Undiluted

Undiluted

“Your silver has become dross, your

choice wine is diluted with water.”

                                  Isaiah 1:22

A well-known ploy by unscrupulous shopkeepers has often been to water down the wine or drink being served in an attempt to make it go farther and reap a greater profit. The result was a diluted product not worth the price being paid, not representing the quality or true value of the product involved. From orange juice served with breakfast to the maple syrup we use on our waffles, the diluting of something we enjoy still goes on today.

From that practice, a phrase has arisen “watering down the wine” that is used in many applications: a political position may be watered down to make it more acceptable to the voting public, a teaching may be watered down to make it easier to grasp, and standards are too often watered down to avoid controversy, trouble, and rejection. Many have said that, in our day, even the gospel is being watered down to make it more palatable to others, easier to respond to, and less offensive to those not wanting to follow the demands of the narrow road.

And so when God spoke through Isaiah the words, “your choice wine is diluted with water,” the message was pretty clear. What God had intended for them to enjoy was being watered down by compromise and self-serving interests that denied much of what God had desired for their lives. In our day, the purity of the joy God offers His children has been watered down to now take into account circumstances that affect our every mood and attitude. The peace that passes all understanding has been diluted by our need to be in control, and standards of holiness, that are so precious to God, have been watered down by the excuse “everyone else is doing it.” The list of watered down areas of Christian life unfortunately includes so much more.

And while we may settle for less than God’s best at the breakfast table, we have to seriously consider if anything is worth forfeiting “the choice vine” that God has promised to those who walk in His ways. Maybe it’s time to hold out for something better in your life, for a version of God’s blessing and favor that, no matter the cost, is undiluted and pure, strong and alive. If the cost is faithfulness in everything from giving  to your job to your marriage, God’s best is more than worth it. If the price is honesty, sacrifice or perseverance, the reward will so far exceed what God asks as to not compare. Begin today to hold out for a Christianity and a faith that is strong, vibrant and powerful, a faith worth following, you’ll be glad you did.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Lying Dormant

Lying Dormant

Looking at our garden in the cold of winter, seeing the barren ground and the signs of a previous year’s effort, has always reminded me of the potential that lies within each of us. Every year, at the first hint of warmer temperatures, seeds that were buried under the snow and ice of winter, zucchini, pumpkin and tomatoes to name a few, snap out of their dormancy and burst forth to new life. In the same way, on the inside of so many men and women of God are talents and gifting lying dormant, waiting to be revived, waiting to be stirred by the Holy Spirit, and break forth and bear fruit for the Lord. A few verses in the Book of Job communicate so well a message of hope in our future:

“At least there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down,
it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.”
                                           Job 14:7-9

Our churches are filled with “ordinary and unschooled” men and women of God, no different from those who turned the world upside down in the early church. But far too often, for one reason or another, they are lying dormant, with unrealized potential of incredible magnitude, waiting to be energized by hope and made alive by a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit. Job described the budding that came forth at just the scent of water; a process I liken to a believer being filled with a hope for their future that has been sadly missing. But notice that Job doesn’t talk about the rain of heaven causing the new growth but only the scent of water, making it clear just how close the breakthrough might be and how open and ready so many are to being used for His glory.

My prayer for the coming year is that the dormant among us will come alive as God touches them afresh, and that the dry bones of Ezekiel, those who have lost hope and vision, will come back to life as God stirs their hearts and fills them with His Holy Spirit. If that is you, get ready for “the scent of water” that God is about to send your way. Be on the lookout for a word that is tailor-made for you, sent from heaven for the sole purpose of awakening you to all that God has planned and purposed for your life.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

From Now On

From Now On

“From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me.”
                                          Luke 1:47-48

From the moment of Gabriel’s appearance in Nazareth, Mary’s life would never be the same. Every plan she had made for her life, all that she had imagined unfolding in her future, would forever be altered because of Christ being birthed in her. Her song in the first chapter of Luke tells of a young lady who, from the moment of conception, was filled with an overflowing joy, who realized that God was mindful of the life she was living and who had a fresh revelation of the mercy of the Lord to those who feared Him. The “same old, same old,” the status quo in Mary’s life was forever broken because of Jesus coming into her life. Hers became a life filled with heavenly things, from the miraculous she observed in Jesus’ ministry to the intense suffering she witnessed at Calvary, and the glory experienced when she saw the risen Christ. But one thing is for sure; her life was never the same from the moment Jesus came in.

