RESISTANCE IS KEY
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7

One of the things that I strive to be with you in these devotionals is honest. I figure that my humor isn’t always the wackiest, and my stories aren’t always the most relatable. So then the only other thing I can really offer you is my honesty. Maybe sometimes I come off as too honest, too blunt, or too revealing of how I have learned the lessons I have, but then I think again and see you the reader. I see you like I see my children. I want my children to learn from my past mistakes without having to experience what I have been through, themselves. I want to offer them advice void of them having to learn it firsthand. I may not be able to come up with a witty rhyme like Solomon did in the Proverbs, but that is alright.
I say all this at the beginning today because I want to share with you another one of those lessons that I have been learning firsthand recently. Resistance is key. I sound like I am interacting with some evil genius who is warning those whose minds are about to be taken over that there is no point in resisting an evil plan, (insert evil laugh here). Well in a way I am. I am warning us to resist the devil. James 4:7 says it just about as blunt as can be said. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” That’s it? That’s all I have to do is submit to God and resist the devil? Yep, that’s all. But it is a task so hard to do it seems.
Why is it that when we decide to live right, something comes to throw us off course? For instance, for the past few years I have been making the New Year’s resolution that I will exercise daily. The first few days I do. One year I even got up to almost a month of exercise. But then I got tired, or it started getting colder, or a co-worker brought in a box of donuts and soon all desire to work out was thrown out the window. Spiritually it is no different. Just recently, as I have shared within the past two weeks, I have felt that I need to grow deeper in my relationship with God. I start off well but temptations move in. The urge to skip church comes upon me, someone tries to lure me into a relationship against my personal standards, or I find myself playing a mind game thinking, “What have I agreed to?” Just like at New Years, so here also I made a resolution or covenant. Soon I find myself weaseling myself out of it, redefining my terms, or just plain giving up. These are the wrongs that will come against me, and the attacks of the devil that I must stand against.
So then, let me ask, what do we do when we find we have not held our ground? What can we do to get back on track when we realize that our sin, our lack of resisting, has opened a door for the enemy? The devil comes against us and looks to weaken our walls. But once the walls have been breached he sends in a full on attack. What then? Let me offer to you what has been shown to me only this week when I asked the same question.
First we must repent. We must repent for whatever we have done to open the door to the enemy. Repentance is the turning away from sin. So then what caused us to turn to sin? It is that thing that caused us to turn that we must repent of. Second, we must break the curses that came as a result of the sin. I realize that not all of you will agree with all I have to say, and that spiritual warfare may be one of those things not agreed on, but warfare in the spirit realm is real. We then must break the curses related to and as a result of the sin. For instance, when I was involved in pornography, I opened the door to pride, selfishness, deception, jealousy, coveting, and on and on the list could go. All these curses needed to be broken, and the third step also performed, of kicking these spirits out. They had no right to come in, but my sin opened the door for them. But the party is over now, the parents are home, and all the guests whether invited or not must get out. The final step then, is to seal up the doorways with the blood of Jesus. Think back with me to the days of Moses. The blood on the doorframe kept God’s people safe. So then, sealing our doors with His blood also keeps us safe and the enemy out.
It all comes back to James 4:7, though, no matter how you look at it. We must submit to God and His ways. The safety we need is found only in Him, protected in His arms and covered by His blood. And we must resist the devil. We must not give him the spiritual legal right to come in. Opening doors as a result of sin gives him this right. So then, let us repent, break the curses, kick him out and seal the door. Let our minds and hearts be fixed on God. Let us be submitted to the ways of God and fully opposed to the enemy. It is time to stand resistant.

