Salvation – The Foundation Decision #1

I must have made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior, but I have no idea when I did this.  I know I was a young child.  I grew up knowing about my sin, God's great gift, Jesus Christ, and how he died on the cross that my sins could be forgiven.  I memorized, and had a reasonable understanding of John 3:16. 

In my world, I often heard people tell of how and when they accepted God's gift of salvation – some of these were dramatic stories – and I did not know my "when or how".  So, just to be sure, I remember singing this chorus many nights in bed.   "Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus.  Come in today, come in to stay, come into my heart Lord Jesus". I never felt any different… 

I was in junior high when my parents decided our family should change churches. Before I could become a member, I was interviewed by an elder as to my readiness to become a member of our "new church".  I clearly remember my disappointment when the elder did not question me about my salvation…not really about anything.   

Partly as a result of that experience, when I have interviewed potential staff members to work in Christian camps, I have tried to assume nothing – and pressed the person hard on the basics of their Christian faith.   

Several times I talked with students, yes, some attending Christian colleges – who seemed to believe they would be saved through their good works. Not so.  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9  

Salvation is the free gift of God – to all who say…and believe "This is for me."   

If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  John 10:9 

Be sure you have made this decision for yourself.  Knowing all of the theology involved is not required.  If you feel it helpful, find a Christian you can trust.

In Partnership With God ….introduction

PREFACE: Here is a brand new intro for this series - the series I wanted to do....and then chickened out on!

I know that it has been the transparent sharing of my life experiences with the campers and staff during the After Breakfast Bible Studies, and at other times, that has proven most helpful and encouraging at DL. But it is one thing to share what is coming with the campers and staff I see every day, people I know and who know me, than it is proving to be to share with some people who know me by reputation only, if at all.

But, here goes...a spiritual autobiography - what God has done for me and through me - and for and through the ministries with which I have been involved.

Sally Jo, and more recently son Dirk, have been with me through most of what I share - and they have encouraged me to share my experiences with you.

I trust that you will be encouraged....and challenged.

This intro is one page - future Monday Morning Devotionals will be a bit shorter.

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I have sought to live in Partnership with God since junior high school - when I first heard these words of Dwight L Moody:  The world has yet to see what God can do though a man fully yielded to God.  By God's grace, I will be that man."  My chosen verse then, and now, is Proverbs 3:5-6.  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path."  

Weekly I will to share, autobiographically, my experiences as God's child seeking to live In Partnership With Him.   I have wanted to do this for many years, but have not done so because of my concern that my story could result in a focus upon me vs. upon the God who has worked in and through me.  My experiences are personal…and if you write about your experiences as God's servant, your experiences will be mostly different from mine…but just as real to you.  We are each unique to Almighty God.   

Here are some of my memorable experiences – chosen out of my 68 years – 24,020 days -3,736 weeks – 816 months.  What I share are not daily, weekly or even monthly experiences.  I had nothing to do with most of my early experiences - they illustrate what God did for me.  I hesitate to say that I know God.  No question: God knows me…all about me!  I desire to know God…and I feel I know a little of Him, and of the wonder that He has chosen me as His child and that He desires me To Live In Partnership With Himself. 

