Expecting God To Reveal Himself

Ask God to forgive your sin (selfishness) against Him, clearing out the decay that comes between your daily walk with God through faith in Jesus.

Expect God to reveal Himself to you - in big and small ways, through things you see, words you hear, and people who cross your life. Sometimes God will reveal Himself through your ministry to others; sometimes God will reveal Himself in the way you are encouraged. Sometimes you will need to look in the rear view mirror of your day and see how God revealed Himself.

In Exodus 7:1-13, God comes to Moses, who is living in the desert. He instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh, whom God has made stubborn. Pharaoh loves having more than 600,000 slaves to build his empire, and he is not about to free them. Freeing them would all but destroy the Egyptian economy. God tells Moses to go see Pharaoh and a supreme leader of the world to release the Jews from captivity. God tells Moses that Pharaoh will refuse to listen to Moses, opening the door for God to "multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. I will crush Egypt with a series of disasters after which I will lead the fores of Israel out of Egypt."

God told Moses: (a) Go to Egypt; (b) Do what I tell you to do; (c) Know that I will do exactly what I say I will do; (d) No human force can stop me; and (e) Expect it to happen.

Moses reaction (Exodus 3:11) was to doubt Himself and, in reality, doubt God. Moses was 80 years old. He was returning to Egypt, where he had committed murder. Moses sinned because he doubted God. Throughout chapter 4, Moses wrestled with God, offering excuses which God dissolved. In the end, Moses surrendered "self" to God plans, and God allowed Aaron to travel with Moses.

Imagine these two men standing in front of almighty Pharaoh. In a test-drive, God had revealed his miracles to them, but this was showtime. Exodus 7:10:  “So Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh, and they performed miracles just as the Lord had told them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and the court, and it became a snake. Then Pharaoh called in his wise men and magicians, and they did the same thing with their secret arts. Their staffs became snakes, too! But, then Aaron’s snake swallowed up their snakes.”

There are no forces more powerful than Almighty God. He speaks to common people just like me and you, calls us to work that only He can do, puts events in our lives that only He can calendar, and crosses our lives with people that only He can send. We must recognize that God can do things we can't understand and we must expect it, and be ready to act.

In Jeremiah 29:13, the people of Judah are in Babylonian captivity, and God says to them, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” That chills me to the core. You and I are captives to this sinful world – God says we will find peace, joy, love, hope, patience, courage and wisdom when we seek Him with all you heart – when we completely turn from the worship of the world – we will find a sweet spot with Him. He says, "I will show up." But, we must turn from the worship of the world and then seek God.

I've started to pray with an expectation that God will reveal Himself.

It begins with shaking loose the sour spots of my life, confessing that my actions and attitudes (even when some are rationalized as good), are sins against God. And, once I've made that confession, I have an expectation that God will reveal Himself to me. Most of the time, these revelations can just be a reminder of God's goodness in my life through a memory, or an encouraging word, or someone He sends my way. Most of these revelations aren't "big events," but small expressions of His love that my otherwise busyness would cause me to miss completely.

God is all around us. 

God is living in us.

God never sleeps.

If we can't daily see God at work, what does that say about us?

I believe God wants to reveal Himself every day and all the time. I believe He wants to encourage us, and remind us of His greatness. I believe He is calling us to be on mission with Him.

Last week, I went "home" to Georgia. I had not been since May. I love to stand in my mama's front yard, in the fall, with the wind rushing through those hardwoods and leaves falling all around. It's one of my favorite things to do and I wanted to experience it. My dad is having back surgery after Thanksgiving, and my visit also allowed me to go to his pre-op appointments with him.

As I drove to Atlanta, I prayed. I confessed my sins against the Lord, and then I prayed, “Lord, this is going to be such a busy trip; I pray that you teach me through others, that you allow me to minister as necessary, and that you reveal yourself to all of us.”

On Friday morning, my dad and I got up at 5:30 a.m. to make an 8 a.m. doctor’s appoint – 15 miles from their home. On the way to the doctor's office, traveling in the dark, drinking coffee, my dad began to pour out how proud he is of me. This is the serious side of my dad. He is a lover, and he loves to encourage the ones that he loves, especially when he has them one-on-one. I just listened as God spoke through Him, encouraging me to continue loving Vicki and the boys.

God showed up.

During the pre-op visit at the doctor's office, the nurse remarked that dad's blood pressure was a little high. As we got to the hospital for the pre-op testing, his blood pressure had gone higher still. As we sat in a small room, I asked him, “Daddy, are you nervous about this surgery?” He said, “Not nervous, but I do wish I didn’t need to have it.” Then, he really began to tell me just how the pain is – in his back, legs and feet. It is the byproduct of scar tissue from back surgery 50 years ago.

Soon, a nurse case worker came in – Elizabeth. Around her neck, she wore a cross. I know many people wear crosses for secular reasons, but there was something special about this nurse. There was a sincerity to her voice, a calming in her nature, and a wonderful "bedside" manner. As she talked to my dad, his desire to entertain the nurses with funny stories began to subside. He grew calmer. Elizabeth began fingering the cross on her neck. I believe she sensed my dad's nervousness about the surgery. As we talked, and as she worked the cross, I had this feeling that she was working to communicate with us without having to say the words.