Thirty years later, Jesus made Himself known in Israel to a people struggling with hopelessness, burdened by the chains of the Roman occupation of their land, and wondering if their God had abandoned them. He came a light in the darkness, preaching a gospel of good news, teaching the people about God’s ways, and healing every sickness and disease among the people. (Matthew 4:23). As in Mary’s life, the status quo of the nation, steeped in religious tradition but missing the essentials of God’s great love, was shattered forever. Jesus coming down and entering their world changed it forever. Words like hope, mercy, freedom, healing, and joy were added back into their vocabulary. And their eyes saw incredible things they could never have imagined before Jesus came in and filled their lives with good things.

The beautiful thing this Christmas Day, 2011, is that we can each have a “from now on” moment. We can each see the existing state of our lives, the status quo, forever changed for the better if we will only invite Jesus into our world, into our lives in a greater way. Jesus stands at the door and knocks on every heart, longing for a deeper relationship, wanting to come in and bring hope, to minister His healing to every area of your heart, and to unfold a future bright with promise. He entered Mary’s life and she was never the same. Years later it was the early disciples who forsook all and followed Christ on a journey of faith that “turned the world upside down.” And now it’s our day, this is our time; the opportunity is ours to experience the good things that await the man or woman whose life Jesus comes into.

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

A Little Can of Oil

A Little Can of Oil

“….to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”
                                                            Isaiah 61:3

 At some time in our lives, we have each been on the receiving end of words of encouragement that bolstered our spirits and gave us renewed strength to keep going in difficult times. D. B. Cowman’s story of a man with “a little can of oil” reminds us that encouraging  others by speaking words of kindness is one of the most noble and Christ like traits we can pursue:

“There is an old story of an elderly man who always carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and when he would go through a door that squeaked, he would squirt a little oil on the hinges. If he encountered a gate that was hard to open, he would oil the latch. And so he went through life, lubricating all the difficult places, making it easier for all those who came after him. People called the man eccentric, strange, and crazy but he went steadily on, often refilling his can of oil when it was nearly empty and oiling all the difficult places he found.”

Cowman went on to say that “your oil of cheerfulness may mean more than you know to someone who is downhearted; your oil may be a word of encouragement to a person who is full of despair.” How ironic that we so often bemoan our seeming lack of opportunity to make a difference in the world, while being surrounded by hurting, lonely and beaten down men and women. Isaiah spoke of the ability that God gives “to speak a word in season to him who is weary”, or as the Message Bible simply puts it, “to know how to encourage tired people.” And Solomon tried to describe the value of encouragement when he penned the verse, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

Everyone, without exception, has times in their lives when they desperately need encouragement to give them hope for their future. Even today, men and women surround us who are hungry to know that they matter, who are considering giving up under the pressures weighing them down, and who are discouraged by the circumstances of their lives. Still others need to know that they are appreciated, that their work and effort are noticed, are valuable and are important. And in each of their lives, you can make a difference. No special training is needed; all you have to do is care. Start today to pour out “the oil of joy” through your words.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Through the Night

Through the Night

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when
 you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you,
 and when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.”
                                                             Isaiah 43:2

In the story of Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den, as we celebrate God’s incredible protection and deliverance of Daniel, we have a tendency to miss one important point. And I think it’s a point that can make a real difference in our understanding of God’s dealings in our lives. The point is this: Daniel spent an entire night in the lion’s den, trusting God during the dark hours of night, having faith in his God while he endured and waited patiently for the dawn of a new day and for God’s deliverance. Daniel experienced what David wrote about when he said: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

The key word is through. David walked through some valley of the shadow of death times in his life but God was always with him. Daniel spent a night surrounded by ferocious lions but God was with him; and Joseph made the trip to Egypt shackled and in irons, but with a God who had a plan to use Joseph to save an entire people. And don’t forget the three Hebrew young men, who refused to worship an idol and were thrown into the furnace. Before their rescue, they may have spent some time in the heat of the fire but they were not alone. The story tells of a fourth man with them who looked “like a son of the gods,” none other than the Son of God.

We make a mistake when we forget the promise of God that when we go through difficult times, and challenging and trying circumstances, He will be with us. The verse above doesn’t say that you won’t go through the waters or rivers or fires; it says that when you do, God will be with you, watching over you and protecting you every step of the way. As Joseph traveled to Egypt in chains, I have no doubt that God’s eye never left him. Not only did Daniel spend an entire night with lions that could have taken his life with a single blow, but so did God. God was there the whole time, in total command of those lions, keeping Daniel safe and protected.