• Looking back, I thank God for a family I did not choose, camp experiences that I did not plan, and people who came along at just the right time to help a struggling little boy become Director of Deerfoot Lodge.
• As I grew up I wanted to know that God was real.  I prayed that God would touch me…shake my bed…or do something to demonstrate his reality.  Nothing!!!!!  My ideas of "why not".
• As a pastor at Christ Church of Oak Brook, I prayed for a girl, 7 years in a wheel chair, to be healed….and she was!  Psychological or physical healing, I do not know.   When she walked down the aisle towards me, her pastor, for her own wedding….I just about had a melt down!
• God shocked me when I was back in grad school - flat broke – Sally Jo and I had told no one. And John Kinsey knocked on our front door, handed me a check for $1000 and said "it's a gift, not taxable" - then walked away.  I hardly knew the man. He did this 3 times, as needed.
• God has spoken to me twice in dreams – and once made his presence very real to me
• I continuing struggle to have a regular time alone with the Lord for Bible study and prayer.
• God stopped the rain for camp construction where I was the new Director in direct response to 24 hours of prayer by college students
• When the camp had no money, I watched God provide $57,000 through a man I had never met. 
• Asked to resign (fired) after seven years - the relocated a summer camp had become a year around ministry 
• I know my pride cost Deerfoot Lodge $35,000 one year…money DL did not have!
• I have experienced many un-answered prayers…frustrating – feeling sometimes like God is on vacation
• At times my heart has been overflowing with praise to God – true worship has been the result
  

So here we go…it has been a wild ride, this being God's servant. Most of the time I will use real names, and if not, the name will be in italics.   

This book is about God and me, his weak but willing servant. I desperately want these devotionals to focus your attention on God – to both encourage you and challenge you - as God's unique creation, His chosen servant.  

Determine to obey God!    Chuck Gieser 

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do"   Ephesians 2:8-10

Babel: …that we may make a name for ourselves…

God was not against the people of Babel having a name.  Even before Eve was created, God gave to Adam the responsibility of naming each living creature in the Garden (Genesis 2:19).  What was troubling to God must have been the motives of the people who were building the city, the tower.  

 

It appears that some people continue to be willing to do almost anything to themselves, and/or to others, that they "may make a name for themselves" (Genesis 11:4). Some athletes take performance enhancing drugs, making a mockery of honest competition while slowly destroying their own bodies.   Other people are willing to destroy themselves through excessive stress or lack of sleep or exercise, through ignoring their families or their spiritual needs.   Many do make a name for themselves – but if their motives or means are flawed, how sad for those involved – and if the truth comes out, how sad for family, friends, and admirers.

 

Solomon noted that "A good name is more desirable than great riches" (Proverbs 22:1).   Solomon also tells us how to build that good name.  "Let love and faithfulness never leave you… Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man". (Proverbs 3:3-4)

 

What is love?   "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   Love never fails". 

(I Corinthians 13:4-8)

 

Where do love and faithfulness come from? "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)

 

P eople entrust their children to Deerfoot Lodge for two or more weeks – because of Deerfoot's good name.  And what has built that good name?  The lives of the Deerfoot Lodge staff - a living demonstration of God's love and of the fruit of His spirit. I believe Deerfoot Lodge, in a very unique way, is God's place.  

 

What an incredible responsibility it is, as God's people/representatives, to have and to maintain a good name.   Deerfoot Lodge will retain its good name as it continues to be a good steward of all that is entrusted to it: campers, staff, contributions – and the wonderful opportunities this combination brings together for the building of godly young men.

 

As we actively seek to live In Partnership With God, love and faithfulness will never leave us, and we will build a good name for God -  and for ourselves.   

 

(Our good name can enable another to make a safe bet!   You can imagine how I smiled when I learned that Tom Eakin, the Forest Ranger for the land surrounding Deerfoot Lodge, was in the office of the Sheriff of Hamilton County when an all points bulletin came in over the radio describing a specific car – and that the driver was probably drunk.   Tom pulled out a $100 and laid it on the counter – to bet that the driver was not drunk.  Everyone laughed….how could he be so sure?    Because he knew it was my car, and "Chief Chuck does not get drunk!"  Tom was right…my car…not drunk. Long story…I was a good guy).

Tower of Babel: Humble Yourself in the Sight of the Lord

The people who worked at building The Tower of Babel did so "to make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."   (Genesis 11:4)

 

What was the name of the people of Babel?  The Bible does not tell us. 