Finally, she turned the conversation to Christmas. And, she stepped into unknown waters, telling us how she respected all religions, but that she much preferred "Merry Christmas" over "Happy Holidays." And, we agreed. And, that opened the door for her to say, "You know, Mr. Vaughan, you don’t have to worry about this surgery, right?” God was so powerfully there at that moment. She said, “You can be nervous, but don’t worry. Faith will see that everything works out the way it should.” It was probably risky for her to do that, but it was so wonderfully orchestrated by Almighty God.

God showed up. God revealed Himself to me. 

Moses was nervous, scared, inadequate and felling very out of control. God provided Aaron, and as Moses responded to God over self, God provided the strength and courage for Moses to move forward on mission.

God showed up.

This Thanksgiving week, and on into the Christmas holidays, you and I will be around a lot of people – family and friends, and strangers in Wal-Mart. Let me encourage you to turn from whatever selfishness is between you and God, and then pray that God will reveal Himself to you – in conversations, chance encounters, and quiet time with family. It may be that you are needed to minister to someone; it may be that God will encourage you through others. But, don’t miss the opportunity each day to see and hear from Almighty God, who loves each of us so much. 

God is all around us. Expect to see Him at work.

Childlike Faith

Acceptance, Faith and Trust.

This past week I was in Denver, leading a clinic for pastors from five states – Colorado to California.

There was a Target across the street from the hotel, and so it naturally hypnotized me into going inside and spending about $35. As I was waiting in the checkout line, the lady in front of me pointed to a little boy – about five or so – sitting alone on a bench. She said, “I have been watching him for several minutes, and I’m not sure there’s an adult with him.” This got my attention, the clerk’s attention, and the attention of a few others. A store manager was called. As I checked out, I drifted closer to the adults who gathered around the little boy.

The kind store manager was asking him his name, asking if he was lost, and the little boy sat there perfectly calm. He simply said, “I’m waiting on my dad; he said he would be right back.” Is he in the store? Is he in the restroom? Where is your dad? The little boy said, “I don’t know where he is, but he said he will be right back and for me to wait.” And, so he was patiently waiting. So trusting of his dad, I believe he would have been whistling, too, had his dad asked him to whistle while waiting.

Just as the manager was about to call the police, the little boy’s dad arrived. Obviously, he met a lynch mob with two dozen scolding eyes, a few tough questions, and reminders that this is not a safe world.

Most of the people left that quick scene thinking about the lunacy of the dad. I left thinking about the faith of the little boy. His words made an impression on me: “I’m waiting on my dad; he said he would be right back.”

Faith is action without understanding. 

That’s what the little boy had – faith in his dad. To his core, he knew his dad would be back. He didn't know where his dad went or his dad's motivation, but he trusted what he didn't know and what his dad had told him. He had faith. The world around the little boy didn't share his faith, but the boy knew all was well because he knew his dad. And, he trusted his dad. And, he had faith in his dad. And, while the scene did not make sense to all of us – to the little boy it all made perfect sense, especially when the dad showed up.

This is a metaphor for our relationship with God made possible by faith in Jesus. 

Like the little boy, we say, "Lord, I don’t understand everything in The Bible, I can’t see you when I pray or hear your audible respond to my prayers, and it blows my mind to think that a feeble-minded human like me can communicate with you as the sovereign Lord of the Universe. And, yet, you tell me that you love me, and I have faith that you do.You tell me not to be afraid of yesterday, today and tomorrow because you will be with me until the end of the age, and I faith that you are there. You tell me that you have a plan for me, and I can believe that you do. My questions about life often outnumber the answers, Lord, but you tell me to wait on you and everything will become clear, and so I have faith in that, too."

That's exactly how each of us approaches the Lord. Right? No, we don't. Few of us are consistent in that childlike approach.

Something happens between childhood and adulthood. We are born totally dependent on others and so we develop faith that our needs will be met, we will be protected and we will be loved. We don't fully understand where and how it comes from, but we have faith that it is provided. But, as we age and mature, we become more self-reliant and independent. The world teaches and forces us to do so. We realize that we can do better for ourselves than others can do for us. We are hurt by the fickle nature of humanity. We lose faith in people, and that causes us to lose faith in God. We bring God down to our human level and ask human questions like, "Why did you let this happen?" or "Where were you?" We forget that God is supernatural; we are not. Our childhood faith is replaced by a jaded, adulthood faith.

As a little boy, before age 10, I was feeling conviction of the Holy Spirit to commit my life to Jesus. I could not escape it. Every chapter of my life – family, friends, church – everything was pointing me back to Jesus, and knowing Him as my Savior. But, I was scared; I was hesitant. The public profession, the baptism – it all paralyzed me.

Each summer, our family attended a few evening services at the Holbrook Campmeeting, which was a United Methodist event but attended by a lot of Baptists and Pentecostals. Services three times each day culminated in that evening service in the center of a circle of cabins. Services were conducted in an outdoor arbor with sawdust floor, old wooden pews, and funeral home fans because there was no air conditioning.

I can’t remember the name of the preacher on that hot summer night, but I remember the Scripture that he preached – Luke 18:15-17: “One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told the parents not to bother Jesus. Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.”

As the preacher finished, I just went to pieces. I thought God Almighty was about the punish my parents for my failure and nervousness about publicly acknowledging Jesus. My mama helped me understand that I had missed the message; that despite all of my fear and questions, I needed to simply let go and accept the salvation from sin offered through Jesus. Childlike faith - stepping into Jesus with lots of questions.

