A Christian Hunter's Devotions and Studies

[HarvDog]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Good message. Definitely looking forward to these on a continous basis. Thanks for stepping up Josh!

[TreeWalker]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Excellent message Josh.....I remember when our pastor preached on it nearly two years ago....it has stuck with me since.........to fit it into a day to day routine, I look at it simply as how do I want my kids to remember me when they are grown and I am gone..........it's all in the glory of God, but I want my kids to be the reflection of that...

[AaronS]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

I'm happy to see this thread brought back to life. John, congrats on your son. I am also 36 and have an 8 month old son (my first) at home. He is truly amazing and I thank God every day for him.

Buckee, congrats to you too on your son accepting Jesus. We will keep him in our prayers.

The last couple of months have brought many things to be thankful for, as well as some not. I haven't shared this with many people. My wife became pregnant again this spring. She was anxious because that would make 4 kids in the house. I was excited because while my 2 stepdaughters are great, I only have one real son and I was liking the thought of having another. I knew the work would take its toll but I was ready for it. After a while my wife started to come around too.

Fast forward a couple of months, and we are in the 11 to 12 week time frame. For most of a week my wife just feels like something isn't right. That Sunday she starts bleeding and cramping. A visit to her doctor on Monday confirms that the baby lived just shy of 10 weeks. The following weekend she begins having trouble and we spend all Sunday night in the ER. She bleeds and cramps on and off for the next few days. Last Wednesday evening she attends the bible study at our small church and they lay hands on her and pray over her. She has not had one cramp since, praise God.

While we're sad that we won't get to raise our child, we know it is in a better place, that it will never have to suffer through anything, and that we will one day be able to hold it. We still have little Hunter James to brighten our days. He has been very good therapy for us....always smiling and laughing. We know that everything happens for a reason, and we trust God's decision that this pregnancy was not meant to be. We are at peace with the whole thing. Through it all, we are thankful for what we have, because He has blessed us so richly.

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

God bless. Prayers are on there way. Sorry to hear about your loss!

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Saturday June 25,2005

Myth Busters

If you were of the world, the world would love(you as) its own. John 15:19

BE A MAN

In order to be considered a "real" man, the world says you've got to look and act a certain way. Where and how do you get instructions for such a lofty goal? Almost every moment of every day input comes from movies, tv shows, magazines, books, billboards and the internet- all have many of the same messages.

If you believe what you see, the world revolves for your pleasure. Women are little more than sex objects. Disagreements should be settled with force. Making tons of money and driving a got car are great goals.

BE A GODLY MAN

God's Word speaks specifically to these myths.

*Considering women:"Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." Ephesians 5:28

*Concerning disagreements:"A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath." Proverbs 15:1

*Concerning money:"The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth (is) never (satisfied) with income." Ecclesiastes 5:10

How can you reprogram your thinking regarding authentic manhood? Commit to let your mind be transformed by God's Word as Romans 12:1 instructs.

Use a concordance to study the word MAN in Proverbs. As you read, write down the positive attributes a man of character exemplifies, and in a time of prayer ask God to help you add them to your character.

BOTTOM LINE

When in doubt about what it takes to be a "real" man, look at God's description to know for sure.

This is another one from the same magizine as yesterday. It really spoke to me on a personal level. Hope you all enjoy as much as I have!

Josh

God bless and have a great day!

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Sunday June 26,2005

GULP! Me, Lord!

"I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Who will go for Us?' I said,'Here I am. Send me." Isaiah 6:8

WHAT'CHA GONNA DO?

Everyday you see example after example of teh emptiness in the lives of your coworkers. Some may even claim to be Christians, but their "fruit" is either withered or nonexistent. Others seem to give no thought to spiritual concepts. You have faithfully prayed for them, but little has changed. Jesus is absent. It may be that God is calling you to start a workplace Bible study. There is only one answer that will bring peace to your heart, "Yes, Lord."

WHAT NEXT?

Now that you've gotten past the hurdle of the initial plan, approach your employer with the idea. Be ready to offer suggestions as to when, where, and how the Bible study can fit in with your work environment and have a good answer as to why the Bible study would benefit the workplace. Have a topic selected that will be accessible and interesting to those with little knowledge of the Bible (perhaps a biblical approach to a contemporary topic), and be able to articulate your rationale for choosing it.

