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Slaves of Christ

No Comments 14 March 2010

Wow. Michael Card nails it in this video clip.

Scripture
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

Observation
At the time it happens, it never seems to be a great thing to displease Jesus. When it happens, the person is surrounded by friends or foes, steeped deeply in group think. The peer pressure is not just coercive, it’s also confusing. So a person ends up agreeing, when they don’t want to agree, or doing when they don’t really want to do it. It seems a small thing.

But it is a very big thing to God. If we honor him, he will honor us; if we disown him, he will disown us, to paraphrase Christ. We are to be servants of Christ, even while others attempt to get us working for them. It is a great thing to be able to think Christlike under pressure. There is only one way that can happen. We must start and sustain our day with the thought that we are Christ’s slaves. To give it a modern twist, say I am an employee of McDonalds. I can’t on a whim, while still on the time clock, while still dressed in McDonald’s garb, wander over to Starbucks and start pouring coffees. I have to work for those who pay me. I have to serve Christ who has called me.

Application
I want to think clearly in the presence of many voices to know the will of my Master.

Prayer
Father, give me ears to hear Jesus’ command. If servants of a king can sprint to his slightest gesture while the ballroom is swirling and raucous, then surely I can hear you speak in the world in which I live. Help me to hear you speak this day. I choose to be your servant. Amen.

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God’s Give and Take

2 Comments 08 March 2010

Scripture

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna… Deuteronomy 8:3

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Deuteronomy 8:10-14

Observation
There is a pattern in God’s ways of dealing with us. First, he blesses us by denying us comforts of life. The hairy shirt ordeals of life draw prayers out of us. At first we pray for stuff, but if we pray long enough we start to pray about ourselves and if we pray even longer we start to cry out for the Lord himself. About a mile or two after we’ve said “enough”, the Lord shows up and blesses us by giving us more than we ever asked for. Abundance falls like manna. The drought turns into a flood. Grace abounds.

I saw this pattern of God yesterday in talking to a young dad at church. He was so excited, because after 9 months of joblessness, living in a cramped apartment, God showed up. His wife got a huge raise. He got a job. And both of them got a much bigger house. As he spoke, I thought of this principle of austerity then abundance.

Application
I need to keep the memories of scarcity close to my heart so that in times of abundance I do not loose sight of what matters. Moses advised the people to “praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you” so that they would never forget who got them there. So today I make a memorial not to my successes, but to the hard days. There have been days of living without a paycheck. There have been days of sickness. There have been dead-end, dirty jobs. There have been unfair conditions. These too were the blessings of God. And while I remember them, I give thanks to God for bringing me to Bothell, to Evergreen, to new friends and new potentials.

Prayer
Father, this day I praise you for your wise leadership of my life and your sustaining presence leading me home. Amen.

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601,730

No Comments 07 March 2010

Scripture
601,730. Numbers 26:51

Observation
There are certain numbers that mean more than just digits. 1776 is more than a year. September 11 is more than a day. The number 31 takes on a whole different meaning when applied to ice cream rather than calendars. The number 601,730 is just as profound if we understand what it means.

When God’s people left Egypt there were 603, 550 men. Just forty years later there were just 1,820 people fewer at 601,730. That was quite an achievement considering the challenges. Without Walmart, Costco, Blue Cross, City Water, City Sanitation, Moses had moved over a million people on foot for four decades through a desert. The ground had swallowed some and fire burned up others. So losing just under 2,000 in total population count was quite a feat after 40 years. Study any great flight of refugees in the world and it is plain that in hard times numbers dwindle. But 601,730 survived.

Application
Was that great leadership? No it was a great God guiding his people. Do we have any conception of the Lord’s ability to sustain and guide us?

Prayer
Father,as I lead your people at Evergreen, I am looking for your sustaining power. If you could help your people in Moses’ day just break even in hard times, then I trust you to do yet even more in these times that are so good. I trust you to sustain and guide us. Amen.

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Hinderances to Answered Prayer

No Comments 04 March 2010

Scripture
“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Mark 11:24

Observation
What keeps prayers from being answered? The secret is in the verse above and the verse below.

The first shark under the water is doubt. It isn’t doubt alone that is the problem; it is where the doubt is kept.

