​Yum… Tis the season for cooking, baking, and candy-making!  It is fun to try a new recipe, or taste something that longs to become your new holiday favorite.  However, if you have ever tried cooking something new, or cooking anything at all really, a crucial step is to tasteit before you serveit.  Sometimes you got a bit more tomato paste in your sauce, and maybe need more herbs.  Perhaps you had some bitter basil, and now need some more sugar to balance out. There is always the opportunity to correct before serving, because after all, it is about the serving and those who are eating your creation.  
So it is with our faith. 
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can't you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you--unless you actually fail the test?
 
We are called to test ourselves, examine our faith, and to “work out our own salvation, with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).  It is important to note two things here before moving to the point: 
1.We are not called to work out someone else’s by causing them to fear (or “shaking some sense into them”). 
2.This is with the assumption that we are accepting the terms (God’s Word is true, Salvation comes through Jesus, etc.) …NOTthe same as arguing the terms of the transaction of our Salvation
 
If our call is to love God, and love people as he did, shouldn’t we make sure we know what we are serving up?  Can you imagine if you put everything into the pot, never stirred, never tasted, never time checked, and then blamed the failure of taste on the recipe, or even on those who were eating your dish?  Sounds absurd, right?  Well, examine yourself.  Take a taste of what is in that pot, and make sure it lines up with what you are trying to serve.  Don’t be scared to even lift the lid because you may have questions.  In fact, the whole point is that you will.  And we are told to take those to our Father, and through reading his Word, and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, taste it, test it, and get direction of where to go from there.  
 
Advice for this holiday season?  Look up, to know what you should serve up.  Cheesy but true, but just make sure you have tasted it first. 😊

​Isaiah 43:19 (CEB) Look! I'm doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don't you recognize it? I'm making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness.           
God is moving, making a new thing, something recognizably different.  If that is the promise, then why do we expect things to look the same? Should we not be joyfully expectant of something so new it touches all the senses as different?  Think about that “new car smell”.  Completely foreign from your previous vehicle, and yet in the excitement of a new experience is borderline uncomfortable?  The fit is good, the feel is right, but yet it just doesn’t seem like its yours?  So is the grace of our Lord.  He is good and faithful, and his kindness is undeserved.  But his promise is true, his grace is ours!   
Sometimes when we have something new happening, we have to leave something behind.  Sometimes it is something so good and comfortable that we just want to make it work in the new situation.  Or maybe we feel a responsibility to the old, and there is a sense of needing to see something to completion, or obligation to something’s usefulness.  Ever thought about nasty-lasties?  You are running out of a condiment and you purchase a new one, may be the same product, or may be something different that you are excited about.  Do you throw the old away without finishing it?  Or do you try to make use of what you still have, before opening the new? Sometimes if the new item is different, we open it in our anticipation to try it, but still hold on to the old because “there’s something left”.  If God tells you to leave it, do you listen?  Are you putting aside the new thing God is doing out of an obligation to the past?
Today, know that God is doing a new thing… he gives us grace and mercy for all that is past.  The requirement is that we walk by faith, even when it isn’t as comfortable as before, or if we have to leave something behind.  The gain is so much more!  

“Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands.”  - Psalm 119:5-6

There's a tendency today to help people "improve" by changing the metric. There was a movement in the sport of golf a few years ago, in which the holes were being dramatically enlarged to make it easier for beginners - in fact it was over 4x the normal size: big enough to fit a basketball into! In mountain biking, we are in the midst of the "eBike revolution!" where bikes aren't just powered by your self effort, they receive an "assist" from a built-in electric motor so that hill that always left you wheezin', is simply now breezin'. From "challenge-to-rise-to" to "piece of cake"...

Think those examples through for a second - are you really becoming a better golfer or biker by changing the target or getting a little "assist"? The arguments sound good: "It will attract new people", "There are people who won't feel so overwhelmed", "Why should it be so hard, anyway?" etc. And those same rationalizations can be at work in your spiritual life which is definitely NOT A GAME.

Today, remember to reject the lie that you can change God's decrees, His Word, His expectations for you and somehow improve your life. That's not how reality works, just like people golfing on a course with bucket sized holes or mountain bikers riding mopeds. His expectations are for your benefit and blessing. Don't try to take the easy way out and in the process look foolish and ultimately miss out on authentic full life.

Have you heard the term “functional” Christian?  No? Well, how about “functional” alcoholic? That is one more familiar, and chances are you have known one.  The point is when someone is using something to function, it is functional, but not foundational.  The difference is this: one is a coping mechanism, one is woven into the fabric of its core.  So, a functional Christian is someone who, at their core, is using their faith as a coping mechanism.  
 
Deuteronomy 8:3 says “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
 
Sound familiar?  It is the same passage that Jesus is recorded as quoting to the devil when he was being tempted.  What does that mean?  We may have had a time when we felt brought to God through our circumstance, but that is not where we stay.  After Jesus was tempted, he immediately went out for his disciples, and officially began his ministry preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17)
 
Now go – move beyond functional, get it in your core and make it foundational.  Trust God, read his Word, and let it change you.  

“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you. When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me. For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD. They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes.” - Proverbs 1:24-31
​
"God hears us when we call" - We sing about this. We hear it in sermons. We read it in the Bible. We know this even though sometimes in the heat of the moment we may have our doubts. However, when you read Proverbs 1, you may go "Whoa, wait a minute! THAT's in the Bible?" Yes. It is. The idea that God would laugh at someone in their time of trouble, that He deliberately would not answer when we call out for Him is shocking!

