:::Meditation on Psalm 26:::

We will be doing this Scripture reading Sunday morning at Gateway. I've just been kinda meditating on it today.

Psalm 26
1Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity,
And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
2Examine me, O LORD, and try me;
Test my mind and my heart.
3For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked in Your truth.
4I do not sit with deceitful men,
Nor will I go with pretenders.
5I hate the assembly of evildoers,
And I will not sit with the wicked.
6I shall wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go about Your altar, O LORD,
7That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving
And declare all Your wonders.
8O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house
And the place where Your glory dwells.
9Do not take my soul away along with sinners,
Nor my life with men of bloodshed,
10In whose hands is a wicked scheme,
And whose right hand is full of bribes.
11But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
Redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12My foot stands on a level place;
In the congregations I shall bless the LORD.


There is one thing that I hear my pastor say all the time and it's this truth, "Integrity is costly and it can be lost in a moment".

I love how David runs down the list of wicked things that he sees all around him every day. His response to that is to remain faithful and simply desire to be in "the place where Your glory dwells".

Holy Father, give me a heart that chases hard after you and you alone. Your name is more important than my own desires or fleeting pleasures. I pray as David did, that I shall walk in my integrity.
So that you may become more famous and that I might be forgotten.
For the praise of your glory!
Amen!


ZS

It Didn't End At The Cross...

It's 10:14 on Easter Sunday night and I've literally got nothing left to offer.

The weekend was a blur, but man, what a great ride! We were able to connect with over 500 people at our Egg Smash community event on Saturday. Then had a great crowd of over 120+ come together this morning to celebrate the empty tomb.

As a part of our worship gathering this morning I did a reading from The Voice that I would just like to share with you as I put this day to rest. I hope you enjoy and if you are reading this in the Royse City area come back next week as we continue to dive into this thought that, "It Didn't End At The Cross".

The Voice

We were a band of fishermen who were lost and lonely. But just when we thought things couldn’t become stranger, Jesus showed up. He told us to fish on the other side of the boat. We did, and we were suddenly overwhelmed with fish. The nets were bulging. What He showed us here, is that not only would our old ways of living leave us as empty as our nets, but our old habits were not going to work for us anymore. He had impacted our lives in a way that changed us forever. We couldn’t go back. And He knew we didn’t know how to go forward.

After spending time with Jesus, I realize there are no coincidences. He revealed to me a world where God is intimately involved, the main actor in the drama of history. It was no accident that we caught the fish. It was no accident the nets didn’t break. These fish, all 153, were a sign from God representing the community of believers, men and women transformed by faith. Some of us sat down and didn’t say a word as we pondered all of this. Others busied themselves in work, their hands moving quickly to stack the catch in baskets and untangle the nets. Each in his own way thought, wondered, and prayed. I have to admit, the prospect of it all still makes me smile. That’s how I always begin and end my stories of Jesus. I remind my little children that through faith He gives us the authority to become the sons of God. Brother Paul said it’s all grace. He’s right. We are what we are because of His wonderful work in us. The challenge we face every day is to become what we are—His loving, devoted children. To do that, we have to strip away every vestige of our old lives. Like worn out clothes, we find our former lives aren’t able to contain the beauty of this new creation. Before we can put on the new life and take up our new calling, we have to set aside every ugly and broken aspect of our lives. Repentance, Jesus told us, is not just about what you put off. It’s about what you put on. In the human spirit, there is no vacuum. Something will always occupy you and fill your life. It is either life from above or death from below. If the resurrection of Jesus taught us anything, it’s that He is the resurrection and the life. I’m not talking about life after death. What I mean is that through Jesus we can have abundant life, a full and meaningful life, here and now.

ZS

::: Zephaniah 3:17 :::

The LORD your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
Zephaniah 3:17 NASB

This is a verse that my pastor quotes quite often and has been ringing in my head. Not only the promise that God is with us or even that He's a victorious warrior, or mighty to save (depending on the translation you have). The image in my head of God leaping and shouting for joy over me quite honestly blows my mind.