The faith of a child. Accepting the helplessness of the world, and the reality that God reigns over all of it. Faith that many of my questions will not be answered until I get to heaven, but I will trust completely in God's provision through Scripture. And, like a little boy in Target, I will have a quiet confidence that someone much larger and greater than me - God - is in control.

I am honored and humbled that people come to me with questions, for prayer, and with concerns over the problems of this world. And, what I try to do is reach in beyond the problem to the question of childlike faith. Where are you with Jesus? Do you believe in what Scripture tell us - not to worry, focus on others, and trust in Jesus? So many times, we as believers, focus on the problems and the root of our problem is a lack of childlike faith. If we had a child's faith, the swirl around us would not sting as badly because we would know - to the core of our being - that God is in control and all things work to His glory. 

Where are you? Please don't delay conversations about your faith journey or taking that journey to the next level. God has something He wants you to do and it's something that only you can do. And, He is waiting on you to step up with a childlike faith - not understanding and not knowing - to advance His Kingdom on Earth.

Oh, yeah, Jesus

As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, it’s time for the Vaughans to begin the annual Thanksgiving poster. 

When the boys were little, Vicki began the annual poster as a way for each person to express their thankfulness for all to see. And, of course, the poster always included the serious – friends and family – but it also included the silly and goofy as the boys tried to make us all laugh.

At some point during our posting, one of us would come around to say, "Oh, yeah, Jesus." We had completely over-focused on all the Earthly things for which we were thankful and completely forgotten to be thankful for Jesus. "Oh, yeah, Jesus. I suppose we should put Him on our poster somewhere."

You are probably no different. We get so wrapped up in counting our Earthly blessings that we fail to think about the fountain from which all of those blessings flow. We get so distracted on the Earthly that we are blinded to the Eternal.

As I watched Halloween come and go this past week, Facebook friends began their annual day-by-day lists of Thankfulness. A few led with Jesus, but many led – just like my family's annual Thanksgiving poster – with the human and the Earthly. I watched good-hearted, wonderful believers lead out with thankfulness for the family dog, Moe's restaurant, favorite football teams, jobs, our country, and Chick-fil-A lemonade. And, so I  used my Facebook page as a reminder that all of our blessings - including family and friends - flows from the No. 1 that is Jesus. And, only Jesus. Some did not take my reminder well, reminding me that their priorities were their priorities, or that Facebook wasn't the place to be so serious, or that they didn't want to offend others with a lot of spiritual conversation. Hmmm. That all sounds like my excuses when I shamefully have that "Oh, yeah, Jesus" moment in front of our Thanksgiving poster.

As we consider, or list, or post our thankfulness at this time of year, let me make a case for Jesus being our No. 1. And, I will use two hymns from The Baptist Hymnal to do it.

In the hymn "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," the lyricist Robert Robinson reminds us that “Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandring from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.” And, he writes, “Come thy fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.” As part of our fellowship with God, Jesus - as the source of all Earthly and Eternal blessings - sought us out. Jesus is the fountain of all our blessings and deserves our loudest praise.

Revelation 22:1-2 reads, “And, the angel showed me a pure river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, coursing down the center of the main street.” John’s vision reminds us that the water of eternal life pours out the richness of life with God through Jesus. I can almost imagine this fountain in heaven, pouring out blessings on those who love Jesus, and those blessings pouring into our lives here on Earth. The blessing of our salvation is really the only blessing that we need; the only source for our thankfulness.

In the hymn, "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow," we read these simple words: “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above ye Heavenly host; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

James 1:17 reads, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father." Every good and perfect gift is from above. Every one. And, those gifts flow down from God because of our faith in Jesus.

On Tuesday, April 28, 1998, I was under a lot of stress at work and at home. I was managing a lot of responsibility at work, and then coming home to four little boys under 10. Vicki and I were like zombies passing in the hallway of our home. And, so on this Tuesday in 1998, I took an entire day to get alone with God. I went to the Baptist retreat center near Winnsboro, and went down to the lake there. I sat for hours, praying and reading Scripture, and everything came back to simply praising God and being thankful for my blessings. God even allowed me to take a nap on a bed of leaves and pine needles. At the close of the day, I made a list in the back of my Bible of all my blessings, and especially all of those times in my life when I knew that God was taking care of me.

In preparation for this lesson, I turned to the back page of my Bible and here's what I had written in the No. 1 position: “I felt your presence when I prayed to accept you in my life – when I made my pubic profession of the surrender of my life to you. I am thankful for that.”

At that worshipful moment in 1998, as I made a list of my thankfulness, Jesus was not part of an "Oh, yeah, Jesus" moment. No, I had recognized that all the blessings in my life flow from my faith in Jesus - the one who sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. In that 1998 list, the remaining 18 things include my Vicki, when the boys were born, my parents, my siblings, when my sister survived serous surgery, when my brother returned safely from the Gulf War, when God used unemployment to teach me compassion, and on and on and on. But, all those blessings flowed from the No. 1 and the only One – that Jesus died on the cross for me, and He convicted me to lay down my life and follow Him.