What happened to the people? "the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth" (Genesis 11:8)

 

The people who worked at building The Tower must have known success or they would not have thought they could build a huge tower.   They probably had a great work ethic, considerable vision, and sufficient materials with which to work.  Their problem was:

            Their Motive – to make a name for themselves

            Their Attitude – we can do it.

           

This is a great example of "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

 

Contrast "Come, let us make a name for ourselves" with …the Lord said to Abraham "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; There are only 27 verses between these quotations.

 

We must remember to "humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (I Peter 5:6)  How much better it is to humble ourselves and to know that God will lift us up, will care for us – than it is to be proud and to be humbled by God.

 

It is easy for us Christians to become like the people who built the towel of Babel – and to think/say….I can do it!   The more "success" we have doing what God desires us to do, the easier it is to deceive ourselves, to believe, at least subjectively, that we are the reason for "our success".   Can we learn from the history of the nation of Israel…where enough people within the nation decided to do their own thing that the nation was humbled over and over again?  God told Moses "Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.   Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock…the LORD said to Moses "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them." (Numbers 20:)  Many years of faithful service – and a great humbling!

Can we learn from the obvious downfall of some of the leaders within the Christian community today?

 

How much better it is to keep the mindset of " Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus" (Romans 1:1 ) and of "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1)

 

With this mindset we can be content doing whatever we know the Lord would have us do, regardless of our situation.   Our egos are not to be involved with our decision making. 

 

Dr. McQuilken, who I referred to last week, was an excellent college President.   I cannot imagine that Dr. McQuilken was not an excellent caregiver - tough assignment though this must have been.  And I am confident that he did so with a wonderful attitude.

 

Let us " do it all for the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31). Humbly we can live In Partnership With Go d.

Adam - Noah: Decisions based upon desire

Adam was an unrighteous man: the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom. Adam's decision was based upon an immediate desire, not upon an ultimate desire to obey God's directive.

 

Noah was a righteous man: he built an ark and he did everything just as the Lord commanded him. Noah's ultimate desire was to obey God - knowing the work that would be required; ignoring what must have been the thinking of those around him.

 

Dr.  Robertson McQilken was the President of Columbia Bible College, and through the years I have heard nothing but praise for his leadership, respect for the quality of man that he is. Every indication is that Dr. McQilken was a righteous man – by choice.   While President his wife developed Alzheimer's disease and she became terrified whenever she was not physically able to see her husband.

 

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." (Ephesians 5:25).  To this point Dr. McQilken's love for his wife was not in conflict with being a college President, from speaking throughout the world.    This changed.  Dr. McQilken had to make a choice…and he resigned his Presidency and stopped his travels so that, to the very best of his ability, he could remain in his wife's field of vision until she died.  

 

Dr. McQilken lived In Partnership with God – as College President, and as Caregiver for his wife – knowing that this decision would consume his life for weeks, for months, for years to come.     

 

Unlike Dr. McQilkin, I had little to resign from, no real decision to make, when Sally Jo broke her right arm when she slipped and fell on our tile floor. She was in such pain that I had to call ambulance to take her to the hospital.   The x-ray showed a clean break about an inch below her shoulder, but it also showed that the bone had slid about 30% to one side. Surgery was possible, but this would require opening up the shoulder area – to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.   Due to the location of the break, the best treatment was to put her right arm into a sling and to be very careful!!!  Her arm and hand began to swell: the easy choice was made to have a ring cut off to maintain circulation to the finger.   No circulation, no finger!  Suddenly our world changed, big time!

 

I began doing almost everything with or for Sally Jo.  Try living with a wife who has a very painful arm, even while taking a narcotic pain killer.   My taking showers with my wife sounds romantic – until you realize that I am in the relatively small space of a shower – with a wife who is in pain, whose arm is out of it's sling and is black and blue from shoulder to beyond her elbow. Out of the shower I gently dry her off, and then, very carefully, get her dressed into what has become a very limited wardrobe, and back into its sling. During the day I get her a drink, hand her a book, prepare and cut her food, and get her out of and re-settled/comfortable into a recliner – with ice on her arm that should be 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off.   Night/sleep is in the recliner. At night the ice routine does not continue – unless the pain becomes intense.  Regardless of pain levels I must get up with Sally Jo at least once.

