PLAY LIKE

 

Psalm 51:16-17 (Message Bible)

Going through the motions doesn't please You....a flawless performance is nothing to You. I learned God worship when my pride was shattered. Heart shaped lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice.

I think it must be a part of a child's make up...I use to say it when I was growing up, and I'm pretty much sure that most everyone else has also. "What?" You may ask. Well, using the phrase "Why don't we PLAY LIKE"...and then give a description of the action behind the phrase.

We would PLAY army and fight imaginary battles in countries thousands of miles away. We would PLAY cowboy and Indians, riding our imaginary ponies across vast stretches of desert. The list of "PLAY LIKE" adventures could go on and on.

But we grew up and discarded that phrase. But the action behind the phrase still remains. Maybe we traded "PLAY LIKE" for "PRETEND". Whatever the case, we sometimes erect a false front and carry out a role in front of others that really isn't us. I think maybe this might even extend to our times in church, as well as when we interact with others who are believers.

"You mean that we "PLAY LIKE" being a Christian? I think maybe the answer is yes. We go to church, and we don't really want to admit that we are struggling, or that we might have doubts and fears as to the reality of God. Oh we may not doubt His existence, but we do teeter on the edge of believing His promises were not meant for us. If they were, why do we struggle so? If He really does care for us, then why is our lives a mess. So we PLAY the church game. 

We put our money in the offering plate....

We open our Bibles and follow along in the teaching, even to the point that we underline certain passages, never to return to them again. Never giving them an opportunity to be planted deep in our hearts so they can take root and grow.

We sing "VICTORY IN JESUS" with much gusto and volume, but deep inside we have hoisted the white flag of surrender to life itself. We are broken.

Being broken is actually the starting place where the real healing of God can take place. Quit trying to ACT like a follower of Jesus, and simply BE one. Do you think God is surprised by the dark battle you are fighting? I think not. If He were surprised by anything, it's how we don't turn to Him in complete honesty and simply cry out..."O GOD! I NEED YOU! I CAN'T DO THIS ON MY OWN!".

No more "PLAY LIKE"....Now our attention is to "BE LIKE". To spend time with Him and share with Him everything on our heart. The good, the bad, (dare I say it) even the ugly. We quit listening to the dark, accusing voices that bombard our minds and thoughts, and we turn our attention to God's word. Find some worship music and take time out to sit and listen (really listen) to the words. Let them flow over you....let them soften you....Ask God for His peace.

Finally, we find gratitude. We allow this to become a part of our daily walk. To be grateful for any and everything. Grateful for life, that God has chosen to give us another day. Grateful for His love, His mercy, His compassion, for the sacrifice Jesus made that I might have salvation and be brought into His family.

Bottom line....quit pretending.....no more "PLAY LIKE". Now we need to "LIVE LIKE"

God on you...

mbb

GOD THE HELP TO THOSE WHO SEEK HIM

 

PSALM 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord who made the heaven and earth.

My help...my assistance....my direction....my instruction....my strength....my hope....all of these come from the Lord. All inward works of His Holy Spirit as I move forward through my day. Not so much changing my circumstances or situations, as it is leading me through them.

The question I have to ask myself with each encounter, each problem I face is "What have I learned about myself and my God?" Every hard thing we are face to face with, every hard decision is an opportunity to grow. To learn to lean less on my own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6) but to fall completely upon trusting God.

I may be wrong in saying this, but if you look at the state of our nation today, I would say that "School is in session" and God is moving in instructing His people. As I've written here on this blog before...my greatest fear is not that I mess up or do something wrong.........my greatest fear is that I miss what God is trying to teach me.

Today............seek God with your whole heart......mind......body........soul.......spirit. In other words, the complete package. He will be there, an ever present help in times of trouble. Have a great Sunday! I will be back tomorrow.

God on you....

mbb

HE IS OUR PORTION

 

Back in 1998, shortly before I began full time ministry, Vicki and I had to make a decision.
During one of our prayer times, God spoke to both of us. Oh, it wasn't an audible voice, just the Holy Spirit whispering deep in our spirits. Vicki knew and I knew that we had been offered a choice by God to make before we began this next part of our journey with Him.

He told us to decide.
We could either have a portion of His blessings to carry out the work he was laying in front of us......
or.....
We could have Him as our portion.
To me, it kind of sounded like a trick question. You know what I mean? Like in Exodus Chapter Four where God asks Moses.."What is that in your hand?" Now Moses knows it is a staff. He knows that God knows it is a staff. Moses just isn't quiet sure that "staff" is the word that God wants to hear. Get it? We tend to over analyze things.
Bottom line was that we chose God as our portion.


I would like to say that after making that choice, things were wonderful and every decision we made was bathed in the glory of knowing we had chosen right. Truth of the matter, every time we had to make decisions about a need we had there was always the thought that seem to linger in the back of our minds......"What if we didn't hear God right?" 