GET YOURSELF OUT
“The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.’”
Genesis 12:1

This week starts the Torah Parashah titled Lech Lecha, which is translated from the Hebrew as “Get Yourself Out”. It was these words that God spoke to Abram when He asked him to leave his family and life in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans. There are times in life when God gives us a simple command. Since we have been given freewill, God cannot perform the command for us. It comes down to us and whether we will obey or not. For Abram, just such a simple command was given. Genesis 12:1 tells us that God gave Abram the command to get out of the country he was currently residing in. He was to get away from the land and away from his relatives and travel to a land that would be shown to him. The blessing of a great nation was given to him at this same time, but everything hinged on Abram’s obedience. In Genesis 12:4 we read that Abram did obey and got himself out.
I cannot help but wonder how many times God has given me simple commands. Too many times I find myself stuck on the big ones and trying to work out ways around His will that I honestly ignore the simple ones. But where is the faith that Abram had? I am not quite sure I have that faith, or at least walk in that faith like I should. Abram heard the command to get out, obeyed, and left. I hear the command and then what? I hear the command to stop sinning, to watch my speech, to be a reflection of God in all my actions, but do I obey? Am I a follower of Him only when it is convenient?
As I continue to grow in my relationship with God, I want to also grow in the speed in which I obey. In only the space of four verses Abram went from receiving the command to moving out in the mission given. I want to stop asking questions and stop trying to find a way around what I am being asked to do and just do it. If He says to get myself out, I want to get myself out. The blessing for doing His will is just an obedient step away.
Let’s just be honest, though, and call sin, sin. Are you surfing the internet, flat out viewing pornography? Are you hiding things or lying to your spouse? Is your mouth dripping with toxic waste, spewing demeaning words or curses in every sentence? Can you honestly say that in every command God has given you that you have fully obeyed? I cannot. But in seeing this command given to Abram so bluntly, so simply, so pointedly, my eyes are opened. I know what and where He is asking me to leave. The land of my sin is my land of Ur. And this land that I have been living in is the land God is calling me to leave behind. But I must ask what about you? What and where do you need to get out from? Do you also see yourself living in Ur? Friends, we like Abram have been given the command of Lech Lecha. Let us get out of our Ur and walk into the land of Canaan, where His life and His blessing become our inheritance.

ON THE VANGUARD
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful may lay hold of it.”
Matthew 11:12

In my junior year of college I served as a student chaplain. The benefits of being a chaplain, outside of being able to serve others, consisted of knowing ahead of time who the guest speaker would be in chapel and having your own room. One of the benefits of having my own room was being able to put my own message on the answering machine as opposed to having to come to an agreement with my roommate, which many times resulted in the sound of a toilet flushing. I remember one such message I recorded when alone, though. With the song, Taking Heaven by Storm by Steve Camp playing in the background, I simply stated, “I’m out drop kicking the devil, leave a message and I’ll return your call.” Sixteen years later from the humble ideas of that song based on Matthew 11:12, I am still drop kicking the devil. It was also that song that birthed in me the beginnings of the phrase, On The Vanguard!
I have had many people over the years ask me what a vanguard is. Vanguard is a military term. According to Webster, the vanguard was the troops moving or fighting at the head of the army. They were the forefront of soldiers. If business needed to be done, they stood in the front and attempted to get the job done. It is not a phased out word, but perhaps one that many are not familiar with unless they have served or know someone who has served in the military.
So then why would I use the term vanguard? I have never served in the military. Or have I? While I can say in truth I have never fought for America, I can say that I have served for years now in a greater army. I want to be on the vanguard. I want to be on the front line of what God is doing and be one of those who God is using. I want to drop kick the devil and send his little demons running. Recently I was talking to a friend and I said the following. “If the devil knows my name I want it to be because he is tired of fighting against me.” I am tired of seeing myself and my fellow warriors getting beat up. I serve in the army of God. I serve to promote God’s truth and bring freedom to those who have been POWs for far too long. I serve in God’s army, forcefully advancing the kingdom of heaven (Mt 11:12). I fight because I am tired of the enemy winning, deeming his rights and stealing from the saints.
My challenge to you is to join the ranks. Where are the men and women of the vanguard? Are we afraid to take a stand; afraid to fight the enemy and take back what he stole from us? Are we willing to stand and fight? No longer can we continue to be passive and expect things to be okay. If nothing else let us follow the example of Christ and say no the devil, shut him up and rebuke him from interfering in our lives. Warriors rise up and join me on the vanguard!