 

Dr. McQilken's wife knew little of her physical condition, of the world around her. He cared for his wife for weeks, for months, for years.   Sally Jo is acutely aware of her physical condition, of the world around her. I will care for her for a few weeks.  Either way, the work of caring for a person you love is physically and emotionally draining.  

 

Both Adam and God knew what God required of them.  Adam disobeyed God.   Noah obeyed God.  

 

Our decisions must not be based upon our desires, or upon what we or the world deems most important, or upon convenience – but ONLY upon what is right before the Lord.

 

Disobeying God is never insignificant – it is never the right thing to do!

 

Noah: God’s Assignment – Provisions Available

If God chooses us to be His earthly partner on a particular project, let us consider carefully.     Our partner has limitless resources…which make it possible for Him to have the standard of "rightness" for his assignment – and righteousness for His partner. 

 

God is righteous – and created us in His image.  Our righteousness is made possible through a true desire to live a life pleasing to God, accepting the forgiveness of our sin through Jesus Christ.(Galatians 3:11)     The words righteous and righteousness, with regard to God or man, are used 514 times in the Bible.  .

 

The "Noah Assignment" we are aware of was to build an ark.   God said…this is your God assigned project…therefore I am in this with you – You Will Be In Partnership With God.   God asked Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, the 12 apostles, Paul and others to be His earthly partners for a particular project.   The projects we are aware of were history changing.  I am confident that God gave each of them much smaller, seemingly insignificant, assignments before and after the "biggie".   This principle is confirmed in Matthew 25:23 "You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things."

 

Noah's assignment:  build the ark.    The resources to build the ark were available – or the Ark could not have been built!  We know Noah was unable to call the lumber yard and ask that the materials be delivered.    There is no suggestion Noah was able to call an engineering firm and a construction company.  And there is no suggestion that Noah had to build the ark by himself.   Noah had three sons, and it seems likely they would work on building the ark.   And there seems to be nothing to rule out the possibility that Noah was able to hire other workers to assist – but the assignment was Noah's.    …"and Noah did all that the Lord commanded him to do"   (Genesis 6:22, 7:5).  

 

I knew when I became Assistant Pastor/Minister of Education in the "deep south city church" that I would be in a tough situation.   In the previous two years three Assistant Pastors or Directors of Christian Education had come…and gone.  Yet, even knowing this, I could move forward with confidence – for I was In Partnership With God.   But…oh my!

 

In June, the first month on assignment, I had asked for the responsibility of managing the custodian – the House of God was physically in a mess.   The custodian quit – BUT another, super capable man was supplied by God.

 

In that first month I also told the 32 Sunday School teachers that if they did not desire to continue teaching when Sunday School started up in September, to let me know by the end of July.   My reasoning:  Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 teach that the church is a body and give indication that all of the necessary parts of the body exist within the church.    No one should be teaching the Lord's truths who did not feel called to be doing so. 

I was not expecting that 30 of the 32 teachers would resign!

 

With confidence I had made the right decision (and a knot in my stomach) I set out to find 30 teachers who were qualified and wanted to teach beginning on the first Sunday of September.   I do not remember how it happened, but on that first Sunday in September there were 34 teachers excited by the opportunity to teach God's truths to others.

 

God proved Himself faithful to me….and, during that next year, to 34 teachers – People living In Partnership With God"  

Noah: Righteous Living and Excellent Work Require Obedient Faith

When God told Noah to build the ark, God gave to Noah all of the instructions He knew were necessary to complete his assignment.   "So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. ¹⁵ This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. ¹⁶ Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks." Genesis 6:14-16. Noah believed his God given assignment was do-able.  Noah lived In Partnership With God.     

