February 15, 2023
I have been following the events going on at Asbury University for the last week. It is amazing to see and hear about the week long revival that has been going on there. They started a chapel service last Wednesday that is still going. They have been worshipping and praying ever since. People have come to join in from as far as England to be a part of it. I love the picture of revival that God paints for us in Ezekiel 37. Let’s look at it together today.
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
God compares revival to taking dead bones and bringing them to life. I think revival begins in our own hearts and lives when we truly grasp just how significant it is that Jesus has brought us from death to life. He has taken our dry spiritual bones and brought them to life. I pray that God would do a work in our people and our community like He is at Asbury today. Will you join me in that prayer? Sometimes I think God wants to do much greater things in our hearts and lives if we simply join Him and ask Him. Pray for God to do something special in you today and join me in praying the same for our community.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 14, 2023
Valentine’s Day is one of those Holidays that people either love or hate. It is interesting that the history associated with St. Valentine and romantic love is very ambiguous and many scholars disagree. It is known that St. Valentine was a priest of some sort in Rome who ministered to persecuted Christians. According to legend at his own martyrdom he wrote a romantic letter to the daughter of his accuser and signed it from your Valentine. There is little other evidence of St. Valentine having anything to do with love or romance at all until Chaucer writes about him and then the legend began to grow. Regardless of how you feel about Valentine’s Day perhaps today can be a reminder that we are all called to love others. Let’s look together at what that love looks like in I Corinthians 13.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
Much like the legend of St. Valentine this passage was not meant to be about romantic love. Although it is the most commonly used passage at weddings all over it is meant to be an encouragement to all of us about what our love for others should look like and a reminder of how God’s love for us is. Love is a powerful force. When we love the way God calls us to love others it draws people to Him. This kind of love should certainly be celebrated. Today make it a point to love others with this type of love. Whether it is your Valentine or a stranger on the street share the love of Christ!
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 13, 2023
Well unless you have been living under a rock you probably know that last night was the Super Bowl. It’s amazing to think how much energy attention and focus goes into the Super Bowl. It is the second biggest eating day of the year for Americans. Perhaps you hosted or went to a Super Bowl gathering yourself. An estimated 1.5 billion chicken wings were consumed yesterday as well as 10 million pounds of ribs. Over $6 billion dollars were bet yesterday on things from the coin toss, to who will score the first touchdown, to the length of the National Anthem. A 30 second ad yesterday cost advertisers approximately 7 million dollars. For all the coordination and practice and effort that goes into the halftime show the NFL pays performers nothing. They submit bids to do the performance for the publicity alone. The average price for a Super Bowl ticket this year was $9,927. All of this to say the Super Bowl is a big deal. It made me think about all of the time and money and effort that went into a game. What is our Super Bowl? What gets that level of focus and attention in our lives? Jesus gave us a thought about what should. Let’s look at His words in Matthew 22.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
For Jesus it all comes down to love. How well are we loving God and how well are we loving people? All your heart soul and mind is a big deal. It means deliberate, intentional, Super Bowl level focus. It is an investment of time, of our resources, and our very lives. Loving people often requires the same thing. We may never get to play in a Super Bowl, but we all get an opportunity to perform a task that Jesus says is most important. Love God and love the people that God made.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 10, 2023
Have you ever gone through something painful that hurt you? If it is unexpected it hurts but you can struggle your way through. It is worse when you know that it is coming. Sometimes the anticipation is actually the worst part. This makes me think about Jesus suffering for us on the cross. He knew what was about to happen. He even prayed and asked the Father if there was another way. He had known this was His ultimate purpose. Isaiah even spelled it out thousands of years prior. Let’s look at his words in Isaiah 53.
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
The fact that Jesus knew the pain He would undergo and still walked in to it for us makes His death all the more meaningful. Jesus loves you so much that He died for you. He died the most painful death possible. It wasn’t a spur of the moment take me not him kind of a decision. It was the plan all along. Jesus made the plan happen. He carried it out and suffered and died. He died for us, let’s live for Him.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 9, 2023
Today we take a look at Isaiah 40. It starts with a prophetic reference to John the Baptist and goes on to a famous section on the power and majesty and goodness of God. Let’s take a look at that portion of the chapter together today.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
“To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
I particularly appreciate the last section as I get older. Perhaps I am remembering things differently then they were but I can recall never getting tired. I could go and go and I was fine. Now sometimes I wake up tired. I find I feel tired and weary a lot more often then I used to. We serve a God who does not get tired or weary. He gives us strength when we put our hope in Him. He is our strength when ours runs out. He tells us we will soar on wings like eagles. We will run and not grow weary. May we all run this race of life well knowing that God goes with us and He is the source of our strength. He never gets tired and is there to carry us when we do. Rest today in the power and strength of our great God.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 8, 2023
When you think of longing what comes to mind? Perhaps you have been parched and really longed for a drink. Or maybe you missed a spouse or child who was away and longed for their return. The Bible talks about longing for God is such a way. We need God like we need our morning coffee or even more so like we need oxygen. Let’s look at Isaiah’s words together today.