In Robinson's hymn of the fountain of blessings, he reminds us, too, that we are constantly being pulled away from the cross to that place of "Oh, yeah, Jesus" when he writes, “Let thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.” But, then there’s the chorus, where he writes, “I am bound for the kingdom, Will you go to glory with me? Hallelujah, praise the Lord.” So, even though we slip and stumble, and often forget about Jesus, the "Oh, yeah, Jesus" moment does call us back to praise Him and honor Him in the No. 1 position of thankfulness. We can celebrate and be thankful for the tether to Almighty God, calling us back to Him. We can give thanks that the Holy Spirit provides those "Oh, yeah, Jesus" moments.

This Thanksgiving, I am going to pledge three things, personally:

1. On the Thanksgiving poster, we will acknowledge Jesus as the center of our thankfulness, placing His name first on the paper. And, I will lead my family in that recognition. From there, the serious and the silliness can unfold. Yes, there is a place for the silliness because I believe Jesus loves to see us laugh with one another, especially within our families.
2. When I have the opportunity, I will remind others – as with this lesson – that all our blessings – all of our thankfulness – pours from the fountain of the cross and the resurrection. As we look into the loving faces of family, we must be reminded that the blessings of those loved ones come to us from a loving God, whom we know because of Jesus.
3. I will be attentive during these three weeks of Thanksgiving to the hurt and the pain of others, and I will look for ways to build relationships through which I might – with the courage of the cross – state and ask, “I am bound for the Kingdom, will you go to glory with me?” Lord, please use me as you will to help another person begin his or her journey of thankfulness with you.

Finding God On The Apache Trail

"Honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his temple, everyone shouts, 'Glory!' the Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever. The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace." ~ Psalm 29:1-11

Sometimes – many times – God sneaks up on us. I think it's because:

1. We aren't God. God exists without a watch or a calendar; God has a different view from ours. He can see our tomorrow, our today and our yesterday; and God can be everywhere at the same time, and He is the King – the Lord – over everything. We are just a wisp of air.
2. We are so distracted and so busy that we often aren’t looking for God or expecting to see Him. We are over-worried about what’s for dinner, or the next thing on the calendar, or how much money is in the bank account. We are so focused on the temporary that we can't see the eternal. We have a limited brain capacity and often reserve none of that for God.

This past week I was in Phoenix, serving churches there. I was speaking all day Thursday for a group of city-wide church leaders. Back in the late 1980s, my brother Tim was stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, and I made a handful of trips out there to visit him. I fell in love with the Arizona desert, borrowing Tim’s Trans Am and driving out into the desert. I drove off the main roads and into places where they have signs warning you to have plenty of food and water.

So, going to Phoenix this week, I scheduled the trip so I could be there as early as possible on Wednesday, providing all afternoon to drive in the desert, windows down, and classic rock and roll blaring. And, I specifically wanted to drive the 33-mile Apache Trail, which is actually State Highway 88 from the small town of Apache Junction to Roosevelt Dam.

But, let me back up just a minute. My flight on Wednesday morning began in Charlotte. I am on a quest this year to read 25 books and to read 200 over the next eight years. On this flight, I was finishing up former Yankee Bobby Richardson’s book, Impact Player, and so – at the Charlotte airport – I stepped into a bookstore to find something to start reading. I have been trying, rarely successful, to rotate my reading among biographies, fiction and books to improve my faith journey. In the Charlotte airport book store, I was looking through the fiction books when I noticed a section of inspirational books. It was there that I picked up Paul Stutzman’s true story – Hiking Through. Stutzman, a restaurant manager, lost his wife, Mary, to breast cancer, and overcome with grief, quit his job to hike through the 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Having hiked most of the trial in Georgia, during my younger days, I bought the book.

On the flight to Phoenix, I finished Richardson’s great baseball biography, and began Stutzman’s book, which I quickly realized was a fantastic story of being out in the wilderness, grieving over life’s greatest setback, and asking questions of Almighty God. I won’t give the book away, but Stutzman’s book is as good a book about an everyday man's faith journey as I have ever read. It is a great adventure story of  man v. wilderness, but it's also fascinating to be with Stutzman as the trail journey mirrors his faith journey. In the middle of nature, he becomes broken before Almighty God and responds to God's calling. Why did I enjoy Stutzman's story so much? Because he could be me and most everyone I know.

And, so it was while reading Stutzman's book that I drove from Phoenix to Apache Junction to drive the Apache Trail. The Apache Trail is a 33-mile road – State Highway 88. It was first a trail used by the Apache tribe to cross the Superstition Mountains, and then it was a stagecoach road for the same purpose. The first 11 miles of the trail are paved though not very well maintained. These miles pass by some pull-outs for tourist views of the desert, the mountains and a few reservoirs. The paved section of the trail ends at a roadhouse / restaurant / gift shop called Tortilla Flat. You can see Tortilla Flat as you approach it because there’s a mannequin hung by a noose from a gallows built on the top of the building. (It's pretty cool).

Many travelers get to Tortilla Flat, buy a souvenir, have a drink, and then go back to Apache Junction. But, you can go further on a 22-mile drive to Roosevelt Dam, which at the time of its construction was the largest block dam in the country (so sayeth a sign there). That 22-mile leg of the Apache Trail is all dirt road. The roads are narrow with one-lane bridges, no cell service, and extreme mountain driving with no or limited guard rails. Along the trail you cross many areas with warning signs of flash flooding as in "don't drive through here if you see water." As a note, many RV rental companies do not permit their vehicles to use the Apache Trail. There’s also the customary warning to have plenty of water.

