Behold The Glory Of The Lord

Exodus 16:6-7 (NASB)
⁶  So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, "At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt;
⁷  and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?"

What we could all use is seeing the daily work of God in our lives and around our communities. I fear too often we settle for stale region rather than walking in fellowship with God and trusting Him for the miraculous. Even though Israel experienced God working miraculously they still grumbled and doubted.

We do the same. As we go from one test to another and from one trial to the next we also doubt and grumble. We think of turning back from following God.

I, for one, cannot be content to live on yesterday's testimonies. I need God daily. The people I serve have real needs and real issues today. They need God today. So today I pray they would be able to see the glory of the Lord.

The word "see" means to "behold and to gaze." This is not a fly by glance. We need to pause and really take in the activity of God around us. His provision. His moving mountains. His comfort. His deliverance. Behold God and gaze on Him and His infinite power to meet your need.

The word "glory" means "abundance, wealth, splendor, honor." What need do you have today God is not able to meet. Let me be more specific. What financial need do you have today God is not able to meet? If you answered none you would be correct. God in His abundant wealth can meet any need you have. He is able to connect His provision with your need. Let me say that again. HE IS ABLE TO CONNECT HIS PROVISION WITH YOUR NEED. He knows not only your need but He also knows your address.  He can get His provision to you when you need it most. 

You may think that is not possible. You may also think it is not practical. Trusting God for provision is both possible and practical. Don't believe me. Drive to 4128 Evans Gann Rd in Lufkin, TX. There you will find a 4 bedroom house Brenda and I bought on faith when we had nothing. Go to 2112 NW Ave B in Seminole, TX and again you will find a 4 bedroom house there we called our home for two years. God supplied to make that house available for us. Come on out to 521 Runaway Bay Drive and you will see the home I currently live in again as part of God's provision. You will also see a black and green truck in driveway. Ask me to tell you the stories behind those vehicles. Let me take you into my dining room and show you the dining table we prayed for after the movers destroyed our other dining table moving to Seminole. Let me show you the beds given to us for the boys as part of God's provision. Let me tell you the story behind the refrigerator in the garage or the riding lawn mower and trailer. Let me point you to the deep freeze that has often been filled with beef given to us as God's provision. Let me show you three suits hanging in my closet bought for me by other people. Let me show you books in my library given to me as a blessing from God. Let me show you the patio furniture given to us by Faith Community Church as a house warming gift. Again God's provision. Let me show you my bike given to me by a man dying of cancer who knew of my love of cycling. Again God provided. Let me show you Christmas presents bought because God blessed us through other people. Let me show you Taylor's truck paid off because God is a faithful provider. Let me show you by faith Tanner's future truck and Tucker's future car when the time is right. God will come through again as He always does. These are practical and possible things God has done for will do in the future.

Behold the glory of God. He still provides. He still mets needs. Read His word. Psalm 24:1 (NASB) 
¹

 The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.  Psalm 50:10 (NASB)
¹⁰  "For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills.  Philippians 4:19 (NASB)
¹⁹  And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB)
²⁵  "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
²⁶  "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
²⁷  "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
²⁸  "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
²⁹  yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
³⁰  "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
³¹  "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'
³²  "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
³³  "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
³⁴  "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

There it is black in white. God's promises to provide and statement of His abundant wealth. Behold His abundant wealth in providing for your needs. See it. Gaze on it. He will come through for you. He will not let you down. He will not fail you. Watch for what He is about to do next to glorify His name in your life. 

Just A Few Steps From Glory

Lord, I'm just a few steps from glory,
I'll experience the old redemptive story,
First hand faultless before Your throne,
Dressed in Your righteousness alone,
My every tear will be wiped away,
Grace and mercy on full display,
I don't know what I'll truly do,
When my eyes lay hold of You,
I may shout Hallelujah in praise,
I may stand with my hands raised,
Most likely I will humbly bow,
My lips to Your feet face down,
To You one day a thousand years,
Me distracted by constant fears,
Soon I will be drawn back home,
To worship You before Your throne,
 Just a few more steps from glory,
'Till then gotta tell the gospel story.

