Blessings

I have the great blessing most mornings to sit on my front deck and watch the sunrise. I get to see it light up the mountains. I also get to sit and watch the sunsets and see the mountains appear as if they are on fire. I never thought I would live in the kind of house I live in or in the area I live in.

I have a great wife, I have great kids, I have great grandkids, and I pastor a great church.

God has allowed me to do what I love for over 40 years now.

I say all this to say I am blessed.

In Ephesians 1:3 Paul says that God has blessed

us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.

I have to be honest. I at times don’t see myself as blessed. The reason I don’t see myself as blessed is because I define blessing as getting what I want when I want it. God defines blessing as giving me what will make me more like Jesus.

In Matthew 5:3-11 Jesus tells us we are blessed if:

We are poor in spirit

We mourn

We are meek

We hunger and thirst for righteousness

We are merciful

We are pure in heart

We are peacemakers

We are persecuted for righteous sake

I don’t always define blessings as Jesus does here in Matthew 5. I tend to see those not as blessings but burdens.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is recognizing and celebrating the blessings of God.

Psalm 18:1-3

I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliver, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

I love what this verse says about who God is in relationship to us.

He is:

Our Lord

Our Strength

Our Rock

Our Fortress

Our Deliverer

Our Refuge

Our Shield

Our Horn of Salvation

Our Stronghold

Our God is worthy to be praised!

God desires for us as His people to experience Him as the God who protects and provides.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God as our protector and our provider.

Then it says that when we call upon God He will deliver us from our enemies.

Notice it says that He will save us from our enemies.

The Bible makes clear that our enemy (singular) is Satan.

So, who are our enemies?

As I read this passage I asked God that very question. God showed me that I had four huge enemies that were robbing me from experiencing God’s blessing and hindering me from knowing God as my protector and provider.

Enemy #1: Lust

I have and still do at times struggle with lust. I don’t mean just sexual lust though that has been a struggle. I mean that I lust for material and emotional success from the world’s point of view.

There is nothing wrong with material things.

There is nothing wrong with emotional success.

But when I focus on acquiring material things and achieving success so I can feel good about myself, I push God to one side. I want the thing or the success more than I want Jesus. That then becomes what I worship.

God delivers me from the enemy of lust.

Enemy #2: Unthankfulness 

Being unthankful for what God has done and is doing hinders us from experiencing God and His blessings.

When I am not thankful for what God has done, it means I am focusing on what I don’t have instead of focusing on how God has blessed me.

God has blessed me through His grace beyond anything I deserve and I need to focus on that truth.

Enemy #3: Condemnation

In Romans 8:1 we are told that In Christ there is no condemnation. If God does not condemn, I have no authority to condemn what God has not.

I don’t have the authority to condemn or judge. When I try to exercise that authority, I attempt to act as God and that separates me from knowing God and experiencing His blessings.

Enemy #4: Fear

Fear makes me focus on circumstances and other people and what they think so I miss the truth of God as my protector and provider.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God delivering me from my enemies.

With God Blessing Me, Protecting Me, and Providing for Me

by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                         Joe

Choosing

In Joshua 24, Joshua summarizes the history of what God had done for the people of Israel.

In verse 14 Joshua tells the people, “Now fear the Lord, and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”

Notice Joshua doesn’t say to just stop worshiping the false gods, but he says to throw them away.

We have to get rid of false gods from our lives.

In Ezekiel 14:6 God outlines how to rid our lives of false gods.

We are to recognize that we have set up idols in our lives. Before you can deal with any problem, you have to recognize that there is a problem.

We have to acknowledge it is sin. It is important to agree with God that something He calls sin is what you also call sin. Sin is defined by God, not by humans.

In Psalm 51:4 David says, “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.” David is acknowledging that what he did was sin because God said it was sin.

In 1 John 1:10 it says, “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

We have to repent. Repenting means to have a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior.

There are two parts of repentance. The turning from sin and the turning to God.

It is vital that we do both the:

Turning From

And

Turning To

Just turning from is not enough because if we don’t turn to God we are left to overcome the sin by our own power. If we could overcome sin by our own power, we would not have sinned in the first place. We are not strong enough. When we turn to God, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome in and through us.

Lastly, we denounce the idol, the false god. We get rid of the idol from our lives.

Recognize

Acknowledge

Repent

Denounce

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is getting rid of the false gods from our lives.

In Joshua 24:15 Joshua tells the people, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

We have to choose.

When I hear people talk about being Christians, I hear things like:

I grew up in a Christian home (so did some serial killers).

I go to church (I go into my garage but that doesn’t make me a car).

I believe in God (so do the demons).

I live in America (many who live here don’t claim to be Christians).

“Christian” is not a default setting. We have to make an intentional choice to surrender our lives to Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is intentionally choosing to believe in and following Jesus as Lord.

Joshua says that he and his family will serve the Lord.

Joshua doesn’t say they may or could or plan to serve the Lord; he says they will serve Lord.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is, no matter what, serving Jesus as Lord.

I have served many false gods in my life. Gods like success in ministry, titles and positions, family, and comfort.

Anything that comes before God in any way is an idol, a false god. We can let even good things become an idol.

As for me and my family, We Will Serve the Lord!

Choosing to Serve Jesus by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                     Joe

Jesus and Adam

We were house sitting for a lady when Jan and I were early in our marriage. I got a phone call one night asking to speak to my mother. I was not sure how to answer. I finally said, “I’m an adult. My mother doesn’t live here.”

How do you identity yourself to others?

In Genesis 1:26 God says, “Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.”

In Genesis 1:27 it says, “So God made man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.”

You and I are created in the image of God, after the likeness of God. Nothing else in all that God created is describe as being created in God’s image.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that we were originally created in the image of God.

In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve, the bearers of God’s image, sinned. They disobeyed God. That perverted the image in God in them and of every person born since then.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that the image of God in us has been perverted.

In 1 Corinthians 15:45 it says, “Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.’”

The last Adam is Jesus.

Paul is telling us that we can bear the perverted image that Adam brought on us or we can bear the restored image that Jesus brings to us.

The contrast is huge.

The first Adam was the source of idolatry.

The second Adam is the source of moving us back to the true worship of God.

The first Adam is the instrument of humanity’s downfall.

The second Adam is the instrument of humanity’s salvation.

The first Adam turned from the Father in a garden.

The second Adam turned to the Father in a garden.

The first Adam was naked and ashamed.

The second Adam was naked and bore our shame.

The first Adam’s sin brought us thorns.

The second Adam wore a crown of thorns for us.

The first Adam substituted himself for God.

The second Adam substituted Himself for sinners (that would be us).

The first Adam sinned at a tree.

The second Adam bore our sins on a tree.

The first Adam died as a sinner.

The second Adam died for sinners.

Those are the differences between the first Adam and the second Adam, Jesus.

We have a choice as to which image we will bear in life, the first Adam’s or the second Adam’s. Whichever choice we make will carry consequences.

The consequences of which image we bear:

We die bearing Adam’s image.

We are born again bearing Jesus’ image.

We are condemned bearing Adam’s image.

We have salvation bearing Jesus’ image.

We are cursed bearing Adam’s image.

We are blessed bearing Jesus’ image.

We have a sin nature bearing Adam’s image.

We receive a new nature bearing Jesus’ image.

We have wrath and death bearing Adam’s image.

We have love and life bearing Jesus’ image.

The direction of our lives is determined by whose image we are bearing.

The final destination of our lives is determined by whose image we are bearing.

When people ask you who you are, how do you respond?

I don’t identify with who my ancestors were.

I don’t identify with what kind of house I live in or what kind of car I drive.

I don’t identify with what my job is or how much money I make.

I don’t identify with a political party or certain life philosophy.

I am a child of God.

I am a follower of Jesus.

I am in Christ.

I am the righteousness of God.

I identify with Jesus and Him only.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is identifying our lives solely with who Jesus is.

With Jesus, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe

I Love the Church

I love the church. Now, don’t misunderstand. I get frustrated with the church at times. I have served local churches since 1975. Yes, there have been times when I have been angry at the church.

There are three things that help me love the church.

#1: Jesus loves the church.

In Ephesians 5:25 Paul tells us as husbands to love our wives as Jesus loved the church and give Himself up for the church.

Ephesians 5:29 tells us that Jesus cherishes the church.

One of our highest callings as followers of Jesus is to love what Jesus loves, and Jesus loves the church.

#2: The church is God’s, not mine or any other human’s.

Matthew 16:18 says that Jesus will build His church.

1 Corinthians 10:32 refers to the church as the church of God.

Since the church belongs to God, so it His job, not mine, to rebuke and correct the church.

#3: The church is not “them”, the church is “us”.

The church is the gathering of the called-out ones.

The church is not the building.

The church is not the pastor.

The church is not the programs.

The church is not the ministry.

The church is the people. And I am one of those people.

I hear many people saying, “I love Jesus but not the church”. And believe me, I get that. I understand that.

Since the church is called the family of God and the bride of Christ, saying that I love Jesus but not the church is like telling me that you love me but hate my wife, my children, and my grandchildren. If that is your attitude you, will not be my friend.

So yes, there will be times I will get angry at the church but I will bring that anger to Jesus and stay with His body, the church.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is loving the church and serving God through the church.

I serve a truly awesome church. Over the last five days we had 75 of our people serving inside and outside of the walls of the church building. They did it not for pay, not for man’s acclaim or to win gold stars from Jesus. They did it because God loves people and they want others to know that.

So, over the five days I asked myself how to measure a church.

Often the church is measured by buildings, baptisms, and budgets. If you measured my church that way, we are not special. We would be average at best.

But as I read the Gospels, I see Jesus measuring His church in a different way.

#1: Does the church love God with all their heart, all their soul, all their mind, and all their strength?

Jesus tells the church in Ephesus that they did a lot of things really well. But in Revelation 2:4 Jesus says they have left their first love. The first love for the church is to be Jesus.

I once had somebody tell me that our church was a Jesus church. I said, “Aren’t all churches Jesus’ churches?” and he sadly shook his head and said no.

#2: Does the church love their neighbor as themselves?

In Mark 12:31 Jesus says that next to loving God, the second command was loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Now, my neighbors are very different from me. So, when Jesus says that the church is to love our neighbors as ourselves, He means we are to love those who are not like us or those who don’t share our beliefs or who don’t even like us. 

In Matthew 5:44 we are told to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

I was never prouder of our church as when we had a man who came to worship with us who had been asked to leave several other churches because of his appearance and lifestyle. He asked if he could worship with us. When I told him yes, he was amazed. I told him that we didn’t support his lifestyle, but we loved him.

#3: Does the church see our self as a servant?

In Matthew 23:11 Jesus said the greatest is the one who serves.

The church is a servant of God serving people. Our calling is to serve those whom Jesus brings into the life of our church.

If you measure a church by how they love God, love others, and serve God by serving others, then my church is a truly awesome church.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is loving God with all that we are, loving others and serving them out of that love.

I love God’s church. My prayer is that you love God’s church.

With God’s Church, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                             Joe

Never Too Old

In Numbers 13 Moses sends 12 men on from each tribe to look over the land God was giving His people, Israel. Ten of the men said that Israel could not take the land that the people who lived there were to strong.

One of the two men who told the people that if God told them to take the land they could.

Numbers 13:30

Caleb quitted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Caleb believed God that had given them the land and they could by God’s enabling go up and take the land.

In Numbers 14:24 and Deuteronomy 1:36 God promises to give to Caleb the land that he had walked on.

God honors obedience. When we obey God, He blesses.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is believing God and be willing to obey Him.

Then in Joshua 14 Caleb reminds Joshua what God had promised him.

Joshua 14:6-12

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have kept me alive, just as He said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim was there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.’”

Four things that I see In Caleb.

#1: He believed what God said.

God had told Caleb that he would enter the promise land and he was there. God also told Caleb that the hill country would be his and Caleb believed God. God also assured Caleb that He would be with him and enable him to take the land.

God has given us hundreds of promises in His Word and we can believe them and live based on them. When we do God blesses us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is believing God and obeying God.

#2: Caleb reminded Joshua what God had promised him.

Caleb could have stayed quiet and let Joshua remembered what God had promised and if not take what Joshua gave him.

Caleb didn’t because he believed the promise but also because it was important to him.

Caleb wanted the land that God had promised him and so he reminded Joshua of the promise.

When something is really important to us we proclaim it.

When something is really important we remind others of it.

When something is really important we live based on it every day.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is focusing on what is really important.

#3: Caleb did not let age or circumstances deter him from doing God’s will

God’s will and nothing else should be what we allow to determine what we do and when we do it. God’s will is to be the driving fore of our lives.

Jesus’ prayer in the garden was not My will but Your will should be ours.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is letting God’s will direct our lives.

#4: Caleb depended on God’s power.

Caleb had seen God:

Part the Red Sea

Provide Manna from Heaven

Part the Jordan River

Guide the Israelites Through the Wilderness for Forty Years

Defeated Much Stronger Enemies

He knew by experience God’s power and knew God would be his power to take the land he had been given.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing God’s power by personally experiencing God’s power.

Caleb followed God.

In the same way we are called to follow Jesus.

Following Jesus by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

                                            Joe