And, so, off I went in my small rental SUV.

Words can’t describe that drive. I drove until there were no power lines and my iPhone lost all of its service. My sophisticated telephone even stopped searching for service. Deeper and deeper I drove into the desert, thinking about Paul Stutzman on the Appalachian Trail and searching for God there. At one point on his walk through the wildnerness, Stutzman had one of his many God moments. He asked himself, "Why am I hurrying to finish this long walk? Shouldn't I stop occasionally and marvel at awesome God?"

Shouldn't we ask that of ourselves? Why are we rushing through this life of ours? Why aren't we spending more time with the ones we love? Why aren't we spending more time doing for others? Why aren't we stopping to be still and reflect on the glory of Almighty God all around us?

And, as I drove the Apache Trail, I thought the same thing: Why I am hurrying to finish this scenic drive? Why don't I stop along the way and just experience God?

My GPS wasn’t working, but I estimated by the odometer that I was about 20 miles into the Apache Trail. As I came up and around a cliff, I pulled up to the top of a mountain and there was a pullout. So, I eased the SUV into the pullout, turned off the ignition (praying it would restart) and then got out and climbed on the hood of the vehicle to sit.

It was the great expanse of the desert that first got to me – it just caused me to exhale. As David wrote of God's glory in Psalm 29, all I could think to say was, "Glory, Glory."

But, it was the quiet that really got to me. There was no sound except what little the wind made. With no trees to stir, the wind was more felt than heard and I felt as though it were the hands of God reaching out to me. No birds. No cars. No noise or racket. Just the deafening quiet. And, I got the feeling that the only two living things at the moment were me and God. I came to the realization that God was using Stutzman's book to prepare me for this time of worship. And, I pulled out a pen and paper to make a few notes, seeing it as opportunity for a tune-up of my life.

1. I will take time to get away, by myself, and be still before the Lord – away from people, away from the noise and the clatter, even if for just a few hours – I will get away by myself, leave the cell phone at home, tell no one where I am going, and simply rest in the arms of the Lord. He wants it and I need it. And, I need it more often.
2. I will invest more time with my Vicki – just with her – even if it’s just watching television with her. I won’t let the boys and all their business get between me and the one whom God chose for me - the one God chose for a relationship set apart from all others. I will put off all other relationships and ministry to them in order to have more time to spend with my Vicki. There will be a day when one of us will go on without the other. I want to cherish these days more often.
3. I will make sure the boys know that I love them – not by spending time with them, not by spending money on them, not by ensuring they are happy – but by listening to them, hearing them and encouraging them even if what they say makes no sense to me. I will be their champion; not the uninvited “fixer” of their problems.
4. I will be a better friend. I will work harder to stay close to my friends who are hurting; I know I’m not qualified to provide all the answers they need, but I can ensure they know that I will be on life's journey with them.
5. I will be unashamed of the Gospel – willing to talk about Jesus at any time to any person regardless of the circumstance. I was reminded that I can’t save anyone, I can’t make anyone accept Jesus as their Savior, but I have a responsibility to make the introduction – to say to people, “Here is my friend, Jesus, and I would like for you to meet Him, and I would like to tell you why He is my friend.”

There’s a feeling of accomplishment when you drive out of the desert and see Roosvelt Dam. It’s not the same as completing the Appalachian Trail, but you are glad you made it without need of a search and rescue.

God snuck up on me last week, introducing me to a book that slowed me down to hear from God in the Arizona desert.

Chasing Jesus is life-changing

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." - Matthew 16:24.

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

Followers of Jesus choose to pursue Him. Followers of Jesus can look at today, compare it to the same day last year, and say, “Yes, I am closer to Jesus and I am more like Jesus today than I was on this day last year.” There is an assurance of that.

You see, the word following implies forward movement; it implies a pursuit or chasing after Jesus. And, so it stands to reason that if I am following Jesus, I will be on a forward-moving journey with Him, and in that journey I will become more like Him, and my today will not be the same as my yesterday.

I’ll go so far as to say those who today are no closer to Jesus than last year, well, they aren’t really following Jesus at all. More than likely, these good people are simply church Christians who believe church attendance, church busyness and participation in church stuff is synonymous with following Jesus. Churchyness (my word) can contribute to the spiritual journey of following Jesus, but for many it does not. Churchyness is largely a clinical exercise to meet cultural expectation: I want people to know I am associated with a church so they will believe that I am a good person. If I were Satan, I would love, love, love people to buy into that theology.

Look at what the prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 51:1: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.” We are called to “pursue” and to “seek” Jesus; we are called to be moving forward in our faith journey. We are called to be followers.

In Philippians 3:12-16, Paul writes, “but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” and “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul says we are to be moving forward, following Jesus, “pressing on” and “straining toward.” Am I? Are you? Is your today significantly more close to Jesus than your yesterday? Ask your spouse. Ask your parents. Ask your friends.

