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I Can’t Do This Alone – Part I

Dr. I. David Byrd  February 1, 2020

 

The Bible says, “He’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” You believe in His Word. It’s the guiding principle of your life. But when faced with a severe illness of a family member or a uncontrollable, devastating loss you can become “conflicted” in your faith. It may seem like the current state is too much to handle on your own. You are supposed to press on physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually but you are exhausted and overwhelmed. Your burdens seem to be crushing you. It’s when we’re weary, exhausted and struggling, that we often tend to shrink back and isolate ourselves. We privilege silence without even knowing it.

 

To surround ourselves with the fellowship we need, we must take the treacherous step to be real and open. We must allow close friends to support us in the midst of our circumstances. We often do not want to admit our need for help. We are taught from a young age that we should be independent; conditioned to believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness or failure. We struggle with pride and want to prove our ability in the eyes of the world. While this may be our mindset, it is not the mindset of Jesus.

 

Paul Tripp says in his book, Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, “We weren’t created to be independent, autonomous, or self-sufficient. We were made to live in a humble, worshipful, and loving dependency upon God and in a loving and humble interdependency with others.”

 

I’m reminded that even Moses couldn’t do it alone. Exodus 17 tells the story of his friends having to hold up Moses arms to ensure victory for the Israelites.

 

“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning,
but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him
and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side,
one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.”
Exodus 17:11-12

 

Moses hears from God and understands the responsibility God has placed on him by simply holding his hands up. Aaron and Hur couldn’t take his place. They couldn’t do his job. But they could support him as he endured what God had called him to do. God designed us to need people for fellowshipping, helping, encouraging and supporting one another. Regardless of how much power we have, ultimately, we need someone else to lean on. Someone else to lift our hands up, someone else to encourage us as we journey through our circumstances.  Don’t try to go it alone.

 

Dear Lord, I never realized the stress that I was bringing upon myself by assuming that I was capable of handling problems on my own. I must learn to trust your way and accept that I can’t do it alone. Forgive me for trying to do things apart from community. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God

 

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Faithful To Me

Dr. I. David Byrd, January 15, 2020

We have become so conditioned to the influx of marketing around New Year’s resolutions, that the word “resolution” itself has virtually lost its meaning for most of society. Researchers say that 89% of resolutions are dropped by the end of February. This can be your year to shift from resolutions to lifestyle changes. One of my favorite parts of turning the calendar to January is seeing all the blank spaces to be filled.  An opportunity to restart, reset or readjust my life plan. I’ve heard it said that life is to be lived looking forward, but it is to be understood looking backwards. So, before we begin to fill in the spaces with our resolutions, goals and to dos, let’s pause to reflect and give God praise for 2019.

 

 I can confidently say, God has been faithful. In my life I find that through every pain and every tear there’s a God that’s been faithful to me. When friends turned their back and walked away, still He has been faithful to me. I admit that in my heart many times I questioned His will and I failed to believe, but He has been faithful to me. When my strength was all gone and when my heart had no song, still He was faithful to me. When my heart looked away from Him. The many times I could not pray, still in life He proved faithful to me. The days I spent so selfishly reaching out for what pleased me. Still He has proved faithful to me. The lyricist said, “morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand has provided. Great is they faithfulness Lord unto me.”

 

I hope you can start 2020 by recognizing He has and will be faithfulness to you in the midst of all you will face.

 

Dear God, You have done so many things for me, saved me from so many dangers, toils and snares. As I go through this year, may I be so filled with Your praises that I cannot help but tell others what You have done for me!

 

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God

 

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The Journey 2020

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

 

 

Your  practical, inspirational resource for your spiritual walk

 

2020 is the year to ponder his faithfulness.  Through the puzzle of life, the Christian experience  is the greatest faith journey of all. It’s not always easy or fun, but as believers we know that God will help us through the detours and  potholes in the roadway. If you’re feeling weary in your journey, rest assured; nothing whatever, whether great or small, can happen to a believer, without God’s ordering and permission. There is no such thing as “chance,” “luck” or “accident” in the Christian’s journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by God. And all things are “working together” for the believer’s good. Christ-likeness is your eventual destination, but your journey is where your faith is perfected.

My prayer for you, like Paul’s, is that you gain a spirit of wisdom and revelation:

I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I always remember you in my prayers, asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you will know him better. I pray also that you will have a greater understanding in your heart so you will know the hope to which he has called us and that you will know how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised his holy people.

Ephesians 1:15-18

 

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Can We Just Talk?

 

Dr. I. David Byrd, December 1, 2019
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer everyone.”                 Col 4:6
Civility dies when you give up the right to have dialogue without trying to destroy the other person. The starting point for repairing our fractured country is how we interact with others.

