What's Yous Battle Cry? (27)

One of my favorite aspects of every war movie is the emotion captured by scenes with men in the heat of battle. For the most part, every movie that has war involved has some sort of battle cry poured out from the very soul of the warrior before (or just as) he enters into battle - whether it be a cry for vengeance, a chant for ones country, or a wail of agony and desperation. Just watch! As the two opposing sides approach each other, the men begin to scream in a manner that sends shivers down your spine. What's your battle cry? Psalm 27


Verses 1-6 In honor of our senior pastor Jim, the above picture was taken back in the day when he (personally) fought for the freedom of Scotland. Well, not really ... the picture is actually of the character William Wallace from Braveheart. If you know anything about this movie, you know that it is filled with some of the most powerful battle cries known to man. As listed above, there are cries for the country, cries for vengeance, and for pain as well - bellows that shake the very core of your being - powerful, heart-felt, intimidating. As we get into the Psalm, we must recall that we are in the midst of spiritual battle (Eph 6:10-20). We start this chapter and we see David question - "whom shall i fear?" Great question right? ... the answer: no one (Rom 8:31). God is our light, our salvation, our protector, our shield, and so much more (read the last 26 Psalms). David continues in this segment of the Psalm to preamble his war cry - why is he making the cry in the first place. This is not a cry of desperation. This is not a cry of fear. This is not a cry of pain, sadness, or defeat. This is a cry of victory. David says that when his enemies advance on him - in the brink of battle - he knows where to go. My parents are currently teaching my dog max how to swim as he recently fell into the pool and almost drowned. The hope is that when he falls into the pool next time he knows to swim to the steps and exits the pool instead of flailing around like an idiot. Basically the first question we approach is - do you know where to go in the heat of battle? Do you know where to find your refuge? David says that his head is lifted above all his enemies (even before the battle starts). So i guess ... is God your victory?

Verses 7-14 This is our battle cry - "Your face, Lord, I will seek." In Him our paths are made straight. In him we find grace, mercy, and peace - not to mention safety from attack. One of my favorite passages here is the one about our parents (v.10). I have amazing parents (as I'm sure you do too), but I have found from time to time that they still fail me. I have found that as amazing of an example they both are for me, they're sinners to . They let me down, they break my heart. Never has God let me down. Sure God has broken my heart, but it was because I chose to abandon Him and pursue something I shouldn't. What a good shepherd - one that whole-heartedly pursues me, a sinner (Hosea). I am confident, as David was confident, that I will find goodness in the Lord. So I leave you with this:

"Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord."

That's just the pep-talk before the battle. What will be your battle cry?

-Chris

What's Your Habitat?

When my uncle, Jeremy, graduated high school, he took a one way ticket straight Hungary. There, he learned the native language, worked at a local church, and eventually got married to a nice, little Hungarian lady named Izabella. A few years later, his wife gave birth a child I like to call "the tornado" - his real name is Ezekiel. A few months ago, Jeremy started thinking about moving back to Hungary to continue missionary work, and Ezekiel was thoroughly upset with the idea. At pre-school, my four year old nephew constructed a poem in which he expressed his love for his "habitat." He talked on and on about why it's not good to leave your "habitat," and why he didn't want to go back to Hungary. Despite the odd word choice, "the tornado" was onto something. He understood that there are places that are good to live and places that are not. For example - hundreds of thousands of people live in Southern California right? What about death valley? What about the Gobi Desert? What about on top of Mount Everest? Yeah ... didn't think so. So let's think about this spiritually. God has put rules before us - He's given us an outline of the way that we should live our lives ... why? Because we are in control of the spiritual habitat that we choose. You can purposefully live where God wants you to ... or you can be an idiot and choose to live somewhere else (spiritually speaking of course). The question: Are you living in a spiritual desert? Or are you like a tree planted by the rivers of water? (Psalm 1)

