21 Days of Consecration - Day 13, John 13 - Timing is Everything!

In 1982 I was a junior and the first chair tuba player in the Pineville High School Band. My best friend, John Tabler, was first chair trombone. Together we were a big part of the low brass section, the foundation of the band. We had both decided to transfer to a different school for our senior year and were working up the courage to tell our band director. Finally, the night of our Spring Concert we worked up the nerve to tell him right after the concert. His face was crestfallen and he didn't say much until he said something I'll never forget: "Timing is everything. You could have waited til any other time to tell me this."

The long of the story is that neither of us transferred, we both finished our senior years at PHS, John and his family moved back to Georgia and he went on to bigger and better things. (And you know about me.) But I'll never forget the look on Mr. Clement's face, the disappointment, the hurt that showed. And I'll never forget the way I learned the eternal truth that "Timing is everything."

I thought of that experience when I read the first verse of John 13:

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. (John 13:1 NASB)

On several different occasions John mentions Jesus' time or hour. Prior to now, each time it was to say that it had not come (John 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20). But now the hour has come. Jesus had been moving inevitably toward the destiny for which He had come - the cross. That's why He had never feared the crowds or the death threats or the cliffs. His time was in God's hands. He knew that timing is everything.

In our lives we're always in a hurry, trying to rush along to the next outcome, trying to speed up things, wanting to grow faster, mature more quickly, etc. But what peace comes from knowing that our time is in God's hands and His timing is perfect. If we can rest in that assurance, it will bring a great sense of settledness to our souls. Even if we don't see things the way we like them - just hold on, timing is everything.

This even applies to outgrowing the yokes on our lives. Is it possible that the Lord allows certain yokes to remain so we WILL grow stronger and eventually break them by the strength HE provides? Perhaps He is saving our victory for just the right moment? I don't have all that figured out in my head but one thing I do know. Timing is everything! And MY time is in His hands! How about yours?

Blessings,
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 12, John 12 - Sin Grows! Deal With It!

Here in the Southeast there is a plant that was imported from Japan about 130 years ago called kudzu, or "the vine that ate the South". It's called that because it can grow up to a foot a day during the summer! That means the average vine grows over 60 feet per year! And that's just one vine!

Kudzu was first brought from Japan to the US in 1876 and promoted as an ornamental plant and a cure for erosion. However, the hot, humid summers, mild winters and lack of natural predators allowed kudzu to take off like gang-busters. (That a highly technical word for "a lot" [Grin]) Now it's listed as a "pest weed" and costs around $500 million annually in lost cropland and control costs. (Source: Wikipedia) While they help prevent erosion, the vines can also destroy valuable forests by preventing trees from getting sunlight. And they take over EVERYTHING! (Just check out the car in the picture. Yes, that's a car!)

This is what I thought of when I read part of John 12 today. Listen to these verses:

"But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus." (John 12:10-11 NASB)

How do I associate kudzu with these verses? Well, it's actually pretty easy - sin grows! In yesterday's reading we hear Caiaphas, the high priest that year, say, "... it is expedient for you that one man die for the people..." (John 11:50b NASB) Now they've gone from wanting to kill ONE man to planning to kill TWO! All in just one chapter! Sin grows!

This week we've been dealing with the issue of breaking yokes in our lives. On Sunday one of the yokes we talked about that keeps us back from serving God fully is sin. Others included bitterness, selfishness, religion, habits, addictions, etc. There are lots of things that can keep us back from serving God the way we long to. But if we never deal with them, the yoke will actually grow and become more heavy. (I probably should have written "heavier" there - but "more heavy" sounded more ominous! [Grin])

Once you've identified the yokes in your life and brought them to Jesus, it's time to OUTGROW them by doing what Jesus tells us to do. In our Community Groups notes this week I've asked you to share what steps the Lord has given you to deal with them, so that they can help you remain accountable. I hope that's going well for you.

So how about it? Are you dealing with the yokes in your life? Or are they growing? Because they will grow, left untended. And they'll be more than a pest weed. They'll actually consume your life! Let's Deal With It! ... Together! Don't forget to leave me a comment or send me an email about what God is doing in your life! I love hearing from you!