 

First, our conversation should be an instrument of grace even to those who we don’t think deserve it. Paul uses the word “grace”, which most often refers to unmerited favor for those who are ill-deserving. Paul anticipating our sinful nature qualified this phrase with “always”.

 

Second, our conversations should be seasoned with “salt ”. Salt makes meat acceptable to the discerning palate and is a preservative that draws out bad organisms that can cause meat to decay. Once salt loses its chemical properties it is of no value. If the “flavor” of our conversation is saltless we are useless to God, of no value in bringing out people’s best tendencies and preventing their worse.

 

  • Deliberately seek to influence the people in your life by showing them the unconditional love of Christ through good deeds (Matthew 5:13)
  • Demonstrate the counterculture to language that demeans, degrades, divides and leads to societal moral decay. (Mark 9:50)
  • Witness to unbelievers being well prepared and focused on building others up according to their individual needs with purity of motive. (Col 4:6)

 

What a privilege God has given us to be in dialogue with others. Use it for God’s glory. It’s the evidence of the call upon our lives.

 

Father,
Your Word tells us we are to be a people set upon a hill; bringing light to the darkness of this world. Help us to live out the grace you provided to us. To not withhold conversation from anyone You put in our path.

 

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God
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Beware of Strangers

Dr. I. David Byrd, November 15, 2019

 

“Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers
for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
Hebrews 13:1

 

Reflect on the ways in which you demonstrate love for others, even those that are different than you. Scripture calls us to love strangers and to bring them into our family. To receive and embrace those who do not share our faith and our values. The greatest way to get to know someone and evidence the love of Christ is to demonstrate biblical hospitality. The Greek word for hospitality is philoxenia, which means “lover of strangers”.

 

A relationship with Jesus is the sole source of hope for the world and God longs to use us to love the strangers around us so that they might enter into relationship with Him. Apart from God, our natural propensity is to avoid interacting with anyone we don’t know. But that is not the life our heavenly Father calls us to live. We are not called to keep this free gift of salvation for ourselves, but to share it with those strangers God is beckoning to himself.

 

It’s been said that food can unite, strengthen community bonds and help maintain a common identity among a group of people. Food will be the center of attention at most upcoming holiday celebrations or parties. The dinner table is a time to pause and relish in the ritual of passing food and sharing stories. Demonstrate Biblical hospitality by inviting someone who does not look, think or act like you to your holiday dinner table. It’s not just about opening your home, it’s about opening your heart.

 

Father,
Thank you for loving and pursuing me. Place a name, or even a few names on my heart that I might invite to the dinner table in order to hear their story and tell them your story. 
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God
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Being Public With Our Faith

Dr. I David Byrd, November 1, 2019

 

“For you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light.”                                                                                                  Ephesians 5:8 NRSV

 

Jesus provides the church the behavior necessary for being public about our faith. It starts with simply valuing people. If I value you, I will take time to get to know you. I will be concerned with the things that concern you. When we demonstrate the attributes of love, it causes us to take time to get into the other persons story. John Lederach expressed, “Jesus’ ministry has roots in grace expressed primarily through the quality of presence: the way he chose to be present, in relationship and in the company of others.”

 

Throughout the Bible Jesus first built relationships by compassionately accompanying people, helping them clarify their faith or find faith through their circumstances. Secondly, Jesus viewed people in ways that valuedthemand could not see their situations without being moved, feeling compassion, and acting. Third, Jesus honored diverse culturesto ensure the gospel would reach everyone. Jesus understood that it is hard to be in relationship with people we may view as different when we don’t see, understand or acknowledge their value.

 

The Syrophoenician woman, in Mark 7:24 -31, came to make a request of Jesus. She was culturally a Gentile, geographically a Canaanite and was assumed to be at the margin of the Jewish faith community. She was someone with whom Jesus and the disciples would not normally associate. The disciples allowed their worldviews to cloud their perception and calling. They labeled her as unfit, a foreigner, and an alien with no right to speak to Jesus. In Matthew 15:23, “They requested Jesus send her away.”Jesus used the opportunity to teach the lesson to the disciples that everyone would be included in the plan of salvation. We can be guilty of sometimes initially missing or ignoring those outside our comfort zone who may need our support. As children of light, we are called to ask the clarifying questions that can help us better understand the challenges others face in their life for the sake of their faith.

 

Just as God’s incarnate presence in Jesus Christ is a model for us, we are called to exhibit a coherent Christian perspective and response that is relational in nature. Twentieth century Catholic theologian Karl Reiner believed “the neighbor is given us precisely as the principal way in which God intends us to find our greatest fulfillment … whereby we are led by the Spirit to encounter God most intimately in the communion with one another that the Spirit of Jesus’ presence in another has made possible.”