God has been faithful since the day we made that choice and for that I am grateful. He truly does want us to look to him for our needs. That isn't an excuse to be lazy or to plant yourself in the Lazy Boy with the remote and order up some "God stuff". What it does mean is that we look to God in every situation to be God. Simple as that! Psalm 119:57 reads...You are my portion,O Lord!
The rest of this particular portion from Psalm 119 reads as follows:
I sought your favor with my whole heart. Be merciful unto me according to your word.
I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
I made haste and did not delay to keep your commandments.
At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto you because of your righteous judgments...
The earth is full of your mercy. Teach me your ways.
Here in is the way of life that is found in Jesus.
It is more than Sunday mornings and Sunday  nights at church.
It is a yearning, a longing....almost a pulling toward.....to be with Jesus at every moment. He fills you up completely and your heart longs to hear him, see him..just be near him.
As I heard it put once......Having a relationship with Jesus is 366 days a year....25 hours a day....8 days a week. Not because you have too...............because you want to.
It is simply following the Spirit of God daily.
Immersing yourself in God's word.....
Praying as you walk through your day....
And letting God be your portion in this life, in this day.
Have I arrived and gotten it all right?
No!
But I am pressing on with Jesus.

God on you........
mb

A GENERATION LOST?

 (Posting For Northside Baptist Church)

Good Morning! Lot of stuff going on in our old world today. By stuff, I mean unrest, strife, hatred, and violence. I remember back in the 60's when the same thing went on as a nation struggled with its identity. Taking the words "All men are created equal" and making them mean more than flowery tokens is a hard task, but somehow I think we grew a bit during that time.....in a positive way might I add. have we arrived? No, we haven't.

But there is a darker side to everyone involved in what's taking place today. We are reaping a harvest of having pushed God out of the collective conscious of our country. We have discarded the moral compass God has given to us so that we can chase the dark desires and passions of our hearts. Anything goes when there isn't an acknowledgment of God's Absolute truth. Without His truth, then whatever we truly believe becomes law to us and we act on it.

Without God's truth, we justify our behavior. Looting and burning becomes acceptable because we have been mistreated over years and years of oppression. I can do whatever I want to because I've been wronged. Kind of been parked in some verses from Judges Chapter 2.

"Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn't know anything of God or the work He had done for Israel. The people of Israel did evil in God's sight."

Did you catch that? An entire generation came along, and grew up without any knowledge of God. Kind of sounds like what we've got going on in our country, doesn't it?

If ever we needed a time or revival and renewal, it is today! We have had enough religion...We have had way to much denominational bickering......We have made church into a place where we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, or upset them because they might not come back, and we really need their tithe.

Maybe it's time to call Sin..."Sin"...

Maybe it's time we quit selling a bloodless cross for fear of offending anyone.

Maybe it's time we get on our face and cry out to God in repentance and turn our hearts back to Him.

Maybe it's just time!

God on you...

STOP AND HAVE A GENESIS MOMENT

 

I have spent the last few days listening to a series of teachings on how to study the Bible.
Nothing really new in the teaching. (1.) Pray before you start and ask God to give you wisdom and insight into what you read. (2)Dedicate a specific time every day for your study. (3) Have you a good concordance and Bible dictionary available. (4) Then just do it.

I think the one thing that caught my attention in all of the teachings were the quotes given by famous men concerning the Bible. All of this has sparked me to begin again in the Book of Genesis. Chapter one.....verse one.

....In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
For many of us, we have read that verse so many times that we loose sight of the power and awesomeness of what is found in those ten words.
There in those ten words is the entire history of our world and our universe. Every thought ever created by man about where we came from and where we are going is found in those ten words.

Genesis 1:1 does not seek to prove God's existence. It does not beg for your attention to believe what you have read. It boldly proclaims.....There is a God, and He has created everything. Such a person of God must contain the power, authority and ability to bring forth such a work.God is a god of fullness. When he works, it is an abundant, over flowing work. Nothing ever done half hearted or half way. He is a revealing God, holding nothing back in his communication with his creation. Yet, in all of this, humanity wants to cast God aside and raise ourselves to a level on par with God. We seek to create God in our image. To exalt our achievements above the one true God. "Hey God! You may have created the universe...but look what we did!" Yeah, right.
God created vocal chords and singing.
He brought forth whispering and whistling.
We created Ginzu knives.
He splashed the heavens with stars and comets...the sun and the moon.
We created Veg-O-matics.

God not only created the seas and then filled them with more kinds of life beyond our imagination, but he colored them with vivid colors of every shade and hue.
We created the Home Shopping Net work.
He gave us tears to help us in our times of grief and sorrow. Yet those same tears can come forth in times of great joy also.
We created hair gel.

You may be thinking..."Yeah, but we went to the moon!"
Don't forget, it is God's moon. He created it. He placed it.
Such a God has one last thing that he has allowed to be a part of our nature. God teaches us how to love.
We took the concept and distorted and twisted it to a perversity that resembles nothing of his heart.
His love is found in the arms of a mother with her new born baby.
It hangs from a cross outside the city of Jerusalem.
It floats on the words of a sermon given on Sunday mornings to ears that will hear.
His love is stronger than angels or demons.
Higher than any mountain and deeper than any pit.