If you would like to hear Taking Heaven by Storm, and maybe get a little motivated, I encourage you to view the following. This specific song starts around the 3:45 minute mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ7uAp5zh3U

THINKING POSITION
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is…”
Proverbs 23:7

Do you remember in elementary school when the teacher would say to the class, “Put your thinking caps on”? I remember I had one teacher who would even make us do the motions of placing a cap on our heads and then making a knot under our chin with the invisible straps so it wouldn’t fall off. I’m not sure it ever did much good, but it did make class fun. Over time, though, my thinking caps and positions have changed. At one point I even found my best thoughts coming to me while lying on my bed with my feet up in the air. Not sure I could do that one now days with my lack of Gumby stretching skills. All in all, though, while the positions have changed, I now realize my thoughts have as well.
We are told in Proverbs 23:7 that as a man thinks, he then is. The simplicity of this is that if we think wrong things, we become wrong things. The flip side is that if we think positive thoughts, we become positive. It seems pretty cut and dry, right? But is it? I find myself many times thinking the worst when in fact I know the Scripture tells me different. For instance, I find myself thinking about my finances and the tightness I feel living pay check to pay check. My thoughts of lack being to strangle me as I then become what I am thinking. The strangling affects all of me, draining my joy and placing a mask of depression over my face.
But what does God’s word say concerning my finances? It says we are to bring tithes and offerings before God. It says that we are blessed coming and going when we walk in God’s standards. And it says we are to be the head and not the tail. Put all this together, and faith begins to grow. The shifting of where we place our thoughts will determine our position.
So maybe you are finding yourself in a position where you are feeling strangled, and I am not just talking according to finances. Maybe you are in a relationship, or in an addiction, or even contemplating your life. Check where your thoughts are at. God’s word gives us hope in every situation we face. Instead of being trapped in our carnal and invalid worldly thing patterns, we should be wearing the thinking cap of God alone. And In Philippians 4:8, we are told the thoughts that are housed inside His cap. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
What are you thinking on, and what position are you in when thinking? Let us be done sitting in the comfy chair of wallow and self-pity which only brings depression for our circumstance. Let us instead sit in the lap of our God and consume our minds with thoughts that are His truth. Let our thinking position be in Him.

EVEN ALONE
“Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!’”
Acts 5:29

Following the death and resurrection of the Messiah, the disciples began to preach the Good News of Christ as He had commanded them. They were to go into all the world, and so they did. However, there was much opposition. Many times the followers of Christ found prison or flogging being passed out freely to them for their preaching. Yet, so convinced in the command they had heard from their master, they continued to preach. They did not turn back when opposition met them, yet instead they pressed on. In fact, on one occasion found in Acts 5:29, when they had already been imprisoned for preaching and were being asked as to why they were breaking the rules, the disciples gave the following response. “We must obey God rather than men.”
There are commands that I believe God gives to us even today that we, instead of doing His will, cower in doing. Whether it be in fear or flat out defiance, we turn away from what He has commanded. The funny thing is that we find ourselves asking for His direction and assistance, yet fail to walk out the steps in which He has given us the direction for. This has been true in my own life. Just recently I have been dealing with an issue in where I find myself asking for God’s direction concerning dating. In some ways I want to date, both for my children’s sake and mine. I find myself concerned that they will not see enough of a two parent family and so I want to step out and date for their benefit. But then I also find myself struggling with the words God continues to tell me about seeking Him first.
I find myself asking God for His will and I hear it. He speaks clearly to seek Him and He will take care of the rest. He speaks clearly and I still question, still hesitate, and still fear. Why do I seek His answers if only to run away from His response? I recently re-watched a movie with this same question in it. I would like to share with you the words of wisdom that I heard and am working to heed.

The most important and most difficult spiritual test is the challenge of turning our lives over to God, but no decision can be more fulfilling. Inevitably something will happen that will make us realize that our own power is not enough to get us through these especially difficult times. Our personal power is limited but God's power is infinite. All that is required is one simple prayer - Not my will Lord, but yours. Why are we so afraid of turning our lives over to a greater will? Why do we seek guidance yet fear what that guidance will say to us? Because it means that I have to say to God that I accept whatever it is that you have chosen for me, and I trust that you will give me the strength to deal with it. There's an old hymn that says it far better than I can. “Though none go with me, still I will follow, no turning back no turning back.”