We need to realize that we will go through troubles and difficulties but that is not a sign, as the enemy would have us believe, that God has abandoned us. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is always with us, caring for us in the battle, helping us as we go through the struggle and keeping an unseen eye over our lives as He builds character and faith in a people that He has great plans and purposes for. May that truth help you to persevere in your walk of faith!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Savor Your Freedom

Savor Your Freedom

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who trusts in Him.”
                           Psalm 34:8

Hearing the story of the martyrdom in Kenya earlier this month of two Christians, 8 year-old Winnie Mutinda and 25 year-old John Kikavu, has struck a chord about the freedoms we so richly enjoy. Living in the vacuum of our Western culture, a person can so easily fall into the trap of taking our blessings, privileges, and opportunities for granted. A sense of entitlement can overtake us, and instead of slowing down and enjoying all that God has made possible in our lives, we run from one thing to the next, never savoring the moment or savoring the freedoms that define our lives.

Another story that was publicized this week was the systematic burning of church buildings in several parts of the world in an attempt to spread fear and intimidation and, in so doing, eliminate any Christian witness or presence in those countries. My reaction was to pray, “Lord, help me to enjoy and be thankful for every worship service I am blessed to be a part of.” No more hurrying through, no more looking ahead to what is the next thing on the agenda and certainly no more taking our freedom to worship for granted. How important, if we are to get everything out of our gatherings that God intends, that we take the time to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” We have freedoms and rights that others do not; we must see them as such if we are to reap the benefit of God’s great goodness in our lives.

The principle goes further and I struggled with titling this “savor your freedom”, “savor the moment”, or even “savor your life.” The time you spend with family and friends should be treated as something precious, time that may never be repeated, time that is guaranteed to no one. And instead of taking things in our life for granted, it’s time we started to take advantage of the time and opportunities we have, wringing the most out of them. It’s time we started to show a deeper appreciation for the people that surround us and savor the time that we have together, getting to know them in a more personal and meaningful way.

The young man and the little girl mentioned above were killed when a grenade was thrown into the Christian leader’s home they were gathering in. Their lives were forfeited because of their faith in Jesus Christ, the same Lord whose mercy and grace we can treat as commonplace if we are not careful. Let’s be sure, going forward, to embrace gratitude at a whole new level, a "savoring" level!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Anticipation

Anticipation

“So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer
and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”
                                                      Daniel 9:3

We can all identify with occasions and situations where our anticipation kicked in and caused us to act in a certain fashion. Maybe we anticipated heavy traffic in winter weather and left a little early for work, or we anticipated the light getting ready to change and hit the gas pedal to make sure we got through without a ticket. At other times, we might have anticipated a problem coming up at work and prepared in advance for the possible eventualities, letting our spouse know that we might be late for dinner. And, of course, you may anticipate Thanksgiving Dinner and have a few extra large meals between now and then to stretch your stomach. The dictionaries’ definition of anticipate says this: “to foresee and act in advance, to thwart by acting in advance, to regard as likely, to foreknow, to prevent by taking countermeasures.”

In Daniel chapter 9, Daniel anticipated those Israelites who had been taken captive to Babylon being released and being allowed to return to Jerusalem, their home and place of worship. How he responded to that anticipation is a lesson on acting in advance to see the promises and purposes of God come to fruition in our lives. When he realized that it was time for God to move, Daniel turned to the Lord and sought Him in humility, with prayer, fasting and a passionate desperation. His response was anything but passive; he didn’t take the promises of God for granted, and he didn’t leave their fulfillment to chance. His anticipation resulted in heartfelt, sincere prayer that moved God to act on His people’s behalf.

The lesson that we each have to grasp and put into practice is not always easy. The bridge between the promises of God and their coming to pass in our lives is nothing less than persistent and passionate prayer. Are you sensing that God is about to do something fresh in your life, your family, or your church? Then it’s time to pray! Are you at a place where anticipation should kick in and cause a corresponding supportive action? Does your response to a promise God is speaking to your heart reveal complacency or anticipation? Daniel’s response showed just how important the fulfillment of God‘s promise was to him – he went all out to see God’s people restored to the land of their inheritance.

God has special and specific promises for your life. When the time comes that you sense in anticipation that “now is the time,” may your heart be stirred to action, causing the Lord to rise up on your behalf, to intervene against all opposing forces, and to answer your prayer.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church