Faith at Work Today archives
April 2008
Faith at Work Today
April 18, 2008
Daily
TRUTH IN LOVE
Then He
opened His mouth and taught them, saying: (Mt. 5:2, NKJV)
Have you
ever really studied and meditated on what might be the greatest sermon ever delivered
– the Sermon on the Mount? It starts in Mt. 5 and continues all the
way to Mt. 8. It is the single longest record of Jesus speaking
continuously. The content is both earthshaking in its import and gently
subtle in its delivery. The tremendously powerful truths of a wrecking
ball are delivered with the delicate touch of a jeweler.
This is the
essence of the truth in love.
Faith at
Work: As
Christians we have a mandate to go into the world, to every tongue, tribe, and
nation and share the truth of the Gospel. As followers of Christ we have
His example of how to do it with love.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Sam. 22;
Ps. 17,35; Mt. 6
Faith at Work Today
April 17, 2008
Daily
THE POWER OF “IF”
Now when
the tempter came to Him, he said, “If you are the Son of God, command
that these stones become bread.” (Mt. 4:3, NKJV)
Introducing
doubt is one of the enemy’s main weapons against us. If Satan can
convince you that what you believe is false or that you aren’t everything
that He promised that you are, he can get you to lose your faith and
stumble. Remember what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden (Gen. 3:3)
when he lied about what God had said about the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil? He introduced doubt and confusion.
Jesus examples for us how to deal with the devil. He quotes the Word of God; it
is truth.
Faith at
Work: Never neglect the Word of God. You need to be reading,
studying, and meditating on it daily. You will stand up when the tempter
shows up to trip you up.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Sam. 20,21; Ps. 34; Mt. 5
Faith at Work Today
April 16, 2008
Daily
LIKE A DOVE
When He
had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the
heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. (Mt. 3:16, NKJV)
I had a
tough time concentrating on the Word this morning; I was distracted. Distracted by the sweetest of sounds…a tiny songbird in a
tree in my backyard. He was singing loudly through the cold
drizzle, loud enough to penetrate the walls of my house. It was a lone
bird, the first of the season, and I felt like it was singing just for
me. This may seem like small doings to those of you in warmer climes this
time of year, but to those of us here in
We’ve
really had an ugly past 6 months, weatherwise.
April is usually our Spring and thus far has been
uninspiring. With the exception of 2 days, it has been cold, rainy, and
blowing. People are grumpy, irritable, anxious to get their boats in the
water, looking for picnic and beach-walking opportunities, but there is no sign
that Spring is coming. This is how life is
sometimes, seeming to plod on, grinding us down monotonously. Then Father
sends a tiny voice to alight upon us and remind us that He is there, watching
and waiting…with us…and He is well pleased.
Faith at
Work: Remember that even in the bleakest of times, He is there.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Sam. 19;
1 Chr. 7; Ps. 59;
Faith at Work Today
April 15, 2008
Daily
COMMUNICATE
The Lord
also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
And those who know Your name will put their trust in
You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. (Psalm 9:9,10, NKJV)
The Lord
will not forsake those who seek Him. Interesting that
the operative part of this promise is the seeking. Relationship
with Father takes an investment of time and effort. What if you knew
someone, even called him a friend, but never talked with him, never inquired
about what was going on in his life, never took time to understand what is
important to him, or to help him achieve those aims?
Think about
that. What is it that forms the basis of any relationship? What is
the one prerequisite? Communication. There
a several billion people that I don’t have a relationship with because I
don’t communicate with them. I may encounter a stranger in
the parking lot and strike up a conversation about the weather or the big game,
and BANG, the beginning of a relationship starts with that person. From
there we may exchange names and contact information and become
acquaintances. We may spend more time communicating and subsequently find
we enjoy each others’ company and become friends…maybe even best
friends. At the heart is the quality and intensity of the communication
exchange.
Faith at
Work: If you are not taking the time to communicate with your heavenly
Father in prayer, meditation, study of His Word, and listening to His Spirit,
how can you enjoy an ever-deepening relationship with Him? Seek
Him. He will not forsake you.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Sam. 18;
1 Chr. 6; Ps. 11; Mt. 3
Faith at Work Today
April 14, 2008
Daily
TEEN BEAT
…For
the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but
the Lord looks at the heart. – (1 Sam. 16:7, NKJV)
King Saul,
Mr. Popularity, messed up with the Lord, failing to do as He commanded
regarding the Amalekites. As a result, the Lord
censures King Saul, vexes him, and determines to replace him with a young
shepherd boy named David. Note in all this that the transition was not
overnight; even though the prophet Samuel dismissed Saul and anointed David as
the rightful king, it took quite some time for the thing to manifest
fully.
