplug from work, family, distractions…a time to focus on Him and what He would want you to do with your time.  Get into the beauty of His creation and enjoy.

It’s because of this I was looking through the Word for references to walking.  We often talk about “our walk” but how often do we really look at it like a walk?  When you’re walking you’re almost always looking ahead and moving forward.  You don’t usually walk only looking down at your feet or looking behind you because you will run into something or someone.

So many Christians I know talk about “their walk” only in the past tense.  They talk about the stumbles and falls and the times they didn’t “measure up” to the level they thought their “walk” should be at as a believer in Christ.  We so rarely talk about “our walk” as if we’re doing it at the exact moment we’re talking about it!

But…instead of a long, drawn out devotional for today…I have one thing for you to think about regarding our walk.

In Acts 3:6 Peter was walking by the lame beggar and said to him “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”  Do you think this beggar spent any time sitting on his mat thinking “boy, I sure spent a lot of time here.”  NO!  He got up, he walked, he danced…he left that sitting on the mat in the past.

Perhaps we need to do that with our Christian walk.