God

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Stop!! . . . Or Not.

What do you do when you see a stop sign?  Do you come to a complete stop, roll through, or simply disregard it?  Why?  How about other rules or laws?  How do you decide what to obey and what not to?  What is your “acceptable level of disobedience”?

I’ve been doing a lot of walking on the area sidewalks along the river and one section of the walk is through a fairly residential section of town.  There is a stop sign at each intersection along the river road to try to keep traffic slowed down rather than having people use it as an express thoroughfare.  On a recent walk I observed about thirty vehicles come down the street and encounter the series of four stop signs.  Out of this number only one vehicle actually stopped at each sign!  Most treated the signs as simply a suggestion — or perhaps as a yield sign.  They slowed down and appeared to look for approaching traffic (or police cars) and then simply drove through without stopping.  A couple of them didn’t even slow down and I have no idea if they even looked for the potential of crossing traffic.

As I watched, my mind kept going to the one guy that did stop and I wondered what was different about him.  Why did he stop?  What was his motivation to obey the law?  Why do people decide to do what is right even when no one is looking and it would seem to make no difference?  Is it because of the law, or something more?

How about God’s laws?  Do we follow them?  Do we ignore them? Or do we do some version of pick and choose — keeping the ones we like and ignoring the ones we don’t?

I think the answer to the “why” of the driver at the stop sign and our own obedience to God’s commands may be unnervingly similar!  Many times we live life in the “slow down and look” mode.  If we think no one is watching then we simply go ahead and do what we want.  If someone is watching then we do the right thing for the sake of appearance or to stay out of trouble.  Our obedience to the law is based out of fear.  Occasionally we become so calloused that we don’t even care who is watching or what they think — we simply go on with what we want no matter what.

I believe the correct response in both scenarios is an obedience based on love and respect for the law-giver!  When our obedience is built on this foundation then it is never up for question.  We do what is right when people are watching and when they are not.  I believe this is how Jesus could keep the law to perfection as he lived on earth as a man — he had perfect love and respect for His Father who established all law through Him.  When I realize that God’s commands are for my good and to my benefit then I am eager to keep them even when I don’t understand why.

So what do you do when God’s Word says, “Stop!”?  When His Word says, “Go!”?  Do you slow down to see who is watching?  Do you just fly on through life and ignore it?  Or do you obey willingly out of love and respect for the One who issued the command?

I pray that you and I would be doers of God’s Word because of our love and respect for Him through our relationship with Jesus.

In prayer,
Tom

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Talk FIRST to God

One of my spiritual discipline goals that I have had posted on my office wall since 2006 is to talk to God first about all of my needs, desires, complaints, etc before I even think about talking to anyone else about them.  I don’t always do that, but I continue to grow in that aspect of prayer.  I preached a sermon at a recent seminar with the title, “Talk FIRST to God”, that was assigned to me as it fit a series the church was doing.  It fit well with this goal I’ve worked on for eight years and I addressed that topic using the model prayer that Jesus gave as an example on how we ought to pray.

The outline went like this:

Talk . . .

Faithfully to God.
Intentionally to God.
Respectfully to God.
Submissively to God.
Truthfully to God.

In this context, talking faithfully to God has to do with frequency — keeping at it on a regular basis.  “Give us today our daily bread” makes no sense unless I am praying it daily — unless I don’t mind going hungry on days I don’t ask. 🙂  I need consistency — faithfulness — in my prayer life in order to build and maintain a vibrant relationship with the living God.  

When I ask God to “lead me not into temptation”, I need to talk intentionally about the things that I know are a temptation in my life and look to God for instruction and strength to not give in.  For me, temptation gets the best of me when I am not admitting that a particular issue or situation is a temptation.  My intentional conversations with God helps me to know more clearly when I need to stand and when I need to flee.

When I address God as my “Father in heaven” or pray “hallowed be your name”, I am going to God respectfully.  Sometimes I think we have settled for “formal” ways of prayer instead of focusing on respectful ways of prayer.  For me, my word choice and formality isn’t nearly as important as my attitude and internal tone.  As a parent, I know when a child is using the right formal words but there is absolutely no respect being given.  God deserves our utmost respect even, and perhaps especially, when we don’t understand or agree.

When I talk submissively to God, I’m giving up control of things being done my way.  When I pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”, I have to assume God’s will is done perfectly in heaven so I have to submit to that being the case in my life.  This way my prayers for others don’t focus so much on what I want or even what they want, rather they focus on what I know God’s will to be.  I know from scripture that God’s will is that no one should perish but all would come to repentance.  Because it is commanded, I know it is God’s will that believers would be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the world.  When I spend time in scripture, I understand more of God’s will and it helps me to pray more submissively.