Once you have obtained approval, begin inviting your coworkers. Food is always a good motivator to get people to come, so order some take-out pizza. Spend some focused time in prayer each day before the study begins, asking God to cultivate a sense of trust between you and your peers. Stay within the alotted time and always be prepared for the questions that will inevitably come.

BOTTOM LINE

It may be time fro you to step up and start a Bible study at your workplace. Begin praying for guidance and boldness to see it through!

Romans 10:17

Hope everyone has a blessed day and God bless each and everyone of you.

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

I know it is late, but here is Mondays.

Monday June 27. 2005

The Sounds of Silence

Meditate upon the fact that God is found best in that stillness. Consider 1 Kings 19:11-12 "The Lord said," Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." In this verse Elijah ws running for his life and had spent the night, exhausted, in a mountain cave. After a long period of dire prayer, God brought reassurance to Elijah- but it came not in the mighty wind, earthquake, or fire. God's work of reassurance and redirection came in "a gentle whisper." Likewise, when Jesus wished to speak with the Father, He retreated from the noisy crowds into the distant hillsides or to still waters of the lake or into the dark hush of the night. Today, the harried urbanite will do well to follow Elijah and Jesus into the wilderness, and in those quiet places, learn the true beauty of this command:"'Be still, and know that I am God'" Psalm 46:10

Today's Prayer

O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of earth. You have made the stars and the planets, and You can shake the very foundations of the cosmos. But You choose to speak to us in the soft stillness. Help us find the quiet places where we can listen. Amen

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Tuesday June 28,2005

"God As the Hunter"

"I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.....You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.....Earth has nothing I desire besides you." Psalm 73:22, 24, 25

"Job said to God:"Bold as a lion you hunt me...." Job 10:16

Hunter As Prey

If you are in the woods hunting deer (or turkey or dove or whatever), it might not increase your enjoyment to consider what being hunted- being the prey rather than the predator- is like. However, such thinking might make you a better hunter and make you a better Christian. Knowing your prey, thinking like the deer, may help you hunt them. Seeking the second part is more frightening. In biblical language, if God is the hunter, then we are the deer! God is hunting us. And what do most hunters do to their prey? They kill them.

Pray You Are God's Prey.

Does God plan to kill us? No. God does not hunt us in order to mount our heads as trophies on the wall. God hunts us because we are lost. God does not want to kill us, but he does wish to see us die--figuratively speaking. God wants to kill the worst in us so that the best in us can thrive. We are to die to self. Paul wrote," You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:9-10) Jesus said," ' Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it' " (Luke 17:33). God wants to hunt and subdue the selfish animal in us so that the divine can triumph.

This presents a puzzle. If God wanted us to be purely spiritual creatures, why did He place us in fleshly animal bodies in the first place? Why was God not content with the angels?

What Kind Of Creatures?

Maybe God wanted a creature who is more than a disembodied spirit. It is a mystery. The Bible states that God created humans "a little lower than the angels," yet "crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet." (see Hebrews 2:7-8) "Lower than angels" means we are placed in earthly, physical, animal bodies. Whatever kind of creatures angels may be, they do not have the same sensuality as humans. Despite our initial status as Angels, Second Class, we have the potential to grow beyond and above the angels, to take this miraculous combination of flesh and spirit, of terrestrial and celestial, and become something even more wondrous that the heavenly hosts!

How do I know this? By reading the next few verses in Hebrews(2:8-10). The "him" in these verses refers to us- the human race. "In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little bit lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering."

Dear Deer

Now, what has this got to do with deer hunting? Well if we are the deer and God is the hunter, and the hunter is seeking to track down, subdue, and in some way kill our fallen "animal" selves, we can now see the purpose in it. God loves us dearly-pun intended. God allows us to strive for perfection through our physical existence. Even the pain of living in these frail bodies can be turned to the good. Christ took most of our suffering upon Himself on the cross. Still, part of the redeeming and perfecting process is something we must personally experience, suffer, and surrender. The death of selfishness is not without pain.

Animal Fear

Somewhere in this process of becoming what God wants us to be, we shall face not only a figurative "spiritual death" of our sinful self but, finally, a real death of the body. The fear we feel about death is an animal fear, like the hunted prey who sees the arrow coming. But we are not animals. By faith, we must trust that something glorious waits for us, something transformational and transcendent. Again, Paul wrote that "our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Philippians 3:20-21) We will not just become some nebulous vapors, some ghostlike phantoms floating around in clouds. We will become, after death, all that is good in us now plus more than we can imagine.