 

Father in Heaven,

Help us to see people as you see them. To love them as you love them. Forgive us for sometimes thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. Change our hearts so that we have the love that will fuel our bold yet humble witness to your grace found in Jesus.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God

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We Were Not Saved To Be Silent

Dr. I. David Byrd September 15, 2019

 

“There is longer no Jew or Gentile . . .
you are all Christians . . .
one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28

 

Peter obeyed the Lord and went to Caesarea to tell Cornelius and those gathered with him the Good News of Jesus Christ. Peter’s words revealed a new understanding as his humility through Christ allowed him to serve others.

 

Peter’s witnessing paralleled that of the Gospel of Mark. (Acts 10:37-41)

 

The Book of Mark recounted Jesus’ perfect life from His baptism, to His ministry, to the miracles performed in Galilee and throughout Judea. His death on the cross, burial and in His resurrection scripture was fulfilled. Through His death, all sin is forgiven. Everyone sins and everyone needs to be saved. You can only be saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Moreover, faith is available to everyone, not only for the Jews.

 

Upon hearing the Word of God through Peter, the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and all who heard the message. They were all baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. God speaks to people not only through their circumstances but also through the words of others. That’s why the message of August’s Journey, Do You Understand What You Are Reading, is so important. You can shine but if you don’t give them content, people won’t know what to do.

 

The key takeaway of Chapter 10 is not so much the conversion of Cornelius as the conversion of Peter. Peter was willing to remove barriers and set aside previous presuppositions, prejudices and pride. Peter entered the house of a Gentile, something that Jewish customs and traditions strictly prohibited. By entering a Gentile’s home, Peter showed that his heart and mind had changed. He was committed to the lifestyle Jesus commanded. While scripture tells us we are not to become like our neighbors; it also says God wanted His people to become a light to our neighbors who don’t know the true God.

 

We’ll pick up the story in Acts Chapter 15 next time. Where we will examine how Peter responded when challenged by his community for loving someone outside of his culture and community. Many of us want to be bold for Jesus, but sometimes we lack the courage to go against our communities’ presuppositions, prejudices and pride for fear of how we will be viewed or treated.

 

Father God,
Give us the boldness of Peter to be a living witness to all who don’t know you. Help us to be the leaders of culture rather than to be followers of culture. You didn’t save us to be silent. You called us to be a beacon of light to the world. So, strengthen our witness through our thoughts, lifestyle and most importantly our actions.

 

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God

 

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The Call To Courage

Dr. I. David Byrd September 1, 2019

 

“My children, we should love people not only with words and talk,
but by our actions and true caring.”
1 John 3:18 (NCV)

 

The Church is meant to be the expression of God’s love witnessed through our demonstration of purity in thought, actions, and lifestyle. We cloud our witness when people see us live in ways that are antithetical to the gospel we proclaim. If we are to be effective witnesses for the kingdom, we must live out God’s design for the unity of the Church. Our witness will determine how the word sees Jesus.

 

Peter’s story can assist us in capturing Scripture’s vision of the church as a community that transcends barriers. In the book of Acts, the kingdom was initially made up of Jews who were believers in Jesus. When the first Gentiles came to faith in Chapter 10, led by Cornelius, it created quite a stir amongst the Jews. Fellow Theologians note, Jews were skeptical because they thought faith was a “God given right”, only for them. The prevailing Jewish thought was that God showed partiality towards the Jews and against the Gentiles. In essence, many thought that God loved the Jews and hated the Gentiles.

 

Cultural beliefs were so divisive that a basic part of the Jewish religion in the days of the New Testament was an oath that promised that one would never help a Gentile under any circumstance. Jewish daily prayers begin by thanking God that they were not a Gentile. If a Jew married a Gentile, the Jewish community would have a funeral and consider that Jew dead. Gentiles were seen as “unclean”. It was thought that even entering the house of a Gentile made a Jew unclean before God. Now that’s some serious hate! Perhaps out of comfort, fear or blindness; some Christians today have capitulated to similar ways of thinking.

 

Cornelius was a good person, yet he still needed someone to explain the gospel to him. He needed to understand that the only way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ. Not through good deeds, being a good person or even because he prayed to God. God sent Peter to share the Good News with Cornelius, but first God prepared Peter for service. God revealed to him, in multiple dreams, the need to reach those believed to be ”unclean”. The cleansing of impure foods in his dream was related to the cleansing of the Gentiles. Peter came to understand that he should never think of anyone as impure because the foundation for unity of the Church was in traditional distinctions being dissolved. Ethnicity was no longer of any consequence. Peter answered the call to see the presence of God in a culture not his own.

 

In our next addition of The Journey, we will unpack Peter’s decision and learn the affect it had on the lives of others.

 

Father God,
At times I am faced with making a choice that might not be the most popular. Help me to be on the right side of your Word; even if it means going against the crowd. I realize I my actions can have a life transforming affect on others, so help me to represent you well.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God

 

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Do You Understand What You’re Reading?

