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Facing the Giants

September 15, 2011 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

I had a lot of fun with the message this past week on David and Goliath. Friday and Saturday I attempted to learn to use the sling. I was proud of myself on Sunday that I was actually able shoot the ball forward and not backwards. I definitely had more than one embarrassing attempt at using my sling in my front yard with all of the neighborhood kids looking on.

David and Goliath is a story that most all of us learned growing up. Most of us learned the Sunday School version of the story that leaves Goliath a bit cartoonish. But Goliath was no cartoon figure. He was one real mean dude. He was not someone you would want to meet in a dark alley or anywhere for that matter. To say he was a giant is an understatement. He was someone no one wanted to face.

But as much as the Israelites wanted to avoid Goliath, he was not going anywhere. For 40 days Goliath continued to shout his taunts of defiance at the Israelites and their God. That is the way giants are. Wishing they would go away are not going to make them go away. The only way they are going to go away is if they are confronted and taken on.

The giants are intimidating and imposing. They are good at convincing us that we cannot win. They work to cause us to doubt and make us to give up before the battle is even fought. We don’t lose to the giants in the battle. We lose to the giants by giving up before the battle even begins.

We don’t necessarily fight ancient giant warriors with slings and stones. The giants we face are those things we are tempted to believe we cannot be overcome. An example of one of these giants we might face is an addiction in our life. It might be a relationship that is troubled. It might be a financial difficulty or a challenge in your marriage. Whatever the giant is, ignoring it will not make it go away.

If you are fighting the Lord’s battle you cannot lose. It is impossible. God does not lose. God is almighty. God wins the day. This does not mean it is easy. The giants present an incredible challenge. But the giants are no match for the Lord. All that is needed is to take the step of faith and to trust in God’s directions.

If you find yourself fighting a losing battle, ask yourself if it is the Lord’s battle you are fighting. Often our stubbornness gets in the way and keeps us from admitting we are wrong. It just might very well be that it is the Lord you are fighting and that is not going to work out. Is it for your glory or is it for God’s glory?

Saul would have never defeated Goliath. Saul was too proud to admit the error of his ways. The giant Saul was fighting was a threat to Saul’s kingdom. The giant David faced was a threat to God’s kingdom. That is why if Saul had fought Goliath it would have been Saul’s Battle. But for David, the battle was the Lord’s battle.

I leave you with this song by Casting Crowns which we sang last Sunday. The giant is calling out and telling me that I am never going to win. But the voice of truth tells me a different story. Which is the voice I am going to choose to listen to? Which voice are you going to choose to listen to?

Yes, It is a Challenge!

September 7, 2011 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

I hope everyone was encouraged by the first message in our series on the life of King David. I am very interested in hearing your feedback both good and bad. This is something new for you and for me. I do not ever recall assigning daily Bible readings with questions in any previous Sunday morning message.

On Sunday, many of you shared with me how meaningful and helpful it was to have done the readings in preparation for the message. It helped to make the message more relevant and you were able to take more away. It made me glad that many of you were able to see the extra benefit.

The other thing I heard was that some of you struggled to get the readings done and to answer the questions. Some of you were honest and said that you were not able to complete everything. One person shared with me that they wish the study had not been so detailed and hoped that it could be simplified. I appreciate all the honest feedback from you, and hope that others of you are willing to share with me so that we can better refine this tool for everyone.

I would like to give you some encouragement as we go forward. In 2 Corinthians 9:6 it says, “a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.” In Galatians 6:7 it says, “You will always harvest what you plant.” In other words the more you invest, the more you will see a return. I eagerly desire to give you the tools to invest greater time and depth in the Word of God so that you might see a greater return. I firmly believe the more you put in, the more you will get out.

With that said, I will not pretend that it is easy. It is easier to sow a few seeds than it is to sow many seeds. Many of us are very busy and it is hard to set aside time to do the readings and to answer the questions. We have many things that distract us. It is indeed a challenge. But I would not offer the challenge if I did not believe it was worth it. Maturity in faith takes time and it takes effort. If we look for the magical spiritual growth pill we will not find it.

So if you find yourself challenged, good! I believe God wants us to be challenged and he wants us to stretch ourselves. You feel yourself frustrated keeping up, keep working. It has only been one week! Keep pressing to develop the habit of setting aside that time to be in God’s Word. Satan will do everything in his power to prevent you from feeding on this Daily Bread. Pray for the passion and the longing to enter into the Word, that nothing is going to keep you away from this time with God.