Lost In The Wonder Of Worship

There are no crowds or tightly packed pews,
It is just me today lost in the wonder of You,
Sitting here my mind is boggled by the who,
You are-  I draw near for a more intimate view,
Your power and wisdom  always on full display,
Your splendid glory shines a bright majestic array,
Your love - grace like a waterfall flowing cascade,
You're still faithful like You were all my  yesterdays,
I pause and reflect on You  in worship as I bow my knee,
Horrified in Your holiness when all my putrid sin I see,
Humbled by Your grace given a wretched sinner like me,
On Your altar I climb to give my all everything to Thee.

This Is The Day

Take a moment and pause from what you are doing. Take a look around you. Look for the handiwork of God on display. From where I sit I look out the window and the sky is blue. The temperatures are mild for mid-January. I can't see any clouds. There is an ever so slight breeze blowing the few remaining leaves clinging to trees and rebelling against fall and winter. It is a beautiful day to live.

Take another moment. Start counting your blessings. You will certainly name the beautiful and special people in your life. You will make note of the multiple choices of food you have to eat. You will also remind yourself of the place you call home. Take the chair you are sitting in now. Is is made of wood. Think about the craftsman who shaped that chair from pieces of wood. Are you in an office chair. Be grateful for the padding and the ability to recline when you need a break. Are you in a recliner. Be thankful for the comfort.

Can you see today? Don't take that blessing for granted. Are you able to walk? Thank God for your mobility? Can you breathe? Bless God for fresh air and each new breath. Can you read? Thank God for your education and those teachers or parents who taught you to read. Do you have clothing to wear and shoes for your feet? Thank God for warm clothes in the winter and lighter clothes for the summer season.

You have this day. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not promised. You have this day, January 14, 2016. Are you enjoying this day or trying to survive this day. God made this day and you for this day. His mercies are new and His faithfulness is great this day.

One gift we can all bring our God  today is to pause in the middle of this day or at the end of this day and be awed by Him and His power. I am not in anyway trying to diminish the truth many of you reading this are going through hard times. Even in hard times there can be reasons to rejoice and enjoy the day.

Even when alone we are not left alone by God. He is there. He is also here. He is hospitals and funeral homes. He is rehab/retirement centers. He is in the jungles of Africa as well as the urban jungles of New York, L.A., Houston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. He is rural towns like Cut and Shoot, Zavalla, Loop, an d Lufkin. He is there on this day. Rejoice we have His truth to guide us along the way. Rejoice for the gift of people God puts in our lives to help us along the way. Rejoice in this day for another chance to love, seek, serve and worship God.

What will you do with the remainder of this day? Who will you hug? Who will you encourage? Who will be the recipient of your prayer? Who will you spur on toward love and good works?

In what new ways will you experience God today? In what fresh ways will you express wonder and delight at the Creator of the heavens and the earth today? Will you pause and pray? Will you reflect and write a poem? Will you linger before Him and listen to worship music? Will you write down your thoughts in a journal? Will you walk slowly through the field,park,  across the classroom, around the office or in your home lost in the wonder of worship of a God bigger than you, your problems and your pain?

All of those things and much are possible this day. What will you do with remainder of this day?

Psalm 118:24 (NASB)
²⁴  This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

Barely Hanging Onto Hope

Have you ever met those that are barely hanging onto hope? No matter what they do, what they try, how hard they pray or what changes they make things seem to get worse before they get better. That was the case for Job. There were seasons in King David's life when hope faded in the dusk of trials.

Over the years I have seen many who barely held onto hope. I think about a lady who spent nine straight months in the hospital. When her insurance refused to pay anymore the hospital sent her home. We once took our Wednesday evening church service to her hospital room to encourage her. I watched her barely hold onto hope along with her husband and children.

This morning I flipped through the pages of an old church directory. I counted nine of those people who died in the past few years. I then began recounting the numerous trials others have endured. So many barely clinging to hope for better days. So many gutting out hard days. So many living in grief. So many beyond exhausted but the trials keep coming.

Psalm 31:24 (NASB) 
²⁴  Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.

It takes a measure of strength to hang onto hope. Like a person hanging onto the end of a rope dangling from a cliff. You have reposition your grip on hope. The kind of strength often needed is not so much physical strength, but  spiritual strength and emotional strength. God is the source of hope. He gives it even in the darkness and life's harshness.