God is calling me to step out in faith and obey His will. As hard as it is, I must become resolute in what He is telling me. Even if I walk alone, I must walk as to be obedient in the ways He is telling me to go. I must set my eyes ahead toward the goal and decide now that there is no turning back. I must obey God over man, and in this case even over my own desires.

• From the film Though None Go With Me

SO CLOSE
“Enoch walked with God, and then he wasn’t there, because God took him.”
Genesis 5:24

Being single, I find myself in different seasons joining on-line dating sites. It isn’t so much that I expect to find someone as much as it is that I am wanting to converse with people like me. There is a bond that comes when someone understands your situation because they themselves are in it. But I will say if it lends itself to a date I may take it, yet one must filter through many wrongs to find that right person on-line. With all that said, I find myself some nights in a chat room, having conversations with all sorts of people around my age. It never fails, though, that every conversation makes its way toward what people desire in a mate. And the number one answer is a best friend. Having been married and now divorced, I can agree. The woman I married, although great in many ways, was never my best friend.
Maybe we didn’t date long enough or didn’t have enough trust built up both before and during the marriage, but regardless, we were never each other’s best friend. We were roommates with benefits it felt like so many days. As I find myself now with the option and fear of dating again, I have come to realize that I too want to marry my best friend. I want someone I can click with, bond with, trust, be myself around, and be encouraged to change but not forced. When I think back to my childhood, my best friend accepted me as I was. We didn’t agree on everything, but we didn’t try to change each other also.
Perhaps I am getting off track. The point I am trying to make is that I desire in a spouse a closeness. Now there are other things also, maybe more shallow things like a preference of hair and eye color, height, background and future goals, but who am I to put limits on God? The plain and simple fact is I want her to love God more than she loves me, yet still be my best friend. I don’t want growing old with her to feel like a burden.
But it seems like Adonai also desires a closeness with us. When I read about Enoch in the Bible, I read that he walked with God and then was no more. He was best friends with God. The two didn’t have some casual relationship where they just met once a month to catch up over dinner and then be on their ways. No. When I read this I think of a tight unit. Enoch ‘walked’ with God. Enoch HALAK with God, if we look at it in the Hebrew. His whole manner of life brought glory to his maker. The two were so close that nothing could separate their bond. Is this not an illustration of the best friend and marriage image God desires and should have with us. Be it in marriage, or more importantly in relationship with God, I long for closeness.
My prayer for myself is this, that God would be my best friend. Not because I want to escape death, but because I want to make Him my everything and walk with Him, and give Him the honor He deserves. I want to be so close with God.

ATTACK AT HOME
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”
I Corinthians 16:13

Maybe I am still inspired by the truth behind Courageous; maybe that is what is spurring today’s devotional. Maybe it is the realization that I have dropped the ball too often and am seeing my screw ups without the lenses of rational finally. Or maybe I am just fed up with the way my life has gone and the cheap shots I have allowed the enemy to take on me and my family. Granted I know that my past has been filled with more smut than I care to admit, but when I hear of the enemy working to attack my children I get mad. And why not? Isn’t it my responsibility as the father to be the spiritual leader in my home and not let the enemy have any ground? So then imagine my anger when this weekend my son confessed to me that someone had introduced him to pornography.
Right away you may think it was I since my past used to have this stain. You may think that I didn’t cover all my tracks or had a falling back. But in truth it was not me. Honestly, who it was doesn’t matter. What matters is how we proceed with it going forward. I have before me the choice to do nothing or to do something. I can push it to the side, ignore it, not make a big deal about it, and in time watch my son become an addict to this his self. Or I can take a stand, get righteously indignant, break its hold, fight with the tenacity of a great army and refuse the devil and his cohorts any more place in my house. The battle has come to my home, so what am I going to do?
Maybe more so than answering what my next step is, I should review how this first step was even allowed. How did the enemy get access to my son to begin with? I don’t have to be a rocket scientist to answer that question. I let my guard down. In some ways I thought I had more time before we would be at this point. I myself was not introduced to it till around age twelve, so to think of him being introduced at age eight or nine caught me unprepared. Instead of holding my weapons in place and standing watch, I was sleeping on the job. And please, don’t hear me wrong. I am not inflecting self abuse on myself. Quite the opposite really. I am announcing my error so that you other parents and warriors will see the times in which we are in. The enemy is coming in, anyway possible and any age obtainable, and his desire is to steal this next generation. Will we let him?
In the last two days since learning of this information, I have been taking a stand. I have been standing as a prayer warrior of my family, as a father they can speak openly to, and as a dictator in some aspects, dictating what I will and will not allow to pass through my doors. I have taken the verse in I Corinthians 16:13 to heart. It is my job description as a man, husband, and father. “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” I refuse to let the enemy attack my home again. I refuse to let my faith dangle at the side. I refuse to run when I am scared. And I refuse to be weak in spirit. It is time I rise up as the warrior and champion God has called me to be. Sin has no place in my home, and will not find a home in my place anymore!