C.S. Lewis gives us helpful images of this in his book about heaven and **** called THE GREAT DIVORCE. In Lewis's fictional Heaven, the pilgrims who step into its outer boundaries find Heaven not some soft pillow of clouds, but a strong reality that calls for tough spiritual maturity-growth "into a Person"- place where the watchword is "farther in and higher up" into "Deep Heaven." And Deep Heaven, while beautiful and glorious and filled with the Divine, is more "solid" and "real" than the earth we now walk.

Set Free

Consider yet another verse from St. Paul:" The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Romans 8:21). Now we can better understand the metaphor of God as hunter and ourselves as the deer. God is not seeking to kill us and cook us over hot coals (as fire-and-brimstone preachers must surely do when they hunt deer!). God is more a hunter in the category of Marlin Perkins (of the old T.V. show, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom), who hunted down animals who had wandered from their natural and safe habitat and captured them only to set them free again in a better pace, such as a wildlife preserve or animal sactuary. God hunts us because God loves us. God hunts us because He does not want us to live as lost animals, but as perfect, content, spiritual beings in God's glorious game reserve,"Deep Heaven." And it is that very image of God that prompted the psalmist to write:" I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.....(But) you guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory" (Psalm 73:22, 24)

O God, seek me, follow me, capture me with Your love, grab me up in the arms of grace, and take me into a glorious future. In Jesus' name. AMEN

Todays devotion was taken from a book that I have and love called,"Outdoors with God" by Lance Moore. This is a great book and I would strongly recommend it to everyone. God bless and hope you all have a blessed day.

Josh

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Sorry guys, but just ran out of time yesterday. So here is part two of the one from Tuesday. Hope ya'll are enjoying these!

God As The Hunter (Part 2)

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?.....Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me -- a prayer to the God of my life." Psalm 42:1-2, 7-8

The Hunter and the Hunted

A long time ago, a young hunter hid among the rocks and trees with a crude weapon. He was not hunting for sport; he was hunting wild game for food, for his very survival. His name was David, a fugitive, running from a maddened King Saul, hiding in the wilderness, alone. We believe that many of the Psalms were written by David during that period of exile, when he was not only hunting for game but also was himself being hunted by King Saul.

Indeed, some of the Psalms could be entitled,"Prayers of the Hunter and the Hunted." For example, in Psalm 10:1-2, perhaps David was writing these words while on the lam:"Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in schemes he devises." And Psalm 31:1-4:"In you O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge."

Even David felt like a trapped animal in need of refuge from hunter Saul, David also found comfort in remembering that he was also hunted, sought after, by God. In Psalm 139:5, David speaks of God as a hunter who has him trapped in divine love. "You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me." I'm not sure if many readers will carry this book with them up into their deer stand high in the forest canopy; but in those quiet moments alone in your hiding place, read or remember the Psalms of David and recall his trust in the Great Hunter. Use your imagination a bit to imagine how a frightened, solitary David felt utter dependence on God.

The Hunter of Heaven

David sought God. But most folks run from the Lord or simply have no notion of where to look for Him. Lucky for us, God is reaching out to us, seeking us diligently. To twists Carson McCullers's poetic phrase, God is "the lonely hunter of the heart." God is, to use the words of Francis Thompson, the "hound of heaven." Some words from his famous poem may help you with your meditation on this topic of "God the Hunter":

The Hound of Heaven

by Francis Thompson (1859-1907)

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.....

Still with unhurrying chase,

And unperturbed pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

Came on the following Feet,

And a Voice above their beat.......

The poem continues at length, its point being that the voice of the pursuing hound is God's. God hunts and tracks us until at last we realize, as Thompson put it toward the end of the poem, "I am He Whom thou seekest."

We Still Flee

Sometimes, the thought of God as a hunter is not comforting but challenging, even frightening. We run. Sometimes we flee so hastily and blindly, we end up getting lost deeper in the wilderness. So we indeed do need God to hunt us down. We considered this at length in the previous devotion, but David had already, thousands of years ago, portrayed God as a hunter with a bow and arrow in Psalm 38:1-2:"O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me."

Yes, God is pursuing you vigorously, aggressively, like an armed hunter. God is not some wispy, vague force floating like a disembodied ghost about the universe. God is a real and personal being who created you, who longs to have you in His hand, who seeks you. But God also loves you and wishes you only the best, so you have nothing to fear. King David wrote repeatedly of God as "our refuge." Our safe place. So if God has hunted you down and caught you, rejoice, and go eagerly into that safe refuge.

