The Power of But

This year, I've challenged the church where I pastor to read through the Bible with me. So far, so good, 25 days in. This mornings reading came from Genesis 38-40. We are entering the life of Joseph, an amazing man who was used by God to do amazing things. Genesis 39:21 reads,"But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison." Here Joseph finds himself at the wrong end of a false accusation, BUT God is still in control. Joseph could have easily tried to dissuade his accuser, BUT he knew that God had a purpose. Joseph could have grown angry with God over the whole situation, BUT he knew that God's hand was still on him. You see, so often we get consumed by the consequence as opposed to being consumed with the Creator. Joseph never lost focus in spite of the place that he found himself in. Regardless of the situation, we need to remember these simple but power words...BUT GOD. I know there have been numerous times those words have leaped off the pages of Scripture an into my mind. BUT, it wasn't until today that I saw just how powerful those words can be. BUT may just be a conjunction that brings two thoughts or ideas together, BUT in the life of the believer it is where the flesh of humanity comes in contact with the Spirit of Deity. BUT GOD is still at work around you. Though you may not be able to see it because you are blinded by circumstance, never lose faith that you God is at work. Nearly 170 times in Scripture do we see the phrase BUT GOD or some relation to it. We see that God works in the midst of human circumstance. How often do we see that though? I pray that your eyes would be open to the BUT GOD moments, to see His activity that you may give Him glory.

Seeing 2010

As the new year dawned, how did you see it? Was it the same as it was yesterday, or did you see it entirely new? The key word fro me this year is vision. It will be a theme in my preaching this Sunday, but has also been a theme of things I have been reading lately. Vision is not just seeing what is, but what can be or will be. I tweeted earlier today that I see 2009 in the rear view and am slamming the gas into 2010. Vision is being able to leave the past in the past and push toward the future. Over the Christmas break I read Seth Godin's e-book What Matters Now. It is not a "Christian" book, but a book that needs to be read by every leader. It is thought provoking and challenging. There's some good stuff in there and there's some stuff that does not apply right now. The thing that I took away from it is that away is the need that everyone of us has for vision. What has happened to so many people is that they have lost their vision. There was a time, when we were young, and we thought we could conquer the world. Then as we grew older, we began to listen to the critics and we lost our desire and drive to be world conquerors. We became settled and we lost our fire. As the fire died in our soul it dimmed our vision for grandeur.

If we are going to crash into life, then we must be people of vision. We must spend time seeking the will of God so that we set our vision on the things that matter most. I hope that we enter the second decade of this millenium that you will begin the process of becoming a person of vision. I hope that you regain the fire of your youth and that you will begin to conquer the world. 2010 is a year of great promise, a year of great vision and a year of great accomplishment.