 

God has often given to me a significant task – and the information He deemed necessary to complete it.  

 

I have never heard the voice of God or  seen the handwriting on the wall, but I am confident that   as I keep my heart's desire to know and obey God's directions for my life, God has lots of ways of getting his message through to me.  Biblical history proves this.   Consider how God surprised Noah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, David, Matthew, Mark, Saul/Paul and many others. God has directed my life through the reading of the Bible, the words of another person, circumstance, a dream - and always with the confirmation of peace in my heart.   We can "Trust in the LORD with your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path." (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV)

 

After I graduated from seminary, I became the Assistant Pastor/Minister of Education of a significant church of a city in the Deep South.   I knew that everything about a church "teaches". The church in which I was to minister, God's house, was dirty and un-kept. So I said to the Senior Minister:   "For six years I was the janitor for my dad's office. Can I take over the supervision of the custodian?"  His immediate response:  "yes!"  

 

The custodian's name was "Lightening" – which referred to the white lightening he drank, not to the speed at which he worked. Lightening and I took a tour of the facility and looked at the general state of affairs.   I told him what I expected of him.  If he asked how to do something, I told him.  Immediately Lightening went to work.

 

The next week he was scheduled to go on vacation…and he did not return to work!   Here I was - I had essentially asked for the responsibility for the cleanliness of the facility, and the custodian was no more! "Lord…what do I do now?"  I knew almost no one!   A couple days later a very large, muscular black man came to tell me he had heard I needed someone who could work…and that he could work!  T. B. Ethridge was hired on the spot.    T.B. was an exceptional person – a wonderful man. I soon learned how sharp his mind was.  Late one afternoon I retuned to the church and T.B. told me he had some telephone messages for me.  Out of his memory came six messages, who had called, and their telephone numbers. I was amazed - and told him so.   Then he told me how, when he returned from the war, no one was willing to teach a black man how to read or write.  

 

Soon after T.B. became the custodian, a church member asked me if T. B. could teach his mentally challenged son (about 25 with 4th grade reading level) to be a janitor.   T.B. told me he would enjoy working with the man.  Soon T.B had his assistant reading the labels on the cleaning products.   They worked together for over a year - until the family moved to another city.  The son had learned a trade – and the church sparkled from top to bottom.  

 

When I asked the senior pastor if I could be responsible for the supervision of the custodian, I knew why I was asking for the responsibility, but had no idea what I was getting into, and no idea of how we would see God's hand of provision!   

 

"Noah – build an ark."   "Chuck – care for my sheep."

  

Yesterday and today, we can live In Partnership With God .

Noah - God's Expectation is Holiness and Excellence

When God does something, he does so with excellence: creation, the 10 commandments, the design of the temple, the provision of Jesus Christ to be our Savior.   When God gives a person an assignment, God gives essential directions and expects excellent results!  God may not let us know the total picture – but we do know the next step to be taken.   This is true when it comes to daily living – and to special assignments. 

 

Excellence is the very best a person can do. God expects us to do our best….not someone else's best.    As we work we can know that God is with us, that He believes we have the ability to do His work, and that He will provide the necessary resources.  God does not even hint that our assignments will be easy, without opposition, without fatigue, without being stretched. 

 

Noah is already "passing" the "righteous living" assignment.  And now Noah is given an additional assignment.    "make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. "This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.   Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks."  Genesis 6:14-16.

 

The directions are not extensive: here is the job…here are the basic directions…and do it right or your boat will sink! God knew Noah could handle the job.   That Noah's assignment was difficult goes without saying.

 

Deerfoot Lodge work weekends begin on Friday evening and continue through Monday afternoon every Memorial Day and Columbus Day weekend.   During this time 55-90 volunteers come and go, each with different work and leadership skills.  As each person must complete a "registration form" a week before they arrive, the DL facility manager knows arrival and departure times, skill levels, and projects on which each person does or does not want to work.  As most volunteers come every work weekend, the DL facility director knows them well.    