Todays Prayer

O Creator and Pursuer, forgive us for our foolish flight. Bring us like lost sheep back from the wilderness into the safety of Your fold. Amen

May God bless you all.....and most of all.....have a blessed day!

Josh

[HarvDog]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Thanks for all of the great posts Josh. I just got this one and wanted to share it. I'm sure someone will definitely from it.

Do you hate your job? Studies show that a large percentage of workers really hate their jobs. Maybe you hate it because it's boring, or because the people you work with are difficult, or because you have an impossible boss.

Well, if you have a job you hate, here's what you do: Change employers. That's right—just change employers right now, today. But, you say, “I can't just change jobs like that—today." Oh, I didn't say change jobs; I said change employers.

Paul wrote to the Colossians: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men." Did you realize you can change employers without changing jobs? Just say out loud, "I no longer work for that company or that person; I have a new boss. I now work for the Lord."

Keep that thought in your mind all day long as you're working, and keep telling yourself over and over this truth: "I report to Jesus. Therefore, I must be careful how I act and I need to watch my attitude, because I have a new boss: Jesus."

I don't care how tough your job is or how much you hate it, if you work for Jesus, if you consider Him your boss, if you continually remind yourself that you will give an account to Him as to how you have performed in your job, and furthermore, that He will reward you if you do a good job, you can be content right there in that job you hate.

Believe me, I know because I've had to practice this myself. For three years I worked in a job I hated and wanted to leave. The first year there I did everything I could to find another job, and nothing happened. Finally I realized God had me there for some purpose, and I decided to work for God, not for that company and not for that impossible boss.

As soon as I changed employers, I was content in that job. And God taught me lessons for the next two years in that job I hated which I could not have learned anywhere else. He also used me to witness to others who worked there. But nothing good happened until I changed employers.

If you've been working for an earth-person, or for yourself even, you've been working for the wrong person. Make this biblical principle a reality in your life today: Don't work for people or money or a company, work for Jesus. I promise you, you can be content in a job you hate if you work for the right person.

As written by

Mary Whelchel

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Well I was planning on posting when I got off work at "11:00 PM," But things got hectic at work and I am just now getting off. So here is the one for Friday....even though it is now Saturday!

Chameleon Christian

"Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning" James 1:17

NO DAY AT THE BEACH

All boys know how hard it is to build a sandcastle. Wind blows the turrents away and the little waves eventually erode the walls. People who are inconsistent in their behavior and don't have a solid core character are like that too. It's hard to lay the foundation for a stable relationship with them. Like the unrealiable attitudes of the "chameleon dad," one never knows what to expect.

That isn't the model that God gives us for any relationship--especially fatherhood. Scripture teaches us that God is consistent--"With Him there is no variation." James 1:17

THE KEY IS CONSISTENCY

As a child of your Father in Heaven, you are designed to have a character patterned after Him. God loves, and as His child, you are to love. God is holy, and as His child you are to be holy. God is consistent, and as His child you should be consistent too--consistent at home, work, at church, and in the community.

Consistency can be found in teh man who regularly puts in an honest days work. Or the nursing home attendent who tenderly wipes the mouth of a patient who can't care for himself anymore. And in men who are always there for their wives and kids. No matter how tough things get, they love and glorify God.

In a notebook or journal, list the areas where you know you're inconsistent, and ask God to help you shed those lapses in consistency. As God answers your prayer, track your progress in the coming weeks.

BOTTOM LINE

What does consistency look like in your life?

What do you need to do to demonstrate a consistency that pleases God?

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Just a short one for today.....well Saturday! I am running a little behind! LOL

Making It Real

Read about the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18. Then jot down the fresh revelations you gather from this familar passage, and ask God to equip you with these weapons of spiritual warfare during the coming week!

God bless you all and hope you all have a blessed day!

Josh

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Here is just a little something for everyone. Hope you all enjoy!

In Your Eyes

by John Fischer

I received a letter from a dear friend yesterday. The writer of the letter and her husband were the most influential people in my life during my formative, twentysomething years. Though our contact has become limited due to time and distance, they remain to be those kinds of friends you can revisit and pick up right where you left off, no matter how long it's been.