Such a God as this also wants to give you life.
Sin and addiction seek only to destroy you.
God offers an eternal life that begins here....begins now.
I can't explain how it works or what it will be like when we trade this mortal body for one that will last forever. I know it all sounds like "twilight zone" kind of stuff. But in my heart of hearts, I know that this world, this society, this culture has handed us a bill of goods that only seeks to suck the very life out of us and leave us dead by the roadside. Why not consider this day this God I am telling you about?
Why not..this day, take a Bible and sit down and read Genesis 1:1 for yourself. Think on the words. Let them roll around in your brain and your heart, and let God speak to you.
I don't think you'll be disappointed.

God on you....
mb

O WHAT NEEDLESS PAIN WE INFLICT UPON OURSELVES

 

Rev. 21:4
.......And there shall no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

No more pain....
What a glorious thought....
No more pain....
What an incredible promise....
No more emotional pain..
No more physical pain...
No more mental/psychological pain...
No more pain.

In a world that has the corner on the "pain" market, this is a verse that resonates in the heart of every human. The idea of living in a state of being where pain does not exist. 

Pain is a major part of addiction. Pain usually is one of the vehicles that drives some to use. Not so much the physical aspect of pain, but the mental and emotional. We hurt, so we get high to escape the feeling. Trouble is, in the state of being high, we usually create more pain through our using,so that when we come down from the high, the pain we sought to escape from is now ten times worse. Such a burden only fuels the desire to escape again.
Repeated attempts to out run the pain only drives us deeper and deeper into the addiction. Suddenly you find yourself not just trying to escape pain, but you are the instigator of new levels of pain. It's kind of like getting shot in the foot. It's hurts really bad. So what do you do? Get yourself a gun and shoot your foot one more time. This time the pain is worse and it's harder to walk. What's your answer to the pain? Shoot yourself again. At a certain point in the addiction, the pain that is experienced is self-inflicted. 

You don't have to live like this.
You don't have to walk crippled through life.
There is healing for you.
I know...I know...you've heard all the religious mumbo-jumbo about "Jesus will take your pain" and "Just come to Jesus and He will give you a new life".  Let's get honest here, can we? You've heard it, but you've never lived it. Did you get that? I said, "you've heard all the promises of what Jesus can do for you...but you've never experienced it for yourself." Consider this. If there was an inkling that these comments might be real..that this Jesus truly is who He claims He is, and is capable of doing what He claims He can do....wouldn't it be worth it to simply check it out for yourself? I think it would.

To be able to live life without the pain that addiction heaps on you. To be able to clean up the destruction and rubble that have come from repeated bad choices. To actually have hope again, and a future. In other words...to have a real life. Would that not be worthy of looking into? 

You see, that is what we do on Saturday nights at The ReCovery Church. We want to spread a table, if you will, of the truth of who this Jesus is. And you are invited to come and sit and dine at that table. You may not like everything that is presented, but there is something for you that will lead you into a deeper understanding and experience with this God we have fallen in love with. We simply want you to know that you do not have to live under the lies and bondage of drugs and alcohol.
I know that the word "Church" brings up all kind of negative connotations....I want you to understand what it means since we have attached it to the words "Recovery". 

Church simply means "A gathering of people who have found life in a relationship with Jesus." Those who gather on Saturday night share a common sin/sickness ---addiction. We have found a common solution to our problem....Jesus. So we gather and sing worship songs to Jesus. Singing from hearts of gratitude that not only has this Jesus spared us from destruction and death, but has given us a future and a hope. There is comfort and power in being with like minded people. In one sense, Saturday night is a time where we can get our "batteries" recharged so we can go back out and fact Sunday through Friday, then next Saturday we will gather and do it all over again.

God on you...

mbb

48 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG!!!

Taking a time out from the usual posting that I do here to say to my wife, "YOU'RE STILL THE ONE"....
48 years! Can you believe it? 
48 years are what old people do, not us!

It's been a ride and a lot of memories made. Memories that can be dredged up from the brain wrinkles with a single word...
Example:   "Ralphie"........or how about "Buzzards"?
Then there was "Flash Spider" and "Creep Mouse"...

Your's is the last voice I hear every night before sleep comes to visit....
And your's is the first face I see every morning....
I am truly a blessed man.
You are my heart and forever love...
And like the song says...."You're Still the One!"

How 'bout you and I keep on keepin' on and see what over than next hill?
I know that "Something" by the Beatles is our song. Gary Burttram played it at our wedding. (To which Vicki's grandmother called it a "Hippie Wedding") but because of the years and the mileage we accumulated....The Orleans song was on my mind the first thing this morning....

So Vicki Campbell Bynum.......
I would marry you all over again in a New York Minute.
Thank you for 48 years of peace in our home...
Thank you for 48 years of putting up with me (yeah, I know...she deserves some sort of award).
Thank you...well..for 48 years...

I love you...
Michael