 

There are typically 15 – 20 projects to be completed during the weekend work including cutting trees, splitting wood, building a log cabin, pine paneling a room, repairing the screening on camper cabins, replacing a building's foundation, mowing   grass and food preparation.     

 

The greatest challenge in planning for each work weekend is to select the right person to head up each project – and then to select the right people, and the right number of people, to work under his leadership.   Hours are spent on this people placement challenge.  

 

Each crew leader knows the project for which he is responsible, has his essential directions, his time frame, who his people are, where the needed materials and tools are located - and the knowledge that he is expected to do his work with excellence!!  "John, will you and your crew convert this staff cabin porch into a kitchen, and build a new porch.  Charlie, will you and your crew handle the pine paneling of Eagle. Nick, will you and your crew split the logs in these three locations and deliver the split wood to the office, Founders Lodge, and each staff cabin – remember to deliver the right size wood for each location.   Brent and Paul, take your crew and continue to work on building the log cabin….aim to have the rafters in place before the weekend." 

 

The challenge for each person is real.  Friendships develop, great food is enjoyed together – and the Breaking of Bread service is special to the believing community.   About 2000 hours of labor enhance the facility – and thus the ministry of Deerfoot Lodge: Building godly young men in a Christ-centered community of wilderness camping".      

 

God's standard of excellence is our objective.  We are always to do our work with excellence, whether this be splitting wood or caring for a person in need.   As we do our work, let us remember that we live/work In Partnership With God, a privilege indeed.

Noah was a righteous man. Perhaps God's only requirement for usefulness. - an integrated missions conference 1963 in GA

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." (Genesis 6:9)

 

God sees me as righteous, but only through the forgiveness Jesus Christ has provided.   I believe that God continues to take righteous people and give them special assignments.   "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do"   (Ephesians 2:10).   God gives assignments that directly relate to how God made us – and to the experiences he has already enabled us to have.  Our only decision is:   Will we work at doing what is right before the Lord every time, or not?  

 

When I believe I know what is right before the Lord, I must simply get on with the doing!   There is no point in asking "do I have enough faith to do this?"  God's directive is my marching order!  Yes, I may get thrown into a lion's den like Daniel, or stoned like Paul – but most likely my assignment will be like Noah's…just a lot of work! 

 

I am here to testify that these words to Joshua are true today: "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you" ( Joshua 1:5) The context of these verses is also true:  "Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:8-10)

 

In 1963 I was a "Yankee" attending Columbia Theological Seminary – just outside of Atlanta, Ga.   There were  signs over drinking fountains and on toilet facility doors, "White" and  "Black".   The unwritten law: Blacks – to the back of the bus.  I took a very dark man from India into a restaurant - and they would not serve him.  This was before the Selma, Alabama civil rights march. 

 

It was into this very segregated world that I was elected President of the seminary's Society of Missionary Inquiry.   This organization had one function: to run an excellent mission conference for the high school students of the "Southern Presbyterian Church".  When the Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer and I got together to learn about the conference, we learned that no black people had ever been able to attend.  We knew this could not be pleasing to the Lord.

 

The V.P. was about 45 and had been a corporate executive, now on his way to becoming a medical missionary.   The Secretary/Treasure was also in his 40's and his career had been working in intelligence in the Pentagon.   And then there was me – I was 23, and of very limited experience! 

 

We did our homework…and our work behind the scenes.   Yes, we did think: "What if" white parents would not let their teenage children come? "What if black people were afraid to come to a rural 4 H Club facility to be with white kids for a mission's conference?    "What if" the KKK decided to come?  "What if" the cooks from the area refused to serve food to black young people?

 

Obedience mattered…not the "What ifs!"