Probably the hardest part of prayer is to talk truthfully to God.  When I ask God to “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”, I need to be truthful about the sin that is in my life and truthful about the lack of forgiveness that I harbor.  It is a lot easier to be generic when I pray about sin rather than be truthful when I pray about sin.  I can easily pray, “forgive my sin”, but it is much more difficult to pray, “forgive my greed, my lust, my apathy, my selfishness, etc”.  Talking truthfully with God makes us feel more vulnerable but it also greatly deepens our relationship with Him when we realize that this truthfulness does not cause us to be rejected.

I pray that you have a desire to talk first to God about everything.  I pray that God’s instruction in my life is a help to you as I share about His work in me.

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Pure Religion

The world is all grumpy
      and people act mean.
It’s all about “my rights”,
      or so it would seem.
We look at each other,
      instead of within.
Yes, I have a problem,
      it’s caused by my sin.

God gives us an answer,
     I believe this is true.
He sent us a Savior
      to make me brand new.
When I live for Jesus,
      He calls me to care,
for widows and orphans
      and people out there.

To examine my own self
      to see what is wrong.
Then allow Him to change it
      while I praise Him in song.
My faith is not visible
      by what I might say,
so I must act different
      and reject my own way!

This little writing
       is really quite plain,
I live for Jesus
      and He keeps me sane.
The life that He gives me,
      I pray for you.
That the glory of Jesus
      is all that shines through!

I pray that you find some joy and encouragement through these words.  I’ve been preaching a sermon series through the book of James and as I spent time preparing to wrap up that series, these lines just flowed from my mind.  I figure that God put them there and He brought them out, so He has a purpose to use them in someone’s life.  I pray that someone is you!  🙂

In prayer,

Tom Lemler

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Elementary Christmas

‘Twas the week before Christmas
      and all through the schools,
Not a student was listening
       nor following the rules.
Their minds were all elsewhere
      and thinking with joy,
That Christmas might bring them
       the latest new toy.

Then quite unexpected
       and out of the blue,
the meaning of Christmas
      came shining right through!
They sang of sweet Jesus
      and remembered His birth,
that very first Christmas
      when God came to earth.

It was quite a lesson
      I pray we did learn,
The real gift of Christmas
      was given, not earned.
These lines are over,
      the rhyming is done.
My prayer for each person,
      that we’d follow the Son!

I pray that you find some joy and encouragement through these words.  I’ve not even made an attempt at writing a poem since high school English when I was required to.  Yet as I considered the school and preschool children that are in the building every day as I work, these lines just flowed from my mind.  I figure that God put them there and He brought them out, so He has a purpose to use them in someone’s life.  I pray that someone is you!  🙂

Merry Christmas!

In prayer,

Tom Lemler

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As Each Part Does Its Work

What is your part in the kingdom of God?  What is your part in the local body of Christ He has placed you in?  What are the “good works He created in advance” for you to do?

This is by no means an all-inclusive or detailed list, rather it is a starting point for you to spend time with God asking the question, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”.  If you need help in determining how to best implement God’s answer to that question, talk with one of the elders or ministry staff leaders in your local church.Each Part

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Let’s Pray!

“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.  When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.”
 Deuteronomy 4:29-30 (NIV)

 What if our nation was serious about seeking God?  What if our community was serious about seeking God?  What if the church was serious about seeking God?  What if you were serious about seeking God?  What if I was serious about seeking God?

It seems to be okay at every level to seek God, or at least talk about seeking God, during times of great tragedy.  We see and hear calls for prayer from the highest positions in the land to the lowest when planes fly into buildings, when school shootings take place, when bombings cause great fear, when tragedy strikes and we have no answers.  Yes, these are times we need to pray, but I wonder what would happen in our nation, in our community, in our church, and in our life if prayer had the same priority everyday as it seems to have on days of great calamity.

Here in the U.S., today is the National Day of Prayer.  I appreciate all the work that goes into planning and promoting a National Day of Prayer.  It is great to hear and read of so many times of prayer being planned, promoted, and conducted.  We need the reminder to pray for our nation and for one another.  But what about tomorrow?  . . . and next week?  . . . and next month?  . . . and every day between now and the next National Day of Prayer?  Will you still be praying?  Will you still be seeking God with as much seriousness and fervor as you do today?  Will you still be praying for our nation and for one another?  A spiritual revival begins with a revival of prayer.  A revival of prayer begins with one person on one day, but it cannot remain with one person on one day or it will never become a real revival!

I pray that you and I would truly live a lifestyle of prayer and seek to be known by God, to know God, and to make God known — today and every day that God gives us breath!