Her letter to me was prompted by reading my latest book, which is confessional in nature, and she revealed to me that she read it exactly as I would want a book like this to be read: “I laughed, I cried, I searched my heart.” Writers don't write about themselves because they think anyone actually cares that much. They are banking on the fact that in the process of wrestling something out of their own darkness, they can connect with that which is common to someone else. Doesn't have to be everybody, either. Just somebody. My friend, Anne Marie, became that “somebody” when she said, “I searched my heart.” I couldn't want for anything more.

Which, by the way, is also the nature of these devotionals. I have received comments from some of you who are not sure about my devotional style, and I understand that, because Oswald Chambers I am not. There are traditional devotionals, and more reflective ones, which is where I take my cue, taking ordinary daily events and observations and discovering God’s purposes in my own experience of these things. But to get the true benefit, you have to take the next step as Anne Marie did. You have to search your own heart. God forbid that it stops with me.

But it was what she said at the end of her note that really knocked me out. “However, I don't see you as being dysfunctional.” (That had been one of my confessions.) “You know John, when I look at your photo on the back of the book, and I look in those eyes, all I see is Jesus.”

Oh boy… this is what friends are for, and why we all need fellowship. We need those in our lives, who, because of their own faith and love — and perhaps due in part to their ability to overlook our flaws — can look in our eyes and see nothing but Jesus. We'll never get through without receiving this, as well as being these eyes for someone else.

Have a blessed day everyone!

Josh

[jaret]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Wow guys, defintely some awesome posts. I haven't read the recent ones lately, but defintely keep them coming.

[preacherman]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Been studying out of James 4 for Sunday morning, I am preaching a series through the book of James on Sunday mornings this summer...............I am to the point in James 4:7 where the Bible says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you"............many people look at that word "resist" to mean "stay away from"..........but literally it brings with it the meaning "to stand against".............or in other words, when we walk with our Big Brother (Jesus Christ); we have nothing to worry about! So when the devil comes against you, JUST STAND!

[TreeWalker]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

HarvDog...that's exactly the position I'm in....thanks for posting that.

CSM, great topics as always.........and everyone else for that matter

I had a rough day, humiliating actually......I guess it was needed, a lesson needed to learn......I don't know exactly where I'm headed, but I know who is leading the way......been spending some time in Proverbs....it never really stood out to me before.....but when seeking advice for one's self, it sure seems to be there when you least expect it......

[jaret]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

[ QUOTE ]

I don't know exactly where I'm headed, but I know who is leading the way......

[/ QUOTE ]

Defintely Clay. Proverbs 16:9 " A man's heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps." Defintely a good verse to know God is in control.

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Hello everyone....I am so pumped to see this thread is starting to pick up on the activity. What a blessing. I haven't posted a devotion in a while due to my back problem....haven't been able to get to the ole computer. But here is one for today!

Blinded by the Truth

by John Fischer

For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:18

I look forward to receiving your e-mails like the exchange I recently had with someone who struggles with blindness, wrestling meaning and purpose out of her affliction — even to the point of taking joy in it. She got me to thinking that we all have our own stories. Connecting with each other in the process of our story and its accompanying thrashing about is always worth doing. After all, we are walking together, and the exposing of ourselves to others creates openings to reflect on our own experiences, often giving us greater insight.

Today, as I reflect on this blind woman’s story, my eyes are opened to a time when I was holding an informal discussion in a college dorm lounge. I noticed a man and woman whose affection towards each other made it obvious this was more than just a friendship. The woman was very beautiful, but the person she had on her arm had to be the nerdiest looking guy on campus. Indulging in the obvious judgmental speculation, I thought to myself, “This girl could probably gain the attentions of any man in the room… Why tolerate this guy? What could she possibly see in him?”

It was then that I realized… she was blind.

What did she see in him? She saw just about everything that I wasn’t seeing — and, for that matter, everything that was truly relevant. It was indeed a humbling revelation — an indictment on how much stock I put into appearances. Physical appearance in our culture is a very big part of how we see a person, even though it is really a very small part of who we are.

Appearance has always been important. As far back as biblical times, outward appearance has been a big part of the equation. Abraham lied about Sarah because of her beauty. Jacob was immediately taken by Rachel’s loveliness. Attractive women were the downfall of both David and Solomon, not to mention Samson’s weakness. It was important then, even without airbrushed media images on everyone’s mind!