 

The results of our decision to do what was right before the Lord? an incredible, integrated mission's conference for the young people of the Southern Presbyterian Church – and an experience of

 Living in partnership with God.

Noah - God’s man in a pagan world

Noah?  Ark!

 

Perhaps Noah's toughest assignment was not building the ark, but living as God's man in a pagan world – for over 500 years before God asked him to build the ark.      

 

^"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people. (Genesis 6:11-13)

 

At a 7:00 AM Deerfoot Lodge staff meeting, counselor Austin Dover pointed out that we want God's special assignments, God's unique interventions, when what God wants of us is to live a life pleasing to Him - every day.   Forget about the big assignments.  Yes, God may give us a special assignment, but don't go looking for it. 

 

Whereas God has chosen to give me several "special assignments", there continue to be times when I fail at the challenge of living a righteous life day after day.    A current example.

 

Joe (not his real name) was in the teenage Sunday school class I taught in the small church our family attended.   Joe was in the class for several years so he knows what I believe, how I try to live my life.   Fifteen years have passed and he still lives in our town, now with his wife and two children.

 

When I need physical help around our house, I call Joe.  Recently he was over to fix my riding mower.   As Joe was leaving for town to buy a drive belt, I asked him to buy 6 road flares from NAPA.  He laughed!   "I can get you better ones where I work – and they won't cost you a dime".  I questioned him about this…and he assured me "no problem, we give them to everyone."   Two days later I had 6 road flares. 

 

Was it corporate policy that employees could give out road flares to anyone who wanted them?   Knowing where he worked….I am sure that it was not!!!   So now I have 6 stolen flares in my garage….and I agreed to have him get them for me.    No question: I am at least as guilty as Joe.    For the first time in as long as I can remember, I have something in my possession that is not rightfully mine!   This is a story about me that I would not want printed on the front page of the news paper!!!  "Minister caught with 6…."    

 

The item size does not matter! Disobedience does.  I ate the apple!   I destroyed my righteousness for 6 flares!   

 

Joe will be back this Wednesday.  I have confessed this sin to God…and now I must confess it to Joe when I return the road flares to him.    Yes, this will make him uncomfortable – and what is he to do with the flares he got for me?  If only I had said, "Joe, I appreciate your offer, but I can't go that route".

 

"If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness"

  (1 John 1:9).   Confession involves confession to God, to other knowing people, AND turning from sin.

 

Noah was after Adam…therefore we know that Noah was a sinful man! (" For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive". I Corinthians 15:22).    We also know that Noah appeared to God as a righteous man. When Noah did what was displeasing to God…Noah must have turned to God – asking for forgiveness.   

 

And God must have turned to Noah and said…you are righteous.   Here is your next assignment –

I am like Adam

It is often my desire for more that motivates me to disobey God.  Even though I rationally and experientially know that there is no long term benefit to me as the result of my disobedience.   I know that when I get more I often have less contentment!  Paul said to Timothy:   ^"godliness with contentment is great gain." (I Timothy 6:6)

 

God has provided all I need….and more!  Yet I still covet, I still get greedy.   I may be content until I see idealized advertisements on TV, or see what another person has…or hear what another person is doing.

 

God created Adam and Eve in his image, as perfect people!  And God placed Adam and Eve into an incredible setting and gave Adam pleasant work to do: no sweat, no weeds.    "God put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." and "God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food".   And God asked Adam to give a name to all of the animals – livestock, birds, beasts of the field.  Today we go to the zoo to see a few animals in cages.   Adam and Eve just looked around, and there were all of the animals God had created.   What a show that must have been!  (Genesis 2)

 

Basically God said to Adam and Eve, "I am giving you a great life!  Enjoy!!!     There is only one thing you cannot do – only one thing!  Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

But….Adam and Eve were not willing to be content - to the place where they were willing to disobey God's directive.

