Vol 2 No 34 THEO'S DEVOS 082808
Ephesians 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Of all Paul's letters, this is the shortest greetings, but it contains three important things of note. First of all look at how Paul describes himself. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” An apostle was someone that God sent with a message for us. Paul was never able to get over the fact that he had been chosen as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and chose him to be an apostle. He did not get any approval from others, let alone the other apostles. The result of this is that Paul seems to need to clarify how this happened and he defends his apostleship on several occasions.
It stunned Paul that God would chose him. “ by the will of God” we read. Paul had no other thing that he would boast about except that God would call him an apostle. Think about that for a minute. Paul had spent most of his life persecuting the church. He had hated the people of God and had done all he could to eradicate them. This is the man that Jesus meets on the road to Damascus and tells him that he has been chosen to be an apostle. There is no other appointment that more describes the sovereignty of God than this. His choosing the Jews and His people is on the same level but even they were not trying to destroy the things of God when he chose them. There were other things that Paul could have stated here to impress us. His pedigree is long but Paul only cares that he was chosen by God. That is enough for him and he believes it should be enough for us.
Paul goes on to say that he is writing to 'saints.' Now I don't know about you but thinking of myself as a saint always made me nervous until I found out that a saint is not what I had thought. Our idea of what a saint is may be misconstrued. I always thought of them as bigger than life. People that were made into statues and so holy that they stood apart from the rest of us. The Bible, however, describes them much differently. It turns out that they are just like us. They have all the same problems, and worries that we do. It is true that they are not like ordinary people. In the original language used here, Greek, the word comes from the same word as holy. Saints are holy people. The Greek word holy means different or distinct. They live differently than most people. Holiness is what determines who a saint is. They are like everyone else with the exception of being set apart by God. If you have put your faith in Jesus as your savior, you have been set apart by God. You have been made a saint. You are called to live differently than others. Oh, you may not always pull that off but you are called by God to live a life for him.
The last thing that Paul says here is “ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace and peace are offered to them, and us, by Paul. I will discuss these two important words in later devos but, for now, understand that they are offered to you. They are yours every day. They will impact your life in ways you cannot imagine. Look for them in your life. Ask God to help you trust that they are there even when life gets bumpy as it is sure to do.
My prayer for you today is that the grace of God will be noted in your life and that His peace will be your experience today. May God bless you in all that you do for Him.
Theo
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Final Lifestyle
Vol 2 No 33 THEO'S DEVOS
1 Peter 3:8,9a Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. 9Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing.
What do you think of others? I mean do you constantly find yourself criticizing other people or are you quick to think good of them. It would appear that after what God saved us from, we should be so grateful to Him that we have a hard time faulting others but, somehow, we manage to. Have you ever noticed, however, how hard it is to be around someone who seems to have negative things to say about just about everything? It almost gets depressing. The problem with criticism is that it is so hard to come by.
When I pastored a church, I noticed that just about any idea that someone had could be shot down by someone else and that is why most churches go nowhere. If a project can be halted by one or two naysayers, then no project is going to move forward. I remember saying on a couple of occasions: “Now there may be 100 ways that this idea will not work. They are easy to state and any of us could come up with them. So lets not waste time spelling them out. Let's see if there is one way that this idea 'could' work. If we can think of it then let's move forward and, if we can't think of even one way that it will work then let's move on to something else.” I have found that it is the easiest thing in the world to find ways that things won't work or to find something negative in someone else's life. Anyone and everyone can do it. The Bible calls us to be different kinds of people. With the help of the Holy Spirit we are asked to look for the good in people and treat them with sympathy out of a humble mind.
Peter tells us that this is true even when the negative in someone else shows itself by their saying unkind things about you. Our natural reaction is to hit back. This reminds me of Barry McGuire in a concert one time saying that sin flies around the world like lightning bolts. When we get hit by one we raise our shields and strike back. This acts like a ricochet and someone else gets hit. When hit we feel the shock and disparately want to protect ourselves. Barry said that his prayer was to be a shock absorber and I thought that was a great idea. When hit by a bolt of sin, flung by someone directly at you, don't hit back. Absorb the shock, give it to God and let Him ease your pain. That tactic will fulfill the directive given by Peter in these verses and will go a long way toward helping that person who was throwing the pain around to deal with the shock themselves. It may even help them become a shock absorber too.
