The Great Divide

The Great Divide

“He caused streams to flow from the rock,
and made the water flow like rivers.”
                                            Psalm 78:16

Whether you call it the Continental Divide or the Great Divide, the range of mountains that runs from northern Alaska, through Canada, the US and Mexico, and into Central America is a sure dividing line when it comes to the waters that flow down the mountains and out to the oceans. Everything from the snow melt in spring to the rain from summer thunderstorms that falls on the western slopes of the Great Divide, the Rocky Mountains as they’re most often called, ends up in the Pacific Ocean. And, conversely, that which falls on the eastern side of the Divide eventually makes it way to either the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.

The fact about the Great Divide that has always amazed me is that two raindrops can fall only feet apart but one ends up in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Atlantic.  What begins only a few feet apart ends up literally thousands of miles apart by the end of a long journey to the sea. In the natural, we can find ourselves in very similar situations to those around us. But we have to realize that the choices we make in life, and the attitudes we carry about, will determine where our journey ends. And that end can be vastly different depending on the direction we choose to go, God’s or our own, the Kingdom or the worlds.

Just as there are the windward and leeward sides of a mountain, with the windward side being more green and lush and the leeward side more dry and barren, so too which side we choose in the decisions of life will have greatly varying results. Those who consistently choose what pleases the Lord will find, at the end of their life, peace, blessing and an enduring satisfaction at having done the things that please the Lord. At the same time, those who live to please themselves will find the end of their journey filled with an emptiness and a void at having invested in treasures and pleasures that quickly fade away.

The raindrop that falls on the western side of the Great Divide will never find its way to the Atlantic Ocean; it just doesn’t work that way. The person who chooses the ways of the world over God’s ways never ends up happy and secure; it just doesn’t work that way. The person who lives for themselves, to please themselves and not God, never finds spiritual prosperity and favor awaiting them at journey’s end; it just doesn’t work that way. But live your life on God’s side, choosing what pleases the Lord, regardless of the consequences, and “goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life”; it most certainly works that way!

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Just Over the Horizon

Just Over the Horizon

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on
the past. Behold, I am doing a new thing.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

Sitting at a restaurant with friends last night, talking and waiting for our meals to arrive, we had no idea that an incredible storm, strong enough to knock over trees everywhere and to leave us without power for the last twelve hours and counting, was about to strike. In a matter of minutes, debris was flying through the air, visibility was gone because of the rain and wind, and a plate glass window in the restaurant’s door was blown out. We finished our dinner by battery powered lights and headed home to find streets flooded, fences knocked down, and the streets littered with leaves and branches. Candles and flashlights became our source of light as the twilight of evening transitioned into the darkness of night.

The suddenness of the storm is a sure reminder that we never know what lies just over the horizon in our lives. I can’t count how many times I’ve gone over the crest of a hill on the highway to find a massive traffic jam awaiting me “just over the horizon”. But I also remember the many times when the afternoon mail brought an unexpected, much needed blessing that changed our countenance faster than last night’s storm. This scripture really describes those experiences the best:

“Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done suddenly.” (II Chronicles 29:36)

And the word of God contains other “suddenlies” to encourage us. In Acts 2:2 we’re told that “suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” In Acts 9:3, it says that in Paul’s Damascus Road experience, “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.” So often the work God is doing in our lives occurs over a long period of time, but just as often God moves suddenly to turn our mourning into dancing and to fill our circumstances with hope.

This morning, typing these thoughts by the fading battery power of my laptop, I am overflowing with the thought that God is about to do a new thing in your life, that you about to experience a “suddenly” from heaven that will fill you with joy and hope, that will cause you to overflow with expectation over all that lies “just over the horizon” in your life. God has promised to do a new thing in your life and now is the time for it to spring forth suddenly.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Pull-It

Pull-It

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
Luke 9:24

The name is much simpler but pull-it is nothing more than a game of tug of war played between a 20 month old granddaughter and her adoring grandfather. And pull it is a game that always ends with grandpa letting go and getting to reap the incredible blessing of seeing his granddaughter smile and hearing her laugh over her hard fought victory. It was after one of these little games that the Lord reminded me that letting go is the surest way to the joy and peace that each of us is seeking after.

His book on the same subject is nothing more than a collection of letters, written in the seventeenth century, appropriately entitled “Let Go”, in which Archbishop Fenelon shared the secrets he had learned in his years of seeking God, from having faced trials, difficulties, and longings not much different really than you and I face in our struggles. The lessons learned were invaluable and timeless, still applicable almost four hundred years later. And they could be summed up so simply: Let go and let God!

The message of “let go and let God” is for those times when we battling in our own strength to hold onto something, maybe a relationship, a dream or a reputation, instead of trusting in the Lord and letting Him do the work. In one letter, Fenelon writes:

“Don’t allow yourself to be upset by what people are saying about you. Let the world talk. All you need to be concerned about is doing the will of God. One quiet moment in the presence of God will more than repay you for every slander that will ever be leveled against you.”

In another letter to a friend struggling with changes taking place in their life, he writes:

“So do not be surprised at again finding yourself becoming sensitive, impatient, haughty, and self-willed. You have to understand that that is your natural disposition, and without God’s grace, you will never be anything different. We must give up hope in ourselves, and have no hope but in God.”

The theme of letting go is a call to stop worrying and to stop struggling, and to let God do the work in our lives. Much like in my game of “pull-it” with little Hopey, when I let go, I always win.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Not My Concern!

Not My Concern!

“And he told him to urge her to go into the king’s presence
to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.”
Esther 4:8

Recent headlines out of California have only served to reinforce the depths of the moral crisis that our once God fearing nation has descended into. An attempt by the people of California to use the ballot box to return to godly standards in the area of marriage has been soundly rebuffed by an appeals court. And to make matter worse, their decision was not only celebrated by those whose behavior the court sanctioned but was enthusiastically endorsed and applauded by our president, his administration and many in our Congress. And my question for today is: Should we be concerned?

The book of Esther tells the story of a plot, hatched by Haman, to destroy God’s people throughout the kingdom of Xerxes. When Mordecai learned of what was going to happen to his people, he responded with wailing and cries of desperation, calling out to the Lord for deliverance for his people the Jews. And he enlisted the aid of Esther, his cousin and also a Jew, who as queen had possible access to the king, the only one who had it in his power to change the plight of the Jews. Despite her royal robes and the comfort of the palace, Mordecai urged Esther to use her place of privilege and to go in to the king’s presence and beg for mercy for her people. Mordecai’s message was very simple, “Esther, forget your current comfort in the palace; if something isn’t done, you’ll end up being destroyed along with the rest of us.”

Mordecai’s call for Esther to get involved mirrors the trumpet call of the Spirit for the church and believers in America to begin to beg God for mercy and to plead with Him for our nation. No nation has ever turned against the laws of God, as our nation has and is doing, without eventual severe consequences. We can look the other way, say it’s not our concern, or we can purposefully begin to pray and seek the Lord for another great awakening in America. Our natural eyes know when it looks like rain, and forecasters can predict the weather with good accuracy, but are we, His people, able to see the spiritual signs all around us. We have heard the scripture quoted so often: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” America’s hope, and our hope, rests in the faithfulness of God’s people to cry out and pray for their nation. And the time is now!

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church