Do Whatever

Jesus' coming out party took place at a wedding. Not His but we're never told whose wedding. 

The first miraculous act displaying His glory happened at a wedding (Read here). Wine was important not only because it was the drink of celebrations, but because suitable drinking water or other substitute beverages weren't available. The poor people of Israel didn't yet have the joy of some sweet tea!

When the wine ran out, the groom and his entire family were on the verge of losing face and being shamed publicly. Regardless of whether it was poor planning on their part or people enjoying the wine a little too much, they ran out and this was not a good situation.

Jesus' mom was at the wedding and probably serving the guests. When she learns that the wine is gone, she goes to tell Jesus.

Mary didn't necessarily know what Jesus would do. She just knew He could help.

She tells the problem to Jesus. And though I'm skipping some details here, she then tells the servants standing nearby to "do whatever Jesus tells them to do."

The greatest advice I could ever follow with my life or give to another are those uttered by Jesus' mom to the servants that day. Whatever Jesus says, whatever He commands, whatever He asks for, we should do it. It may not follow human logic. You and I may not be able to reason why He wants us to do so.

Who was Mary to tell them to obey Jesus? And yet she did. Who was Jesus that they should obey Him? And yet they did.

Not without risk and faith. Wine was what they needed, yet Jesus tells them to fill six pots with water. They had to trust Jesus by faith because what they were seeing were pots filled with water. And yet, because they believed and did exactly what He said, they witnessed the glory of God on display in the life of the only Son of God. All six pots that had been filled with water were turned to wine. A fermentation process that normally happens over days with pressed grapes happened in moments with ordinary water.

What will you and I witness, what will we get to be part of, how will He use us, in what ways will the mission of God advance when we simply by faith trust Him enough to do whatever He says to or asks of us?

Grant Me Wisdom

The Bible teaches we often go without because we often fail to ask. More than this, however, is that we can often be asking for the wrong things or asking amiss.

What are we asking God to give to us?

Solomon inherited the throne of his father. David had been beloved and good (though imperfect) king. As Solomon took the throne, he felt inadequate to lead God's people. What an incredible undertaking to exercise authority over God's people and lead them in the way everlasting!  I can identify. Not with being a king or the son of a king, but the awesome task of leading God's people.

When God, therefore, asked Solomon what he would request, Solomon asked for discernment and wisdom. He petitioned God for a discerning heart to govern the people, distinguishing between right and wrong. He didn't want to be in power. He wanted to be a good leader.

This request pleased the Lord who granted him both wisdom and the things he could have asked for but didn't. God gave Solomon wisdom to lead the people. Wisdom is not synonymous with knowledge. Wisdom is the application of knowledge and the ability to discern among people and situations. The kind of wisdom we need comes from above, from the God who sees all things perfectly.

Knowledge may tell you what, but it is wisdom that guides you in how. Knowledge may give you the answer, but wisdom will give you the application.

Regardless of your need, ask God to supply. If your need is to know how God would have you to act or move, pray for the wisdom from God above.

Take a Daniel moment:

1.  Praise God for His infinite wisdom and counsel.

2.  Ask God to supply for your specific need today.

3.  Pray for wisdom in how God would have you to live, move, and have your being.

Defining Love

How many times have you entered a conversation in which another person asks you to define love? Those conversations are always fun and quite interesting as individuals take their turns give their definition.

Today will be spent talking a lot about love and the ones we love. Gifts will be exchanged with individuals among just about every age and generation. Yet the world knows little of what love is and how true love demonstrates itself. 

The great fear is that this may be also true of me and many within the church today. We define and think of love as some mystical experience that comes upon us without us having any warning or responsibility. We describe love as a feeling. While our love for one another will be accompanied with feelings, our love is a decision to act toward one another for his or her good and as Jesus Christ has acted toward us.