Can you
imagine the kind of character and conviction it must have required of
David? Put yourself in his situation, you’ve been anointed as the
successor to the throne, yet you’ve been summoned to play soothing music
for the king, to tend at his side, to place yourself in a position of
submission, and remain patient until your time comes. What young 15 or 16
year old wouldn’t want to press the matter with the Lord, jump up and
declare recklessly, “Hey, I’ve been anointed king by the Almighty. I don’t want to wait. I want to
rule now!”?
Faith at
Work: Think of your selfish, carnal nature as the young and impulsive
teenager and your born-again, spiritual nature as the patient one who
selflessly serves the true King. Really not to hard to imagine is it?
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Sam. 17;
Ps. 9; 2 Mt. 2
Faith at Work Today
April 11, 2008
Daily
IN PERIL
Three
times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked;
a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters,
in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the
Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the
sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness
often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness – (2 Cor.
11:25-27, NKJV)
How
important is the truth? How far will you go to find it? Once found,
how far will you go to spread it? What will you endure to see that as
many people hear that truth as possible? These are questions Father has
been impressing upon me lately. He’s given me an image of what the
world in the absence of truth is like:
Imagine a
place where everything is an illusion, nothing is firm and fixed.
What seems solid and reliable one moment is gone the next. The only
constant is that nothing is constant. Compasses don’t work because
North moves around. Up is down. Down is up. People are disoriented
and lost for a lack of bearing. They are trying to right themselves, get
reoriented, find reliable footing, but are suffering and perishing due to the
absolute chaos engulfing them. Sounds like a strange, psychedelic music
video.
What if you
could help this world by showing its inhabitants what was real and what was
unreal. What would you suffer to accomplish such a mission?
Faith at
Work: C. S. Lewis wrote, “in the absence
of courage, all other virtues or for naught”. He’s
right. Truth is worth dying for. It’s also worth living for.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Sam. 13;
1 Chr. 2,3; 2 Cor. 12
April 13: 1 Sam. 14; 1 Chr. 4; 2 Cor. 13
April 14: 1 Sam. 15,16; 1 Chr. 5; Mt.1
Faith at Work Today
April 8, 2008
Daily
LIVE SIMPLY
As it is
written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered
little had no lack.” (2 Cor. 8:15, NKJV)
Here the
Apostle Paul is referring to an OT scripture (Ex. 16:18) about the manna from
heaven – God’s provision for His people. God had provided
enough of the ‘wonder bread’ for all His people in the
wilderness. Some were able to gather much, others not enough or none at
all. God’s plan for providing the manna was that those with much
gave freely to those who had little. This scripture calls to mind a
saying I heard recently, “Live simply that others may simply live.”
While we
are blessed to live in such a rich nation, others in diverse places in the
world (including our brothers and sisters in Christ) are struggling for basic
subsistence necessities such as food, water, fire wood. As we consume a
disproportionate amount of the non-renewable resources of the Earth, we have a
mandate to help provide for the basic needs of others less blessed.
Faith at
Work: One very practical way to help provide for others is to tighten our
own belts and practice some consumer restraint. This will accomplish two
things: 1) there will be more non-renewable resources available and; 2)
you will have more money available to donate to worthy causes.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Sam. 6,7; Ps. 72; 2 Cor. 9
Faith at Work Today
April 7, 2008
Daily
THE MIRACLE YOU CAN PERFORM
“For
this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of
Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall
be lent to the Lord.” So they worshipped the Lord there. (1
Sam. 1:27-28, NKJV)
The story
of Hannah’s travail before the Lord and His compassion on her for the
birth of her son Samuel is one of the most compelling and touching in the Word
of God. My wife and I love and identify with this story so deeply that we
named two of our children from it…Hannah and Samuel.
Not only is
the story telling of what is possible with a broken heart before a loving
heavenly Father, but what is possible when true devotion is manifested.
Hannah was broken, distraught before the Lord, over her barrenness and the
vexation of Peninnah. She cried out to Him in
her anguish. He heard and blessed her with a son. That was a
miracle. The second miracle occurred when Hannah dedicated this same
beloved son back to the Lord for His service through Eli the priest.
Jesus said
to the doubters, scoffers, and religiously high-minded of His day, “What
is easier, that I should say to this man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you will know that the
Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” – then He said to
the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
(Mt. 9:5-6). Which is the greater miracle?
Which was
the greater miracle in Hannah’s life? The
physical miracle that she was able to conceive a child? Or that
she had such love and devotion for Father God that she would dedicate and
release that same child back to Him?
Faith at
Work: What personally precious thing have you dedicated back to the Lord
as a result of the miracle of your salvation and the many blessings you have
received? Your time, your talent, your treasure, your
attention?
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Sam.
3-5; Ps. 77; 2 Cor. 8
Faith at Work Today
April 4, 2008
Daily
DROP IT
Therefore
we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the
inward man is being renewed day by day. (2 Cor.
4:16, NKJV)
May I be
brutally honest for a minute? As a pastor, I interact with lots of people
in the community. Most are complete strangers that our congregation has
gone out to minister to. Others are people I encounter in line at the
post office or grocery store and strike-up a friendly conversation with.
