Do You Remember?

This is another devotional that I wrote for "On the Road"

Do You Remember?

Psalm 78:9-11

They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.

Psalm 78:11 (NIV)

If you want to look at one of the most incredible reoccurring themes in the Bible, it is the issue of men of God forgetting all that God had done for them. It is very often followed by the phrase, “and again they did evil in the sight of the Lord.”

As men, we have this incredible propensity of “living for the moment.” Yesterday is long gone and tomorrow is out there somewhere. What really counts is today. The problem with that mentality is that we miss so much of the strength that God has intended for us.

We should draw strength from remembering (and remembering often) all that God has done for us. As if salvation was not enough, there is always so much more, for which to be grateful.

God uses the majority of Psalm 78 to remind the Israelites of all that He had done. It also emphasizes that after all of the incredible wonders that He had shown them, they continued to turn their backs on Him.

Today, most of us Christian guys live in a “what have you done for me lately” world often forgetting that God has a long history of loving us more than we can begin to love Him back.

Not only is it important for us to remember all that God has done for us, but it is critical that we pass that history of God’s love on to our children and our children’s children.

When we begin to recall God’s faithfulness, it is important that we do not just focus on the really big blessings, but remember even the smallest of blessings. Equally important is that we remember that God has done all these things out of his incredible love for us.

Our grandchildren love to have us tell them the stories of God’s love and faithfulness in our lives because it also speaks of His love for them since we are family. When God blesses our family, He blesses all of us. They draw strength from a history of blessings.

We tell the stories to remind them of the past so that they can draw strength and know that they can trust God in the future in their own lives.

As you consider your life, have you given thought to what God has done for you; and have you shared that with your family?

If you do not remember, how can they remember?

You Cannot Manage Sin

Several months ago a very good friend of mine, Rick Schatz called and asked me if I would be interested in writing some devotionals for a book to be published for men. I was very honored and thrilled to be a part of a project with some men I have admired for many years. Over the next few days I will share some the devotionals that I wrote. You must also remember that when I speak and write, it is generally something that God is directing at me. The book has recently been released and I think that it is really good. It is titled "On the Road" devotionals for men who travel.

You Cannot Manage Sin

John 5:14

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

John 5:14 (NIV)

The phone call is as clear today as it was a few years ago. It was a regular phone check-up with a very close friend to see how he was doing. He had been battling alcoholism for years and had been in and out of different rehab programs.

I asked him how he was doing with the alcohol issue and he responded with the almost normal reply, “Not bad” he said “I seem to be doing better.” Then it hit me…..He was ok with his drinking. He just wanted to get it to an acceptable level. He wanted to get his life right but still be able to drink.

It was one of those incredible wake-up calls for me. My friend was like me and most men. We think that we can beat the problem by working our way out of it. You know -- gradually getting to where we want to be in life.

We think that we can establish acceptable levels of sin that will in some way be pleasing to God.

In doing so it allows us to continue to sin but to a lesser degree so we can report that we are doing better.

So often we like to compare ourselves and our lives with really bad sins so our lives, by comparison, do not look that bad. It is like we are saying, “Come on-- give me a break. I did not kill anyone today.”

We want to ignore the sin as we let our eyes wander and even dwell on ladies inappropriately. We say to ourselves, a little look won’t hurt; after all I am getting better.

We spew out a few curse words but justify it by the heat of the moment; but again, we are getting better. Isn’t that what God wants? Jesus did not tell the man “Go and sin less each day and eventually you will become healed and free from this thing.” He said, “Go and sin no more.”

Sin is sin. God does not give us acceptable levels that are more pleasing to Him that others. There are not degrees of sin which are established by comparison with others to make us feel that we are doing better.

One of the most important steps is to look at our lives and really ask the question, “Where have I established acceptable levels of sin in my life?”

Perhaps it is time to really listen to Jesus when he said, “Stop sinning.” Pray and ask God to show you where you have established “acceptable levels” of sin and ask Him to give you the strength to stop sinning. Start with one area of your life and refuse to believe satan that some sin will be ok today. As a result our progress will then be pleasing to God.

Covering Sin

I was struck by one of the headlines in the NYTimes today.

Lawyers’ Ties Hint at Extent of Hiding Edwards’s Affair By SERGE F. KOVALESKI and MIKE MCINTIRE John Edwards’s affair may have gone on longer than he admitted and the effort to conceal it may have been much more extensive than has been reported.

Now this is in no way intended to be political in nature so anyone ready to jump to the wrong conclusion... get over it.

Here is the issue and this is the same whether the symbol for you political views is an elephant, donkey or perhaps what would be best for all the political parties....a hot air balloon.... it is this thing called sin.

The first thing about the Edwards affair, confession, moral failure is that our nation has again been forced to witness another man in authority and who has sought to lead us in our nation's highest office has fallen to sin. He has shown so many that it is hard to believe anyone these days.

But here is the other issue. We are just beginning to see how much longer this sin went on and how much went into a cover-up to hide sin.

Now I am reminded of a statement that is not mine or new to me:

Sin takes you farther than you want to go, makes you stay longer than you intended to stay and costs you more than you want to pay.

My heart breaks for Mrs. Edwards. Once again a women has been dragged into the muck and the mire because of the failure and lies of the man she trusted and loves.

Perhaps it is for this reason that I feel one of the best things I can do for my daughters, daughters-in-laws, granddaughters and spiritual daughters......how about all women is to help raise and build strong Godly men who they can trust.

Godly men do not nor are they intended by God to overshadow or dominate our women. Godly men lead lives that allow our ladies to be the women God created them to be.

God designed men and women to be complete one another and not compete with each other.

Unfortunately, a man's sin does not impact only him. It impacts all of us.

Covering sin only gives satan greater power in our lives and hurts everyone around us.

Sin takes you farther than you want to go, makes you stay longer than you intended to stay and costs you more than you want to pay.

Additionally, I wonder if at the time that all of this was taking place, if John Edwards would have honestly called this affair SIN. Did he think that God would understand or that God just wanted little Johnnie to be happy regardless of what it took or what he wanted.

We need to just simply call sin for for what it is..... Sin..... and Sin is against God.

Now here is the deal for me. I wish that this could be a one time, get it over and move on lesson. I think we live in a world where I need to remember this every day...no every moment.

I realize how incredibly weak I am. I am one stupid thought or decision away from finding myself in John Edwards position. My only hope and strength is in Jesus Christ and to surround myself with other Godly men.

Regardless of your political feelings....How about we all take a moment and pray for John Edwards, his wife and family.

Then maybe we should pray for ourselves.