Blessings
Nathan

P.S. Here are a couple of other devotional resources you might enjoy from others who are participating in the 21 Days of Consecration (also called "Awakening"):

• http://joeldyke.com/blog/ - Joel is one of my best friends in the whole world! (Even if he does tell funny stories on me!)
  
• http://www.awake21.org/ - The home of the "Awakening" campaign.
• http://www.healingplacechurch.org/life/ - Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge - good stuff!
  

21 Days of Consecration - Day 11, John 11 - Martha gets a bad rap!

Before I get to my thought for the day I want to take a moment and share something. When the phone rings at 3:30AM it's often not good news, especially when you're a pastor. (You can just imagine!) But this morning the 3:30AM call was good news! Kyle and Heather had a baby!!! Heather worked all day yesterday and through the night and early this morning little Miss Emma came into our world, ready to rule the roost! I'll have more particulars later, but I wanted to pass along this first picture so you can help them celebrate. (BTW, if you plan to visit, please wait until this afternoon as they are ALL exhausted!)

OK, on to my Rambling for the day!

When most folks think of Martha, they think of the story of her being kitchen serving and a little jealous of her sister Mary, who is sitting and Jesus' feet. We hear Jesus' gentle rebuke almost as a swipe against serving and we promise to be more diligent about our quiet time. But if you read the account in Luke 10, you'll see that Jesus was indeed gentle with her, calling her "Martha, Martha" - a way of expressing affection.

However, Martha still gets a bad rap. But as I read today's chapter it seems to me that she is the who believes in Jesus the most. Just listen to a couple of these verses:

"Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.'" (John 11:20-22 NASB)

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?' She said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.'" (John 11:25-27 NASB)

Wow! That's one of the strongest statements of belief you'll find from ANYONE in the entire Bible. There were times Jesus' own disciples didn't believe as much as she did! It was her belief in Jesus that sent her running to meet Him while Mary stayed back in the house. It was her belief in Jesus that caused her to proclaim that even after Lazarus had been dead four days, "EVEN NOW I know whatever You ask of God, God will give You." It was her belief in Jesus that caused her to proclaim that He was the Christ, the Son of God for all to hear.

Yes, she did later complain about her sister - she thought she should have been helping her serve the One she believed in to demonstrate her love and belief in a practical way. Jesus gently corrected her, acknowledging her service but helping her see what was truly important. Why? Because He loved her and wanted to help her keep her focus on the right things.

Have we ever gotten a little out of alignment or needed a gentle nudge of correction? If so, let's not make Martha out to be a monster. Instead, let's emulate her faith and belief in Jesus, even in the face of the impossible. And we will see the impossible become a reality!!! (BTW, I picked the picture on the left because I see a hint of a smile on Martha's face and her belief in Him is seen in the way she looks at Him. At least in MY opinion!)

That's it for today! We're on Day 11, which means we've passed the half-way point of our 21 Days of Consecration. If you haven't joined in with us yet, why don't you start today by reading John 11. And share with me the things the Lord is speaking to you. Because,

I LOVE serving Jesus with YOU!
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 10, John 10 - He knows my name!

Every Friday I go to "lunch with the guys" and we typically go to the same place. It's something I doing started a couple of years ago with one of my friends and it's grown over time. The place we go sometimes has slow service but the food is pretty good. One unique thing they do is when they take your order, instead of giving you a ticket with a number, they write your name on it. Then, when your order is ready, a worker comes out and calls out your name for you to raise your hand and they bring it to you. We've been going there so much that for most of us they don't even call out our name - they know our name and just bring it straight to our table.

That illustration came to my mind today as I read verse 3 of John 10. Let me show you part of verse 2 and 3 for it to make sense:

"...he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." (John 10:2-3 NASB)

We live in a big society where more often than not we are just a number, either a social security number, an account number, a driver's license number, an order number, a number in line waiting to be served, etc. It's so good to be KNOWN. That's probably why we have a tendency to go back to the same places - because they know us. Do you remember the old theme song from the TV sitcom Cheers? It has a line that says, "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name." That captures the essence of our heart - we long to be known ... by name!

I'm so grateful my Shepherd knows my name. He knows me individually, my needs, my wants, my wanderings, my strengths and weaknesses too. And that verse goes on to say that He "leads them out." He doesn't drive them, but He walks before them and they follow Him because they know His voice. (See verse 4.)

