It’s hard to believe we are in the 32nd week of the year…isn’t it?

Here is this week’s memory verse:

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14

Can I ask you a question?

What are you trying to handle on your own, and God would love for you to get out of the way, surrender to His will, and let Him handle? 

I’d love to know you’re still out there reading these memory verses.

Are you?

This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD Exodus 7:17

and then you will know that I am the LORD. 1 Kings 20:13

And they will know that I am the LORD… Ezekiel 6:13

Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD… Joel 2:27

I did some reading this week…

It seems God likes to make Himself known…

Throughout the Old Testament, God did thing that caused people know to know He is the Lord…

I don’t find that same phrase in the New Testament…

I do read this:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

It makes me wonder..

What am I doing…what are you doing?

In our life…
In our city…
In our church…
In our community…
In our world…

That’s showing people He is the Lord…

Probably the most important question ever asked in the Bible.

Here is this week’s memory verse:

““But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”” Matthew 16:15-16 NIV

How do you answer?

For whatever reason, apparently some of my readers like to listen to my Sunday messages. My hope is that listening online to anyone’s message is not an excuse for failing to connect with a local church. I believe that’s where the best discipleship occurs. If you are having trouble connecting somewhere, read THIS POST. If you want to supplement your church experience, you have to miss for other reasons, or you just want to hear my teaching, welcome!

We have a teaching team, so I don’t preach every week, but share the messages here when I do. Currently our podcast host is experiencing some problems with the embed feature, but if you are interested, we are walking through the book of Mark this summer. Here are a couple messages I’ve not yet posted. I’ll post the messages as a video here when that feature is repaired.

Week 1 - Mark 8:1-13

To hear this message, click HERE. To view this message click HERE.

Here are the questions for reflection on this message:

• Do you believe God is able to do whatever you need Him to do?
• Do you believe God will do what you need Him to do?
• Do you have people in your life who you rust more now than you did when you first met them?
• Do you have people you trust less now that you know them?
• How do you think you could develop more trust in God?

Week 2 - Mark 10:17-31

A key to developing a sincere, growing faith in Jesus is to discover what holds our heart more than Christ. Join Ron Edmondson as he looks at a familiar passage illustrating that point.

To hear this message, click HERE. To view this message click HERE.

Here are the questions for reflection on this message:

• Did you grow up in church?
• Would you consider yourself a good person?
• Do you think you are better than average?
• What would be the hardest thing for you to give up if God asked you to?
• Do you sometimes think you have already given so much…and wonder when you’ll get your reward?
• Does the concept of grace, God’s forgiveness and mercy, freely given, ever blow your mind if you think about it, especially considering how well you know yourself?

I love hearing from you if you are listening to these messages.

I realize this is going to be two verses this week…but you can do it! These two verses clearly go together.

If you’ve last this long you are into it. If you are just started, then you obviously love a challenge.

Here is this week’s memory verse:

Do you need to look to the hills?

I often encounter people who want to begin a daily quiet time, but they aren’t sure how. It really isn’t as complicated as we often make it out to be. The main thing is simply to do something, but in case you are one of those still wanting to but not sure how…

Here are 5 easy steps to begin a daily quiet time:

Place - Pick a definite place where you’ll be everyday for your quiet time. Obviously if you travel frequently this is more difficult, but the more routine you can make this the better. It should be as free of distractions as possible. This place will soon become very comfortable to you.

Schedule Time - Pick a reasonable amount of time and put it on your schedule. If you use an electronic calendar like I do, you can set it to repeat the appointment everyday. Start with 15 minutes, maybe even 10. The key at this point is consistency, so make sure you don’t burden yourself with something you will not do. BTW, it most likely will seem like a sacrifice at first, but keep the objective in mind. You need this. As you accomplish discipline in a little time it will be easier to increase the time you spend.

Format - Decide basically how you will structure your quiet time. You may ask first what you hope to achieve and base your format around that. If developing intimacy with God in prayer is your goal, then certainly choose to spend more time in prayer. If Bible knowledge is your goal, then you may want to choose to do a Bible study. You can change the format over time and do combinations of each of these.

