LWCC

Am I too Rich?

March 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

Matt 19:21
Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

What was the problem with this seemingly well rounded young man? He apparently lived a holy life, exemplifying what it meant to be a good Jew. The problem was, in a nut shell, he didn’t need Jesus. He was more than able to provide all he ever needed, or wanted for himself. When we trust in the riches of our hands, whatever form they may be, we don’t need God. That is the very nature of idolatry. I saw this all the time when I lived in India. Whenever there was any kind of call for prayer, people by the hundreds, thousands even, would come out of nowhere to be blessed. These were predominately hindu people, who by it’s very nature, worshipped many various Gods. They were more than happy to except Jesus. The problem is, they just added him to their collection. Whats one more God when you already worship at least 5 or 6. “Well, this has nothing to do with us here in America” you might say. But doesn’t it? How many things do we have in our lives, that fill a need, or take a place that God is supposed to fill. How do we know if something is in the wrong place in our lives? If God asked you to give it up, lay it aside, or put it on hold could you? Could you quit a job, cut off a relationship, give up on a dream, or even a ministry if God says it’s not part of his will or timing for your life? Or how about something as trivial as a T.V. Show or movie, or, God forbid, a CD you love so much. All of these things have the potential to become idols in our lives. Something that takes God’s place in some area ( emotionally, physically, spiritually, etc..) of our lives. When we can fill every empty space, there is no space left for God, and ultimately, we don’t need him. That was the rich young mans problem. not that he had money, but that his money was to important, more important even than being with the Son of God himself. Wow! If Jesus is calling you, and asking you to let go of something, trust me, what he’s offering will be so much more than what he’s asking you to leave behind.

Matt 19:29
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.

Rich in the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Josh

Devine Purpose

January 26, 2011 — Standard — 1 Comment

Matt 1:17
All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

It’s hard to be a skeptic when you see the careful planning God put into bringing about our salvation. I’m not going to pretend to understand the symbolism behind every ” type and shadow”‘, nor do I know the significance of all the numbers and dates and so on and so on….but any idiot (a category that I may very possibly fall in to) can see that so many consistencies can’t possibly be a coincidence. Before man ever fell, God had a carefully laid out plan for restoration. Our God is the greatest strategist ever…OK, that’s kind of an understatement. Think about it though! You really have to have more faith to be a skeptic then a believer. But here’s the really awesome part. The same careful planning that went into salvation, went into our purpose and destiny! Check this out…..

Eph 1:4-5
4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Even before he made the world!!!!! What!!! There are no coincidences in our existence. before the world was even made there was a plan…for me. I was loved, I was wanted, therefore I am loved and I am wanted and I have a purpose and a destiny and a “call” that is eternal and irrevocable! Wow! Meditate on that one as you go through your day. What could the world possibly throw at me that could touch it!

Loved and Chosen,
Pastor Josh

Write the Vision

January 25, 2011 — Standard — Leave a comment

Habakkuk 2:2 Then the Lord said to me,
“Write my answer plainly on tablets,
so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.

Well, as all of you, my adoring public, know, I have not been to good at staying on top of this blogging thing. I do hope to change that in this coming year. God put it on my heart some time ago to write a yearly devotional for our young people, and have begun to peruse that the last few weeks. Something I have always tried to do is journal every day as I study the word. I heard someone say once that the mind doesn’t remember revelation so as God reveals himself to us through his word and prayer we should always record those things we receive. As I have been reading through my past years journals in preparation for the devotional, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of entries that I have completely forgotten about. Some of them were even revelations that actually changed the course and direction of my life! If I hadn’t written them down, they would now be lost in that one moment of encounter, which though it was an awesome moment, would have little to no lasting effect on the rest of my life. It is these revelations that I will be using to write the book that I hope will be a blessing to those who use it. I have decided to post some of my new daily journal entries here on my blog. I don’t pretend for one moment to assume that God is revealing anything to me that he is not revealing to anyone else that is truly pursuing him with a heart to hear, nor that my thoughts are any more important than anyone else’s….but, this is joshkiefer.com, which means I get to write what I want! Just kidding. I promise I won’t rant and rave about my opinion on this and that, or go off on tirades bashing the government, exposing some new conspiracy theory. Just quick little thoughts about what God’s showing me in his word. Nothing more, nothing less. So, check it out….or don’t. It’s all good.

Peace and Love,
Pastor Josh