There may be others of you who read the readings, answered the questions, and heard the message and were left still wanting. You did everything that you were challenged to do, but it did not significantly impact you in anyway. You found yourself asking, “what is the point to all this?” I find this happens when I make my time with God to be a burden. I make it to be something I need to do out of obligation. I find when I approach this special time with God out of obligation, that my heart is not really open to what he wants me to hear. God longs to spend this time with us, but he wants us to be open and receptive to him. He desires we come willingly and in expectation that he will speak to us.. If you find yourself entering the Word out of obligation rather than out of love for God, then pray and ask that he would create within you a clean and pure heart. Ask he would give you eagerness and a desire to share life together with him. Using the illustration of sowing and reaping, the harvest does not come right away. The farmer sows the seed in the spring and the harvest is reaped in the fall. You may very well still be in the spring season. Keep sowing even though you may not see the harvest today. It will come. Trust me!

In the end I want you to know grace does abound. If you do not complete the readings and the questions you should not feel guilty. We want to give these to you as a tool to help you grow. They are available for the taking. I know there are some of you who desire to go even deeper yet and have asked me for additional resources to study. And that is great! But we are all at different places in our journey and we all have different passions. You best know where you are at in your walk and in your ability. If you go through all the readings and answer all the questions in great detail – great! If you just do the readings without answer the questions – great! If you don’t do the readings or the questions but come to hear the Sunday message – great! Anytime we expose ourselves to the Word, there is only good that can come from it. The more the better, but God will use whatever we give him.

An Invitation to Follow God’s Own Heart

August 31, 2011 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

I am so excited to begin our new message series on King David this weekend. I hope you are as well. It is my prayer that this message series will be a powerful experience as we seek God’s Word and truth. We believe that God’s Word is living and active and that the deeper we dig into it the more we will take away from it. That is why I hope that you will not be content to just come and listen to the Sunday morning message, but will participate together with me in the daily readings and study questions.

The reading and questions for today came from 1 Samuel 12-13. I want to focus in on chapter 13.

At the beginning of chapter 13, it says Saul was 30 years old when he became king and he reigned over Isreal for 42 years. It is interesting to note that Saul ruled Israel for 2 more years than David did. David only reigned for 40 years. It is an interesting bit of trivia, but back to the story.

Saul has 3000 men with him. It is a substantial army. But the Philistine army was said to have 3000 chariots, 6000 charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as sands on the seashore. Saul and his army did not have any chariots or the like. To make matters worse the Philistines were able to forge iron weapons. The Israelites did not posses this same technology. It would not be a fair fight. To give you a modern day analogy the Israelites were bringing knives to a gun fight.

Many of the Israelites saw how badly they were outnumbered and “outgunned.” They began to desert the army. They ran away in retreat leaving Saul and the few troops who remained. We read Saul and the troops who were left quaked in fear.

This lasted for seven days. As each day passed more and more troops ran away. This made it even more fearful for those who were left behind. The men who were left watched as more and more of their comrades fled. It became more and more tempting for each man to make a run for it.

Finally, the army is down to 600 men and Saul decides to take matters into his own hands. He goes to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. This doesn’t seem like much. The army is falling apart and Saul wanted the Lord’s help. But there were two problems.

The first problem was that sacrifices in the Old Testament were to be made by the priests. This was not the role of the king. It was the role of the priest. Saul was taking upon himself what he was not authorized to do. The second problem was that Saul was to have waited for Samuel before this sacrifice was to be made.

This was a time of testing for Saul. Would he remain faithful and obedient or would he seek his own way and do what he thought was best? In the end Saul failed. He did not obey. He made the sacrifice he was not supposed to make. He presupposed God’s will and went ahead and did what Saul thought was best to do. In many ways Saul put himself in the place of God.

Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey” (Luke 11:28). There are two parts to this verse. The first is to hear the Word of God. It is to come to know and to learn what God would have us do. Saul never consulted God. He just forged ahead. The second part of this verse is that when we hear the Word, then we are to do it even when it is the hard thing to do.

It was not long after Saul had committed this act of disobedience that Samuel comes on the scene. Samuel asks Saul what he had done. Saul begins to rationalize his disobedience. He starts making excuses for his actions to justify himself. He never admits or confesses his disobedience to Samuel or to God.