 

Satan, in the form of a beautiful serpent, comes up to Eve and asks: "Did God really say 'you must not eat from                                                                                                                                                                                any tree in the garden?" The Serpent/Satin begins by raising the question – creating the doubt ….Did God really say?    Eve hears the Serpent's twist of words and responds with "but God did say…"     Adam and Eve knowingly chose to disobey God, their creator – for fascination?   for curiosity?    The result?  Work, Pain, Death.   

 

As God's children we can have an incredible life with incredible freedoms!  To enable us to enjoy our God designed life God says…here is a 10 item list of what you must and must not do: one God, no idols, do not misuse the name of the Lord, Sabbath observance, honor parents, don't murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, covet (Exodus 20). Jesus then condensed the 10 down to two: love the Lord your God…and your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:29-31)

 

Perhaps Satan comes to us today, not as a serpent, but through pictures of people.  Or through pictures designed to sell cars, clothes, resorts, perfume, etc.  Perhaps Satan comes to us today, not as a serpent, but as a peer who invites us to, or perhaps a boss or teacher who expects us to, or the driver in the next car that "causes" us to….  

 

Temptations must be real for us – or they would not be true temptations.  Excuses for our disobedience?   God does not buy them.  "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it".  (I Corinthians 10:13).   If you face an irresistible temptation, e-mail me, for I would like to hear about it!

 

Perhaps we can learn from Adam and Eve's disobedience, and from the Apostle Paul's words to Timothy: ^"godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Timothy 6:6)   It should not be difficult for each of us to be content with abundance!   A key to abundant living includes obedience to the list of 10 in Exodus 20.   How are you doing?  Don't rationalize!!!!

 

chief chuck

Introduction

                                                                           11/19/07

Good Morning Deerfooters!

 

For as long as I can remember I have struggled with my desire to be God's Man.

 

The issue has seldom been "what would the Lord have me do?" - for most of the time I have known what God desires of me.  The question for me most often has been: "Do I really want to do what God desires for me ...more than what I, in my humanness, would like to do?"

 

this struggle was common to the men we read about in the bible.

• Adam faced this choice - and chose what he wanted to do (Genesis 3)
• Moses faced this choice - and became the leader out of Egypt (Exodus 3)
• Joshua faced this choice - and led the battle against Jericho (Joshua 3)
• King David faced this choice - and chose a relationship with Bathsheba (II Samuel 11)
• Gideon faced this choice - and delivered God's people with an army of 300 (Judges 6)
• Jesus faced this choice - and willingly went to the cross to accomplish our salvation (Luke 22)
• Paul reminds us that he struggled with this question continually (Romans 7)

So why should we be surprised when we struggle between what God desires for us...and that which we feel would benefit us...or at least be...fun?  It makes no sense that I have struggled in this way, for I experientially know the absolute value of living "In Partnership with God". The only explanation must be what the Bible says it is: Satan is alive and well... and does not want me to obey God's directives - any more than he wanted Jesus to (I Peter 5:8)

 

I feel the greatest gift I can give to you at this time is words that encourage you to live in obedience to God's desire for you.  Our conscious awareness that we can live In Partnership with God impacts our interpretation of what is happening to us, and through us.  If we choose to live In Partnership with God, then God has the responsibility of enabling us to do our God assigned work - what ever it takes.  As we do this, we live with a God given inner peace.

 

Deerfoot has benefited by my obedience to God's direction - and not just from my obedience, but also the obedience of Sally Jo - and the DL Board - staff - and donors of prayer, time, money, ...and "stuff".  Enough of us have worked at doing what is right before the Lord that what has happened, and continues to happen, exceeds logic..is way beyond what we could reasonably expect.

 

I will develop these one page devotionals as I work through the men of the Bible - using 23 years of After Breakfast Bible Studies as the basis. I look forward to having  "In Partnership with God" on your computer screen each Monday Morning.  I welcome your response to these devotionals with an e-mail to me...I will answer.  It is always good to know they are being read.

Chief Chuck