Jesus said His new commandment was that we love one another as He has loved us. Paul's famous chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13 perhaps describes Christ's love for us in a most illustrative way. He writes:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Christ's love is patient and kind, otherwise He would have erased us from history at the first act of rebellion. Instead, He has showed kindness to us. When Jesus came to earth, His love was demonstrated in humility and humbly He went to the cross. There was no boasting or arrogance. When in the garden He prayed, He did not insist on His own way, but rather He surrendered Himself anew to the will of the Father. And this all because of love for the world. 

His love for us did not rejoice in our rebellion and wrongdoing. Instead, He came to declare the truth to us so that the truth would make us free.  His love is stronger than all forces of evil and evil acts of humanity. It bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things. His love never ends.

The cross expresses the unimaginable love of God through Jesus Christ. This is the love He expects of His followers. And I have failed miserably.  The tragedy beyond my own disobedience and sin is that the world fails to see God's love displayed every time I fail to live out His love.

More important than us defining love is that love define us.

Jesus said by our love the whole world would know that we are His disciples. The love of Jesus should define everything about our lives. It doesn't mean we don't stand firm or speak truth. It just means it defines how we do so.

When I begin to love as Christ has loved, the world will know I am a follower of Jesus Christ. This may not always mean the world will come to follow Jesus, but it will be a compelling testimony that, for some, will lead them into the Kingdom of Christ.

Take a Daniel moment:

1. Praise God for the unconditional, unimaginable love He has shown toward us.
2. Ask God to teach you what it means to love all others as He has loved you.
3. Pray that our love for one another would compel sinners to follow Jesus.
4. Specifically pray for those you have difficulty loving. It is a great first step to God changing your heart.

Why Not You

There are scores of people throughout history God has used who couldn't fathom that He would use them.

Moses didn't think God could use him to lead Israel out of Egypt. After all, he did have a speech impediment.

Jeremiah didn't think God could use him to be a prophet to the nations since he was still too green.

Gideon didn't think God could use him to lead Israel in victorious battle over Midian.

Israel had rejected God and God had allowed them to be overtaken by their enemies. He faithfully raised up one deliverer after another to free the people when they repented and turned back to Him. Gideon, though, couldn't imagine that God would be able to use him.

Gideon informed God that his clan was the smallest (if God didn't know that already).  He also told God that he was the youngest in his family (again, as if God didn't place him in his family as the youngest).

Translation: Why me God? Mighty warrior? Yeah right. My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, not the strongest. And I'm the youngest in my family. There's no way you can do this with me.

Even when Gideon appears to have signed on to go, he looks for final confirmation that this indeed is God's doing. You've likely heard someone refer to putting out a fleece. That comes from Gideon. He tested God to insure God would indeed do what He said He would. Gideon laid a fleece out overnight and told God if only the fleece had dew upon it and not the ground then he would know. God did it!

It still wasn't enough for Gideon. Gideon reversed it and threw it back to God, telling him to keep the fleece dry and only allow the dew upon the grass around it.  God did it again!

Gideon looked at himself through the lens of his limitations rather than through the limitless power of God.

He kept asking "Why me?" He kept examining the situation from his human perspective. 

What would God do if you and I stopped asking, "Why me?" and started asking, "Why not me?" 

Why not surrender everything to God?

Why not allow Him to use us however He pleases?

Why not devote ourselves to worship and serve Him every day for all our days?

Why not be people who seek to display and declare the good news in bold ways?

Why not be the people who earnestly pray for God to move among us and accomplish the unthinkable?

Why not us? Why not you? Why not me?

 He simply wants us to come to the point of Isaiah who heard God ask "Whom will I send? Who will go for us?" Isaiah simply raised his hand and said, "Here am I, send me." Isaiah said, "You need someone? Why not me?" 

What God needs is not our intellect, skill, power, contacts, or money. What God needs is our full surrender.

Take a Daniel moment:

1. Praise God that who He is, is more important to who we are than who we are. Celebrate that our limitations do not limit or hinder God.
2. Surrender the areas you're holding onto tightly.
3. Ask God to make clear where He wants to use you. 
4. Pray for God to work in great ways and allow you to be a part. Pray, "Lord, why not me? Use me, send me, accomplish through me Your work."

