For Any Who Have Felt Broken into Pieces

Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. - Psalm 31:9 (KJV)

My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. - Psalm 6:7 (NIV)

 
Many people have asked me why I wrote my inspirational book of poetry Broken Pieces.  I can't help but smile because it is dear to my heart.  I was down.  I was down and reading both Jeremiah and Psalms intensely as my daily devotion.  I was starting to think that the Word was even getting me down as I read the weeping prophet and David's pleas for God to not turn His face from him and to incline His ear to him.  That's when it hit me.
 


God does not leave us helpless.  That is especially comforting for those of us who reside on this side of the cross.  He offers us the Comforter, His Holy Spirit.  We have God dwelling within us.  He knows our moans and groans as well as what they truly mean to us.  He is with us.  We are not without comfort when we have the Helper.
 
I had to share it.  I could not keep such a blessing to myself.  I found poetic inspiration and let it spill onto the page.  I felt the Spirit driving me to write and complete Broken Pieces as a testimony of all that God can do with our broken pieces.  We are all right as long as we stay in the clutches of the Potter's hands.
 
In His Hands
A poem from Broken Pieces by Bruce Jackson

In His hands,

I am but clay

At the mercy of the Master’s touch.

As He crafts me into His desire,

He shapes and molds me to His liking.

He forms me with His hands

And designs me as His workmanship.

He knows the flaws of my very existence.

He cuts away that which is useless.

He creates in me a clean heart

And purifies me through the fire,

Testing how well I will hold together.

He names me and makes me a new creation.

He touches me with His breath

And I live.

I am His masterpiece in the making.

I am but clay in His hands.

From Eden to Egypt- Day 5

"Only God can create. . . God alone is infinite and eternal." - Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record

Creation is God's work.  God brought the earth and everything upon the earth into existence.

How?

His voice.  He used His voice. God spoke and things came to be.  It starts in the third verse of Genesis 1 with "And God said,'Let there be...'" and appears again in the sixth and fourteenth verses.  There are variations that appear in Genesis 1:9, 11, 20, 24.  God spoke and did a mighty work.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?-

Psalm 8:3-4 (ESV)

Lord,
I marvel at Your mighty and majestic works.  I stand in awe of how You use Your voice and Your words to create and call things into being.  Bless us today with a reminder of Your power and Your ability.  Let us truly praise You, for You are worthy of every once of praise that we have. Amen.





*From Eden to Egypt is a series for Life Path Ministries by Rev. Bruce Jackson that chronicles a daily study and reading of the Book of Genesis and The Genesis Record by Henry M. Morris.

No Middle of the Road

"We have been created for a purpose."- Rick Warren

In this day and age, it is pretty hard to figure out who hasn't heard anything about Rick Warren.  Whether good or bad, his name has come up in a conversation about a best-selling book, a political agenda and relationship with President Obama, or Saddleback and its pastor hosting a political debate or "forum" (I truly do not see the difference beyond theory and definition).  Some atheists and church-haters despise Rick Warren and everything that he stands for, while some Christians and non-Christians live upon every aspect of The Purpose-Driven Life.  That is until The Shack or some other best-selling book sweeps Christendom and its outer realm like Jabez and Benett's Book of Virtues once did.

What I admire admire about Rick Warren is that he is unashamed about what made him successful as a pastor.  I'll even say how God made him successful in that realm. 

Look deep into The Purpose-Driven Church and see a man following God's lead, both prayerfully and faithfully.  Prior to pastoring, Rick Warren had faith.  Prior to having a mega-church status, Rick Warren sought to please God.

Stop for a moment.  Think about what I just put out there.  Substitute "Rick Warren" with your name and his status with your achievements and accomplishments.

Prior to becoming a parent and a spouse, ______________ sought to please God.

Prior to getting a driver's license and a car, _________________ sought to please God.

Prior to teaching Sunday school and leading VBS, ________________ sought to please God.

Prior to (whatever it is that people see as your big thing), did you seek to please God?

Now that you have done it and achieved it, do you still seek to please God? Do you seek to please Him more and more?

There's no middle of the road with God.  I don't believe that He's nonchalant about how we handle His kingdom business.  We either please or grieve God.  There isn't a safe place where we can straddle this way or that way.  Either we please Him or we simply do not, and then that's when we grieve Him.

I could have used T.D. Jakes, Robert H. Schuller, Billy Graham, or the late Oral Roberts.  Imagine if I had used someone like Kirk Franklin, Brian Welch from Korn, or Steven Baldwin.  Each of these men have a story that speaks about times when their very own lives grieved God as well as the dramatic turnaround that led to them seeking to please God.