Dr. I. David Byrd, August 15, 2019

“God will not give us the Holy Spirit to enable us to gain celebrity or to procure a name or to live an easy, self-controlled life. The Spirit’s passion is the glory of the Lord Jesus, and can make His abode [only] with those who are willing to be at one with Him in this”.
F.B. Meyer

 

Reading the Word is not only beneficial to our walk; it can benefit others. As the number of readers of The Journey increases, so do the types of follow-up questions. I am realizing some have limited context for what we are talking about. I now am more conscious of the importance of you and I taking time to teach those around us. People are expecting us to use our platforms to make the Word plain to them; not to tell them how great we are or creating thirst traps as a way of gaining attention or validation. Our goal should be to reflect Him through us. Charles Koller explains it, “Not as a pipe through which the truth flows out to others, but as a living embodiment of the truth to which we seek to win others”. Witnessing does not depend on flashy rhetoric or heart wrenching stories. The spirit does the convicting and convincing. We are merely the tool. So, “study to show ourselves approved”.

 

When we don’t take the time to teach the Bible to others we dilute the complexity, historicity, and beauty of its story, and the readers can miss significant facets of the Good News about Jesus. I’m reminded of the story of Philip joining the Ethiopian high official in Acts 8 as a perfect example for us to model:

 

27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch,
a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, 
who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 
28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 
29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 
30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked,
“Do you understand what you are reading?” 
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

 

Philip didn’t wait for him to come to church. Philip joined the Ethiopian where he was. The Ethiopian official needed someone to relationally unfold Isaiah 53:7-8 to him in a way that made sense.

 

So here are the two challenges this passage confronts us with. First, we must be willing to step into some elses “chariot” and sit alongside people who can’t make sense of life, much less the Bible. Second, we must study God’s Word diligently and learn from good teachers about His whole counsel, so that when we do have opportunities with those seeking to understand, we can engage them with the whole story instead of leaving them with a presentation. We can only teach others what we’ve learned ourselves; so consider studying a book or two of the Bible.

 

You never know who God may put in your path to share the Good News. When your opportunity comes, just like Philip, be prepared.

 

Father God,
Prepare us to share your Word with others. Unless we study, we won’t be ready. It’s not always easy to dedicate time to studying; and yes I know this is an excuse. Help me to do better. I want and need to represent you well.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen. 

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God

 

 

 

 

 

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I Still Think It’s All About Me

 

Dr. I. David Byrd, August 1, 2019

Everyone loves and crave relevance. Relevance is about getting attention, being connected, being valued, and becoming significant. But attention engineering is not limited to our social media activity discussed last month. For some, their sense of identity may not be strong enough to exist without the constant reassurance of others. We often worry about our position and status, hoping to get proper recognition for what we do. It’s when the quest for relevance becomes self-centeredness and moves us out of the will of God that it becomes sin.
Everyone has a measure of self-centeredness. We must work daily to minimize how much focus we put on ourselves. Jesus is so opposed to the sin of self-centeredness that He declared, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). To deny oneself is to focus on the interests of God rather than our own earthly, material, personal desires (Matthew 6:33). What are God’s interests? His interest is for us to love and care for our neighbors (John 13:34-35), to bear others’ burdens (Galatians 6:2), to not pass judgment on others (Romans 14:13) and to be kind and forgiving (Ephesians 4:32). So our question today is, how can we balance becoming revenant and seeking to make others relevant?
Some say God’s interest is only in our relationship with Him. Moreover, as long as we have a relationship with Him, “It’s ok for the strong to rule over the weak, justice has no intrinsic worth and moral values are socially constructed and subjective.” Additionally, some argue, “Catering to others is indicative of a lack of self-esteem. And while giving to others is positive, you truly cannot give until you have taken care of yourself.” This type of thinking is rooted in our fleshly desire to supplant God’s authority with our own. Scripture clearly states in Romans 8:8 that, “People who are self-centered aren’t able to please God”.
Being self-centered is juxtaposed to several Biblical commands: “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:24). Romans 12 teaches us to be transformed from the thinking of this secular world and not to focus on raising yourself up. Philippians 2:3-4 leaves no room for self-centeredness, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather, in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interest but each of you to the interest of the others.”
When we make others relevant first, our own relevance is a natural result and God will be pleased. In 1 Peter 5:6, Peter advises us to remember, that God’s recognition counts more than human praise. Therefore, seeking relevance or recognition is not wrong; it is seeking it in the wrong source. Seek to please God, not humans.
Father God,
We sometimes get full of ourselves and out of your will. We need to overcome the sin of self-centeredness, but we can’t do it without you. As we live a life pleasing to you, may others come to know you better through our words and actions.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God