BREATH OF GOD
“The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
Genesis 2:7

Have you ever watched pottery being made? A couple years back while at the county fair, my kids and I stopped in at an exhibit and demonstration where a lady was working to create pottery. The shelves were stacked with different sized and shaped bowls, plates, cups, and pitchers. But in addition to seeing her finished work we were also able to watch her in the process of creating. I remember watching her throw a slab on clay on her wheel and gentle push the peddle to create speed. As the whole lump began to spin faster and faster, she used her fingers to indent and form this blob into something more. Within only a short few minutes a bowl was formed, perfect in every way and ready to be dried by the heat of the sun. She had taken what was void of form and in her own way, breathed life into it making her own unique dish.
I cannot say I am any good when it comes to working with clay. Whether it be a lack of experience or just a lack of talent altogether, I know that creating any kind of dish that is worthy to be viewed by the public is not my forte. But I have to admit, I am relieved. Yet when I consider forming pottery I cannot help but think about how God made man. Genesis 1:27 tells us that God made us in His image. That part I can understand. But to think that God was able to make something from nothing is as mind boggling to me as watching a potter create an artwork from a mound of clay.
When God was ready to make man, He did so by using dirt. I wish I knew more of how God did it as opposed to the ideas that I have in my brain, but for now my ideas will have to suffice. God probably gathered in His hands a scoop of dirt and began turning it, playing with it, loosening it and voiding it of rocks and other debris. I can see God now wanting it to be the purest of dirt. But then I can see God beginning to mold it. I’m sure He did mold to some degree if we were fashioned after Him (Gen 1:27) and there were nostrils to breathe into (Gen 2:7). When the forming was done, however, and God looked at what He saw with great pride, He breathed into the dirt man His breath of life.
I have to be honest, my life has not gone the way I hoped it would when I left home back in 1993. I have seen the view from the mountains at times, like graduation from college or the birth of my children, but I have also seen my share of views from the desert too, like dealing with divorce or more recently the passing of my dad. I know that in the good and bad God has always been with me. I guess what I am trying to say is that just as God breathed into the dirt his breath which gave Adam life, so I need to be revived. Contemplating, I feel like for so long I have been drowning or short of breath and in need of God’s breath blowing again on me and in me, like spiritual CPR. I need His revival of my spirit, His presence to envelope me and once again form me into a living being as opposed to the monotonous robot that I sometimes feel I am.
The potter breathes life into his creation. The songwriter breathes life into a song. The journalist breathes life into his story. And God breathes life into man. It is that life that I again seek. Breath of God, breathe again into me.

LAUNDRY DAY
“’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’”
Isaiah 1:18