Psalm 86:15 reads, “But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.” God would still give Saul opportunity to turn from his sin. He did not immediately tear the kingdom away from Saul. We may stumble and fall, but that does not mean God gives up on us. There is still hope. I believe God still loved Saul. God still desired to use Saul for his kingdom purposes. But would Saul be willing to humble himself, confess his sin, and walk in obedience?

Samuel tells Saul the kingdom would be taken away from him. I imagine that if Saul had admitted his failure and gone to his knees and asked for forgiveness that God would have restored him. But it was the sin of pride that kept Saul from asking for forgiveness. Rather than ask for forgiveness, Saul leaves Samuel. I can almost picture Saul walking away angry and upset that Samuel would dare call into question his actions. It is so sad to think how easily things could have changed, but pride replaced humility and Saul found himself still stuck in the same difficult situation being outnumbered and “outgunned” by the Philistines.

Samuel also tells Saul that God would raise up a man after God’s own heart. If Saul would not obey, then God would find someone who would obey. If we do not walk in obedience God will find someone who will. God is not looking for successful people. He is looking for faithful people. The question that needs to be asked is: “will you be a man or a woman after God’s own heart?” If that is your desire then I want to invite you to join me this Sunday at 9:15am as we together affirm this commitment as God’s ONE church at Lord of Life. My prayer is that we would be men and women after God’s own heart!

David Study Begins

August 17, 2011 in David, Weekly Email with 0 Comments

I shared with you two weeks back about how our fall message series would be a study of the life of David. I am excited to announce the first study guide has been posted for the first message scheduled for Sunday, September 4. Remember this is the week of our ONE worship. There will be only one worship that day at 9:15am with a church picnic to follow!

I want to encourage you to use these 5 daily readings and questions to prepare for this upcoming message. I will be posting on my blog, starting on Monday, August 28, daily thoughts on the readings along with my answers to the questions. So make sure to check in and then to check back regularly at philressler.com/david or at lolchurch.net/david.

The first David study guide will also be distributed at Lord of Life beginning this Sunday. The first study guide will be distributed for two weeks, so you will have two weeks to prepare for the first message. After that we will distribute a new study guide each Sunday to help you prepare for the next Sunday’s message. If you are unable to attend on a particular Sunday you will be able to find the next study guide online along with audio of the previous week’s message.

There is still another opportunity for you. I will be hosting a Bible Study at 6:45am each Thursday morning at Papa G’s in Elburn that will be working through the weekly study guides. I would love to have you come join me to work through the questions together and to share our insights. You can sign up by leaving a comment in this blog or by using your Connection Card on Sunday morning.

My prayer is that this will be an uplifting experience for our entire church as we journey through the life of David together. We have much we can learn from this man, both from his positive qualities and his many shortcomings. There is much more to the life of David than what many of us learned in Sunday School.

Every once in awhile I will talk about how they are not getting fed. In these situations, where is the problem? Most often the problem lies with the person doing the complaining. The more you reap the more you will harvest. The more you invest the more you will see a return. The principle applies here. Maybe the reason we fail to get much out of a 20 minute Sunday morning message is because we have failed to invest much of our time or effort into it. It is my hope to provide you some tools to help you to invest more and to get more in return.

It is also my hope that this will help all of us to engage the Scripture. I know that for some of you reading this that the Bible is a closed book for you. Yet, we believe that it is through the Scriptures that we encounter God and we come to know God. We call the Scriptures a means of grace. In other words it is through the Scriptures God speaks to us. It is only good that can come from opening up his Word. My prayer is that this new message series will be that catalyst to help you open it up.

Uncertainty and God

August 11, 2011 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

Over the past few days the stock market has been up and down. There is so much uncertainty in the economy. Many of us are wondering what the future holds. Many think that we are entering into another recession. The confidence of consumers is on the decline. Questions about the government’s ability to navigate the country through this difficult time are on the rise.

I am not an economist or a political analyst. I don’t know what the future will hold. I hope for the best, but I don’t know.

This I do know. I read through the Bible and I see the stories of how empires came and went. We think about King Solomon and his great empire. We think about the great temple he built and the wisdom he was admired for. The Kingdom of Israel had reached the pinnacle of its existence under Solomon. But within one generation, 5 years after Solomon died, the kingdom was divided, the temple was ransacked, and the riches of the kingdom were carried away (1 Kings 12:20, 14:25). No one would have believed it would have been possible a few short years earlier.