I have more of a tendency to think like David in Psalm 8, "...what is man, that you are mindful of him?"

What a great comfort it is to know that God loves us exactly the way we are, not some future version of ourselves when we get all of our "stuff" together...but, that God loves you and rejoices over you exactly the way you are right now.

I'm just loving this verse today and wanted to share it with you all.

Blessings!
ZS

A Lot Can Happen In A Decade...Because She Said Yes!

This is a post I wrote a while back but thought it would be appropriate the share again. I love you Mrs. Snow!



Ten years ago this week something happened to me that would change the course of my life forever. She said yes...

I was in my second semester at Arlington Baptist College, she was in her third. All I really knew about her is that she was the curly haired volleyball player with the great legs. What else do you need to know?!?!

We were both apart of a campus ministry called the 4:12 Group and we had been working on a project to restore one of the building on campus, the old SUB (student union building...creative, I know). We had already started flirting with each other and through the course of conversation we found something in common...neither of us had any plans for Valentine's weekend. So, because I'm smooth, I was like, "hey, since I'm not doing anything and you're not doing anything...why don't we not do anything together?" Holy crap...did I really say that? What a tool...

Anyway, again, she said yes. So, it was settled...Olive Garden (because it was her fav) and a movie. Now, something happened that could have ended this thing before it got off the ground, an hour wait for a table at Olive Garden...and because we were good Baptist (at the time) and not quite 21 yet, we weren't even able to enjoy a glass of wine while waiting.

We talked and talked and talked and laughed and laughed and talked some more. Having no idea that it was happening at the time...I was falling in love.

We went to the movies and I literally tried the "stretch move" and was rejected mercilessly. Seriously, I have no idea why she went on another date with me???

From there it was back to the dorms. I dropped her off at the back door and told her goodnight. The next thing I know we are talking on the phone for hours at a time, I'm bringing her flowers (little roses from the rose bush in front of the girls dorm cause I was a broke part time youth pastor), she's doing my laundry and typing my papers (just typing them...I would write them first, I just happened to be a horrible typist back then...I have a gimpy finger, however I do type 45 WPM now...what what!)

That was February 13th 1999 and then 364 days later on February 12th 2000 I proposed to her...she said yes again!

I cannot think of anything that God has created in the expanse of the cosmos that is more perfect for me than my bride. I love her heart, the way she has always told me..."I trust you because you talk to God...I may be scared , but I trust you..." To me, she's the worlds greatest wife, mom and teacher...and by the way, she still has killer legs!

Suzie, I love you more now than ever before...which means during those earlier days when it was all new and fresh and every single moment seemed to steal your breath...multiply that by 10 (years). So, if God gives us 40 more years or 40 more days, there will be no regrets because I never deserved the first one...but for the grace of God..
Thank you for being you and loving me.

And thank you Jesus that she said yes...

ZS

Moments That Cause Me To Worship

I was sitting in a hospital room with a friend the other day. As she told her story of the tragic events that unfolded in a single day that seemed like ten, a day that turned from sickness and sadness and even an extreme since of losing everything in a moment...God showed up. As the cardiologist ran the scope down to take a better look at her heart...it happened, no aneurysm, no tear...nothing but perfection. She is doing great and the twin baby girls in her belly are doing great!

As we spoke, she said, "it's still amazing that we ask God to do a miracle and then we are still so surprised when he does...". How profound...we petition a God who has this kind of ability and then we are shocked beyond reason when he does.

I confessed to God as I prayed with her before leaving, that moments like these cause me to worship Him.
About a month and a half ago, I was teaching at our church and we spend some time on this topic. What causes you to worship God? I challenged our people to begin thinking about this over the course of their week.

So, what is it that causes you to worship God?
~long drives
~your children's laughter
~early morning and hot coffee
~quiet times
~being surrounded by family and close friends
~a long jog with your iPod
~being surrounded by nature
~alone in a fishing boat
~sitting in the bleachers at the ball park, scoring the game (okay, maybe that's just me)

Begin thinking about the things that cause you to worship God and surround yourself with them or make sure you are giving time to them. They will press you into a depth of life few find.

