Precious SeedPreaching the word, in season and out of season; reproving, rebuking, and exhorting, with complete patience and teaching.

Every Wednesday we invite a different “guest” to contribute to our blog. This week’s guest blogger is Caleb Albright.

Somewhere around the end of your sophomore year and beginning of your junior year of high school you start to think about what you want to do after graduating. When your senior year starts it seems almost mandatory to know what you want to do. While talking with people the question always comes up, “What are you doing after high school?” All your friends are talking about their plans and very few seem unsure.

I was one of the ones who was unsure. To be honest, I still am. When you answer that question with, “I don’t know” it is almost as if that was the end of the conversation and you’re just a troubled youth who will probably work at McDonalds the rest of your life and have no dreams or aspirations. (By the way, I have many dreams and goals in life I intend to accomplish.) It is also discouraging to see everyone around you going on with life and tackling their dreams full on. Now granted, most times this scenario is more “accepted” in the church, but even there you tend to feel looked down upon. People can unintentionally make it seem like maybe you’re not saved and you’re definitely not living right.

Ever since my junior year (2005) I have been praying and seeking the Lord on what His plan for my life is and what He wants me to do with all my passions and talents. Up until today (2009) I am still praying for that. To most of you reading this, four years probably doesn’t really seem like that long, but to me, a 21 year old kid ready to travel the world and do a bunch of crazy stuff, it feels like an eternity. I’ve always struggled with the fact that I never seem to hear from God on this particular matter, while in other scenarios it doesn’t seem to be quite so difficult. People have told me that there’s probably sin in my life and that is why the Lord isn’t speaking. I can guarantee according to Romans 3:23 (For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.) that I have and do sin, but I’ve never thought that to be the cause of God not speaking. I’ve always wondered what is really going on and at times to some degree even questioned God a bit. It’s so hard when kids you’ve grown up in church with say things like, “God has called me into missions” or, “God has called me to be a pastor” and you sit there and think, “What am I missing?”

Now, why do I say all this? Not too long ago in our Wednesday night Bible study as we started into the book of 1 Samuel my eyes were opened to something that has crossed my mind before, but seemed like too simple of an answer at the time. In the first chapter it talks about how Hannah wasn’t able to have children and the way she felt because of things people said to her. In those days if you were weren’t able to have kids many people thought you had done something wrong and you weren’t right physically or spiritually. So as you can see there are some similarities between the two. It says in verse 7 that, year after year she went up to the house of the Lord… Now I think we can assume that this isn’t the only time she talked to God about this, with what she was going through I’m sure she was before the Lord several times a day and at times probably flat out begging for Him to answer her prayers. Year after year people looked down on her and she prayed to the Lord for an answer. Hannah says in verse 11 that if the Lord would answer her prayer and giver her a son that she would turn right around and give him back to God to serve Him the boy’s entire life…wow. Have you ever wanted something so bad and when you finally got it you turned right around and gave back to the person who gave it to you. This is no small task. When Hannah was finished praying I believe she heard from God, because it says in verse 18 that her face was no longer sad. The Lord spoke to her and Eli just confirmed what the Lord had told her.

The life decisions might vary slightly in the fact that you might already be dedicated and committed to doing and going wherever it is God wants you, whether it is third world Haiti or the neighborhood you grew up in. This isn’t what I take from this passage other than to make sure I am dedicated to doing what God wants and that I am committed to following Him where He leads me. What really spoke to me was the idea of perseverance in our prayer life no matter the time frame. There are several reasons why the Lord might simply be saying, “Caleb just wait a little bit.” or whatever it is. This doesn’t mean I sit in my closet till the Lord tells me it’s time. I need to be doing what we all as Christians are called to do in 2 Corinthians 5:20 and that is be an ambassador for the King of kings. I need to be living Jesus and representing the Kingdom of Heaven to everyone who comes in contact with me. We are all given the responsibility in the Great Commission to preach the gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19), this wasn’t just a command for the eleven disciples standing there, it was for anyone who calls themselves a Christian and desires to follow Christ, I mean after all what did Jesus do while He was here on earth?