We will not have what we have today forever. The kingdom of the United States will not remain the dominant empire for all eternity. China may rise up as the next great empire. It may not. No one knows the future, but no earthly kingdom will endure. That is why Jesus comes to establish a kingdom not of this world.

A second thing I know is God is God. Money is not God. Government is not God. God alone is Creator and God alone is Savior. It is by his grace that kingdoms rise and it is by his judgment that kingdoms fall. If we are to put our hope in anything, it is in God that we are to put our hope. If God is God then it does not matter if the stock market dives, if the economy implodes, and the government defaults on its debt. God is still God. God does not change. The only thing different is I will be stripped of everything else I depended on that was not God. I will know the things I made to be God are not really God at all.

So the question is how will we use what we have today? We have been given what we have been given to use for a time. As long as we continue to use it for the purpose it has been given us, God will continue to provide everything we need and more. But when we start to use what we have been given for purposes other than God intended, then all bets are off. There are no more guarantees. If we don’t use it in the way God intends, then what will stop him from giving it to someone who will use it in the way he intends? He is looking for those who will remain faithful even in times of uncertainty. That is when true faith is revealed.

When we stand before the Lord on the day of judgment our wealth will be gone. Everything will be stripped of us. We will individually stand before God to give an account of how we used the blessings he put into our lives. Will we hear the words, “well done good and faithful servants”?

King David, A Man after God’s Own Heart

August 3, 2011 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’ Acts 13:22

I want to thank everyone who shared their input on the upcoming message series. This Fall Lord of Life will take the opportunity to study the life of King David. David is twice described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22). When Jesus walked upon the earth, the Messianic expectation was for the return of David’s kingdom. David was a shepherd, a musician, a warrior, a king, a husband, and a father. David has much to be commended for, but David also had his shortcomings. There is certainly more to the life of David than the stories we heard in Sunday School.

We will kick off this message series on September 4. It is Labor Day weekend and there will only be ONE service on that day at 9:15. We will take this opportunity to see how God called and used David as ONE man after God’s own heart. When God chooses you and his Holy Spirit comes upon you. With the Holy Spirit it only takes ONE to make a difference. It is not about your qualifications, but about your willingness to listen and to follow the Lord. When you live obedient it is not about your ability, but about God’s ability.

On this first Sunday, September 4, we will give you the opportunity to express your commitment to follow Lord and to live obedient to him. I also want to invite you to make the commitment to join us to be a part of this study each week throughout the Fall. Along with the Sunday morning message we will also be providing a weekly study guide. The weekly study guides will include daily readings and questions along with a weekly memory verse. These guides will be available on Sunday mornings and also online at lolchurch.net. I will encourage you to use these study guides to prepare for each weekly message so that you will be able to get the most out of each Sunday’s message and the message series.

A few things I would ask of you is for prayers in the preparation of this message series and the coordination of it. Also, if you might be interested in leading a discussion group based on this message series let me know. We have so much to learn from King David and how cool will it be to have this focus as a church and be learning and growing together.

Three Things to Share

July 27, 2011 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

There are a couple of things I want to share with you this week that I am really excited about.

Vacation Bible School

What a great week this is. The church building is packed each night with kids and their families attending our Hometown Nazareth VBS. Please keep the rest of this week in your prayers. On Sunday, we will have the opportunity to celebrate God’s blessings from the past week. In my Sunday morning message I plan to share what I learned during my time at VBS.

One Worship

Once again we will have ONE worship on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, September 4. We will split the time difference between the 8:30am and 10am worship services and worship at 9:15am. This is an exciting worship when we will worship as ONE church on a Sunday morning. It has been a highlight for me every year we have done this. Please note there will be no Sunday School on that morning.

Also, this year we are adding something additional. After worship is over we will have a church wide picnic. It is a great opportunity to come together. There will be food and games. It is a time to relax, to be together, and to celebrate being the family of God.

Fall Message Series

I want to thank everyone for their input and feedback for the upcoming Fall message series. I received a good number of submissions and have prayerfully considered what I heard from you and what I have been hearing from the Lord.

I am excited to share with you today that our Fall message series (starting with the ONE worship service on September 4) will be focused on the life of King David. David is the second most written about person in the Bible behind Jesus. When Jesus walked on this earth the Messianic expectation was that the kingdom of David would be restored. David is described in two separate places in the Bible as “a man after God’s own heart.” David was a shepherd, warrior, king, musician, husband, father, and more. I believe we have much we can learn from David.