Wisdom for Living

We live with limited sight. I cannot see the motivation with which another individual performs a certain action. I do not know all the circumstances in a given situation ( regardless of how much I do know). I am unable to see the past completely or know the future.

I need a wisdom that is far above me. I am desperate for One who sees all things outside of time limitations. Hearing from One who knows the hearts of all men, seeing their motivation and perceiving their thoughts rather than just knowing what they do, is of great value. 

God sits high above the heavens. He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. He perceives our words before they cross our lips. God sees our rising and lying down before they even occur. And not just for us, but of all the world. He knows all things from before they began. He has determined the end of all things and the path that leads to that point.

God is not just a God of knowledge. He is the God of all wisdom. He knows the exact word to speak and deed to perform by knowing all things. 

James warned that living by the wisdom of this earth leads to strife, bitterness, lust, and murder (and that's just among believers - James 3:13-4:2). Joshua found that when he did not consult God regarding the men who claimed to come from afar that he entered into a peace treaty with men from a nation God intended the Israelites to remove from the land of Canaan.

Every decision of our lives should be governed by the wisdom that comes from above. God has expressed this wisdom and His will through His words in Scripture. He also gives to His followers the Spirit of God to convict us of sin (because we lived by our own wisdom and desires) and guide us into all truth (to know and live by the wisdom of God).

Take a Daniel moment:

1.  Praise God that He is the all-wise God.

2.  Ask for the wisdom from above--pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere.

3.  Pray for God to lead you to live your life in every way by the wisdom of God.

This Sounds Crazy

Have you ever believed God wanted you to do something that didn't make sense or seemed like an odd approach? It's as if He says, "This is God and I know this sounds crazy, but I want you to do ____________ or I want you to do ______________ this way."

I think these times are for two reasons: One is to lead us to exercise faith in God and the other to leave us with no room to take the credit.

The people of Israel crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. The first battle to be waged was against the mighty city and well-fortified city of Jericho. From the beginning, God promised He would give them the land by delivering enemy after enemy into the Israelites' hands. God tells Joshua that He had already delivered Jericho into his hands with the king and fighting men.

Do we trust what God has already promised? Do we ask for things believing and giving thanks that it is already done?

It was true that God had already given the city into the hands of Joshua and Israel. What came next was merely the proof and demonstration of this. But it would require complete trust and faith. God said, "March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days….On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in."

Would you do this? This was not and is not the way battles take place. This is not the way we plan to conquer cities and defeat our enemies.

Without faith in God, this seems absurd. Who would do this? How can this work? I've never done it like this before! 

With faith in God, there's no debate. God's wisdom exceeds my own by far. God's is greater than my plans and power. When He gives a direction, there's no other way to go. To go another way is disobedience and will not accomplish His will.

Would you do it? Would you tell a million people thirsting for water to gather around for the water that is going to come as you speak to the rock? Would you lead a whole nation to walk around a city promising them its walls would fall after the seventh time on the seventh day? Would you walk to the sea and catch a fish because you would find the coin to pay taxes in its mouth?

Obedience to Jesus may look crazy. But have the faith to obey places us in the position to see His work of power. What would you do? What will you do?

Take a Daniel moment:

1. Give thanks that God doesn't work within the power and confines of humanity's limitations.
2. Ask God to enlarge your faith to do what He asks in the way He leads you.
3. Pray that God will allow you to see His mighty work of power and the beauty of His glory as you follow His leading (whenever, wherever, and however He leads).

So Close

Moses came close…real close. God told Moses to go upon the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo. From this lofty perch Moses was able to see the land of Canaan. 

Moses would see it but not touch it. He would come so close but he would not enter in and receive what God had promised. He lacked the faith to trust God and obey God's word in a difficult situation.

The people of Israel had been led out of Egypt by the mighty deeds of God. Yet they never seemed to be content and grateful. Instead, they grumbled about not have water to drink. They complained that they didn't have meat to eat. On more than one occasion they accused Moses of leading them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness. And at least once they planned to select a leader to take them back to Egypt.

