Tag: christianity

On Forgiveness

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Discipleship, Quotes2 Comments

All sin breaches our relationship with God, but we must never think that the Lord will refuse us if we humble ourselves and return to Him with true contrition.

He longs to take us back, and His willingness to forgive His children is infinite.

No matter where we are or what we have done, we can be confident that God will pardon us if we forsake our sin and turn to Christ alone for our pardon. That is the magnitude of His grace. That is the mercy of the God whom we serve in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Questions for Reflection

  1. How do you think of God’s grace and mercy alongside His justice?
  2. What is the key to the Lord taking us back?

Resources

Table Talk Magazine, Devotional from July 4th

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On Man’s Ego

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Quotes6 Comments

Never in the history of the race has man been so busily occupied with the study of himself as he is today.

The behavioral scientists and the religionists are turning out tons of material for us to read as we search for new knowledge about ourselves. Most of us are surprisingly eager to do our assigned reading because, quite frankly, we are enthralled and fascinated with our subject. We are unreservedly devoted to this baffling, unmanageable creature called man.

No one interests us more than ourselves.

One large reason for this is that we are all egoists at heart. And that’s a problem, the world’s biggest. God has shown us how this problem is solved. God is Himself the solution.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Are you enthralled with yourself?
  2. Do you realize you have an ego problem?
  3. Do you know that God is the solution?

Resources

Earl Jabay, The god-players, preface.

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Wisdom Apart From the Lord is a Counterfeit

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Walk in the Forrest

Where can we find wisdom? Man says in Philosophy, the arts, or by looking to ourselves, but God tells us something different. Here is what He says through Job:

“But where shall wisdom be 
          found?
     And where is the place of 
          understanding?
Man does not know its worth,
     and it is not found in the land 
          of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
     and the sea says, ‘It is not with 
          me.’
It cannot be bought for gold,
     and silver cannot be weighed as 
          its price.
It cannot be valued in the gold of 
          Ophir,
     in precious onyx or sapphire.
Gold and glass cannot equal it,
     nor can it be exchanged for 
          jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of 
          coral or of crystal;
     the price of wisdom is above 
          pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot 
          equal it,
     nor can it be valued in pure 
          gold.

“From where, then, does wisdom 
          come?
     And where is the place of 
          understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all 
          living
     and concealed from the birds of 
          the air.
Abaddon and Death say,
     ‘We have heard a rumor of it 
          with our ears.’

“God understands the way to it,
     and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the 
          earth
     and sees everything under the 
          heavens.
When he gave to the wind its 
          weight
     and apportioned the waters by 
          measure,
when he made a decree for the 
          rain
     and a way for the lightning of 
          the thunder,
then he saw it and declared it;
     he established it, and searched 
          it out.
And he said to man,
     ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that 
          is wisdom,
     and to turn away from evil is 
          understanding.’ ” - Job 28:12-28

Where Do We Find Wisdom?

Wisdom isn’t found with man. It can’t be bought. It can’t be searched, or mined out of the self. Wisdom is found only in the Lord, and specifically in fearing the Lord.

Wisdom is found only in the Lord.

Wisdom, then, is learning and obeying God’s commandments. It is living according to God’s ways and not man’s ways.

So then, if you aren’t following God, you aren’t wise. Your wisdom is counterfeit because true wisdom is found only in the fear of the Lord.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Where do you believe Wisdom is found?
  2. Do you agree with Job?

Resource

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Training Our Children in the Lord | Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Practical5 Comments

Dominic

Today we had the joy of dedicating several babies and families at Sycamore Baptist Church, my family included. Here is what I shared with them regarding the “How To” of training your child in the Lord.

It Starts With You

Training our children to know and obey God is an extension of our relationship with, obedience to, and knowledge of God. If we aren’t following God or obeying God, we have no hope of teaching our children to follow and obey God, which means it starts with us.

There are a few things we must do:

(1) We have to have a relationship with the One True God

In Deuteronomy 6:4 Moses writes,

The Lord our God, the Lord is One.

Essentially, Moses tells us the God of Israel is the One True God. There are no other gods. Everything else out there is a counterfeit god.

Before we can train our children, we have to know the One true God ourselves. We have to have a relationship with the God of the Bible. That’s because training our children is an extension of our relationship with God.

(2) We have to serve God with our whole being 

Moses tells us that in Deuteronomy 6:5. He writes,

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Moses means our entire lives, our whole being should be subject to God. We don’t hold anything back. God gets all of us. He directs everything we do. He directs the way we work. He directs our leisure activities. He determines our desires and what we want out of life. He determines everything we do, which means we must give Him more than just an hour on Sunday. We have to give Him our whole lives.