Because He knows our name, He's able to minister to us individually, even through the same sermon. It's almost like the Lord has a divine mail merge where He inserts to each one of us just what WE need to hear and we wonder who talked to the preacher about our need! It's because our Shepherd knows our name. That's a good thing, isn't it?!

Today's a monumental day. A new president will be inaugurated whose election was historic. I'm praying for him, for his success, for him to truly rely on the God of the Bible upon which he will rest his hand when he takes the oath of office. Everyone in that crowd of hundreds of thousands of people know his name. But of that multitude there are only a relatively few that he knows their name. What a privilege that is, to be known by someone like that.

You are known by the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, the Magnificent Benefactor of all things good. He formed you and fashioned you in your mother's womb. He wrote a journal about your life before you ever lived a day. He intended GREAT things for you and wants the best for you. He knows YOUR name. And don't you forget it!

Be encouraged!
Blessings

21 Days of Consecration - Day 9, John 9 - "So he went."

The first story we come across in John 9 is Jesus healing the man who was blind from his birth. The disciples wanted to talk about who was to blame for his being born blind, but Jesus was more interested in doing the work of God and shining the Light into the darkness. Take a look at this quick anime video from Youtube to refresh yourself on the story:



The part of the story that really jumped out to me is that Jesus desired to heal this man, to remove the yoke of blindness, but the man never would have been healed if he hadn't done what Jesus said. Listen to this part again:

"...[Jesus]spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing." (John 9:6-7 NASB)

Do you realize that if the man had not gone to the pool of Siloam to do what Jesus said he would have remained in his blindness? He would have died an old blind man with a crust of divine mud around his eyes.

Yesterday was a powerful service at Christian Challenge. I ministered on "Breaking the Yokes" and we provided slips of paper with a picture of an ox-yoke on them. I encouraged everyone to ask the Lord to help them identify yokes on their lives that were holding them back from serving God fully. At the end we brought out the cross we had nailed our "certificates of debt" to in March of last year. (We had taken down the slips of paper, but it still had the nails on it, which ministers to me every time I see it.) I invited people to come bring their yokes to the cross and tear them up, symbolically breaking breaking the yokes, and leave them at the foot of the cross. As you can see from the pictures, a lot of healing and freedom took place!

But now's the important part. It's not enough to have the point of contact, which is what that act of tearing the yoke was. Now it's time to DO what Jesus says! For many of us, upon identifying the yoke the Lord will show us what actions to take to break the yoke, to outgrow the yoke. (You'll have to listen to the sermon to understand that point from Is 10:27. Here's how the NIV translates that verse "In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat.") But if we don't do what He's given us to do, then we'll remain in the yoke.

So what is He telling you to do? What action steps is He calling you to, what changes of habits or routines or thinking does He want you to begin making? Whatever it is, be like the blind man who when Jesus said, "Go" the Bible says, "So he went!"

Blessings,
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 8, John 8 - Breaking Yokes

It doesn't matter how many times we hear the story of the woman caught in adultery and Jesus saying, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone", the story never ceases to enthrall us. And yet, as many times as I've read it and heart it I learned something new today. I never realized this story took place in the temple! (See John 8:2) I always imagined Jesus stooping down to write in the dusty street or countryside. I never realized this took place on the site that was consecrated to God.

That just goes to show that the enemy of our soul likes to turn worship into religion, which is an excuse to put yokes of accusation and condemnation on people. That's what religion is - man-made rules that pretend to have a heavenly origin. Religion causes people to do strange things like seek for power, form cliques, ostracizing others not like the "in" crowd. The Pharisees were so intent on catching Jesus in error that they turned a court of worship into a court of accusation.

But Jesus came to break yokes! This morning I'm going to be teaching on the second part of our ABC's of Consecration. (Spiritual Alignment, Breaking Yokes, Setting the Captives Free.) As we look at the issue of Breaking Yokes I'm going to talk about seven difference classifications of yokes - and many of them are found right here in this story - sin, religion, "pointing fingers", habits/addictions - but you'll have to hear the teaching, which will be on our website sometime this afternoon, for it to make sense. I hope you're able to be with us this morning. It's going to be a powerful service as we see the Lord truly break yokes in our lives that are keeping us back from serving Him fully.