 It also takes courage to hope. That might not sound very deep but it takes courage to hang onto hope in hopeless circumstances. Courage can be defined in this passage to mean to be stout and determined. There are enough things in this world that can rob people of hope. You have to be determined to hang onto hope. It takes a lot o prayer and a lot of Bible study and meditation. Summoning the courage to hope is both a grace of God and a daily grind. We must remain determined to choose hope over doubt. Day in and day out it takes dogged determination to keep trusting God  and hang onto hope when everything around you screams to doubt and despair. 

The word hope in Psalm 31:24 means to wait expectantly. We are supposed to determine to hang onto hope. In that hope we are to wait expectantly for God to intervene. We should wake up every day thinking this is the day when God comes through. This is the day when the mountain gets moved. This is the day when God heals. This is the day when God provides. This is the day when God delivers. This is the day when God restores. This is the day when God breaks ffathrough. This is the day when God saves. This is the day when God counsels which direction to take.

Most of us do not live that way. When prayers go unanswered for a period time it is easier to lose hope. It is easier to wake up everyday not believing that anything will change. It is easier to cope with  nothing changing than to hold onto hope and have those hopes disappointed at the end of a day, week, month, decade and a lifetime.

Hanging onto hope is gritty stuff. It takes strength and determined courage. So for all of you barely hanging onto hope today. I pray Ps 31:24 gives you a little soul nourishment for the journey and the strength and courage to keep going and to keep hanging onto hope no matter what you are up against.

Hoping For Elim

Father, so many times life has been bitter to the taste,
The dryness of my desert painful - seemed such a waste,
The harshness of my trials drove me down to my knees,
Where often I cried out with desperate and tearful pleas,
Lord, too often life is bitter - painful to my untrained eye,
Many questions still left unanswered often wondering why,
I know there is Marah for the bitterness has touched my soul,
I'm  hoping - trusting You for Elim where You'll make me whole,
Until my Elim comes whether in this  life or in eternity to come,
Please never let me forget fromYou is where my peace comes from.

From Marah To Elim

2016 has already turned into a bitter year for some I know. Pain. Betrayal. Theft. Sickness. We are not even two full weeks into the new year and many people could say, like Israel in the Shur desert, this tastes bitter. These circumstances are harsh to the taste, unpleasant, and distressing.

I sit here contemplating this truth this morning. I've had my Marah experiences. Brenda and I have known the bitterness of life. It began early with two alcoholic fathers and the pain they inflicted. We both grew up in tough economic conditions. After getting married we learned first hand life in ministry is no fairly tale. We have experienced the highest joys imaginable in different churches with God's people. We have also experienced the bitter Marah of church members over the years. We have been criticized, slandered, betrayed, and deceived by church members we once trusted. Those were bitter experiences. We have served in churches where they thought they could starve us out by withholding their tithes and offerings. Those people disliked us much they did not care if Taylor, Brenda and I were provided for. God did though.

In the middle of all of it God used those times to test us. What those people, that wanted to starve us out of their church, did not know is God used that time to remind us HE IS OUR PROVIDER. We learned to trust Him. In the harshness of bitter economic times we learned to trust Him. God taught us to pray and strengthened our faith in the laboratory of life.

Everybody goes through some Marah experiences where life is bitter. Just don't let those bitter experiences make you bitter against God.

I am here to report our God leads people through bitter experiences. There is hope on the other side. God might lead you into some bitter experiences to test you. He also leads THROUGH bitter experiences. Hope lies on the other side. There is an Elim.  Elim is the place Israel camped after Marah where the waters were bitter to the taste in Ex 15:22-27. Elim had 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees.

12 represents the power and authority of God. Remember the 12 baskets of leftovers when Jesus worked the miracle of feeding the 5,0000 with a little boy's sack lunch. In the middle of a desert Elim was an oasis of God's abundant provision. The number 70 represents God's perfection and completeness. Elim provided shade from the heat and water for drinking and refreshing. Praise God for the Elims on the other side of Marah!

The ultimate Elim is heaven. I long for that Elim. The provision, the rest, the relief, the joy, the pleasures are unending, eternal and forever  there. Here and now there is Elim in God's presence and seasons of rest and refreshing in Him.

When you experience the bitterness of Marah please know God also has an Elim. That is truth worth holding onto in 2016.