Strive for depth...

ZS

Romans 1:20 - For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

It's 10:39 and I'm Unsettled

I wanted to write tonight but I have no idea what to write.
What I do not want to do is ramble for no reason. I do not want to be accused of being one of those that think they will be heard because of their many words.
So, here is some Scripture I've read tonight...

Philippians 3:7-11
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

My thoughts...how can we consider everything loss...everything...in comparison to simply knowing Christ. To look at everything and say, "it's trash..." all because of imparted righteousness. Unbelievable...

Colossians 1:15-17
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

My thoughts...just think about this for a second, everything that has ever been created, everything you see around you, your life in general...it's all held together by the word of His mouth. He speaks life into existence and takes breath in a moment. It's all His and anything you have was given to you by Him to push back what is dark in the world.

Luke 5:16
16But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

My thoughts...deep down I think we are all a little scared of being lonely. Jesus sought out time to be lonely...loneliness for Him meant intimacy with the Father. Oh that we might have more time to be lonely.

Hosea 13:6
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me.

My thoughts...this has been haunting me for almost a year. God said this about Israel but I fear it is the case with so many of us. God forbid...

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

My thoughts...this takes my fear and anxiety away, I don't always have to know what to do next, I don't always have to have all the answers, I don't have to always be strong.

Psalm 46:10
10 "Be still and know that I am God..."

My thoughts...nothing else need be said...


Blessings!
ZS

You Found Me ::: The Fray

The Fray - You Found Me

I found God
On the corner of first and Amistad
Where the west was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I Said where you been, he said ask anything
Where were you?
When everything was falling apart
All my days were spent by the telephone
It never rang
And all I needed was a call
That never came
To the corner of first and Amistad

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

In the end everyone ends up alone
Losing her, the only one who’s ever known
Who I am, who I’m not, who I want to be
No way to know how long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

Early morning, City breaks
I’ve been calling for years and years and years and years
And you never left me no messages
You never send me no letters
You got some kind of nerve, taking all I want

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Where were you where were you

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

Why’d you have to wait?
To find me, to find me

I'm posting this today because these guys were on with Kidd Kraddick yesterday morning talking about this song. So much of what they said was so profound that I needed to share.

They were asked where "first and Amistad" was? Amistad is a Spanish word meaning friend. The guys in the band said the message they were aiming for here is that God can be and should be our first (best) friend. They were asked specifically why God would be "smoking his last cigarette", to which they replied that it was a symbol of the fact that God had been waiting for him to come. This is so profound. I know it is just a matter of time before some of my fundamentalist brethren take this and make The Fray out to be a band trying to drag the character of God through the mud, but please take some time to understand the meaning before doing what you do.

Joseph and Isaac (the front men of The Fray) went on to talk about where the song came from. As they were traveling almost all of this past year, they said they continued to get call after call from close friends and family members who were going through the worse kinds of things...seemed like tragedy was striking everyone. One of them (again, hard to know who was saying what because I was listening to the radio) was talking about how, growing up in church, you heard people talk about "finding God" and in that moment everything was good, right and in perfect order. He said, the problem with that is life seems to teach something completely different at times. He said, he personally knew people that after finding God, honestly wanted to "go a couple of rounds with Him".

That's what this song is about. It speaks of peoples humanity in that even when they find someone to rescue them (A Savior), they still have the question..."what took you so long?"

There in lies the beauty of "smoking his last cigarette"...He was there all the time, simply waiting for you to cry out to him for help.

Holy Father, thank you for truth that finds us when we aren't even looking for it. Thank you for rescuing me...thank you for finding me. It's for the praise of your glory! Amen!

Blessings!

ZS

If your curious, the album drops 2/3/09 but you can purchase "You Found Me" on iTunes...I got mine!