It’s all easier said than done, frankly, because we live in a broken and sinful world, and because we are broken and sinful people. But, that does not excuse us from being on the journey. In fact, we are guaranteed the journey will be hard and also that few will actually choose to take this narrow way. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

At this writing, Vicki has me on a diet. To be on that diet requires life changes on my part and a diligent moving forward. I am on a journey. At the end, I will be different than I am today. But, along the way, I will face temptation and may even slip backward. In fact, unless I am diligent and focused, I will choose to fail. And, then I will no longer be able to say that I am on a diet at all. I can “watch what I eat” and lie about being on a diet, but I know that I won’t really be on a diet at all. On the other hand, I might stumble on the diet, regroup and begin the journey again. Even though I have slipped, I can still claim to be on the diet because I am continuing to move forward.

So often, the faith journey - following Jesus - is a two steps forward and one step backward journey, but it is still about making that one step of progress. It's always about moving forward and being more like Jesus.

Life is constantly calling us backward to the easy, to the comfortable, to the “be like everyone else” and if you and I succumb to that, we will never be able to follow Jesus. Nothing about that cross is easy or comfortable or like “everyone else."

In summary:

Following Jesus is about saying:

1. My life is better, more peaceful, more joyful and more hopeful when I set my eyes on Jesus and decide to follow Him.
2. By following Jesus, what I really mean is that I will respect Him as my leader, and pursue Him. He is in front of me, and I will chase Him and pursue Him toward a goal of being more like Him. What does that mean? I will intentionally choose to (a) completely love people – all people – not just in words, but in deeds; (b) extend undeserved forgiveness to people; (c) see beyond the surface attitudes of people to understand the motivations, and then minister to them; and (d) I will build relationships with all people – all people – and help them discover joy, peace and hope that’s only found in Jesus Christ. I will call others to pursue Jesus and pray to see them baptized according to Matthew 28:19.

And, I know that I as I draw close to Jesus, and as I follow Him, it will be very difficult to maintain the pursuit.

1. People won’t understand. They will raise an eyebrow, and I can expect following Jesus to reshuffle the deck of my relationships. I will gain new friends; I will lose old friends. It will be joyful and painful all at the same time. In the end, though, it will be peaceful.
2. I can expect following Jesus to cost me something. It might cost me a job. It might cost me position. It might cost me time and money. Jesus' sacrifice on that cross was costly to Him; following Him and becoming like Him will absolutely cost me. There is no cheap grace; only a costly, expensive grace. That's why it's the narrow way and few really choose it.
3. As the white hot light of the cross burns my sinful nature, the pressure of it all will cause me to retreat into the darkness of my sinful nature. And, I will find myself in a sorrowful place because my retreat will grieve the Holy Spirit within me. And, I can expect Jesus to find me and ask, “Scott, what are you doing? Are you a believer or not? In or out? Let’s get back on the journey.” And, I will decide to follow or not.

What I have learned about following my Jesus:

1. I must be intentional about it. The world is calling me away from Jesus; following Him requires my absolute focus and best effort.
2. I must allow the Holy Spirit to place me around people – even people that make me feel uncomfortable - for encouragement and correction; love and service. 
3. I must look beyond what I want and see what others need. And, then I must respond the best that I can. And, where I can't respond, I will mobilize others to respond.
4. The call on my life is not to be perfect; the call of my life is to simply focus my life on being more Christ-like and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts, actions and my attitudes.
5. I must anchor my life in Scripture and prayer.
6. The world will notice, my family will notice, my friends will notice, and following Jesus will tighten some of my relations and loosen others. Following Jesus comes with a cost, but it is a cost worth paying.
7. I only understand a fraction of all this, but I understand all that I need to know. I need Jesus, others need Jesus, and it is my responsibility to follow Jesus – to work to be more like him – each and every day of my life so that others can see and know Jesus because of His reflection on me.
8. If my today is not closer to Jesus that my yesterday, I am not following Jesus at all.

Being attractive

There is one thing of which I am certain:

No one wants to be around someone who is unattractive, thereby leaving the unattractive all alone a great deal of the time. Someone who is perpetually alone isn’t building healthy relationships with others, and therefore is failing to introduce people to Jesus. And, each of us is commanded to help people discover Jesus as Savior. (Matthew 28:19).

Are you attractive or unattractive? That’s the question.

And, it has little to do with beauty though Satan would have us believe that beauty and attractiveness are synonymous. Satan would also have us think this is all a women's issue, but it is not.

Beauty is only skin deep.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
And, I like this one: Beauty doesn’t matter after 50 because you will either be overweight in some degree or thin and wrinkled – choose one and be happy with it. (Personally, the overweight seem more healthy and fun to me, but then again I am one of them. J)

Beauty is a characteristic that is based on a perceptual experience. That’s why we all see beauty differently. It’s why someone decorates their home and says, “Wow, this is beautiful” and then someone like me comes in and says, “Wow, what were they thinking?” Beauty is subjective.

Unfortunately, we assign beauty to being Godly, and it’s not. Beauty is of this world. When 81 percent of 10 year old boys and girls say they are afraid of being fat because it makes them ugly – that’s a problem. That statistic alone speaks to a world more focused on being superficially beautiful than being inwardly attractive to others.Being attractive is so much deeper than beauty. Attractiveness is a quality that stirs an interest in someone else.

I know a lot of people who are attractive, but the world doesn’t necessarily see them as beautiful.
I know a lot of people who the world calls beautiful, but those people aren’t very attractive.
I know a lot of people who bloom beautiful *because* they are first very attractive.
I know a lot of people who are so very unattractive that their beauty has faded into ugliness.