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A God That Is MORE: Part 4 — Eternal

This article is the final post of a four-part series based on a sermon I preached at the Deer Run Church of Christ.  As Paul arrives in Athens, he finds himself in the midst of people that he describes as “very religious”.  They are constantly worshipping a variety of objects and gods.  In the practice of their worship, they set up an idol to an “UNKNOWN GOD” — perhaps so that they would not inadvertently ignore a god who could become angry with them.  It is within this context that Paul presents the case for “A God That Is MORE”!

“I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.  Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”  Acts 17:22b-23

What do you worship?  I know, the “church answer” for Christians is, “Of course, I worship God!”  But really . . . look beyond the proper answer and consider the things and/or people in your life that you give honor to . . . perhaps sometimes more honor than you give to God.  I live in a culture that surrounds me with many objects of worship — each calling out in its own way for me to give it my time, energy, treasure, emotion, and worship.  My guess is that you live in a culture much like that as well. 

So, what makes God MORE than all the other objects of worship calling out for you and I to come bow down to them?  Paul highlights throughout his presentation that the God who is unknown to them is Eternal.  As you read through Paul’s proclamation of who God is in verses 24 through 31 of Acts 17, you see God’s presence before time as the originator/creator of everything, God’s presence throughout time as the sustainer of all, and God’s presence after time as the one who will judge the world.

It is God’s eternal nature at work in the other characteristics we looked at that gives us great hope!  Because God is eternal, He is not only the maker of everything in the past, not only maker of everything in the present, but also maker of everything yet to come.  God’s handiwork in creation, and in your life and mine, gives us a glimpse into the work He continues to do in us and in preparing a home for us in heaven.

We observe God by gazing intently into His Word, by seeing His Spirit living in the lives of His followers, by looking in faith to the future God has in store for those He has given the right to be called children of God, for that is what we are.  God’s revealing of Himself through the prophets, through scripture, through Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, and through His children gives us confidence that He will be revealed to all at His promised coming.

Because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we can have confidence in the power of the resurrection!  It is that power Abraham believed in when he offered Issac as a sacrifice to God reasoning that God could bring him back from the dead.  It is the power that gave Jesus victory over the grave.  It is the same power that gives us life today when otherwise we would be dead in sin.  God’s eternal nature gives us assurance of His promise of everlasting life to all those who believe and are cleansed by the blood of Jesus. 

I pray that you and I live in great hope and confidence because we have a God that is MORE!  May the people who observe us day in and day out recognize a God that is MORE living in and through us as we follow our eternal God to our everlasting home!

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A God That Is MORE: Part 3 — Resurrected

“I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.  Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”  Acts 17:22b-23

This article is part three of a four-part series based on a sermon I preached at the Deer Run Church of Christ.  As Paul arrives in Athens, he finds himself in the midst of people that he describes as “very religious”.  They are constantly worshipping a variety of objects and gods.  In the practice of their worship, they set up an idol to an “UNKNOWN GOD” — perhaps so that they would not inadvertently ignore a god who could become angry with them.  It is within this context that Paul presents the case for “A God That Is MORE”!

What do you worship?  I know, the “church answer” for Christians is, “Of course, I worship God!”  But really . . . look beyond the proper answer and consider the things and/or people in your life that you give honor to . . . perhaps sometimes more honor than you give to God.  I live in a culture that surrounds me with many objects of worship — each calling out in its own way for me to give it my time, energy, treasure, emotion, and worship.  My guess is that you live in a culture much like that as well. 

So, what makes God MORE than all the other objects of worship calling out for you and I to come bow down to them?  Paul continues his explanation with the fact that God is Resurrected: “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.  When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject.'”  Acts 17:31-32

Paul continues his explanation of the God who is unknown to them with the fact that this God has resurrected Jesus from the dead.  He offers this as proof that God has the authority to judge and to administer justice.  Paul understood just how important the resurrection of Jesus is.  He wrote to the Philippians that he wanted “to know Christ and the power of His resurrection”. 

While it is often said there are two things you can’t avoid — death and taxes, we normally put a lot of energy into doing our best to sidestep each of them.  While taxes are a whole other issue ;), the power of death has been defeated through the resurrection of Jesus!  Paul continued his words to the Philippians with a desire to share in the sufferings of Jesus that in becoming like Him in His death Paul might somehow obtain a like resurrection. 

What about you and I?  Do we live a resurrected life now?  The Bible teaches that when we are immersed into Christ we die to sin and are resurrected to live a new life in Jesus.  We have a God that is more because He is resurrected and has the power to resurrect us from the dead life we are in.  Do your neighbors, co-workers, family, and friends see the power of the resurrection at work in your life? 

I pray that you will examine all of the things that call for your worship and realize that you have a God that is MORE because He is resurrected from the dead and holds the power of the resurrection!