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Once in a while I hear someone say, “Whoa!”
But I never hear anyone say “Woe!”
It’s a word we don’t use much anymore.

But Isaiah used it—and when we did—it had a powerful
meaning. Let’s take a look:

“Woe to me!” I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean
lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have
seen the King, the Lord Almighty’ ” (Isaiah 6:5 NIV).

Isaiah got close enough to God, he was able to see Him as He
truly is—exalted and in fathomless glory. Isaiah’s response?
“Woe to me!”
And he cried this exclamation.

The apostle John, when banished on the criminally infested,
rocky, volcanic island of Patmos, also saw God in the exalted Christ.

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. . . .”
(John 1:17 LB).

John’s response? He fainted.
He was out cold. Down for the count.

When God passed by Moses, He told Moses to cover his face.
Moses obeyed, but after God had passed by and Moses joined his
people, they noticed his face was shining in brilliance because he had
been so close to the Lord. (See Exodus 33:19-23)

Ezekiel saw a vision of God:
“And when I saw it, I fell face downward on the ground. . . .”
(Ezekiel 1:28 LB).

He fainted.

Why all the drama? Fainting, crying “Woe,” and out cold?
It’s because when we get close enough to God and see Him
exalted—as He truly is—we are suddenly and keenly aware of our
own sinfulness.

As long as we don’t get that close to God, we can live
comfortably with our own personal holiness. But when He truly
reveals Himself to us in His perfect glory, we become radically
changed.

Instead of being satisfied with where we are spiritually right now
. . . lets become consistently agitated until we are close enough to
God that we become radically changed.

Thoughts?

Please pray for me as I speak in Nacogdoches, Texas this
weekend.

We’re taking a look at some well-known thoughts that we tend to
misinterpret biblically.

“God will only give me what I can handle.”

We often assume God won’t load our lives with more than we can
bear. Many Christians make this faulty assumption based on the fact
that God won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle.

Here’s the proof:
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to
mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will
also provide a way out so that you can endure it”
(1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV).

Make no mistake.
God will always provide a way out of temptation.

But temptation is a completely different subject than life’s difficulties.
We often have more than we can bear.
And many times God calls us to do something beyond our
strength.

Check out what the apostle Paul experienced in Asia:

“We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to
endure . . . we felt we had received the sentence of death.
“But this happened that we might not rely on
ourselves but on God, who raises the dead”
(2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV).

Did you catch that?
Paul thought he was dying!

The pressure was so unbearable, the difficulty so horrific,
he thought he’d never see another sunset.
It was definitely MORE than he could handle!

But what happened?
He relied on God!

Let’s read what he wrote later:

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses,
         in insult,
                in hardships,
                         in persecutions,
                                  in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong”
(2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV).

Instead of saying that God won’t give us more than we can handle,
let’s try saying this:

God will often give us more than we can handle, but never more
than we can handle when we depend on His strength instead of
our own.

Thoughts?

“It’s not God who sends people to hell; they send
themselves.”

That’s like saying, “Teachers don’t punish students who misbehave;
they punish themselves.”

Allow me to revert back to my third-grade self for a moment. As a
student who was disciplined for talking in class, I can guarantee that I
never punished myself.

My teacher could have said, “Susie, by talking out of turn, you’ve
chosen detention.” But that wouldn’t have been accurate.

If I reject the class rules, I must accept the consequences.
But I didn’t choose the consequences.

My teacher sent me to detention because I rejected the rules.
I like my teacher. She’s a good instructor. By saying, “I sent myself to
detention,” I’m trying to make my teacher look better. Would a good
and loving teacher actually choose to send her student to detention?
You can see where I’m going with this, can’t you?

We don’t need to defend God.
He’s big enough to stand on His own.
And a perfect,
just,
loving,
fair God

says He will send those who reject Him to hell.
Yes, man chooses to accept or reject God.
Yes, man has no choice but to face the consequences of his
decision.
But God is the One who actually sends sinners to hell.

“And if anyone’s name was not found recorded in the Book of
Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire” (Revelation 20:15 LB).

“But I’ll tell you whom to fear—fear God who has the power
to kill and then cast into hell” (Luke 12:5 LB).

“Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body
in hell” (Matthew 10:28 LB).

The good news is that He doesn’t want anyone to go to hell!
His desire is that all would choose Him.
But He allows us to make the decision.

I have been saved from hell, not simply because I have confessed,
repented and accepted God’s forgiveness for my sins . . .
but
also
because
I believe HIM.
I believe He is perfect.
I believe what He says is true.
And I believe everything He says.
Because God says He will send people to hell—and isn’t ashamed of
it—then I shouldn’t try to make Him sound better by attempting to
explain away His actions.

He explains Himself through Scripture.

Thoughts?

Please pray for me this week as I speak at the East TN District camp
meeting.

Let’s take a look at some well-known thoughts that we tend to
misinterpret biblically.

“God loves me like I am.”

God accepts us as we are, and He saves us as we are.
But He loves us far too much to leave us where we are.

We’re born with sin. And while many Christians have a soft view on
sin, God definitely HATES it. Therefore, it’s spiritually dangerous
when we become tolerant of what God hates.

It seems we have forgotten 1 John 2:3-6:

“And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By
looking within ourselves: are we really trying to do what he
wants us to?

“Someone may say, ‘I am a Christian; I am on my way to
heaven; I belong to Christ.’ But if he doesn’t do what Christ tells
him to, he is a liar.

“But those who do what Christ tells them to will learn to
love God more and more. That is the way to know whether or not
you are a Christian.

“Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ
did” (The Living Bible).

We often hear, “God loves me just like I am.”

God loves to SAVE us. But because we’re born with sin, He doesn’t
love us exactly as we are. And neither should we!
His desire is to change us, completely transform us and to bring us
into righteous alignment with Himself—a holy God.

Try memorizing this:
“. . . throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life,
which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit
renew your thoughts and attitudes.   Put on your new nature,
created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians
4:22-24 NLT).

Thoughts?

Please pray for God’s fresh anointing this weekend as I speak in
Sumter, SC.

Imagine this scene:

It’s Sunday morning.
People are gathering and finding a seat in your church.
The music begins as some are still chatting in the aisles.
Everyone joins in the familiar song. Excitement fills the
sanctuary. God’s presence is among His children. Praise is lifted from
the instruments as well as from hearts throughout the church. There’s
a pause in the music as folks turn and greet each other.
Announcements are given.

You sit down and open your wallet to prepare for the morning
offering, but as you glance around the church, you notice the ushers
aren’t moving forward with the offering plates.

The pastor faces the congregation and says, “We’re not taking
an offering this morning.”
Hmmm.

We always take an offering.
What’s going on?
“We’re not taking an offering, because I’m asking you stop
giving,” your pastor says.
“Seriously. Please stop giving. We have more than enough.”

* * *

This actually happened!
We find the story in Exodus 36:6.

“Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout
the camp: ‘No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering
for the sanctuary.’ And so the people were restrained from bringing
more, because what they already had was more than enough to do
all the work.’ ” (NIV)

Hard to believe, isn’t it?
Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, “You can’t outgive God.”
These people knew firsthand the truth of that statement!

Do we know this truth?

What would it be like to give God so much, that we’re
“restrained” from giving more? Let’s imagine a few what ifs.
What if we made it our goal to try and outgive God? By that, I
mean what if we just gave and gave and gave—and did so joyfully?
What if we gave more than 10 percent in tithes and offerings?
What if we gave our time?
What if we gave our talents, our skills, our gifts?
What if we gave ourselves?
What if we gave to those around us?

What would happen if we actually made these what ifs reality?

Thoughts?