As I have been writing this devo it occurred to me that, perhaps, some of us are not aware of how critical we have become. It just may be that we think we are encouragers when, in fact, we have become discouragers instead. It might be a good time to find out. There are a couple of things you can do to determine just how much of an encourager you are. One thing you might try is to keep a piece of paper in your pocket and whenever you find yourself saying something positive make a check mark in the positive column. Whenever you say something negative put a check in the negative column (Ok so I should have told you to mark those columns first but you get the idea.) Then, at the end of the day, take a look at the columns and see how you did. Did the positives way outweigh the negatives. If not take a look again at how you relate to those around you. Another thing you might do, but be careful with this one, is to give someone the right to point out every time you say something negative. This will call attention to something that may be going unnoticed. Now I have said to note negatives and positives because that will allow you to notice how much you focus on negative things and how much you focus on positive things. This will really uncover the real problem. Being more positive than negative may not be easy but it can be done. Why?
We can do this because Jesus is alive and well and living in us. He is the reason for our belief and He is the one who helps us do these things that would be simply impossible on our own. I can across an interesting video on YouTube that I will pass on to you. It is by one of Ravi Zacharia's associates and it is only 5 minutes long but makes a very important point about our faith. I hope you can open it. You should be able to hear it simply by clicking the words in blue below.
May God help you to follow the path of humility and kindness and may He start with me. I am praying for you, please pray for each other. Have a blessed day today.
:www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJjLlJb1wE0
Oh and by the way, take a look at this and act on it if you think it is a good idea, I do.
Please take the time to do this!
Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. NBC is taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American currency. Please send this to every faith-filled person that you know so they can vote on this important subject. Please do it right away, before NBC removes this poll from the web page.
MSNBC poll is still open so you can vote.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
Theo
1 Peter 3:8,9a Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. 9Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing.
What do you think of others? I mean do you constantly find yourself criticizing other people or are you quick to think good of them. It would appear that after what God saved us from, we should be so grateful to Him that we have a hard time faulting others but, somehow, we manage to. Have you ever noticed, however, how hard it is to be around someone who seems to have negative things to say about just about everything? It almost gets depressing. The problem with criticism is that it is so hard to come by.
When I pastored a church, I noticed that just about any idea that someone had could be shot down by someone else and that is why most churches go nowhere. If a project can be halted by one or two naysayers, then no project is going to move forward. I remember saying on a couple of occasions: “Now there may be 100 ways that this idea will not work. They are easy to state and any of us could come up with them. So lets not waste time spelling them out. Let's see if there is one way that this idea 'could' work. If we can think of it then let's move forward and, if we can't think of even one way that it will work then let's move on to something else.” I have found that it is the easiest thing in the world to find ways that things won't work or to find something negative in someone else's life. Anyone and everyone can do it. The Bible calls us to be different kinds of people. With the help of the Holy Spirit we are asked to look for the good in people and treat them with sympathy out of a humble mind.
Peter tells us that this is true even when the negative in someone else shows itself by their saying unkind things about you. Our natural reaction is to hit back. This reminds me of Barry McGuire in a concert one time saying that sin flies around the world like lightning bolts. When we get hit by one we raise our shields and strike back. This acts like a ricochet and someone else gets hit. When hit we feel the shock and disparately want to protect ourselves. Barry said that his prayer was to be a shock absorber and I thought that was a great idea. When hit by a bolt of sin, flung by someone directly at you, don't hit back. Absorb the shock, give it to God and let Him ease your pain. That tactic will fulfill the directive given by Peter in these verses and will go a long way toward helping that person who was throwing the pain around to deal with the shock themselves. It may even help them become a shock absorber too.