And yet it's not. Think this through - when a kid takes for granted that "Daddy will cover it - I can go ahead and do what I want" its a case of  counting on "premeditated forgiveness" as in:

• I know he won't like this
• I know it might cause problems and have costs
• But I'm counting on somebody fixing my mess for me after I do what I want.

It's the counting on the promise of the other being a "pushover". If you are a parent you understand how viscerally this offends us. It's wrong for someone to take love for granted, to deliberately do wrong while counting on another's goodwill to come to the rescue. Here's the thing: GOD IS NOBODY'S "PUSHOVER".

Read the passage again and notice a couple things:

• God is consistently trying to correct and direct you to what's best 
• We don't get to pick and choose when we want God's help
• If we scheme to do our thing and expect Him to clean up the mess, we discover the costs are still there waiting for us!

Actions have consequences.  God shows mercy - unless you are trying to use it as your get-out-of-jail-free card. If you do wrong counting on Him coming to rescue (the "schemes" mentioned in Proverbs 1), you may find He's not going to be there to clean up your mess. 

Today, think it through. Listen when He offers direction and correction. If you push Him away thinking you can call on Him later after you've "done your thing" then as the old saying goes - "You've got another thing coming".

​Spark. Ouch.

“In addition, the crews of Hiram and Solomon brought gold from Ophir, and they also brought red sandalwood and precious jewels. The king used the sandalwood to make steps for the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and to construct lyres and harps for the musicians. Never before had such beautiful things been seen in Judah.” - 2 Chronicles 9:10-11

So here's a thought to start your day: Just because something looks good now doesn't mean it will stay that way.  The story of Solomon looks great if you just glance at it:

• Son of a legendary king takes over and asks God for wisdom to lead well.
  
• Gets blessed with wisdom and riches as a result.
  
• Kingdom grows. Everyone one is in awe. Unparalleled prosperity is the result... at first.

See that last part is the rub - things looked great... for a bit. They had the very best stuff they ever had as a people (verse 11 says "Never before had such beautiful things been seen in Judah.") We like nice stuff, don't we? The problem is, their illustrious prosperity-generating-ruler was about to lead them down a dark path of idolatry and even government sanctioned worship that would involve child sacrifice (see Leviticus 20:1-5 and 1 Kings 11:1-11).

Today there's a simple two word reminder for this SPARK: WATCH OUT! Watch out that you don't value prosperity and nice things so much that you go down the wrong road without even noticing. Watch out for evaluating opportunities and people by the allure of the good things they can provide when God's things may end up getting left behind. Watch out for the way nice stuff feels very "now" and decline often happens so slowly we don't notice until the damage is done.

Solomon was wise - in fact in Ecclesiastes he makes a point of bragging about how wise he'd become, all while 1 Kings tells us he was rapidly losing his moral compass and leading the nation to ruin. Today, you need to aim for better eyesight than the "wise guy". Don't get blinded by short term "shiny-stuff" - Keep your eyes on God's bigger picture.

​SPARK... and let the rest burn.

“If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to a foreign land far away or near. But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.” - 2 Chronicles 6:36-37

We like encouragements but aren't so excited about warnings, nevertheless here is one for you today. Solomon prayed the words above at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, and did you see what he prophetically said? Read it again, and you will notice that he describes EXACTLY what happened to Israel and Judah a couple hundred years later: they had turned away from God, and He allowed their enemies to conquer them and then take them away in exile. Solomon had a sense of something dangerous in their future... but didn't have sense enough to recognize how his own actions would set it all in motion. A few years after Solomon prayed this remarkable prayer asking God for mercy on future generations, Solomon turned sharply away from God through a series of poor choices which the Lord repeatedly warned him not to make. The wrongs Solomon embraced sowed the seeds of that captivity that would envelop their entire nation. He's asking God to show mercy for something he would actually cause.

Today, thank God for his mercy and great grace ABSOLUTELY. But with your thanks, how about adding a big dose of humility by asking Him to help you listen and obey His voice this week. Only fools believe in "Easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission." Forgiveness involves pain, damage, and the long slow task of rebuilding. It's far better to pay attention on the front and stay on track. If you get a glimpse of what might go wrong spiritually, morally, ethically - then ask God to help you go the right way. His forgiveness is already out there - what we need is for our obedience to be right here.

Father, thank You for being here when we fall - but help us remember that You'd prefer to help us stand in the first place!

Spark - ouch, that's hot.
​

“There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!”  - 1 Kings 8:5

So here's a lesson from history long ago: King Solomon was leading the nation of Israel as they were getting ready to dedicate their awesome new temple. It was an striking scene and so full of grand celebration that they people couldn't even keep track of it all! And in the middle of reading about the massive amounts of sacrifices they were making, my thoughts drift back to the words of the prophet who first mentored Israel's original king. Samuel was speaking to King Saul and told him these words:

““What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” - 1 Samuel 15.22

Solomon's big moment would be forgotten in the wrongs he would later do (check out 1 Kings 11:4-11) and in how much damage he would do to their nation. All this show ended up being meaningless as what he did in the long run overruled what he did in this moment.

I hope that today you will consider that: You are more than a moment - for better or worse. In a moment you can make big promises but its what you do day after day that determines if they come true. Conversely, in a moment you can also fail miserably and think all is lost but if you get up and walk on, there may be hope yet.

You are more than a moment.

​Spark.