In conclusion, maybe you’ve been asking for an answer or praying that the Lord heal someone close to you, whatever the situation is, I would just encourage you to continue seeking God and have faith that you’re really NOT talking to the ceiling. John 9:31 says that God hears those who worship Him.

Caleb Albright

If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

I Corinthians 3:12-14

Within 60 years, unless Jesus returns before then, I’ll probably be dead.

My friends and family will lower my body into the ground, cover me with soil, and place a simple stone marker engraved with my name at the head of my grave. The “tent” of my body which I inhabited for my brief stay on earth will begin to return to the dust from which we are all formed. Some may grieve my absence, but most will be comforted with the knowledge that my spirit will have gone to be with my Lord Jesus Christ, someday to be united to a new body formed just like His – a body that will never die or decay. But the fact remains that my time on Earth will be finished.

100 years from now few people will even know that I existed. Memories of my life may linger on in the minds of my children, grandchildren, and perhaps great-grandchildren, but those memories will be slowly crowded out by memories of their own lives. My tombstone will have faded as wind and rain gradually erase any trace of my name from the marble. The possessions that I spent a lifetime acquiring will have found new homes and new owners. Organizations that once relied on me will have filled my position with new people. If I’ve produced anything tangible, like authoring a book, or poem, or song, some copies may remain; forgotten or discarded in a library or someone’s attic or garage-sale box.

Within 200 years no one living will even remember my name. It may remain inscribed on some archaic legal document, like a property deed. But by then it will be only an anachronism, of no real interest or value to anyone – just a curiosity. None of the possessions that were once so precious to me will remain. They will all have been consumed by fire, lost, or simply worn out and discarded. Things that I have built with my own hands will have been torn down and new structures will stand in their places. Vistas and views that I once treasured will be changed by the inevitable forward march of time. Few of the organizations that consumed so much of my time will still exist, and those that do persist will certainly not remember my contributions.

If Jesus delays His return, within 1000 years I am confident that there will be not one single, solitary shred of physical evidence that I ever existed on this planet.

However, I will still exist.

And not only will I still exist, but I will be fully conscious and forever in the presence of Jesus. And not only I, but every human soul who has ever existed will continue to live forever for all eternity – either in Paradise with Jesus or in the eternal torment of Hell with Satan and his angels. Our destiny (eternal life) is certain.  Only our destination remains in question.

We spend so much of our lives concentrating on things that, with respect to eternity, are so trivial. We pour so much effort into our homes, careers, hobbies, possessions, crusades, agendas, etc. It’s as though we are frantically trying to do all that we can to leave our mark, to somehow say to those who will come after us, “Remember me, I was here. Look at all I did.” The grim reality is practically nothing that we do here on earth will survive for more than a few years after our death.

Our only hope for a true and lasting legacy lies in those things we do for our Lord Jesus which directly impact the lives and souls of the people who we encounter every day. Jesus cautioned his disciples to, “…store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20). When we impact another person’s life by sharing Jesus with them (either by word or action) we can know that we have done something that will last forever.

Because in the end, the only “things” that will last for eternity are people. Let’s invest wisely by ministering Jesus to them, and by doing so lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

Pastor Jim Stowe

Weekends with Pastor Chuck

Each weekend the CCRussell blog brings you an excerpt from one of Pastor Chuck Smith’s many books. Pastor Chuck is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. This weekend’s excerpt is from chapter one of Why Grace Changes Everything.

Those who believe that they can be made acceptable to God without Jesus need to deal with some crucial questions. If they believe they can make it to heaven by achieving a certain level of goodness, what standard do they have to live up to? What will God require of them? So many say, “I feel that I am basically a kind and good person and am willing to stand before God on my own merit.”