As for our 21 Days of Consecration, we're on Day 8, the beginning of the second week. The number 8 stands for "new beginnings". If you have joined with us yet or if you've struggled along the way, today's a good day to start over. Join with us in reading through the 21 chapters of John, one per day, picking up today with chapter 8. And ask the Lord what area of your life you should consecrate to Him - many are fasting food, but I'm also hearing of some fasting from TV and even from the Wii! Whatever it is, make your own decision to replace something with time with the Lord. You won't be sorry! And don't forget to come to church this morning because ...

I love worshiping Jesus with you!
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 7, John 7 - A Good Alignment Question

We've reached Day 7 of our "21 Days of Consecration". For those who are fasting, you're 1/3 through by the end of the day. Hang in there - you're doing great!

As you'll recall our focus during these 21 eays is on the ABC's of Consecration: Spiritual Alignment, Breaking the Yokes and Setting the Captives Free. This first week has all been about Spiritual Alignment. From what I'm hearing from you, the Lord is doing some significant spiritual alignment in all of us, which brings me to the verse I want to highlight today.

The fall had arrived and with it cam the Jewish feast of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. To commemorate their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the Jews would built huts or booths to live in outdoors during this 7-day feast. If they lived in the land of Israel they would travel to Jerusalem and built their booths there. (The picture at the right shows modern day sukkas on a Jerusalem street and apartment balcony. Photo courtesy Wikipedia.)

Jesus' brothers, who were not believers at that time, wanted to prod Him into taking his "road show" to Jerusalem, to be seen publicly by the whole land. I don't know if they thought that would put an end to their Brother's eccentricities or what, but Jesus knew better than to succumb to their manipulative pressure. However, they did say something very interesting that goes to the issue of alignment we've been focusing on. Listen carefully:

"For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." (John 7:4 NASB)

Unwittingly they had told a truth about motives of the heart. They just didn't understand Jesus' heart. They thought He was doing all these things to seek publicity, to draw attention to Himself! They thought he was an "attention-hog." Everyone remembers the PE classmate who never passes the ball to anyone - we called him a "ball-hog." Well an attention-hog is someone who always somehow weasels their way to the center of attention. You know the type, the kind that always has a "me-too" story for every experience that's shared. (I could also name a few celebrities here, but I'll leave it to your imagination!)

This brings up a great alignment question - how many of our "religious activities" are because we're "seeking to be known publicly?" Jesus refused that temptation. He did things only to please the Father. This is a great motive-check, a great heart-check. "Why do I do the things I do?" If I'm doing them to draw attention to myself, then I'm no better than the hypocrites Jesus described in Matthew 6, whose only reward would end up being the attention they received.

So as we end the week of focusing on Spiritual Alignment, let's ask ourselves this question, "Why?" Why do I sing on the worship team, mow the church yard, give, teach Sunday School, lead a small group, clean the church, work on the hospitality team, lead in Awana, volunteer my time, treasures and talent? I think most of you would say you're doing it to change the lives of others and to honor the Lord. And that's the right reason. But if any of us find that we're doing any of these things "to seek to be known publicly," it's time for some more Spiritual Alignment!

Well, that wraps up Week 1 of our "21 Days of Consecration" and I'm loving it! Tomorrow I'll be ministering on Breaking the Yokes and I can't wait to see the Lord sets us free from yokes that have kept us back from serving Him wholeheartedly!

Before I leave, I just have to brag on one of my daughters a little bit. Hope tried out for the Rapides Parish Junior High Honor Band and got 2nd chair in the bass clarinet section! (She's the one highlighted in the middle of the picture. Sorry for the bad quality but I forgot to bring a REAL camera so all I had was the one on my cellphone. I used Picasa 3 from Google to make the blur so she'd stand out a bit.) They sounded GREAT! Congratulations also to Joseph Carrier (Trombone) for making the Junior High Honor Band and to Brandon Dorsey (French Horn) and Jacob Mott (Bass Trombone) for making the High School Honor Band. You guys are AWESOME! And it was great to see your families there supporting you.

Well that's it for this update. I hope you reading enjoying them as much as I do making them. Please feel free to email me or leave me a comment on the blog to let me know what God is doing in your life during these 21 Days of Consecration. I'm loving the feedback I'm getting. And most certainly...

I love serving Jesus with YOU!
Nathan