Lord, be gracious to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of distress.
At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee;
when you rise up, the nations scatter.
Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts;
like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.
Isaiah reminds us that God is our strength. He is our salvation. He is our exalted King. He is our solid foundation and treasure trove of wisdom and knowledge. When we think of all that God is and does for us then our longing for Him and for His presence and provision grows. The problem is too often we go through life in our own strength and in our own direction. The people of Israel struggled with this over and over again and needed reminders like this one from Isaiah to renew their longing for God. We can experience the same struggles in our lives as well. May we be reminded today and every day of our need for God. May our longing to be with Him and depend upon Him grow each day.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 7, 2023
The book of Isaiah is fascinating because of how it seamlessly goes back and forth between prophecies for the current nation of Israel and future prophecies about the coming Messiah. In Isaiah 9 there is a little bit of both including this famous passage about the coming of Jesus. Let’s look at it together today.
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
In the midst of condemning the people of Israel for their sin and warning them of the judgment that is coming to them, Isaiah also offers this glimmer of hope for the coming Messiah. God is like the parent, who in the midst of punishing their child is also reminding them of just how much He loves them. That reminds us that God is a God of justice who must punish sin. He is also a God of love and grace who will go to extreme lengths for His children. Today and every day remind yourself of the truth of the character and nature of God. He loves you more than you will ever know.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 6, 2023
One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Isaiah 6 let’s look at it together today.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
The image described by Isaiah is amazing. God sitting on a throne surrounded by flying angels. The Angels are so struck by God’s presence that they are covering their faces and their feet. They are crying out Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty. Their voices are such that the temple is shaking at it’s very foundation. Isaiah assumes at this point that he will die because he has seen God and he is overwhelmed with his sin and the sin of his people. Isaiah’s sin is covered when he is touched by a burning coal from the altar and he responds to God by offering his life. It truly is a beautiful scripture and picture that begs the question for us all. How do we respond when we experience God’s presence? We will probably never have an experience like Isaiah but all of us have experienced having our sin atoned for and our guilt taken away. God has a job for us all. He asks who shall I send to share my love and my message with the world? What is our response? We should all be like Isaiah and say here am I send me God. We have the opportunity, privilege, and responsibility to be His representatives here on earth. May we all be as willing as Isaiah to carry out His mission for us.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 3, 2023
Isaiah 1 sets the tone for much of the book of Isaiah. Let’s look together at a few verses from Isaiah 1 together today.
Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The people of God have forgotten their Creator and have rebelled. Isaiah is reminding them that their sacrifices and worship are meaningless when their hearts are far from God. Certainly God loves our worship, but more than that, He loves when our hearts are for Him. Jesus reiterates this same message in the sermon on the mount. It comes down to a matter of the heart. We can even do the right thing and it can still be displeasing to God. Isaiah’s reminder is to focus on our hearts toward God. When our hearts are in the right place the behavior will follow and if it doesn’t we check our hearts again. Love for God will lead us in the right direction. The beautiful part of this Scripture is the ending. Though our sins are like scarlet God will make them white as snow. His great gift leads us to love Him more and more which helps Him to change us from the inside out.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
February 2, 2023
I’d like to spend the next week or so looking at the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is one of the longest books in the Bible but I feel like it often gets overlooked. It is full of a combination of great prophecy and a truly good synopsis of the way the people of Israel acted toward God in the Old Testament. Let’s look together at one such synopsis in Isaiah 64.
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake before you!
For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.
How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and have given us over to our sins.
Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
for we are all your people.
The people are struck with the goodness of God then forget and fall into sin. They feel far from God after a season and pray to Him once again for help and to remember them. This pattern is broken when many of the prophecies of Isaiah come true through the birth of Jesus and eventually His death and resurrection. That’s the beauty of this book. Even in the midst of the rebellion and sin of the people of Israel God is at work on a plan to redeem them and us forever. That is such a great picture of the love and grace of our great God. It’s again summed up in Romand 5:8 – while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Today be reminded of the amazing grace of God and live your life for Him as a means of thanks for His incredible gift.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave