¹ Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.’” ² Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” Exodus 5:1-3

“They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.” Exodus 5:8b-9

Moses is asking that his people be allowed to step away from their work in order to worship God. Pharaoh’s response is to accuse them of being lazy and increase their work load.

We have an enemy that continues those same tricks on the people of God today. We often define ourselves, and others, by how hard they work. Which isn’t always a bad thing. A strong work ethic is a great attribute. A necessary one for a follower of Jesus. But REST and WORSHIP are also commands of scripture. For some, Satan tries to convince them that’s laziness. In doing so, many feel a load of guilt for the time the carve out to do “nothing”. The reality is “nothing” times can mean everything. When we escape from work and open ourselves up to pure, uninterrupted worship, God moves. When you stop working in order to worship God you’re not lazy, you’re obedient.

Pharoah also increased the Hebrew people’s work load in the hopes that they would get too busy to worry about worship. If the work was more demanding then they would not have time to give attention to God’s agenda and can solely focus on his. Satan uses this same trick. He loves to get you too busy to think about your Creator. He wants your mind cluttered and spirit drained. Satan loves when you burn yourself out. When you’re physically spent you aren’t very useful to God. That’s exactly what the enemy wants.

Don’t fall for the trick of busyness. Set priorities! Learn to say no to good things and yes to God things. Slow down! Hard work is great and should be valued, but it can consume us so much that it squeezes out the worship. And yes, I know, often work is a form of worship. When we are serving His church and His people. But there must be room for moments of work free worship. Jesus did it!

We were all moved by Mary’s extravegant expression of love to Jesus. What she did symbolized what we all must do. She threw off tradition and publicly declared who Jesus was to her. The jar of perfume was a great representation of her life journey. It was valuable to her not just because of it’s cost but because of what it represented. She must have spent years trying to obtain something of such great cost. It was more than just a jar of perfume, it was her identity. But now she had found something, or someone, in which she could find her identity. That someone was Jesus!

On Sunday I watched as many others shattered the things that defined them in order to step into new life in Jesus. This is some of their responses. They inspired me! I hope they inspire you as well.

Join us this Sunday for our first worship gathering of the Lent season. This will be the most unique time of worship we’ve ever experienced at Vintage. I can’t wait.

#1 – Get more rest.

“If you refuse to work you’re lazy. If you refuse to rest you’re disobedient.” Throughout scripture we see a call to know our own limitations. We have to slow down and make time to recharge. To be healthier and more productive in our lives we have to prune our schedules and find time to rest. (Exodus 41:14-15, Job 14:5, Ecclesiastes 4:6, 1 Corinthians 10:23, Luke 5:16)

#2 – Tell more people about Jesus.

“Followers of Jesus, but be finders for Jesus.” Telling others about our first love should be a daily occurrence. Everyday we get opportunities to share the reason we have hope. Yet we often allow fear or insecurity keep us from sharing Jesus. We must be more intentional about making Him known to those we encounter. For that to happen we must have a burden for those who don’t know Jesus. (Matthew 4:18-19, 9:35-27, & 28:18-19, John 1:40-42)

#3 – Be a better steward.

“Stewardship is not born out of abundance, but rather obedience.” We own nothing. We are simply managers of God-given resources. Every resources exists to bring God glory. When we allow these truths to sink in it will radically change the way we live our lives. Whether you think you have a lot or a little, you are called to be obedient. How you mange what God has given you is important and makes a huge statement about your relationship with him. (Psalm 24:1-2, Deuteronomy 8:17-18, Luke 12:15 & 23)

#4 – Invest in my family.

“Your home is the frontline of your mission field.” God has specific purposes for family. No matter the dynamics at play, whatever “family” looks like, God wants to use that environment to prepare us for life. We have to own our responsibility to our family and not allow other things to distract us from giving them our attention. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Luke 2:52, Proverbs 14:26)

#5 – Grow deeper in my faith.

“A stationary target is easiest to hit.” Stagnant and complacent are unacceptable. We have to keep moving toward living and loving like Jesus. To do this we first have to remain passionately in love with Him. When Jesus has his rightful place in our hearts, then disciplines like bible study and prayer move from being habitual to transformational. If you want to grow you have to remove the idols that dilute your passion. (1 Kings 18, Revelation 3:15-16, Philippians 3:7-12)

#6 – Be more encouraging.

“You need me and I need you”. Nothing great is ever accomplished alone. We need each other. Having people in our lives to help us endure the failures and celebrate the victories is key. All the heroes of scripture had moments where someone stood with them in a valley. In a culture that preaches self-reliance, we have to recognize our need for others and stand together. (Hebrews 10:24-25, Ecclesiastes 4:9-11, Exodus 17:9-13, 1 Samuel 19-20)

In the matter of a few seconds Job gets the news he has just lost pretty much everything. Even his children.

With such news how would I respond? I can’t fathom the emotion that he must have been experience. Confusion, sorrow, anger! In the midst of all those emotions what would be my course of action. Job’s was not one most of us would choose.

“He fell to the ground in WORSHIP”

Wow. In the midst of the most painful period of his life he worships. As odd as that may seem it is the best remedy for trial. Worship connects us with our creator. In worship we find intimacy with God. That intimacy serves as a catalyst for peace. Peace is the sustaining force when things in life go sideways.

Lord, help me to respond to difficulty with worship!

¹⁴ In everything he (David) did he had great success, because the LORD was with him. 1 Samuel 18:14

By all accounts David didn’t seem to have the qualities that most would consider necessary to be great and successful. Despite that, he killed a giant, defeated armies, and ruled a nation. Why? The Bible says, BECAUSE THE LORD WAS WITH HIM!

I love how this passage gives God the credit for David’s success. He was successful in all he did, not because he was talented, not because he was intelligent, not because he had a great team, but because of the LORD!

Looking at  success through the lens of this verse I’m reminded once again how completely dependent on God I am. As a pastor/church planter, it’s so easy to get distracted and disillusioned with my own success. I think there are many factors that make one successful any venture of life, but if the LORD is not with me, I’m certain failure will be the end product. Because God has called me to something that is impossible without his presence. Without his anointing and favor there is no chance of true success.

¹¹ And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. ¹² At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. ¹³ For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’” 1 Samuel 3:11-14 (NIV)

Apparently Eli’s kids lived up to the p.k. rep. They had become rebellious and Eli had overlooked it. Eli had faithfully served God’s people, but neglected his own kids. God’s response? Strip him of his ministry position. Samuel would step up to fill Eli’s role. But wait . . . .

¹ When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. ² The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. ³ But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 1 Samuel 8:1-3 (NIV)

Another p.k. in rebellion. Once again we see the children of one of God’s called turn from the faith of their father. And once again we see a ministry position lost (1 Samuel 8:4-5). We don’t know a lot of details in these two instances. Did Eli and Samuel get too caught up in their service to others? Why didn’t Eli address the sins of his kids? All we know is their kids rebelled and God removed them from their roles. Why? Perhaps because that’s what it took for them to give the needed attention to their families? We can only assume.

Obviously this doesn’t always happen. Parents can do everything right and their kids can still, through the power of choice, travel a destructive path. Maybe it’s the exception, and not the rule. But we see it twice in 1 Samuel. Most of us have experienced it in our own lives or the lives of others we know. Therefore we have to do what we can to prevent it.

The p.k. rebellion usually happens when kids feel like they have been pushed down the priority chain of their pastor parent. When it seems that everyone else’s needs are more urgent than the needs of the one in the next room. Pastor’s get so engrossed in the expectation to take care of the church family that they ignore the command to care for their immediate one (1 Tim. 3:4-5). It can happen so quickly.

I was fortunate. My Dad never looked to our family as a place of secondary service. I never once doubted my importance to him. I was by no means a perfect kid. When I acted in a way that was inappropriate my dad was present enough to notice and loved enough to respond. And I’m determined to do the same for my kids. Doing this means I have to build boundaries that may make some “church folks” unhappy.

#1 – I am a child of God, a husband, a father, then a pastor. Pastor is a distant 4th to the first three.

#2 – I am not available 24/7. If someone at Vintage has a need there will be someone there for them at all times. That someone will not always be me. It is not the pastor’s job to care for the church. It is the church’s job to care for each other.

The spiritual health of my wife and kids will always be priority one!

#1 – God’s plan for bringing down a 25 foot high/20 foot thick wall surrounding a city is to march around it for a week then scream at it.

#2 – God instructs Joshua and the Israelites to destroy every living thing in the entire city, expect for one lady named Rahab and the people who are currently staying her home. By the way, Rahab was a prostitute!

So what the heck can we learn from this?

God’s instructions as we follow his call will, often, seem completely crazy. He will give us a plan for accomplishing his goal that will defy our understanding and logic. God really never asks us to fully understand, just to fully obey.

Throughout James we are pushed to stay on the path of authentic faith. James was convinced the solution to the problems encountered in the body of Christ was every individual living consistently in alignment Jesus’ teaching.

Here is a quick reminder of what we learned in “The Essential James”:

Authentic faith stands on the Word of God, not the emotions of the moment. (James 1)

• Don’t let your circumstances control you. Remember God’s promises.

Authentic faith is demonstrated by behavior, not just expressed in words. (James 2)

• “Lip-service” faith is unacceptable. Produce fruit.

Authentic faith speaks cautiously, not with reckless arrogance. (James 3)

• Our words are powerful. Speak encouragement and truth.

Authentic faith surrenders to God, not to selfish agendas. (James 4)

• God direction always leads to the greatest destination. Slay your selfishness.

Authentic faith trust God’s provision and perseveres. (James 5)

• Stop looking to other things for security. Be patient.

Which of these do are you struggling with the most? Please comment. I’d love to lift you up in prayer.