To be sure, how a person carries him or herself is a physical manifestation of what is inside, but physical appearance has its limitations. In time, our physical body will waste completely away and return to dust. However, who we are will live on, and what lives on is the essence of our being. That was the part that the blind woman had her eyes wide open to when in the company of her nerdy companion, and in her blindness, she saw it better than anyone in the room.

Lord, make us blind to what is not permanent, and keenly focused on what will last. Help us to see and love the essence in those around us. Help us to see, as you do, through your eyes into the heart.

Hope you all have a great and glorious day....and may God bless each and everyone of you!

Josh

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Hope everyone is having a great day. Here is a little devotion for everyone.

Communication Breakdown

by John Fischer

Lord Jesus, are we talking?

It seems like it’s been a while. My voice to You feels weak. There’s no doubt about my belief, but I guess believing doesn’t count as communication. (I think I’ve assumed that it does without really thinking about it.) I can believe in my wife and not talk to her for a week. How long has it been since You heard from me — really heard from me? If I have to ask that question, it must have been a while. Somehow I’ve got You doing nothing but waiting around to hear from me while I go about my business oblivious to our lack of communication. Like I’ve got more important things to do than You do. Ouch! That sounds pretty close to blasphemy, making me wonder how often I blaspheme You with my ignorant assumptions.

Is our relationship more important to You than it is to me? If it is, I am grossly overestimating my own importance. The issue is not whether You are on my side; the question is: am I on Yours? And only I can answer that. Am I centering my life on You? The fact that the lines of communication seem rusty right now indicates there is a lot of inequity here.

What do I need to do to get back in touch? What’s that? I’m doing it right now? You just want my attention and You’ll take it any way it comes — through joy, sorrow, confession, pain or the reestablishment of communication? That seems almost too easy. What’s that You’re saying? “Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly" (Matthew 11:29-30 The Message).

I think I’m getting it now. No matter how far I may have strayed away, it’s always a short trip back. The breakdown in communication was only on my part, never Yours. I don’t have to retrace my steps back to the last place I got off before I can hear You again, because You’ve been dogging me the whole way. As soon as I turn my heart and attention towards You, You are there to meet me because You never left.

Seems almost too good to be true. Where did I get the idea it’s supposed to be so hard?

Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Josh

[buckee]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Thanks Josh

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Buckee.....just doing what I feel pleases my Lord and Savior. I do this as often as I can hoping and praying that something I post here can lead a lost soul to the Lord. If only one person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior than I have made a difference. With that being said here is todays!

Friend or Vacuum Salesman?

by John Fischer

We’ve all heard the story before, or perhaps it even happened to you.

You receive a visit from a friend you haven’t seen in a long time. You are overjoyed at the reunion and honored that your friend would see the relationship worth cultivating and would actually seek you out. Or it might be a person you are just starting to get to know, and there are encouraging signs of a potential friendship.

In the course of a pleasant conversation, with the talk shifting randomly from one subject to another you suddenly find you are discussing the virtues of various vacuum cleaners. You friend brightens at the topic because he’s recently had some great results with an amazing new machine that he extols with great pleasure. You are so taken by his excitement that you find yourself wanting to know where you might find one of these amazing vacuum cleaners since your old model has paled in comparison to his vivid description, and you’ve been thinking about looking into a new one anyway. It’s then that your new friend offers to solve all your problems by selling you one on the spot at a “one-time-only, low, low price of $69.95.”

Suddenly you feel an awful knot in the pit of your stomach. It’s not unlike the feeling you had when you came home one day to find your house had been burglarized. You feel violated, used. And you feel stupid for trusting this person and making yourself vulnerable to his schemes. He’s not after a friendship; he’s after a sale.

A believer’s mission to share Christ with people is one of the five great purposes for which we exist. But without the other four to balance it, we can end up peddling Christ with similar results. Even laying hold of a conversation with the intent of steering it in a particular direction can feel manipulative to a person.

If I listen to the other purposes in this light, I remember that God is in control of everyone’s own road to discovery. I don’t make anyone see the truth, I am only witness to what I have seen and heard. My relationship with people is an end in itself, regardless of whether or not they are Christian or Muslim, or Jewish or atheists. My purpose is to serve people, not sell them something. And maturity tells me that the Holy Spirit is my guide as to what to say and when, so as to not even worry about this or be overly conscious of my role in someone’s life as providing anything other than love and support.

We don’t take God’s word, water it down, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in Christ’s presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as honestly as we can. (2 Corinthians 2:17 The Message)

Hope everyone out there in RT land is having a blessed day and each of you have felt God's presence in your life today. God bless you all! Just remember, no matter how you feel you have made a difference to somebody!