Psalm 26


Verses 1-7 A lot of the times when you read the Bible, you realize that so many of the characters have the same heart and the same passion for God. In Ezekiel 11, we see that God makes a promise to His people to give them an undivided heart ... so this makes perfect sense. Although God has separate plans for each and every persons life - an individualistic adventure that He has set aside for you, the heart behind it is always the same for a person who chooses to follow. Daniel, the guy that almost got devoured by lions, has a famous Bible verse set apart to describe his life. It talks about how he purposed in his heart to not to live in sin, but to set apart his life for the purpose of pursuing the Father (no matter the costs). David echoes some similar thoughts in this Psalm. David says that he has "walked in integrity" - that he has walked in "the Truth" of God's word. David even asks God to examine his life and point out any areas where he might be stumbling. Michelle (my beautiful girlfriend) and I just started reading the book of Hosea. The book is such a wonderful reminder that we are all sinners. As Jesus would say - there is no one good but God. We fall short - we do not hit the mark, but are we living in a way that allows God to fix that in us? David continues and gives us an idea of how we are supposed to live our lives. He says that he chooses not to dwell in the midst of evil-doers - that he will not sit with the wicked (read Psalm 1:1-2). HAVE YOU CHOSEN A SPIRITUAL HABITAT THAT IS SUITABLE? If you're struggling with swearing, don't hang out with people who swear. If you're struggling with temptation to abuse drugs and alcohol, don't hang around people who will cause you to even be tempted. It just makes sense. In fact, I would encourage an even stricter policy - just don't hang out with bad people. Lambs don't drink water where the wolves are close by. Warthogs won't go to the fields where a pride of lions is hanging out. Humans don't camp in a cave full of bears. Why would we do that spiritually? In the new testament, Jesus says that if an eye causes you to sin, pluck it out (Matt 18:9). Maybe a bit extreme (don't rip out your eyes please) - Instead, I would encourage you to choose a "habitat" that is spiritually sound. Use discernment when choosing friends, places to hang out at, or even in participating in something you love. I have a friend of mine who plays college baseball - he tells me that he struggles with sin just because of the people on the team. How did I encourage him? What did I say to do? ... quit baseball. Easier said than done. It's much more important to build up barriers between you and sin than between you and God. period.

Verses 8-12 I don't want to go on very much longer, because I don't want you guys to fall asleep reading this ... but this is important. David says that he loves the "habitation" of the Lord's house (NKJV). He desires to live in a spiritually healthy place - in the presence of "living water" and not in a desert. He will choose to walk in integrity - meaning he will not choose a life of sin (or live in the presence of sinning people). Instead he will dedicate his life to glorifying God. Have you chosen your habitation out of love for God or something else?

Hope you guys are having a blast before school starts!
-Chris

The Lame Men Walk, The Blind Men See

Psalm 25
Don't get me wrong when I say this, but this is a longer Psalm than I have time to deal with. I mean, come on, it would take forever to finish every last detail of these 22 wonderful verses. This is just what you have to understand about the Bible - there is too much good stuff to cover for how short life is (start studying now ... you will never reach an end of good study). Even so, the show must go on. We've got to cover something right? Right! SOOOOO ... Let's talk about Jesus. Let's talk about how He not only had the power to make the lame walk and the blind see but also the love and compassion to reach out to those people in the first place. Our God is an awesome God, but chooses to make Himself open to forgiveness ... ready to offer second chances ... joyful in the opportunity for new lives to be started in Him. BUT ... are you choosing Him or something else?



Verses 4-5 Imagine being on a freeway overpass about to go to school. You mom/dad passes the normal exit you would take to head to a long, boring day of learning. For a moment, you get unbelievably excited because you think that you're off the hook for the day - no quizzes, no tests, no challenges, no teachers, nothing to worry about ... until ... your driver turns onto the next freeway entrance (which is supposed to be an exit) and you find yourself in a minivan going nearly 100 miles per hour in the wrong direction on the highway. DANGER. EXPLOSION. BIG ACCIDENT. HOSPITAL ... and you still make it in time for school. What a day right? Well here's the deal. The truth about God's plan for your life is that it's not always going to be fun or easy. Psalm 37:4 tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts. There's a big difference here between getting what you want and what God wants for you. If you delight yourself in the Lord, your heart will grow to be like His - His desires for your life become your desires for your life. The fact of the matter, though, is that God doesn't force his desires upon us (which is key in understanding the existence of both "free will" and God's plan for your life"). You basically have two choices - follow God's plan for your life, no matter the difficulty you may face OR make up your own plan (after all, you are a genius right?) ... and then SELF-DESTRUCT! If you make plans for your life, they will never work out the way you intended them to... but there is an almighty God whose plans for you are filled with promises of a bright future and the hope of salvation (Jeremiah 29:11). So VERSES 4-5 shows the mindset that we ought to have. We've been forgiven - just like Jesus cleansed the lepers, just like he made the blind see and the lame walk - His work on the cross has taken your rotten life and provided you with a second chance. This is not to say that sin itself passes away, but we choose a lifestyle in Christ rather than in sin. In Galatians it says - It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Think about the lives that Jesus touched - the radical transformation that took place in all the people who were healed. Do you feel you've been set free? Do you feel that you have tasted God's grace? These men had - and Christ said to the majority - "your faith has made you well."