If we want to train our children, we have to be serving God with our whole being first. That’s because training our children is an extension of our obedience to God.

(3) We have to know God’s Word

If our whole life is to be directed by God’s Word, we have to know it. Moses makes that clear when he says,

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

To say God’s Word must be on our heart, is just another way of saying it should be on our minds constantly, or at the forefront of our mind. That is only possible if we are reading, meditating on, memorizing, and prioritizing God’s Word in our lives.

If we want God’s word to inform everything we do, if we want to have a biblical worldview, then we have to know it. But more than that, it has to be the grid we run everything through.

So we learn that in order to live by and teach our children God’s commandments, we have to know them. That’s because training our children is an extension of our knowledge of God and His Word.

Conclusion

These things have to be in our lives first, because training our children is an extension of our own relationship with, obedience to, and knowledge of God. It starts with us. If we are not doing these things, we can’t raise our children in the Lord.

Questions for Reflection

  1. How are you doing?
  2. Do you have a relationship with God?
  3. Do you live according to God’s commandments?
  4. Are you actively working toward learning more about God’s Word?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon Training Our Children in the Lord 

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God Ordains All Our Work

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

Ports

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. – Jeremiah 1:5

Before Jeremiah was born, God had a plan for his life. He knew, consecrated, and appointed him to be a prophet. God accomplished His plan for Jeremiah’s life. He served as a prophet to Judah during the latter years of Jerusalem before they were conquered by Babylon.

What about us?

If the prophet’s vocation was established before he was born, it is not a stretch to assume that our sovereign Lord has a plan for our lives as well. Before we were born, the Lord marked out our days, determining our vocation and the ways He might use us.

Our vocation, then, is God ordained. Ministers are not the only ones called and set aside by God. We are all called. God ordains all our work.

You are not sitting in your cubicle or corner office, your not working at Starbucks, running a thriving photography business, dancing on broadway, or teaching kindergarten by accident. You didn’t get yourself there. God determined your vocation and accomplished His plan just like He did with Jeremiah.

Questions for Reflection

  1. If God ordains all our work, what are the implications? How does it change your view of your vocation?
  2. How should we view our God ordained vocation in regard to ministry? In other words, do you believe ministry only occurs during church activities?

Resources

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Jesus Among Our Other gods

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals2 Comments

Idolatry

When my schedule allows, I attend a local Pastor’s luncheon. It’s purpose is to encourage, pray for, and minister to pastors in Wise County. We usually gather at a local pastor’s church, have lunch, and hear a word of encouragement from a member of the group.

A Trip to India

Yesterday, we heard from two pastors who just returned from India. Through their preaching many were saved, challenged, and taught. There are many things I could share with you about their trip, but one thing that stuck out was the Hindu idea of many gods.

As they ministered to the people, they quickly realized there was an openness to hearing about Jesus. Not only was there an openness to hear about Him, but there was an openness to worshipping Him. Sounds like a win, and it was, until they realized the people weren’t turning from their gods. They were just adding Jesus to the long list of gods they currently worshipped.

Their message then shifted slightly. They began to explicitly denounce the Hindu idea of worshipping multiple gods and told the people to turn from their gods to Jesus. People listened and acted. They turned from idol worship to Jesus. Many families removed idols from their house, smashing them at the local church. For the first time, these people were truly worshipping Jesus. Praise God!

The American Church

The American church is similar to Hinduism. Just like they are willing to add Jesus to their list of gods, we are also willing to add Jesus to our list of gods. The only difference is that we are not as open about it.

We, in America, are fine with Jesus as long as we don’t have to give up anything. For that reason, we have placed Jesus right alongside our other gods. Pornography, sexual satisfaction, drugs, drunkenness, materialism, power, status, acceptance, approval, family, and sports are some of the gods we worship. As long as we can add Jesus to the mix, we are fine saying we are a Christian.

Exclusive Worship

Jesus, however, demands our exclusive worship. In Exodus 20:3, we read,

You shall have no other gods before me.

If we are going to turn to Jesus, we must turn away from other gods. We must give them up.

Conclusion

So then, the message these pastors preached to those in India is also a message needed in America. We need to quit putting Jesus among our other gods and worship Him exclusively.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you putting Jesus among other gods, or are you worshipping Him exclusively?

Resource

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