David was a great man of God, but he was not without his shortcomings. We can learn from his successes and from his failures. It is my prayer that this will be a learning experience and faith growing experience for our church that will extend well beyond Sunday morning.

One of the things I want to do is to encourage you to read along as we go through the story of David. At the beginning of the message series there will be a reading schedule posted online and in the Sunday bulletin for you to follow along. It would be my desire to see the Scripture come alive for you during this time.

Have a great week!

Spirit of Complaint

July 19, 2011 in Weekly Email with 2 Comments

Today is one of those days when it is in vogue to complain about the weather. It is hot! It is humid. It is really ugly out there. We are good at complaining about the weather. But it is not just the weather we are good at complaining about. After posting yesterday’s blogpost I realized we are good at complaining about a lot of different things. We are a lot like Job who says: “Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” (Job 7:11)

I must confess I am the chief of sinners when it comes to complaining. I think about the things I complained about just yesterday alone. A stoplight light turned red and I complained about the traffic. I went to the Cubs game and Wrigley Field and complained about how bad the Cubs are and how expensive the food was. I read the news and complained about the politicians in Washington and Springfield. A complaint from Sunday worship was brought to me and I complained about people complaining. I could go on, but I think you get the point. I am good at complaining and I imagine you are not that much different from me.

At the end of the Book of Job, God confronts Job’s complaining spirit. Job responds by saying:

2 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:2–6)

When confronted by Lord, Job’s only response was to repent of his presumptuous words and attitude towards God. He came to realize that the bitterness he was carrying was not serving him or anyone else.

If a spirit of complaint is something you are guilty of I want to invite you to confess this sin before God with me. Ask for his forgiveness and then for the Holy Spirit to move you to repentance. Ask that the Holy Spirit would change your heart of bitter complaint to one of thankful praise. Ask him to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and put to death the spirit of complaint.

The next time you sense that grumbling coming from your heart, mind, or mouth consider the following:

1) What is God teaching me to be grateful for? What is the lesson to be learned? When I think about the things I complained about yesterday, they are so silly. Why am I complaining about the traffic when God has blessed me with a car to drive and the ability to get around with such freedom? Why am I complaining about a $4 hotdog when others can’t afford 10 cent rice? Complaint will rise up within us when we fail to see blessings God has poured out for us.

2) How is God calling me to action? There are times when we will encounter a situation where we may have complaint against another person or group of people. We may have a complaint against a program or a ministry. Maybe the reason there is an unsettled tension in your heart is because God is calling you to action and to be a part of the solution. Often times if I am not part of the solution, I am part of the problem. Rather than complain about something you don’t like, consider volunteering to serve to make a difference. It is proven the more involved you are in something, the less likely you are to complain. In sports the biggest complainers are not the players on the field, but those who observe from the seats and on television.

It is unfortunate Christians are often known more for what they complain about than what they are grateful for. Christians are often identified more by what they stand against than what they stand for. How about you? Are you known more for what you don’t like? Are you known for what you are critical against? Or are you identified by others as one who exhibits love, compassion, and gratitude?

As you think about cultivating a attitude of gratitude you might consider writing some notes of encouragement and thankfulness to others. When you hear someone complain about today’s weather, share with them how everyday is a gift from God. But maybe the most important thing you can do is that when you start to give voice to your complaint, stop and give ear to what God is saying.

What are some other ways you might cultivate an attitude of gratitude? I would be interested to hear from you. Feel free to click on the comments link above to share your thoughts with me and others.

Cultivating Godly Vision

July 12, 2011 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

Where there is no vision, the people perish . . . Proverbs 29:18 KJV

Our time is short. We are not here for very long. We don’t have enough time on this earth to waste on meaningless endeavors. As believers we are called to live with a greater sense of urgency. Make the most of today, because there might not be a tomorrow.

The way to do this starts with having a godly vision. If we are to make the most efficient use of our time it will be guided by having that godly vision. Without the clear vision you will miss out on accomplishing what you were put here for.

Cultivating a godly vision is as much about doing the right things as it is about avoiding the wrong things. We live in a world that is filled with distractions. Satan’s number one weapon he uses against us is to keep us busy. We end up trying to do so much, that we end up doing nothing. We make things to be important that are not really that important. We make them important because they seem urgent. Or we make them important because the culture and the people around us tell us to make them important. It is not God who has made them important.