Leading people is a difficult task and Moses faced every difficulty in leading a people one could imagine. We can imagine how day after day and month by month how this just weighed upon him. So we can also imagine how, when the people once again griped about not having water and God said He would provide if Moses and Aaron would speak to the rock, Moses took his staff and hit the rock instead.

He was frustrated.

He was angry.

He was weary with the people's complaints.

But most of all, he was a man who in that moment acted on his own rather than by faith. Faith in God in every situation and circumstance of life will lead to obeying God. After Moses struck the rock, God said, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

Moses did not believe God. He did not trust God. He had not faith to follow God's way. So he chose his own way. Yet God still brought water from the rock in spite of Moses and Aaron's lack of faith and direct disobedience.

As I read this passage (familiar to me) once again today, I sought to ask whether or not I am exercising faith and obedience to God in every situation and circumstance. What I do not want to be true in my life is that I forfeit the promises of God and getting to be part of God's mission and work because I fail to trust HIm wholly and obey Him fully. My heart was so overwhelmed and encouraged, though, that even when I fail to have faith and obey, God graciously gives what we need (as He gave the people the water they needed for drink).

Take a Daniel Moment:

1.  What areas in your life are you not exercising faith and obedience?

2.  In what ways are you missing out on God's work and promises as a result?

3.  Pray that God would expose these areas and help your unbelief?

4.  Ask God to allow you to exercise radical belief that leads to crazy obedience so you don't come close but never take part in what He is doing and desires for us.

Celebrating 7 Months

Refuge Church recently celebrated seven months of what God has, is, and continues to do through this new church plant that He led in starting.

Like children, a seven month old church is not as developed as a seven year old or 70 year old church.  No church is perfect, this most of us are painfully aware (though one day she will be perfect). There are things that must definitely be strengthened and issues to resolve. There are weaknesses to be addressed, issues that need resolving, and greater ways to accomplish the mission.

With that reality can come the danger of focusing so much on where the church is not yet that we fail to celebrate or we lose sight of what God has done and is doing. I am grateful for the directional leadership team choosing to host a celebration Sunday to reflect on what God has done, remember what is His mission, and recommit ourselves again to what He is and will do.

As part of the celebration I invited individuals to submit questions about Refuge Church that we would spotlight here. This week I begin with the first question.

In 2014, are there any possibilities of overseas mission trips to minister to orphans?

We are making plans for a trip of this nature, as well as other opportunities in 2014.

God's mission is to call people out of the kingdom of this world into the kingdom of His Son Jesus Christ in order that individuals would become worshipping followers of Him. Jesus' followers have been given the privilege of joining Him in this work of the gospel.

Our mission at Refuge Church is that we want to display and declare the good news of Christ's kingdom to individuals near and far. Therefore, we desire to be displaying and declaring the good news of Jesus Christ where we are and live everyday, as well as making intentional and strategic efforts to display and declare the gospel to those around the globe.

We are planning mission endeavors both locally, in North America and internationally.  In the local setting, we want to encourage Life Groups to continue and advance in engaging in fulfilling our mission through partnerships in our city (including pregnancy support services, foster care of Wake County, etc.). Additionally, we are seeking to host additional Refuge Outreach Fun Days and mobilize the people of Refuge in strategic invite times and everyday life.

We have North America partnership opportunities with church plants in Baltimore, MD and San Francisco, CA. We tentatively hope to have a team partnership with the Journey Church in San Francisco and the ministries they support in the summer of 2014.

A vision team will be heading to the country of Haiti at the first of 2014 in preparation to establish a trip to serve with orphans through Audio Adrenaline's Hands and Feet Project in the Spring of 2014. A tentative trip in the Fall of 2014 to India is being planned that will focus on teaching the Bible and potentially serving with at an orphanage in the state of Rajasthan.

The primary way God builds His kingdom is by His Church whom He has given the privilege and responsibility to display and declare the good news. You can be part of His mission today by using your normal routines, your workplace, and your relationships to display and declare the gospel. I also ask that you consider and pray about being part of going in 2014.