Verses 4-5 SO, you probably thought we were moving on right? Well too bad ... buckle up and let's keep movin'. Right, so Jesus said "your faith has made you well." These men, for the most part, had faith enough to know that Jesus could make their lives whole - that Jesus could make their "story" a million times greater than it was. How do you feel about what God is doing in your life? Do you feel bummed out about Jesus? Well ... rethink your priorities. David says "Show me your ways Oh God ... teach me your paths." Why? Because God is the God of our salvation. He saved me. He saved you. How much more would a person have to do to have your trust? How much more would God have to do for you to pick up a life that glorifies Him? There's this song called "Let Everything that Has Breath" that says:

Praise You when I'm laughing,
Praise You when I'm grieving,
Praise You every season of the soul.

Maybe you are hurting right now ... who better to go to than the God that knit you together in your mother's womb? (Psalm 139:13) Maybe you're in a very comfortable time in your life right now. Praise God, right? In all situations in life, God asks that we give him the wheel. God asks for faith (trust) ... with which He will do great and mighty things. In fact, Habakkuk tells us that God is planning to do things in our lives that we wouldn't even believe if we were told (Hab. 1:5). How crazy is that? The God of the universe ... the creator of all ... wants to do a work in you. Let Him.

Chapter 25 If you read the rest of the Psalm, you'll really see how much David trusted God. He put his life in the Lord's hands for joy, mercy, restoration, peace, deliverance, and all sorts of things that we've talked about in the last 25 weeks (crazy huh?). It's almost like David made himself to have the attitude of a blind man. He made himself nothing, cause he knew the power that our God has. Why did the blind men call out to Jesus? Why did the lame men crawl to his feet? Because ... in our weakness, God is always strong. When our plan fails us and we turn our hope to God, He always has a plan to pick us back up on our feet (Isaiah 40:13).


Hope to see you all this week!
-Chris

God ... Everything ... and You

So as the title for this week implies, our psalm talks a little about God and everything (everything includes you), but it also steps back and touches on the opportunity to have a one on one relationship with the God who created everything. We have a really short Psalm this week, but it's one that is quite powerful ... Pay Attention! - Psalm 24



Verses 1-6 As a boy growing up, there were times where I had a horribly messy room - maybe not as bad as the picture above, but sometimes it felt like it. On the other hand, even when my room looked like a tornado rolled through it, I was still able to find the things I cared about - my cell phone, my back-pack, my computer, my baseball stuff. There was always so much going on in my room, but I had it under control - it was no longer a messy room to me ... it was just artistic living. Now think about GOD. David says that God is the creator of everything ... the grass in your front yard, the tree you fell out of and broke your arm, the lake your family visits every year, the massive oceans separating continents, the earth, the sun ... the universe. Man, talk about a messy room. Not to say that God is chaotic, but He certainly does have a lot of stuff going on - a massive list of things He has to know. But David continues ... who can stand in the presence of this Holy God? Who is worthy? Who is able? Me? You? ... no way jose'. Even though God is the creator of the universe, and even though He literally has a million other things to worry about ... He drops everything - just to be with you. Amazing. Psalm 139:17-18 tells us that God's thoughts towards us are as numerous as the grains of sand on the Earth. Jeremiah tells us that God has planned to give us a future and a hope. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John showed the reality of these promises through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Does that mean for one second that we are worthy? Does that mean the answer to David's questions is "MEEEE"? No, but ... just like when I was a young boy and my room was filled with garbage - God looks at creation and he knows where you're at. I cared about my computer ... God cares about you.

Verses 7-10 The second part of this Psalm is a bit different, but the question we're basically given here is this - Is God your king? Are you loyal to Him and no one else? Do you bow at His feet? Do you heed his commands? Truly, these are questions worth considering. If the "King of Kings" is willing to search through creation to find you ... as little as you are ... are you willing to return the favor? God is the "King of glory" ... but is he yours?