Often times the distractions are seemingly good things. It is not that we are doing bad things. We can be distracted doing things for God. The problem is our focus. We are doing so many things we are not focused on any one thing. So none of the things we are doing really get our best effort. We feel pulled in many directions.

This is why we need that godly vision. It is so we can say yes to the best. It is so we can say yes to what God desires of us and let go of the rest. If you are like most people, the problem is not that you are doing too little. The problem is that you are doing too much.

I want to ask you some important questions:

1) What is your God given vision? Do you have that vision? What do you use to guide your decisions?

2) If you don’t know what that vision is, what are you doing to discover it? If you know God’s vision, what are you doing to confirm that vision? Are you spending time in prayer? Are you spending time in the Word? Are you spending time with other believers to help you sort it out?

3) What are you doing to achieve that vision? Has the vision moved you to action? Or is it just good intentions? What steps can you take towards accomplishing the vision? Do you have anyone to encourage you? Hold you accountable?

4) What sacrifices do you need to make to achieve the vision? Anything is worth doing will not be easy. There will be sacrifices to make. Have you determined what those sacrifices are? Are you prepared to make them? Last week we celebrated the 4th of July. We remembered those who sacrificed their comfort, their security, their fortunes, and even their lives for the sake of freedom. May we be willing to do the same for the sake of the gospel.

In the end, it is so important our vision originates with God. If it is not God’s vision it will fail. Psalm 127:1 says, “unless the Lord’s builds the house, it laborers will labor in vain.” John 15:5 says, “apart from me you can do nothing.” At the same time Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” The point is if we are doing God’s work it will endure for eternity. If we are not doing God’s work it will not really matter what we do. Everything we see in this world will one day be gone. We will be laboring in vain.

If you are interested in hearing last Sunday’s message on this subject you can listen online at lolchurch.net/sermons.

On another note, I am planning upcoming messages for the Fall and the Winter. If there are any ideas that you might have for a Sunday morning message or message series, let me know. If you have a question you want answered or if you have a topic or an interest you would like to hear more about, then please visit lolchurch.net/sermonideas to submit it.

The Answer is Jesus

July 7, 2011 in Weekly Email with 1 Comment

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Isaiah 55:10-11

This sounds like a long way from where many of us are. Many of us are limping along. We are exhausted. We are depressed. We sucking wind. It is not joy that fills our hearts, but grief. We feel like we have been beaten up. We are stressed to no end. We don’t know of this bounty that is spoken of in Isaiah.

If this is where you are at, I have a simple message for you: Receive God’s love shown through Jesus Christ. That’s it. It’s that simple. Receive God’s love. Create space in your life for Jesus to wash your feet and to cleanse you.

I have been a pastor now for 11 years and this is something I have learned the hard way. It is easier to go and do things for God, than it is to sit and to be with God.

It is easy to loose Jesus in the church. There are meetings to attend, strategies of church growth to study, sermons to be prepared, and worship to be planned. It is easy to focus on the business of the church rather than a relationship with Jesus.

You maybe heard the story about the pastor who was sharing a children’s message. He asks the question, “what is furry, lives in trees, and likes to eat nuts?”

One of the boys raises his hand and the pastor calls on him to answer. The boy replies, “it sounds like a squirrel, but I know the answer is Jesus.”

We’ve been conditioned to know the answer is Jesus. We talk about him. We sing about him. Everything we do as a church is about Jesus. We know the answer is Jesus. It is hard to miss. And yet, Jesus too often turns up missing even in the church.

We make it about a lot of different things. We make it about worship. Is worship contemporary or traditional? We make it about the programs. Do they offer what I am looking for? We make it about the pastor. Is he a good preacher and teacher? We make it about facilities. Are they accommodating and comfortable?

If it is not about Jesus, then nothing else matters. Psalm 42:1 says, As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. We cannot live apart from God. He is our real need above all else.

In John 6:35 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” In Jesus there is 100% satisfaction guaranteed! We will never be lacking no matter how much or how little we have.

So is there a place where you are feeling unsatisfied? I will give you a simple answer: “Jesus!” Any place where you are feeling less than satisfied there is a very good possibility he is either missing or lacking in that place in your life. Receive his love! Stop trying to find satisfaction anywhere else. Let him give you living water.