Many are in some kind of need or crisis. Very often I observe the
personal contribution they have made to their own difficult and frustrating
circumstances, yet they don’t stop doing the behaviors that
contribute to this pain. It is a devilish pattern…some sadistic
torture wherein the captive victim is told the only way out of their hole is to
keep digging.
My heart
breaks for these people. As a pastor, I desire to see them lose these
chains of bondage and be set free to become the beloved children that their
heavenly Father created and intended them to be. The truly sad part is
that most of them are not shackled at hand and foot with manacles, but
are holding the chains themselves and could drop them at anytime.
Faith at
Work: I have no idea how what I just wrote relates to the scripture the
Lord has shown me this morning in 2 Cor. 4:16.
I am writing this by faith, trusting that some reader will read it and be
blessed, encouraged, or set free by it. It that isn’t you, pray and
see if the Lord brings someone to mind who could stand to read this and forward
it to them.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: Ruth 1,2; Ps. 53, 61; 2 Cor. 5
5 April: Ruth 3,4; Ps. 64,65 ; 2 Cor. 6
6 April: 1 Sam. 1,2; Ps. 66, 61; 2 Cor. 7
Faith at Work Today
April 3, 2008
Daily
KEEP READING
But even
to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless
when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (2 Cor. 3:15-16, NKJV)
Ever read a
portion of the OT, particularly the Mosaic Law (the first 5 books of the Bible)
and sit and wonder what it means? Very often there is an interpretive
challenge or difficulty understanding a passage, especially from the books of
Moses. Take Deu. 14:1 for example:
“You
are the children of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave
the front of your head for the dead.”
Not a
custom in wide practice today, particularly in the Western world, yet Father
saw fit to issue this mandate to His people. Here the interpretive
challenge is based on the culture (a function of time and place).
Not all such passages are as easily explicable. Many are much more
challenging to our modern sensibilities such as in this week’s readings
in Judges when the Lord endorses the slaughter of whole cities.
As I read
through the Word of God, one of the things I realize is that He is reading
me through it. When my understanding about some event, person, thing,
or spiritual truth in the Bible is challenged I recognize that it is me
who comes short of His Word, not His Word failing to measure up to me.
That’s what I think, at least in part, Paul means about the
‘veil’ being taken away when we turn to the Lord.
Faith at
Work: As you approach an understanding of God’s Word, do so with
discernment not judgment. It’s alright not to comprehend something
for now; as we grow in Christ, we grow in wisdom and gain understanding (Pro.
24:3,4).
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: Judg. 19-21; 2 Cor. 4
Faith at Work Today
April 2, 2008
Daily
FINISH WELL
Then
Samson called to the Lord, saying “O Lord God, remember me, I pray!
Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I
may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!”
(Judg. 16:28, NKJV)
I was
really captivated this morning by Samson. I’ve read his story many
times, but for some reason, it grabbed me this morning. What a dynamic
and intriguing person he was…the Nazirite vow,
the superhuman strength, the weakness for manipulative women. He had
tremendous physical and mental strength, yet these seemed to conspire somehow
to make him especially susceptible to the seductive wiles of Delilah –
whom the enemy used toward his eventual downfall.
What a
timeless lesson about the need for purity and the certain trouble that awaits once
we choose to go down that path. But one thing we should always keep in
mind about Samson – he finished well. By recognizing his sin and
returning to Father, his strength was restored and he was allowed to complete
his life-purpose.
Faith at
Work: Remember that no matter the sin, Father is as just to forgive as He
is to judge.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: Judg. 17,18; Ps. 89; 2 Cor. 3
Faith at Work Today
April 1, 2008
Daily
LITTLE WARS
Then Jephthah went with the elders of
I really
loved the reading in Judges this morning. Not because of the war,
violence, and tragedy, but because of Japhthah’s
heart. He had been sent away as an outcast by the people of
When
threats came at Gilead from the nation of Ammon, the
people of Gilead sought Japhthah to rule over them,
defend
This is a story of reconciliation, forgiveness, and the success that follows…at least for Japhthah and the Gileadites.
Faith at Work: Unforgiveness, bitterness, resentments, grudges, these are little wars in your heart. Enthrone the King of Forgiveness in the chambers of your heart and you will enjoy a peace dividend.
Love and blessings!
Pastor Mark
Tomorrow’s Reading: Judg. 13-16; 2 Cor. 2
Click here for March 2008 Faith at Work Today archives
Click here for February 2008 Faith at Work Today archives
Click here for January 2008 Faith at Work Today archives
Click here for December 2007 Faith at Work Today archives
Click here for November 2007 Faith at Work Today archives
Click here for October 2007 Faith at Work Today archives
Click here for September 2007 Faith at Work Today archives
Click here for August 2007 Faith at Work Today archives