See you all later this week!
-Chris

What a Good Shepherd

This weeks Psalm is probably the second most famous passage in the Bible – just behind John 3:16. Here it is – Psalm 23



Often times when I read a section of the Bible that I have previously read, I tend to see things differently. Usually when I read this Psalm, I see a picture of lamb and a loving shepherd … a picture of comfort in knowing that God loves me and protects me. Although that is a wonderfully perfect way to look at it, this time when I read the Psalm, I saw something a little differently – this time I saw a list. A set of qualifications. A description of who my God is and what he does for me – a truly Good Shepherd

Verse 1 – The Lord is my shepherd? What in the world is that supposed to mean. Well, think about it – if we are the sheep and He is the shepherd, that would mean his job is to provide, to sustain, to guide, to protect – obviously the list goes on. In a nutshell, this simple verse that people tend to glaze over to get to the “meat” of the chapter is somewhat the most important. The Good Shepherd has claimed ownership over us. In other sections of the Bible, we are told that we have been adopted (Ephesians 1:5). How crazy is it to think that the owner of the universe would take the responsibility of making you His son or his daughter. We're told that his thoughts are endless towards us – it simply blows my mind. In this Psalm, we'll see just what it means the Lord is our Shepherd.

Verse 2 – God makes us as sheep lie down by still waters. He puts us in the greenest of pastures. If that makes absolutely no sense, think about the most peaceful place you've ever been. When I was a freshman in High School I sat on a rock in the middle of a river waiting on the Lord – peace. As our shepherd, God has taken on the responsibility of giving us a safe-haven, a place of rest, and most of all a place of peace. Sometimes I find myself questioning this idea – does God really give me peace? The answer is a resounding yes. The only times I find myself in danger or in pain is when I stray from the plan that He has for me – when I take my life in my own hands. Check out the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). This section of the Psalm also talks of abundance and life. In Psalm 1, we're told that we are to be a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit. God has given us the opportunity to find peace, as well as an opportunity to grow spiritually – what a Good Shepherd.

Verse 3 – Here it is again. God has called us His own. As we make our way down the checklist, we find that our God is a God of restoration. Many of you are probably familiar with this cultural tidbit, but bear with me. In old times, shepherds were known for breaking the legs of misbehaving sheep – if they walked too close to a cliff … BOOOM … broken leg via a mighty swing of a staff. What happens next? Well the shepherd carries the injured lamb on his shoulders to teach it to stay close – to build a strong relationship between the sheep and himself. That's what God is constantly doing with us. So putting it together – restoration hurts … it's not fun. On the other hand, we have a Shepherd who uses situations in our lives to teach us more about Him and to keep us in line. We have a God who will do whatever it takes to call us his own – what a Good Shepherd.

Verse 4 – Sometimes God uses the rod on us – to protect us right? On the other hand, think about what damage he can do to those who try to mess us up – uhm … like the devil. The last several Psalms that we covered talked about God as a rock, as a foundation, a shelter, etc. This week, we see an active portrayal of what God truly is as a Shepherd – He is our protector. I go to a Bible study every Tuesday (almost) … It's led by a guy named Mario. Before we start every week, Mario likes to say something along the lines of, “If there are any wolves here, I'll protect my sheep.” Although I like Mario very very much, he will never be able to save me from the wolves of my life. He will never be able to defend me in the way our Almighty God can. Truly, as he has promised time and time again, God will protect us and keep us from harms way – what a Good Shepherd.

Verse 5 – Out of all of the descriptions of a shepherd, this is the weirdest to me. Never in my life have I ever heard of a Shepherd preparing a feast (a Thanksgiving Style feast) for his sheep. Animals are meant to eat slop. I loved my pet pig, Kramer. Even so, I fed him garbage – cause he ate it. Think about it this way – even though we are but sheep in the presence of a mighty Shepherd, He has gone above and beyond – preparing us a feast in the presence of our enemies. He, after snuffing out a wolf, shares the triumph with us. God is our victory. Not only that, but he blesses us with so much more than we will ever deserve. People have asked me time and time again – why does God love us? … Too which I generally end up at - “I'm just as confused as you.” The question is not why he loves us but HOW HE LOVES US. God has chosen to provide for us in abundance, give us peace, make our lives fruitful, restore us, adopts us and give us belonging, protect us, bless us, and share in his triumph with us – what a Good Shepherd.

Verse 6 – So we lay it on the table. Truly, if you recognize the truth of these statements, then you can say - “I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever … and ever … and ever ...” can you?


It's good to be back home!
Look forward to seeing all of you guys!
-Chris