As I have been writing this devo it occurred to me that, perhaps, some of us are not aware of how critical we have become. It just may be that we think we are encouragers when, in fact, we have become discouragers instead. It might be a good time to find out. There are a couple of things you can do to determine just how much of an encourager you are. One thing you might try is to keep a piece of paper in your pocket and whenever you find yourself saying something positive make a check mark in the positive column. Whenever you say something negative put a check in the negative column (Ok so I should have told you to mark those columns first but you get the idea.) Then, at the end of the day, take a look at the columns and see how you did. Did the positives way outweigh the negatives. If not take a look again at how you relate to those around you. Another thing you might do, but be careful with this one, is to give someone the right to point out every time you say something negative. This will call attention to something that may be going unnoticed. Now I have said to note negatives and positives because that will allow you to notice how much you focus on negative things and how much you focus on positive things. This will really uncover the real problem. Being more positive than negative may not be easy but it can be done. Why?
We can do this because Jesus is alive and well and living in us. He is the reason for our belief and He is the one who helps us do these things that would be simply impossible on our own. I can across an interesting video on YouTube that I will pass on to you. It is by one of Ravi Zacharia's associates and it is only 5 minutes long but makes a very important point about our faith. I hope you can open it. You should be able to hear it simply by clicking the words in blue below.
May God help you to follow the path of humility and kindness and may He start with me. I am praying for you, please pray for each other. Have a blessed day today.
:www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJjLlJb1wE0
Oh and by the way, take a look at this and act on it if you think it is a good idea, I do.
Please take the time to do this!
Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. NBC is taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American currency. Please send this to every faith-filled person that you know so they can vote on this important subject. Please do it right away, before NBC removes this poll from the web page.
MSNBC poll is still open so you can vote.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
Theo
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Real Life
Vol 2 No 32 THEO'S DEVOS
Psalm 13:1-6 O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!
Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the LORD
because he has been so good to me.
I love these verses. The main reason for this love is that they reveal a God that is much different than the one I grew up knowing as a boy. In the first years of my faith I had a view of God as someone who was sort of made of crystal. You had to be really careful around Him or He might break. And heaven help you if you broke Him because, although He loved you, He had a short fuse and you didn't want His majesty to break all over you. I think I picked up this idea from the pastor that I had and the older Christians that were my teachers. You weren't suppose to ask 'Why?.' You were just supposed to accept whatever comes along and accept it as your fate. Questioning God was not allowed. It was a sign that you lacked faith.
Now if that is true then what in the world is David doing here. He seems to think he can walk into the Divine presence and state his case. He, in verse 3, demands that God face him. Where is the lightning here? God must have really gotten mad at David, right? Wrong. David was expressing his humanity in the only way he knew at the time. He was baring his soul to the God who was there and loved him. He was acknowledging that God was, in fact, there and that he wanted to know the answer to some pressing problems that he had.
What kind of God do you believe in? Can he handle it when you have problems and want to complain or is He a crystal god that will shatter if you step out of line with Him. Do you worry about the small things that you do that might not be what good Christians and what He thinks of you. If you do then maybe you should reread these verses and learn from them.
God is much stronger than we often give Him credit. He knows you because He made you. It is important for you to be completely open with Him. You already know that you cannot be completely open with anyone else. We all keep some things inside and can get sick because we feel like there is no one to talk to. Well believe this: David had no one to talk to and somehow he managed to maintain a peace of mind because he knew that he could unload on God and that God would listen. He also knew that when he did that, he would remember in his mind some other important things about God. He will recall God's unfailing love. Something that is virtually impossible to find anywhere else. He will remember the times when God was so good to him and know that life is not just a bowl of cherries but, as one writer told us, can also be the pits. You have seen the poster that says you weren't promised a rose garden? Well you were, sort of, but not in this life. In this life you will have trouble. Trouble enough to keep you close to God if you are smart but not enough to wipe you out even though it may feel like that at times. See, that is what faith is all about. Faith says that when life gets rally rough you should keep moving forward. If you want to yell at God go ahead but don't give up. Yell and keep moving. There is nothing in this life that can overthrow the will of God. He is supreme and sovereign. Your life is in His hands in the same way that David's life was. If David could get angry, so can you. God loves you and your human reactions do not faze Him. What fazed Him is when you exhibit a lack of faith by giving up. Take courage today and pass that courage on to those around you. Expect that God will show Himself in your life and He will.