Activities – Decide what you will specifically do in your time. Will you do a Bible study or simply read Scripture and pray? If your time is 15 minutes, for example, you could spend 6 minutes reading the Bible, 3 minutes talking to God, 2 minutes in silence, asking God to speak to you, and 4 minutes writing your thoughts at the time. If you choose the structure of a Bible study, you may need to allow more time, but again, the key is that you decide before you start what you are going to do during this time. The goal is not to be mechanical or punch a clock here, but rather to provide structure, which will lead to productivity in your building your God relationship. Don’t worry as much about what activities you are doing at this point, just do something.

Discipline – Commit to doing something consistently for at least 30 days. Every day…without exception…do it…whether you “feel” like it or not. If you miss the exact time, make it up later in the day. Again, it will require sacrifice. Habits and lifestyles form this way and you’ll need this discipline, because as soon as you attempt this dozens of obstacles will stand in your way.

Now I realize “easy” is not the best choice of words for this post, but I did want you to read it. Forming this time into your daily schedule will not be easy. Nothing of value is ever easy. The main objective for any of us, including pastors, is disciplining ourselves to do something everyday. Over time, it becomes a habit that is easily repeated. Even better, it will soon become the best and most productive part of your day.

Help my readers out. What tips do you have? When do you do your daily quiet time? What format are you using?

Have you been in a spiritual slump lately? Can you not seem to get out of the funk of the slump?

I have had several seasons of life where I simply didn’t feel close to God. Obviously, as the old saying goes, “I moved, not God.” I’ve learned a few things about the process of getting out of a spiritual slump.

Here are 3 easy ways to jump start your spiritual life:

Spend time in the right places – No matter how flashy we get, we will never escape the power of the Bible. Church serves a purpose in our spiritual growth. Prayer happens when we get alone with God. Some people encourage us in our walk with Christ and some don’t. Don’t expect to jump start your spiritual life until you are hanging out in the right places.

Discipline yourself – Supposedly if you do something continually for 21 days a habit forms that you can maintain. Years ago I was going through a difficult time, which led to a spiritual slump. Someone gave me some great advice. He said, “Read your Bible every day whether you feel like it or not.” I did. It worked. At first it was awkward, even mechanical seemingly, but over time, I fell in love again with God’s Word and my God..

Find accountability – Find one or two people you trust who will hold you accountable to this task. Give them freedom to ask if you have read your Bible, attended church, spent time alone with God, etc. Being accountable is always helpful, but especially during slump periods.

Did you want the process to be more difficult? It’s not…

Ready to start? Just Do It!

Be honest: Are you in a spiritual slump these days?

We are nearing the end of our look at what’s been called The Roman Road, a handy tool of verses helpful in explaining salvation to someone. I hope you are keeping up with each of these. It will give you a good purview of the book of Romans. If you missed any of these, see THIS POST for last week’s verse and trace back from there.

Here is this week’s memory verse:

Be honest: Have you ever completed the promise of this verse? Do you know for certain you are “saved”?

About once a month, someone shares a story with me that’s big. I get stories all the time, but I’m talking about the kind of story that makes your jaw flop open when you hear it…that kind of big story.

I’ve quit being surprised when it happens, but I’m usually surprised that it’s happening to the person telling me the story. Usually this type of story starts with a phrase such as “I hope you’ll still be my friend after I tell you this...” or “Please don’t give up on me when I tell you this…”

Someone made a huge error…they messed up…they sinned…

What surprises me most, however, is that no matter how much I preach with grace, in spite of the fact that “grace” is in our church’s name, even though I’m not bashful about saying I’ve had tremendous failures in my own life…

People still worry how I will respond to them.

Guilt does that too a person…and struggling with the emotions after a moral failure is often one of the hardest consequences…

Let me make one thing perfectly clear, however…

Your story isn’t too big for me to…

• Extend you grace…
• Call you my friend…
• Still love you…
• Want the best for you…
• Introduce you to my Savior…

You see, it’s not because I’m especially graceful, but because I serve a BIG GOD…

And He’s extended me much grace…So I know…

My Jesus isn’t scared away by the size or the messiness of your story…

The seemingly impossible situation you’ve found yourself in hasn’t startled Him either…

Go ahead…share your story with me…watch and see…

By the way, the longer you try to protect your story or the longer you pretend it isn’t your story…

The longer you may be delaying receiving forgiveness and grace…

Have you ever felt your story was “too big” to share?

Do you have one person in your life with whom you can share anything and know he or she will still love you?

Do you need to confess your darkest pain to someone today?