But these people fail to take into account that God’s standards are different than ours. Jesus showed us God’s requirement for those who would strive for heaven on their own power when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The standard for the person who wants to be right with God is nothing short of absolute perfection – not just trying hard, or being sincere, but a flawless keeping of all God ever intended for man. Clearly, those who believe they can earn eternal life by their good works have a distorted understanding of the holiness of God and what it means to be right with God.

If we are going to set up a standard of righteous conduct, we need to use the one established by Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only person whose life prompted God to say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). To enjoy fellowship with God, we must be as righteous as Jesus. In John 16:8,10 Jesus said, ‘And when he [that is, the Holy Spirit] is come, he will reprove the world of… righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.” Jesus’ ascension into heaven was God’s witness to the world about His Son. It is as if He were saying, “This is the righteousness that I will accept in heaven.” Jesus’ life is the only standard of righteousness. If I want to be accepted by God, I must be as righteous as Jesus Christ. The Scriptures show that there is only one kind of righteousness that God will accept: the very righteousness of Christ Himself. So, if we want to stand before God on the basis of our own good works, we must live a life that measures up to the goodness we see in Jesus.

But I realize that is impossible. I can’t achieve that kind of righteousness. Jesus Himself said, “I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). He said, “I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matthew 5:22). He further said, “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again” (Luke 6:27-30). And He commanded us to “love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again!’ (Luke 6:35).

How can anybody be that righteous? I know I can’t. I’ve failed miserably. Does that mean, then, that I must forever be alienated from God? Is there no way I can ever enjoy fellowship with God? Do I have to go on in this emptiness, in this frustration, seeking after and reaching out for something I can never obtain?

If there is any hope for us to be forgiven by God, there must be another basis for it other than our works. As Paul declares, “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20).

If we are ever to enjoy fellowship with God, it will have to be on some basis other than our own righteousness. The rules that God has established for righteousness are far too stringent for us to abide by. We can’t do it. Our only hope is that another form of righteousness has been provided for us, a righteousness based on a totally different principle than our own works.

Thank God, there is such a principle! It’s called grace.

From “Why Grace Changes Everything” by Pastor Chuck Smith.

Next week: What Is Grace?

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

Galatians 6:7-8

Every spring, growing up on a farm, we would plant crops. Alfalfa, corn, and oats would be our main crops. Each summer and fall we would reap a harvest. Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that when alfalfa was sown, alfalfa would be reaped. When corn was sown, corn would be harvested and when oats were sown, oats would be reaped in harvest. The principle in nature simply stated is that you will reap what you have sown. But this principle is also true in our own lives as well and can be found throughout the scriptures.

Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” As I think on these verses, a couple of examples come to mind from the scriptures.

In Exodus we read the story of Pharaoh and his dealings with the people of God, the Israelites. I find it interesting that Pharaoh ordered every Israelite boy born to be thrown and drowned in the Nile River. Pharaoh sowed hate, murder, and destruction. Some time later we know that Pharaoh’s own son died on the night of the Passover. Also, just as he had desired to destroy the nation of Israel by drowning their children, he and his army were destroyed as God closed the waters of the Red Sea over them.

In the Old Testament book of Esther, a man named Haman despised and hated the people of God. He made a plan to exterminate them. He went so far as to have a great gallows built on which he planned to hang his enemies – especially a man named Mordecai who had been faithful to the Lord.

Would you believe that Haman ended up being hanged on his own gallows! It’s true. He reaped what he had sown.

All of us have a choice in how we sow in life. If we choose to sow “weeds” (hate, discord, gossip, unforgiveness, bitterness, criticism) we are certain to reap the same. But if we choose to sow love, forgiveness, peace, encouragement, goodness, kindness, and the like, we stand to reap such unto eternal life.

Let me encourage all who read this with the words of Paul, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

Day after day, opportunity after opportunity comes our way. Let us do good to all people. Not only will their life see some encouragement, but you will know the blessing of reaping the fruit of the Spirit.

Pastor Jeff York

Weekends with Pastor Chuck

Each weekend the CCRussell blog brings you an excerpt from one of Pastor Chuck Smith’s many books. Pastor Chuck is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. This weekend’s excerpt is from chapter one of Why Grace Changes Everything.