May He bless you today. Thank you for reading these Devos. They have been written with you in mind.
Theo
Psalm 13:1-6 O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!
Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the LORD
because he has been so good to me.
I love these verses. The main reason for this love is that they reveal a God that is much different than the one I grew up knowing as a boy. In the first years of my faith I had a view of God as someone who was sort of made of crystal. You had to be really careful around Him or He might break. And heaven help you if you broke Him because, although He loved you, He had a short fuse and you didn't want His majesty to break all over you. I think I picked up this idea from the pastor that I had and the older Christians that were my teachers. You weren't suppose to ask 'Why?.' You were just supposed to accept whatever comes along and accept it as your fate. Questioning God was not allowed. It was a sign that you lacked faith.
Now if that is true then what in the world is David doing here. He seems to think he can walk into the Divine presence and state his case. He, in verse 3, demands that God face him. Where is the lightning here? God must have really gotten mad at David, right? Wrong. David was expressing his humanity in the only way he knew at the time. He was baring his soul to the God who was there and loved him. He was acknowledging that God was, in fact, there and that he wanted to know the answer to some pressing problems that he had.
What kind of God do you believe in? Can he handle it when you have problems and want to complain or is He a crystal god that will shatter if you step out of line with Him. Do you worry about the small things that you do that might not be what good Christians and what He thinks of you. If you do then maybe you should reread these verses and learn from them.
God is much stronger than we often give Him credit. He knows you because He made you. It is important for you to be completely open with Him. You already know that you cannot be completely open with anyone else. We all keep some things inside and can get sick because we feel like there is no one to talk to. Well believe this: David had no one to talk to and somehow he managed to maintain a peace of mind because he knew that he could unload on God and that God would listen. He also knew that when he did that, he would remember in his mind some other important things about God. He will recall God's unfailing love. Something that is virtually impossible to find anywhere else. He will remember the times when God was so good to him and know that life is not just a bowl of cherries but, as one writer told us, can also be the pits. You have seen the poster that says you weren't promised a rose garden? Well you were, sort of, but not in this life. In this life you will have trouble. Trouble enough to keep you close to God if you are smart but not enough to wipe you out even though it may feel like that at times. See, that is what faith is all about. Faith says that when life gets rally rough you should keep moving forward. If you want to yell at God go ahead but don't give up. Yell and keep moving. There is nothing in this life that can overthrow the will of God. He is supreme and sovereign. Your life is in His hands in the same way that David's life was. If David could get angry, so can you. God loves you and your human reactions do not faze Him. What fazed Him is when you exhibit a lack of faith by giving up. Take courage today and pass that courage on to those around you. Expect that God will show Himself in your life and He will.
May He bless you today. Thank you for reading these Devos. They have been written with you in mind.
Theo
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Friends
Vol 2 No 31 THEO'S DEVOS
Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
I was reading Psalms today and noticed this verse. Now I have read this verse many, many times before but, for some reason, it stuck in my mind this time. I have been pondering the reason all day. It is now late at night and, since I can't sleep, I have turned to Theo's Devos. I find myself using these late hours to write these devos often. The quietness seems to help me think and pray.
Now one of the reasons this verse means something to me is because I have a lot of friends. The only problem for me is that, since I have moved several times, my friends are at a distance now. They are literally spread all over the country and around the world. The result is that it is difficult for me to act on this verse and yet it still means a lot to me.
“A friend loves at all times,,” we are told. That is good to know because it not only assures me that friends will always be there for us but it also helps us know the quality of true friendship. Have you ever had a friend, or thought you did, but it just seemed like everything else was more important to them than your friendship. They were too busy to take time with you. I have found that we all have time to do the things that we want to do so taking time with your friend is something we should look to do. I am not sure what those people are who are 'too busy' for you but true friendship doesn't seem like it is in view here.
Now it could be that they didn't think about it like that. Maybe they thought that the friendship was strong enough to handle not paying much attention to it. The problem is that the Bible says that a friend 'loves' at all times. That is a strong word. Obviously there are lots of levels of love. We love lots of things but not at the same intensity. How much do we 'love' our friends? Do they know that? Have you told them?