Sunday’s for me are pretty standard. I normally awake around 6:30am and begin working on my devotional. By 8:30am my kids and I are out the door and on our way to church. We normally return home around 11am and the rest of the day is filled with chores interspersed within a few hours of both Nascar and football as I flip channels. Yesterday was no different, really, with the exception being I watched no sports but instead spent a great deal of the day out and about with the kids at the park and such. The chores, however, still had to be done and so late in the evening I found myself still working on my laundry. Having two children I probably do not find myself subject to the laundry monster as often as others, but it still never ceases to amaze me where these clothes both come from and go. I am convinced that my kids put un-used clothes in the wash simply because they do not want to hang the clothes up in the closet. And I still believe that the sock bandit is a real enemy because there is always at least one sock missing from the load come folding time.
It was when all the laundry was done yesterday evening that I found myself doing something odd. I found myself reading the laundry detergent box. Outside of the fact that I realized I may have been putting just a tad too much soap in my cycle, I also read the words ‘with bleach’. All this time I was buying my detergent based on price and scent, not knowing that it additionally came with bleach. But it made sense. I had noticed that since switching soaps about 6 months back my clothes had seemed to be a little more stain free. In fact, I may even suggest that overall they looked a little more whiter. So as is God’s way when opening my eyes to something, God took me to the Bible to make a point.
I was reminded of Isaiah 1:18, which reads, “’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’” It was here that God showed me the depth of sin. When reading this my eyes first saw the comparison of sin to scarlet. It was not completely clear to me until I looked at the word scarlet in the Hebrew. The word is SHANIY, which is accurately translated. However, it is deeper. The scarlet in this word is actually a dye that was used to color the cloth red and was the dried blood of a coccus ilicis worm. This comparison then makes more sense when you consider that a dye is not supposed to wash out. But still there is more. When the female of this scarlet shaded worm was ready to give birth, she would fix her body to the trunk of a tree permanently, with no intention of ever leaving again. It is there she would give birth and stay until her young left. She, still fixed, would stay on the trunk.
It is in this illustration that two pictures are seen. The first is the dye that was used to stain clothes red. The second was the fixation of the worm to the tree, which seems to be an example of how sin desires to stay fixed on to us. But within these truths about the color red is a greater truth…that of God’s cleansing. Greater than even a laundry soap with bleach added in it are the words said by God. “[Our sins] shall be as white as snow…[and] they shall be like wool.” It was Christ’s blood that paved a way of cleansing for us. Our job then is to reason together with Him. Our job is to see our sins under the same microscope and light that He does, admit we have sinned, and ask His forgiveness. It is in this moment, in this prayer, and with this broken and contrite heart that God hears us and brings His supernatural detergent and stain fighting action to remove the stain of our sin. Let today for us be laundry day; let today be the day that the stain of our sin is washed away as we reason with God.

PEACE
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
John 14:27

It was recently pointed out to me that I am under a rather large amount of stress. I’m not sure whether I fully agree with that statement or not, or that I am willing to admit the load I am under, but I do know for a fact that I am dealing with some stress. Work is getting busier, the puppy is still in training, the house seems as though it can never be clean, and the funds feel tight. I do my best to not let the issues of life get a hold of me, but there are some days when it truly feels as though I am about to get crushed under the weight of all that I am trying to up. I’m sure you know the feeling yourself.
While we may not have the same issues causing stress, the fact is we have all been subject to it at some point. I would like to think that it is because of this reason that Jesus spoke the words, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” When I hear this word ‘peace’, I automatically think of the word Shalom. While it does mean peace, it is a Hebrew word. This word in John 14:27 is the Greek word, EIRENE. The context is much the same, meaning an exemption from the rage and havoc of war, as well as security, safety, prosperity, and harmony.
These words were spoken in what is termed the final days of Jesus, right before His death and resurrection. Since we have the ability to see hind sight, we can see that Jesus was giving the disciples counsel before these events ever happened. He knew that although the disciples had followed Him, watched Him, heard His words concerning what was to come, they would still be afraid and doubt. As we read on in the account, we see this is true. The disciples didn’t what to think. Peter denied the knowledge of Christ in his fear. Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection until he could physically put his hands in the hands of Jesus.
The disciples were a mess. But the disciples reflect us. In our fear, our stress, our challenges, we too question how we are supposed to get to the next place, the next spot, or the next level. And the question that plays over and over in my mind is why, when I know what the outcome will be, do I continue to allow stress to rule me? I have the ability to see hide sight in reading the scriptures. I know the outcome, that Jesus came to bring peace.
As I continue to read past these first few words in this scripture I see the ultimate truth in Jesus’ words. “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Stress is nothing more than a fear. The fear of my job becoming more than I can handle, or my dog not being fully trained, or of my house being a little dirty, or my bills not being paid is what weighs me down. But it is to these fears that Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.” It is to these fears that Jesus speaks the word “Eirene.” So then, I must choose to sit under His Eirene.

