Amazing Grace

Enjoying His Presence

pastorjoe — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:18:36 +0000

I have found myself going back again and again to the passage in John 15 where Jesus is teaching His disciples about remaining in Him. In verse 4, Christ said to them, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.” I have found myself coming back to this concept of remaining in Christ. The word “remain” means to abide in, to rest in, to wait on, to cultivate an intimacy with, and to cling to. I find it incredible that the God of creation told His disciples that one key to following Him was to develop an intimacy with Him. I note that it is a command. He told His followers to remain in Him. That implies that it is not something that comes natural, but has to be worked at. It is not my nature to “remain” in Him. I find that the busyness of my day quickly consumes my time and my heart. I find it far easier to do a great number of good things and far more of a challenge to carve out the time to rest in His presence. To sit at His feet. To develop a greater intimacy with the invisible God who is able to be known and loved and enjoyed. He created me to enjoy Him. I tend to be like Martha who was with Jesus but was busy with so many tasks and is described as “distracted.” That’s me – often distracted from the things that really matter. It was Mary who sat at the Savior’s feet listening to Him. Jesus said, “Mary has chosen what is better,” (Luke 10:42) Only when we choose what is better are we able to be really productive and make a difference in others lives. Only then are we able to “bear fruit” as Jesus said.

Praying as Moses Did

pastorjoe — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:13:54 +0000

I was just studying the account of Moses and Joshua at the battle of Rephidim in Exodus 17. In that story, Moses found that when he stood on the hill and raised his hands that Joshua and the Israelite army won, and when he lowered his hands they lost. This certainly is a picture of prayer and there are great implications for us today.
I think that it is easy for me to have a passive, disconnected view of prayer. It can almost seem to me that I pray out of habit and my prayers can become very repetitious and seem ineffective. I realized in this passage that my view of prayer needed to dramatically change. It is true that prayer involves communion with God and can be a source of refreshment and intimacy with the Lord. I find it all too easy to relegate it to that singular benefit. But when I picture Moses on the hill, looking down on the battle, and realizing that what he did had a dramatic effect of the victory or defeat of the Israelite army, I am stirred to a greater sense of excitement in prayer. To be sure, prayer is work, as Moses had to strain to keep his arms raised and needed the help of Aaron and Hur. It is clear that God was the One who gave the victory, be he still called Moses to prayer. James writes that “the fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” How exciting it is to realize the power of prayer and to pray understanding that our work in prayer has a direct effect on the lives and souls of those we care about. When I get that truth, it makes it easier to pray as Moses until the sun goes down.

Who Are You Longing For?

pastorjoe — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:32:29 +0000

People are getting tired of me whining. I guess I am a “big baby” – I miss my wife. She is in Virginia visiting her brother and her family. They are having a great time there and I am doing fine here – but I am really missing her.

It’s only natural that I should. God has brought us together as husband and wife. We have shared our lives over the past 22 years and have grown closer together. I can say (and have told her) that I miss her desperately and long for her. I think about her during the day and often text her or call her to find out what she is doing. Many times during the day my thoughts go back to her and think about how wonderful a wife God has given me. I find myself praying for those that serve in the military and have are away from their spouse for 6 months. I don’t think I can handle that. I’m finding even these 12 long days too much for me.

Here’s a question for you: Do you view God that way? Do you miss Him desperately when you are separated by sin and desire to be reconciled immediately? Have you grown closer to Him so that you want to spend all your time with Him? Do you long for Him? Do you find yourself thinking about Him and how wonderful He is?

My prayer for myself and my hope for those in our church is that we would have such a passion for the Lord. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Ps. 42:1-2) Set Him as your only Love and you will have that heart for Him.

God’s Amazing Work

pastorjoe — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:42:39 +0000

It’s exciting to sit back and see God at work! It was only one year ago that we were asking whether it was possible to have a part-time youth pastor. Though the church had for some time wanted one (and saw the great need), it was easy to question how it would take place. We asked “Would we even be able to find someone to work part-time? How could we pay for him?” We see now God’s amazing work in not only providing God’s man for the position but leading us to bring him on full-time. God surely does more that we can imagine or even think! And now in May, I found out that we received in offerings $12,858 (our budget is $12,051 for the month!) God surely is great and should receive all the glory.
Now, as we look to our future as a church body, better equipped to meet the needs of our body and the unchurched (especially for the youth and young adults) we need to wait on Him in dependence and ask Him, “What next?” He will direct us, sustain us, provide all that is needed, and it is only for us to recognize His amazing work and give Him all the credit. How exciting these days are as the Lord builds His church and does it His way!