I am not a big talker. I do enjoy a good conversation though and, when I get into one, I can talk quite a bit but I enjoy not talking as well. I also love to stay in contact with my friends and I love to hear from them too. I'm sure you know what I mean. Knowing what is going on in your friends lives is important to me and I am sure it is to you too. Maybe friendship just cools off after a while and we focus less on maintaining it when we have been friends for a while. I believe that friendship can be taken for granted and that's not a good thing. We often find it helpful to communicate with our friends when something goes wrong but let them slide when things are going along smoothly.
In any event, it is good to know that we have friends. I have been in contact with a couple of friends who are in China right now. They just went through a scary time but it looks like they will be fine. I can't disclose their names for security purposes (email is not secure in the least) but I was constantly in touch with them through a relative of theirs. They had friends praying for them for the last several days and they have cultivated those friendships via email over the last several years. I have a couple of friends in Europe who email me regularly and it helps us maintain our friendship even though we are so far apart. At least one of them subscribes to Theo's Devos and they often comment on them. I am grateful..
I suppose one of the things that goes through my mind when I read this verse it that I should not take my friends for granted. I need to let them know that they are thought of. It will take my time to do that. It will not be 'convenient' but it is necessary. They have been there for me when I needed them and I should be there for them. I hope that they know that I would.
May God bless you and may He give you even more friends. Take care of them and nurture those friendships. They are much more precious than you may think.
Theoo
Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
I was reading Psalms today and noticed this verse. Now I have read this verse many, many times before but, for some reason, it stuck in my mind this time. I have been pondering the reason all day. It is now late at night and, since I can't sleep, I have turned to Theo's Devos. I find myself using these late hours to write these devos often. The quietness seems to help me think and pray.
Now one of the reasons this verse means something to me is because I have a lot of friends. The only problem for me is that, since I have moved several times, my friends are at a distance now. They are literally spread all over the country and around the world. The result is that it is difficult for me to act on this verse and yet it still means a lot to me.
“A friend loves at all times,,” we are told. That is good to know because it not only assures me that friends will always be there for us but it also helps us know the quality of true friendship. Have you ever had a friend, or thought you did, but it just seemed like everything else was more important to them than your friendship. They were too busy to take time with you. I have found that we all have time to do the things that we want to do so taking time with your friend is something we should look to do. I am not sure what those people are who are 'too busy' for you but true friendship doesn't seem like it is in view here.
Now it could be that they didn't think about it like that. Maybe they thought that the friendship was strong enough to handle not paying much attention to it. The problem is that the Bible says that a friend 'loves' at all times. That is a strong word. Obviously there are lots of levels of love. We love lots of things but not at the same intensity. How much do we 'love' our friends? Do they know that? Have you told them?
I am not a big talker. I do enjoy a good conversation though and, when I get into one, I can talk quite a bit but I enjoy not talking as well. I also love to stay in contact with my friends and I love to hear from them too. I'm sure you know what I mean. Knowing what is going on in your friends lives is important to me and I am sure it is to you too. Maybe friendship just cools off after a while and we focus less on maintaining it when we have been friends for a while. I believe that friendship can be taken for granted and that's not a good thing. We often find it helpful to communicate with our friends when something goes wrong but let them slide when things are going along smoothly.
In any event, it is good to know that we have friends. I have been in contact with a couple of friends who are in China right now. They just went through a scary time but it looks like they will be fine. I can't disclose their names for security purposes (email is not secure in the least) but I was constantly in touch with them through a relative of theirs. They had friends praying for them for the last several days and they have cultivated those friendships via email over the last several years. I have a couple of friends in Europe who email me regularly and it helps us maintain our friendship even though we are so far apart. At least one of them subscribes to Theo's Devos and they often comment on them. I am grateful..
I suppose one of the things that goes through my mind when I read this verse it that I should not take my friends for granted. I need to let them know that they are thought of. It will take my time to do that. It will not be 'convenient' but it is necessary. They have been there for me when I needed them and I should be there for them. I hope that they know that I would.
May God bless you and may He give you even more friends. Take care of them and nurture those friendships. They are much more precious than you may think.
Theoo
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