“…And does not doubt in his heart…” (Mark 11:23)

Doubt stored in the heart is dangerous to faith. It is the fear unspoken that is most debilitating. The safest place for fear is in the presence of God. Prayer is more than telling God what we believe he can do; it is also confessing what we are afraid he cannot.

The second setback is unconfessed resentment.

“…Whenever you stand praying, forgive…” (Mark 11:25)

The choice to forgive is the release of the problem from our hands and placing it into the Lord’s. In a state of unforgiveness, God cannot help us because we are clutching the trouble. But when we forgive we release and the Lord takes control.

Application
I need to assess what I’m clutching in my hands and in my heart and bring it out into the presence of the Lord.

Prayer
Father, I want to approach you today with open and empty hands and heart. Amen.

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Fire Starter

No Comments 03 March 2010

I was at Hillsong in 1995 when this song was first introduced. It came at the most important turning point of my life, and began the journey that has put me here today. I’m so glad that I said ‘yes’.

Scripture
So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” Exodus 3:3

Observation
We live in an old farm house with wide-white woodwork, creaking hardwood floors and a cast iron, wood stove in the living room that heats the house. Mornings are cold. I dash out in barefoot and build a fire. Today I have just two sticks for kindling. I pack the box with paper, I break up the sticks to make as many bits as I can and toss in a match. After pampering the fire it promptly goes out. The stove is full of logs, but black and cold.

I give up on the fire and turn to prayer. After about a half hour of praying I hear a sound of heat-expanding metal. A miracle has happened in my firebox. All the logs are blazing. It happened when I gave up and turned to prayer. I laugh out loud in the morning quiet as I hear logs pop in the flames. The wordless message is not wasted on my heart.

Application
One of the strangest sights is a fire burning that I did not start or a work flourishing that I did not build. I feel the need of this lesson today as I enter day 13 of my beginnings at Evergreen and Bothell. Astute arranging and heavy lugging do not build a burning flame. Sometimes to build a fire, we need to turn our back on it and just pray. As this room is warming today, I am remembering that I may be a builder of fires but it is the Lord who brings the flame. Sometimes that happens when least expected and I have nothing to do with it at all. Because this is not about me but all about him, I want it like that.

Prayer
Father, as I do my thing today, send the fire. My confidence is not in my own preparations but in your gift of the match to make it all burn. Ignite us Lord when we least expect you to. Amen.

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Don’t Lead Your Lord

No Comments 01 March 2010

Scripture
And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Mark 8:32-33

Observation
It is one thing to acknowledge Jesus is Lord, and it is another to let him be the Lord. Peter was first to see that Jesus is the Christ, the one longed for by the human race as the meaning of life and the one loved of God as his greatest gift to us. But Peter wanted Jesus to behave as he expected a Messiah to act. In Pete’s mind it was about power and victory; but Jesus spoke of suffering as the way to authority.

There is always a tendency to chop God down to our size. We’re quite happy for him to be God, just so long as he works within the playbook that we’ve devised. But God will be God. Jesus is Christ only if I let him be Lord of my life.

Application
Friendship with Christ does not mean that I am to become familiar with his office and authority. Peter was close enough to Jesus to be considered his friend, yet he had to learn to respect the call that God had upon his own Son. This is true in my relationship with Jesus. I call him Lord and allow him to Lord it over me. It also applies to every human relationship. Each human being holds some kind of God-given responsibility in life. I must respect the role God has given them as much as I want them to respect my own.

Prayer
Father, I take my life today back to the simple confession: I believe that Jesus is the Christ. From that let life bubble out of me today. Let life come in me and through me. Amen.

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I'm Phil McCallum, a husband, father and most of all one of the people Jesus loves. I'm privileged to serve Evergreen Community Church in Bothell, Washington as Senior Pastor where people love enough to believe "it's all about relationships." In 1982 I made a vow to read God's word daily and apply it to life. Each day I write out my reflections. Some days I post those on my blog. It's a little personal but it's my hope it will stir you to go deeper still. Learn how I do my devotions. These are my thoughts and not necessarily those of the ministry I serve. By the way check out the computer study Bible Glo. I highly recommend it.

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