SET THE STANDARD
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
I Timothy 4:12

A few days back I wrote to you about raising the standard, and about how this is our time to raise the flag of our beliefs and the measurement of our actions. I also discussed how it is time we revere the Lord as never before, so that when the enemy comes in, like a flood the Lord will raise His standard against the enemy. Today I want to continue on this same idea, but with a more detailed and personal view of our measurements. I am going to tell on myself a little during this post, I warn you now, but it will relate in ways to which God is convicting me in my standard setting.
As I was reading with my kids last night from our Bible devotional, I landed on the story of Jeremiah’s calling. If we look back to Jeremiah 1:5-8, we see that God gently spoke to Jeremiah that He had formed him and called him. But Jeremiah’s first response was, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” God corrected Jeremiah in responding back that he should not say he was just a boy, but rather should say all that he was commanded to by God. Reading this account with my children last night reminded me once again of I Timothy 4:12, and the words written to Timothy about his youth.
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” I can’t tell you how old Timothy might have been, or even if this has to do with his age in years as opposed to his age as a believer, but what I can tell you is Timothy was encouraged to set an example. Better put, Timothy was being told to set the standard. In speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity, Timothy was supposed to be the measurement. It wasn’t that Timothy had obtained perfection, but he was setting his mark in accordance with the standards of God. In turn, he was now being asked, challenged rather, to be that standard for those who watched him.
Now here comes the look into my life that I warned you about. I have not set this standard in my own life for others to see, at least not in every area. Sure I perhaps set a standard in the writings of these entries and in my faith, but what about in my speech? Believe it or not, I was frustrated with my son this morning and called him a name. That wasn’t very standard setting was it? And it isn’t the first time. In some ways I am grateful he called me out after I said it and confronted me about it because it took that for me to see that I am not setting the right standard here. This is not the measurement I want in my home. Nor do I want my children to see a standard of just getting by when God offers abundance. Or how about in the areas of life where God offers joy but the best standard I can muster up are the feelings of constant anger or frustration. This doesn’t sound like the right standard either.
If you have read my writings for any period of time you know I am not perfect. But that doesn’t give me the right to stop trying to follow after God. God desires that I live according to His standard, even when it is hard and I don’t feel like it. However, God also asks me, despite my youth (or lack of it) to set a standard for others. The words for Timothy are also for you and me. It is time we stop looking at what we are failing at and move on. Let us pick up the standard we dropped and move forward with it again, setting it once more. There are people watching us…it’s time we point them to God through the standard we are living.

RAISE THE STANDARD
“So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”
Isaiah 59:19

There is a saying from the old Frankish text to standhard. The literal translation of this word is easily seen as we break the words apart to create stand hard. The encouragement of this word is just as easy to see in that it urged soldiers to stand their ground like never before. It is from this word, and in this context, that we have our word standard. Among its definitions, a standard is defined as a flag or banner, a measurement of comparison, and a mighty force. All three of these definitions should be fresh in our minds as Christians for they all play a key as to how we should stand when our enemy attacks us. But as we look more in depth at this truth today, let us dissect it with a new vision.
Isaiah 59:19 reads, “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” From the beginning we see the word fear. This word fear is not the idea of being afraid, but of reverence. Isaiah is speaking to us that we should revere and have reverence for the name of the Lord. From the west to the east, where the sun rises, all peoples and nations shall revere the name of the Lord. This idea goes in tandem with the truth that every tongue will confess that He is Lord (Phil 2:11).
It is this next section of the verse, however, that will only be of truth if and when we revere His name. Our enemy will come in like a flood. There is no way around it. It is the mission of the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn 10:10). Just by calling on the name of the Lord we have already angered the adversary enough that he is bent on our destruction. So then, with a force as strong as a flood bursting through a broken dam, the enemy comes in. Since it is only because of the Lord that we are saved, a standard is raised, and might force of a wall is created, and the enemy is rendered useless.
But consider this. In the original Hebrew there were never commas used. What if instead of the enemy coming in like a flood the verse really reads, “When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” As I stated, John 10:10 tells us the mission of the enemy. So what if the way it is written with the comma is wrong? What if when the enemy attacks, the flood of the Spirit of the LORD springs forth like a broken dam bursting forth? I believe that this should be the true understanding of Isaiah’s writing.
As I close, I want to take a brief moment to expound of the other definitions of the word standard. As we have already seen, a standard is also a flag or banner. In times of war, the flag was a marking that let the army know whether to press forward or fall back. When the standard bearer was injured, it was the duty of another to take the flag and continue to carry it. In this understanding, I urge you to raise the standard for all to see. But we also read that the term standard has to do with measurements. The standard units of measurement in the United States are inches, feet, and miles. In other places it is centimeters, meters, and kilometers. Wherever we are, there is a standard. The same is true in this Christian life. God has set a standard for us to live according to, but overtime we have lowered our standard. We as a nation and as an individual people have sunk below His standard. I urge you to once again attain to His standard. Raise your measurement to that of the Lord.
It is time to raise the standard. It is time to lift the flag of our beliefs. It is time to lift the measurement of our actions. And it is time we revere Him as never before, so that when the enemy comes in, like a flood the Lord will raise His standard against the enemy.