Josh

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Who Was That Guy Anyway?

by John Fischer

Last weekend I was the beneficiary of a surprise act of kindness.

My wife had invited a carpenter she met to provide us with an estimate on some work required on our tired, old 1942 cottage. He stopped by on Saturday and after determining the extended time to complete the project, he declined the offer to bid. Nevertheless, he stayed and spent some time with Marti and I, introducing us to his extraordinary self — a man of worth and someone we felt we had known for a long time

In short order, we found we had a mutual appreciation and respect for C. S. Lewis and his writings, that we shared a similar desire to contribute within the mainstream of our culture, and that we expressed similar concerns that our culture was abandoning the essential foundation of its core values.

This oversized Hobbit-like man spoke as an old-school craftsman, where you “don’t charge extra for quality” and the timeframe of any job is “however long it takes to get it right.” (Do people like this exist?)

While bidding us good-bye, he passed by a project of my own remodeling two rooms built into our garage. When he saw the inferior tools I was using, it pained him, visibly. So much so that he offered to bring his truck by the next day and put his table saw to work on the angle cuts I was trying to coax out of the $7.99 plastic miter box and hand saw I bought at Home Depot. While sincere in his effort to cultivate a new relationship, I didn’t place a lot of stock in his actually showing up.

By golly, he did — right when he said he would — and until late into the night, he patiently helped me cut and install molding. By helping I mean he didn’t just do it for me, he showed me how to do it. I must say I am especially pleased with the windowsill - when it was cut and installed, it was a thing of beauty for which I will always be popping the buttons off my coat.

This burly, pony-tailed man with a heart as big as he was, spoke with great pride about his firefighting grandfather who lost his life “just doing his job.” And the servant’s heart lives on.

I couldn’t help being reminded of another Carpenter I know, who desires a relationship with me, teaches through experience, gives from His heart, and broods over my attempts to craft my life’s work — yet never asks for anything in return, and always makes a difference in everything I do.

May each and everyone of you have a blessed day.

Josh

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

D-Day for the Family

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:21

Today we need men who have the courage to do two things: First, men need the courage to choose real family values. They need the strength to make godly choices.

Thomas Carlisle wrote, "Conviction is worthless until it converts itself into conduct." Courage begins at home with what we impart to our children. We need to leave our children a heritage of godly values, not merely an inheritance. And it won't be achieved if we pour our lives into our careers, our pleasure and our hobbies. That heritage is secured by the priority we place upon our relationships with them.

It takes courage to live by priorities. As the verse above reminds us, your heart is where your treasure is. Have you ever thought of your children being treasures worth fighting for?

Second, men need to step out of the safety of their homes and decide to "storm the beach" in the same way those brave soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy back in 1944.

The "beach" represents territory that is controlled by the enemy. As you walk with God and grow closer to Him, you will begin to see areas of your city that need to be reclaimed for Jesus Christ. Maybe it's a family in your neighborhood. Perhaps it's the school where your children go. Associates at work who are ruining their lives with ungodly choices.

I believe God has a beach for every Christian willing to follow Him. I think back to that lieutenant who asked, "Are you going to lie there and get killed or get up and do something about it?" What will be said of us when we die? Will we be remembered for courageously upholding biblical values at home and in our communities?

The next generation hangs in the balance of your choice and mine.

Most of us know what to do. We just need the courage to do it.

Discuss: In what areas of your life has God revealed that you need to make courageous choices?

Pray: That He would press you into battle. Also, ask God for an army of "lay" lieutenants to enlist in the battle for the family so that America's homes might be rebuilt around Jesus Christ-one family at a time.

Hope you all have a blessed day!

Josh

[christsavedme]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

Here is one for today that really opened my eyes. I hope you all enjoy it and that you are having a blessed Lord's day.

THE CAMOUFLAGE OF GOD

(Taken from Outdoors With God by Lance Moore)

Today's Scriptures:

"By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." Hebrews 11:3

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived..." 1 Corinthians 2:9

Our Hidden God

It was the hardest question a pastor can field. And it came from a seventeen year old who was trying to sort out her life's direction and faith. "Why doesn't God show Himself to us?" I answered the young girl all to quickly. I should have shared with her that all of us wrestle with this enigma, as with the connected question "Why does God allow suffering?" But my answer was still genuine. God has shown Himself to us.... and we killed Him! All that we need to know about God was revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, God in the flesh.