God is either pleased or grieved with us and our actions.

Do you please God? Do you grieve God? 

Seek to please Him today and forever.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.- Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Right Your Wrongs

8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

-Luke 19:8-10

Zacchaeus was short, small, nothing much... that is to say physically, socially and spiritually.  Physically, he needed to climb a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus.  Yet, he climbed a tree, keeping himself at a distance from the rest of the crowd, just as the society would have it.  He sought a bird's eye view of theLord and Savior because even one such as he was rich in earthly treasure but very poor in spiritual matters.  Brother Z was a brother in need...whether he knew it or not, it didn't matter because there was going to be one to come by that day who was going to get real up close and personal with him.

• Recognition: Jesus sees Zacchaeus, calls him by name, & pronounces that He will dine with him at his house(v. 5)...despite how insignificant we may be in the eyes of others we are important enough for Jesus to call us out by name. He knows each and every one of us from the lowest to highest, from the best to the worst, He knows us all

• Reception: "So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully" (v. 6)...We ought to receive Jesus with urgency. It's not everyday that He who is worthy makes a personal visit to the unworthy. Brother Z made it his business to get busy...whatever needed to be done to receive Jesus into his home he put a rush on it. He knew it was not a casual affair...Many of ought to look again at what happens here. We might know Jesus but are we still in the know enough to know that He still wants to be received by us daily as Lord & Savior? Lord for the office of prominence that He holds and Saviour for the offer of salvation that comes only through Him.
• Restoration: Somewhere in the midst of glasses clinking for toasts and people talking in fellowship Brother Z said he would restore what he had wrongly taken w/o any provocation from Jesus (v. 8)...Jesus recognizes His change and restores Him based upon his change of heart (v. 9)

We need to the right the wrongs of our past.  Write them down and make things right with those you have wronged.  Be sure to go down the list and face the shame and admit the guilt, and then simply offer to make things right.  Share that you have honestly been changed and live differently now.  Right your wrongs by making things right with the ones you have wronged.

Encountering Jesus

Since meeting Jesus:

• 
  Who have you brought to Him?
• 
  To whom have you brought Him?

It makes sense. If you have a relationship with someone and you think someone else should meet that peron, you arrange a way for the two to meet and get together. Levi held a party for his fellow tax collectors and others after leaving his tax collection table to follow Jesus. Zacchaeus hosted Jesus as well. Andrew took Peter to meet Jesus after John the Baptist showed Andrew and the disciple whom the Lord loved the Lamb of God- Jesus Christ of Nazareth. People introduce other people to Jesus. That's how it happens.

As believers, we are to bring people to Christ and bring Christ to people. We take the Word out into the world. We bring the world face to face with its issues as we bring people into a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the message of God's Good News.

The believer is seeking out open opportunities to lead people to Christ daily. The believer's chief concern is not to get people to the church for mid-morning service on Sunday. The chief concern for the believer is to take God's Word to people who need a personal introduction to Jesus Christ.

Read Matthew 5:16; 16:24; John 1:29-46; Luke 19:1-10

A Memorial for You

“. . . And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
Joshua 4:7 NKJV

The children of Israel needed these stones. They didn't need them erected as an idol. They needed these stones to serve as a reminder, a memorial of what God had done on their behalf. These stones would not simply serve as a conversation piece. Joshua shared: They will be a sign among you. In the future your children will ask you, 'What do these rocks mean?' These stones would allow the children of Israel to share their testimony with their children and their children's children.

It’s one thing to have testimony, but many of us need to have lives that serve as a voiceless testimony of God’s goodness to us. People need to see God in our lives as much as they hear about Him from us. We need to demonstrate and display the change that God has made in our lives. People will see it. Although they may not recognize it, they will see it as something different that sets us apart from others.

Proverbs warns us not to remove the landmark set in place by our forefathers. In Proverbs 22:28, the Word teaches that the landmark was set in place for a reason that was given to those who came before us. Let us learn about that reason before we set our hearts and minds on removing it. In Proverbs 23:10, greed is addressed by warning people not to remove the 'ancient landmark' or oppress the poor by taking their land. Our obsession with accumulation may make us oblivious to the way we treat others, even our ancestors and their legacy.

With a lifestyle that respects the past, people will see us as blessed and ask what does it mean and how did we arrive at such a place in this life. We will be able to share about His goodness and His mercy towards us. God wants to work through us to reach others. Let the ancient landmark serve as a reminder to us that our lives our on display before the entire world. Keep it as a memorial.