One very common way of trying to become righteous is to define what righteousness is and isn’t, to set up a code, and then live according to this code. There’s only one problem: No one ever lives up to their own code, so we conjure up a great number of excuses to explain why we fail. The most common is that our failure isn’t really our fault.

If I drop a glass and break it, it isn’t that I am uncoordinated; it’s because someone called me when he shouldn’t have. Others were making too much noise in the other room, so my mistake is really their fault. “Look what you caused me to do!” I say. “You made me do it, so it isn’t my fault.” None of us like to accept blame.

This attitude goes all the way back to Adam. He blamed his failure on Eve. “The woman that you gave to be my wife,” he told God, “it’s her fault that I am the way I am” (see Genesis 3:12). Proverbs declares, “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Proverbs 30:12).

If you think you are a very pure person and yet are not washed from your filthiness, righteousness has evaded you. The Bible says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us… If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (I John 1:8,10). Scripture states our problem clearly: “All the world [stands] guilty before God… all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:19,23).

Whenever we try to establish our righteousness by keeping rules, eventually we are forced to admit we operate on a sliding scale. I will always look morally better to myself than I do to you, and you will always look morally worse to me than you do to yourself. I can look at your life and see all kinds of flaws; but when I look at myself, the few flaws I notice don’t seem so bad.

Even the righteousness I can achieve by what I do is only a sham righteousness. The Bible declares, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

If our relationship with God depended upon being righteous and good, we would never make it.

It’s almost comical to see some people parade around in their rags. They saunter around with their “holier than thou,” gaudy kind of religiosity, with a hyperspiritual air about them. They talk in whispered tones because they think it sounds holy and righteous. They use King James English because, as we all know, “Thees” and “Thous” are far more righteous than “yous” and “yours.” We see them puffed out in their righteousness, strutting around, showing off… and God shakes His head and says, “Filthy rags.”

If my relationship with God depended upon my being righteous and good, I would never make it. I have failed. I have come short of the glory of God. The best that I can manage is when I am having a good day, my biorhythms are right, and everything is going well – really flowing. I’m cool. Man, I am really something. But even on my best days God looks down and says, “Filthy rags.” My best efforts simply aren’t enough.

Trying to keep the law condemns me, for the true law deals with inward attitudes. Back when I labored under this standard of self-righteousness, I found I resented certain things other people were doing. I became bitter. I realized that I hated certain people and that I was jealous and covetous of the things they owned. I noticed I had violated my own code and had wiped out my relationship with God. Nothing was left to do but to start all over again.

Unfortunately, just about the time I would feel as though I were restoring a right relationship with God, something happened. I blew up and down I went again. I would be forced to start climbing the ladder of good works once more until I got to the rung where I finally felt I could relate to God. No sooner would I reach that rung, however, than somebody would pull a stupid move on the freeway and I would yell, “Where did you get your driver’s license, you idiot?” And the whole process would start all over again.

From “Why Grace Changes Everything” by Pastor Chuck Smith.

Next week: What’s The Standard?

“He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’ “

Ezekiel 8:12

Ezekiel was enduring captivity in Babylon. The nation of Judah had been defeated by King Nebuchadnezzar. Their king, Jehoiachin, had been made a prisoner and Jehoiachin’s uncle had been installed in Jerusalem as a puppet king who ruled at Nebuchadnezzar’s whim. Long ago God had brought His people out of slavery in Egypt and given them a land of their own, just as He had promised to Abraham. However, because of the people’s unfaithfulness to Yahweh and their worship of other gods they were once again enslaved by a foreign power. This judgment on Judah had come only after a similar judgment had fallen on the northern kingdom of Israel, when that kingdom was overthrown by the Assyrians. Anyone would think that God’s people would have learned the consequences of worshipping idols.