The second part of my answer is more nuanced. God chooses not to completely reveal Himself in all His glory and power. To do this would be so intimidating, we would cower in fear and be reduced to slaves or robots. God desires that we join the kingdom voluntarily, not out of coercion. To put this in terms of a hunting metaphor, God is camouflaged in order not to frighten away the deer.

Moreover, God doesn't want our mental picture of the Almighty to be limited to human, physical vision. God is too big for our tiny eyes. Maybe that's why God told Moses he would only be allowed to glimpse God's back in passing. The message of this book is that if you go outdoors and take a look around--an obvious example would be to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon--you will get a better notion of the size and grandeur of our Creator than you would by viewing an 8" x 10" glossy photo of Jesus.

We Add To The Camouflage

Sadly, we must admit that we ourselves have veiled--camouflaged--the revelation of God in nature...mostly by paving over it! As Joni Mitchell's song puts it, we "paved paradise and put up a parking lot." I have a theory that atheists are born in cities, raised in small apartments with no view of the sky, and trapped in office cubicles where the only taste of nature is smattering of potted plants (and half of them are plastic!). It's hard not to believe in God when one stands on the green and gray cliffs of Monterey as the ocean pounds the rocks, the fish swim, the birds fly, and you realize that your eyes and ears are wonderfully tuned to vibrate in sympathetic symphony to the majesty of it all. God is revealed in nature, especially in growing things, and eternity is reflected in the waters of the Pacific that stretch out as far as the eye can see. Wait a second--that's the point: The waters go beyond what the eye can see; we can't envision the whole thing. If the ocean is bigger than our vision, no surprise then that God is too big for our nearsightedness. We only see, as St. Paul said, in part, dimly.

A first-grader worked feverishly at her desk with crayons. The curious teacher asked what she was drawing, and the student replied, “A picture of God.” The teacher said, “But, dear, no one knows what God looks like.” To which the child replied, “They will when I get through.”

But of course, we don’t. God is too huge, tremendous, glorious, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Our mind’s canvas is too tiny to contain God, and our biases and prejudices distort our view. These principles are summed up in the great hymn by Reginald Heber: “Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee, though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see.”

Worms, Raindrops, And Oceans

John Wesley said, “Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the triune God!” St. Augustine, one of the great bishops and theologians of the ancient church, walked along the beach by the sea, greatly perplexed about the doctrine of the Trinity. It was so hard to grasp, let alone explain, the idea that God is three persons in one. As Augustine struggled with this concept, he came upon a little boy with a seashell, running to the ocean, filling his shell, and then pouring it into a hole he had dug in the sand. “What are you doing, my little man?” asked Augustine. “Oh,” replied the boy, “I am trying to put the ocean in this hole.” Augustine learned his lesson. That is what I am trying to do, he thought. Standing on the shores of time, I am trying to get into this little finite mind, things that are infinite.

Like a raindrop hitting the face of a mountain, when our tiny little minds slam up against the eternal enigma of God, that very feeling of incomprehensibility is what should tell us that, indeed, God is God! If we could fully understand God, we would be gods ourselves.

So don’t try to strip off God’s camouflage. You don’t need to see the fullness of God to have a full faith. Jacob wrestled an angel and caught a glimpse of God….and that was enough for him. Moses was only allowed to see God’s backside….and that was enough. Samuel only heard the voice of God in the night….and that was enough. Blind Bartimaeus could not see Jesus at all yet had enough faith to be healed. And modern saints have continued that tradition: Helen Keller, blind and deaf, articulated a faith deeper, stronger, and better than any fully sighted person. Her faith was enough. Fanny Crosby, the blind songwriter, wrote, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine.” Yes, she had enough, “blind faith” to sing, “visions of rapture now burst on my sight.” They all knew that seeing God was not the one thing needed. Faith is enough. But as Hebrews 11:1 reminds us, “Faith is being….certain of what we do not see.” And for me, that is enough.

Today’s Prayer

O Lord, give me the faith to “see” You with my soul’s eyes. Whenever I view the vast expanse of Your oceans, remind me that You are even bigger that that. AMEN!

May God bless each and everyone of you. Have a great day.

Josh

[buckee]

Re: A Christian Hunter\'s Devotions and Studies

That is a real blessing on this sunny Sunday morning Josh ...thanks