Beauty is fading, fleeting and a distraction to what is really important. We need to focus on being attractive to others and let beauty, on occasion, bloom from that if it will. People will migrate toward people who are attractive; people will be repelled by those who are unattractive. People want to be around the kind, the encouraging, the serving, the loving, and the positive-thinking. People don’t want to be around the self-focused, the bitter, the negative, the superficial, and the lazy. Lonely and without friends? How attractive are your attitudes?

And, I know, we all have moments of being unattractive. We all do; none of us is spared. I know that. But, we have to be working toward an attractive attitude.

So, how do we cultivate and sustain this attractiveness – what I’m calling an attractive spirit. And, why is it important for followers of Jesus? Here’s why – you and I are commanded – not encouraged or invited or asked – but commanded to make disciples, to see people baptized, and to be expressive about Jesus. Well, who has the more authentic opportunity to reflect Jesus? The attractive or the unattractive? If my life is so self-absorbed that I am no longer attractive, what effect does that have on my ability to build relationships with people and tell them about Jesus? It has a huge effect. The more I’m focused on me, the more addicted I am on me, the more unattractive that is to others, and the less chance I have to tell others about Jesus.

A rotten spirit of attractiveness destroys our opportunity to help others find Jesus.

So, here are some things that I found in Scripture this week to help us focus on being more attractive for the purpose of building relationship and sharing Jesus. And, while Scripture sometimes puts these in the context of women, I think we men must pay attention to them, too. You will see what I mean.

1. We must be a follower of Jesus. And, look what happens in 1 Peter 3:1-4 – “. . . your Godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” Your Godly lives – that implies that we must be in fellowship with God through faith in Jesus. People are attracted to those who have an inner peace about their lives and where they are in life.
2. This 1 Peter Scripture passage also points to being “gentle and having a quiet spirit.” My daddy has that gentle spirit – and I try to be like him in this regard. A few years ago, we were at the movies, and I turned around and he wasn’t there. Then, I saw him. He was on the sidewalk, helping a little boy who had spilled his M&Ms, and I heard him say, “If dirt would kill us, we’d all be dead.” He is quietly gentle toward others, and possesses a quiet and loving touch on someone’s life. People are attracted to the kind of person who lives unassuming.
3. Psalm 29:2: “Honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” Being holy is attractive. What is holy? It’s about being “set apart” – if the world is busy, busy and materialistic and flashy, then holiness – set apart – is the antithesis of that. People in this culture are attracted to those who live a simple, uncomplicated, authentic and down-to-Earth life because it gives people hope that they can live that way too and in so doing everything will be just fine.
4. Ephesians 5:21: Paul writes about the relationship of husbands and wives and says, “Further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Marriages are attractive when husbands and wives submit to one another. I know that when I submit to Vicki it becomes learned behavior that allows me to submit to the best for others, too. I love my Vicki so much that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. If she says, “Scott, go with me to counseling,” I’m going. If she says, “Scott, it sure helps if you will do the laundry” then, I’m doing the laundry.” If she says, “Scott, you need to lose some weight” then I’ll make a run at it. Why? I submit to her because I love her more than I love myself. But, I also have confidence that she’s only going to ask of me those things that will either make me a better person or make our marriage better. Neither of us is going to ask the other to do something through selfish motivation.Those kinds of marriages are attractive to others, give hope to others, and create environments through which faith can be shared.
5. Matthew 5:14-6: Jesus says that, “You are the light of the world . . . shine for the world to see. Let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” An attractive spirit does good work for others, and does it out there so people can see us get our hands dirty. It’s not about advertising it; it’s about getting out there among people and doing it. People will notice when you donate time to the good of the community and the good of others. And, it inspires others to do that, too. It inspires conversation that you can use to talk about Jesus. Every believer should be involved in the community in some way – hands and feet to real service. What does it say when only 15 percent of believers are actually involved in hands-on ministry or service? It says we don’t really believe what we claim to believe – and that’s not very attractive.
6. Last, Isaiah 3:16-26: The great prophet presents a metaphorical warning for those who subscribe to a superficial obsession with beauty. And, what we take from this is that it’s far better to live a life that is meek and humble, simple and encouraging, and gentle and quiet, focused on pursuing attractiveness for the sake of the Gospel – a life focused not so much on the mirror, but the window of opportunity to build relationship and share faith.

Lord, let me be attractive today. Let others fall in love with you because they see you reflected in everything that I do, say, and think today.

Confidence in God's power

I was born in that era when doctors gave injections to children rather than worrying over pills that might or might not be taken. And, I've had this lifelong bronchial - sinus thing that caused me to see a doctor a lot when I was a boy. And, the resulting injection of antibiotics was always administered in my butt cheek.

It was humiliating, especially when I got to the age of 7 or 8. It wasn't cool to drop your pants in front of a nurse you might see at church on Sunday. Forced to take a painful injection in the butt added insult to injury.

In the timeline of my life, one particular visit was in 1967. I was almost 8 years old. For months, I had protested receiving the injection in my rear-end, and my mama had assured me that 7 was the magic year in which I could switch from an injection in my hip to an injection in my arm. Thank the Lord.

So, on this particular visit in 1967, at almost 8 years old, I was confident that I would graduate from embarrassment to victory, and receive my injection of penicillin in the arm.