In Chapter eight, Ezekiel is taken in a vision to the temple in Jerusalem. There he is shown a horrible sight – an idol has been set up at the very entrance to the inner court of the temple. Ezekiel must have been horrified. In this holy place where God has promised His people that He would dwell with them in a special way, they had broken the first two of God’s most sacred laws – worshipping anything but the one true God by setting up an idol. Ezekiel’s heart must have been broken. Clearly the remnant that God had graciously allowed to remain in Jerusalem had not learned the foolishness of idol worship. Imagine Ezekiel’s shock when he was told by his guide, “…you will see things that are even more detestable.” (verse 6)

Ezekiel is then shown a hole in the wall and told to dig. He uncovers a door and is told to, “…go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing [there].” Inside Ezekiel finds the walls covered with images of crawling things, detestable animals, and all the idols of Israel. As he presses further in he sees 70 of the elders of Israel, the very people who should be leading the people in repentance and righteousness, each one offering incense and worshipping at the shrine of their own idol. God then reveals to Ezekiel what these wicked leaders are saying in their hearts, “The LORD does not see us: the LORD has forsaken the land.”

How often do we attempt to hide our sin, not only from those around us, but from God Himself? What foolishness! The same God that we rely on to be by our side when we need Him most is surely right there when we sin. How could be possibly think to hide anything from Him? How many times do we put on a “righteous face” for our Christian brothers and sisters when we know that deep in our hearts we’re harboring secret sin? In James 5:16 we’re commanded to “…confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” I have discovered that there is great freedom in confessing my sins and asking for prayer from my Christian brothers. It frees to live a life without pretense. I no longer need to put up a false front so that others think I’m better than I really am. Like Paul, I want my life to be a “letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.” (2 Cor. 3:2). Our lives should be open books.

I urge you, if you have sin in your life, turn to God in repentance and allow the blood of Jesus to wash you inside and out. He wants to restore you and He already knows what you’ve done. Believe me; you won’t be taking God by surprise.

Pastor Jim Stowe

This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.”

Jeremiah 4:3

Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Hosea 10:12

Fallow ground is ground that is left unattended. Fallow ground is not cultivated, planted, or cared for. Such ground will not produce much fruitfulness.

As a child growing up on a farm; I remember the arduous task of clearing acres of land in order to be able to plant crops to reap a harvest of fruit. It was back-breaking work – cutting thorn apple, poplar, briars, and removing rocks. Stumps had to be removed. Only after the acreage was cleared of these things could the soil be plowed. Clumps of sod would need to be broken up and removed. More rock collecting and piling would be needed. Disking, dragging, and a continual working of the soil was needed and still it was not yet ready to be planted.

After years of inactivity, improvements were needed to help the crop to grow. Lime, nitrogen, potassium, and yes, fertilizer would be added and the work didn’t stop there. After planting, care was still needed to ensure a fruitful harvest. Continual cultivation was necessary.

My family stopped farming some years ago. Left unattended and uncultivated, it has not taken long for weeds, briars, and thorn apples to reclaim what was once theirs.

You know, over the years I have come to realize our hearts and lives are very much like the soil I used to work growing up. There have been periods in my life when I have grown cold, hard, critical, unloving, uncaring, and unforgiving. Not much fruit seems evident in my life at these times – only weeds. At such times I know I have stopped or neglected to care for the soil of my heart.

In Jeremiah 4:3 and Hosea 10:12, the prophets exhort us to break up the fallow ground of our hearts and lives. Let me be so bold as to ask you a question or two. Do you feel alone? Do you find it hard to love or care for others? Would you say that you are just not a happy person? Might I encourage you to break up the fallow ground of you heart. How, you ask? Hosea says it’s time to seek the Lord. Cry out to Jesus. Meditate on His Word. Cultivate an attitude of gratefulness, thanksgiving, and praise in your heart. Choose to sing. Laugh again. Don’t be afraid to do good. Enjoy life and the weeds, briars, and thorn apples will be cleared from the soil of your heart and life and once again you will know what it is like to enjoy fruitful living.

Pastor Jeff York