THE COST OF COMPROMISE
“So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!’ But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.”
Genesis 19:14

Compromise is normally looked at as a good thing. In marriage, when both parties cannot agree on the same thing, compromise can be the tool used to ensure that a mutual agreement is made. Webster defines this concept of compromise as a settlement of differences by arbitration or consent. But there is a second definition for the word compromise as well. Webster defines this as a concession to something derogatory or prejudicial. This is a definition I have found myself fall into more often than desired. It is in those times when our character or stance is no longer valid and our compromise seems to be the root cause.
While I could sit here and give you examples from my own life, I think it is wiser for us to see this through God’s word. What greater a story of compromise and its cost than that of Lot. However, when we look at the story we may not catch it right away. It all started in Genesis 13. At this time Lot went with Abram as they journeyed away from Ur. As both men’s status was growing, so were their possessions. When the ground was no longer able to provide for both of them, they decided to compromise, or make a settlement, and part their ways. Abram went west toward Canaan and Lot east toward Sodom and Gomorrah.
It is following their split that the Bible records, “…Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD” (Gen 13:12b-13). Skipping ahead, we find Lot sitting at the gateway of the city (Gen 19:1). Notice how Lot had moved from near Sodom to at Sodom. Gradually over time, Lot began to compromise or give concession. When the men of the LORD came to take Lot away at Abram’s request, they found him living within the city. And what is more, the evil lifestyle of the people had encompassed around him. Seeing these men, and the offers being given them by the sexual townsfolk, Lot offered his daughters to the city. What kind of person offers his children to be raped and mistreated purposely? The kind who has compromised. But here is the piece that really grabs my attention. When Lot went to warn the men who his daughters were promised to, they laughed him off (Gen 19:14). The clout that Lot may have had in chapter 13 was gone by chapter 19.
As I considered this and looked into it myself, I saw the reason he was laughed at. The man Lot had once been was gone. He failed to take his stand against the enemy and now instead was living among the enemy. Perhaps he was laughed at because the sons-in-law had never seen Lot take a true stand for God. Now here was Lot, warning against judgment and they responded as if it was a joke. Lot’s compromise cost him his sons-in-law.
Seeing this revelation, my eyes were opened. What are my children, and others, seeing from me? Am I being looked at as sold out for God, or a guy who has compromised and nothing I say has value? Am I a hypocrite? Lot lost his place as the man of the family when he compromised; I do not want to fall into the same trap. And maybe Lot was worshipping God, but then I question if it was all in secret. One thing I want my children to see in me is that God is not a secret. I want them to see me reading my Bible, praying, worshipping God, and taking a stand for God. I don’t want it to be a show; I want them to see the real thing. Some of the greatest childhood memories I have are of my mom sitting on the couch every morning with her Bible in her lap, eyes closed, praying. Will my kids be able to say the same of me? I refuse to compromise in negative fashion but rather choose to stand my ground. Who is with me?