When we arrived at the doctor’s office, I was pleasantly surprised to see – in the waiting room – my Papa Paul – my mama’s daddy. He was there in his trademark white shirt and dark tie – a tall man who walked confidently and spoke authoritatively. To this day, I’m not sure why Papa Paul was at the doctor’s office that day.

But, on this day, I was so glad to see Papa Paul, and he was glad to see me. It gave me strength knowing he was there at the doctor's office, too. My mama began telling him about my ailment, and she continued telling him that I was anxious about getting a shot and mostly about pulling my pants down to receive the shot in the butt.They called him back to see the doctor ahead of me.

He was still back with the doctor when they called me, and mama and I began the slow walk back along the green and white tiled, sterile hallway to a room that smelled of antiseptic and cold metal. Dr. Jim made a quick assessment, told me I was going to get a shot, gave me a cherry Charms pop, and left the room. Soon, the nurse came into the room bearing the instrument of my humiliation. Okay, she said, pull your pants down.

I looked at my mama, and in slow motion, waited on her to rush to my defense. Finally, she half-heartedly said, “He would prefer to have the shot in his arm.” I was so disappointed; I expected my mama to be more forceful than that. And, the nurse dismissed her and said, “It will be better in his hip; pull your pants down son.” I took in a big breath of air, on the verge of tears, and then looked up.

My Papa Paul was standing in the door, and he said, “If that boy wants the shot in his arm, give him the shot in his arm.” For just a minute I thought my mama would protest, but the look the great man gave her reduced her to silence.The nurse looked at my Papa Paul. Tension hung in the air. I quickly buckled my pants and jerked my shirt over my head, thrusting my arm at her and looking away.

The nurse wanted to protest, but my Papa Paul just said, “Hurry up, I have other places to be.” I got my shot in the arm. I didn’t know my Papa Paul very well. He died within months of that experience, and it’s one of only a handful of memories that I can remember. But, I will never forget the swell of confidence that rushed through me, knowing that someone bigger, someone more powerful, someone with authority had stood in the door for me. For the first time in my life, I knew what it was like to know the confident power that comes from a support system.

That support system begins and ends with Almighty God, who is front of us and in our tomorrow, beside us and in our today, and behind us shielding us from the pain of yesterday.

"Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But, with God everything is possible." - Matthew 19:26.

God is not a human being. I once heard someone refer to a quarter moon as the "thumb nail of God." I've stared up at a quarter moon, imagining God's thumb nail as the moon and then grasping how God would literally fill the sky if that were true. And, then I remember that God is even larger and mightier and more sovereign than that.

God is heavy - not in a suffocating way - but in a thick and ever-present way. He doesn't sleep. He doesn't nap. He doesn't take a lunch break. He is everywhere in His fullness and all at the same time. He is all-knowing; he is even in the thoughts occurring in the deepest and darkness places of our minds. 

God is with us in our best and brightest moments. He is with us when we stumble and fall. And, He is with us when we are scared, lonely and worried over the future coming at us. God is powerful beyond our ability to comprehend it. Isaiah 40:22: "He sits enthroned above the circle of the Earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in."

Like a little boy, scared at the doctor's office over an injection and seeing his granddaddy there as powerful support, so is God there with us in everything. And, with God, everything is possible. Nothing that we face - as confident confessors of Jesus Christ - nothing that we face do we face alone. God is already in it, He is already with us, and He is already behind us. God's love, strength and power covers it.

Sure, I was still a sick little boy. I still had to go to the doctor's office. I still had to get a shot, but what an unbelievable feeling of confidence and peace to know someone big and forceful was in my corner. Over and over again, in Joshua 1, God says, "Be strong and courageous because I am with you!" And, in Isaiah 26:3-4, the prophet writes, "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock."

Still don't get it? Read Psalm 136. In 26 verses, the Psalmist writes over and over, "God's faithful love endures forever." In those words, I see and feel the God who resurrected his son, Jesus, who had died for all of our sinfulness. In those words, I sense the hammer of God's power, the stomping of His feet as he rushes to our aid, and the jerking away of Satan's confusion that surround us. God never fails us. He never will.

But, as I bump into the pain of life – my own, my family's, and so many others, the thing that people are often missing is the confidence that God is with them. They will ask, "Where is God? Why isn’t God here? Why can’t I feel Him? Why can’t I have that confidence that He is in this storm with me?"

God is there. God is asking a question, too. As you and I ask, "Where is God?" God is asking, "Scott, where are you?" God is asking, "Scott, why can't you plow your life into Scripture and know me better? Why are you so easily blown about by the storms of life? Why can’t you take more seriously your prayer life – and if you don’t understand prayer, get around people who can teach you? Why are on the fringe of faith with others? Why are you so easily led by people who don't confess Jesus?

"Where am I? I am everywhere. Where are you, Scott, in pursuing me?" God will not make us choose Him. We make the choice.

If you are in a measure of pain or you are ministering to someone in pain, I want to encourage you to pursue God. Study your Bible. From one who studies the Bible every week for Sunday School, I can tell you that the more time you spend in Scripture, the more you will lean your life on Scripture. And, the more you lean on Scripture, the more the power of prayer will be revealed to you. God will send other believers into your life for the good times and the hard times. Scripture helps me recognize when God is sending people on His behalf. But, the choice is up to each of us - pursue God or not. Trust God or not. Walk confidently with God or not.

The closer I draw to God, the more I will confidently feel His awesome power and His peace in life's storm.