Posts Tagged ‘ daniel m klem ’

Used and Loved

Here is your regular, friendly reminder to get your daily dose of wisdom from Proverbial Thought!

As working through the book of Luke with our youth group, I was inspired to write about some things. I had a great idea for a passage from Luke 12, but my theology was rocked so hard that I will wait on that one! Instead, I am going with one of the other ideas from that chapter.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:13-21, NIV

Stuff and People

There are two ways to handle stuff and people in this life, and our youth group is intelligent enough to notice! In their words:

“We can use things and love people or love things and use people.”

We can get so caught up in what is ours and what is not ours that we can forget about people.

For example, someone in the crowd may have just lost his parents, yet he is more concerned with getting his share of the inheritance than mourning. This shows one aspect.

Another aspect is that his brother is clearly there, otherwise Jesus could not tell him to share the inheritance. What really makes this poignant is that Jesus had just finished talking about avoiding hypocrisy, so we know what the first man was really getting at: that he judged his brother a hypocrite. (What does this show of him, then?)

One further aspect is that our own selfishness and greed gets in the way of another relationship. This man is talking with a wise leader, he might even know this is the Messiah. Instead of actually listening to the teachings (meaning taking them to heart and learning from them), he tries using this Teacher to get what he wants.

How many times do we go to God asking for things instead of seeking His will?

One more thought: Who gets rebuked?

At first, it looks like a rebuke of the man wanting his inheritance. “‘Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed’.”

It is as if Jesus is saying, “Dude! Get over it! Stop being so greedy!” (Also, He was and is the perfect judge and arbiter, but He was making another point)

But then He goes on. He tells us about a man who became quite wealthy and hoarded it all. This certainly sounds like the brother was being rebuked for his greed at the same time the original brother was being rebuked for his greed.

WHOA! Jesus is a great multitasker!

One man was not worried about his family and used God to get what he wanted. The other man also was not concerned about his family, instead holding onto his new possessions.

Used and Loved

Both of these brothers were guilty of breaking the greatest commandment(s): “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

We can be guilty of the same (in fact, we all are: Romans 3:22-24).

We use people and God to get the things we want, when we should be using things and loving God and people.

Instead of a question this week, a suggestion:

Check yourself. Find out where your heart is: with things or with God?

2012
10/09
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Greed
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 10/07/2012

After looking at the Core Facts and Core Values, as well as The Core Mission, it is fitting to have a poem about answering the call to follow God!

here i am/send me

the call has been made
the choice has now come
how to answer the call
go out or stay at home
the choice can be no
to stay safe but not free
when i answer please let me say
Here am I! Send me!

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 174.

2012
10/07
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Mission: CORE

Here is regular friendly reminder to head over to Proverbial Thought for today’s devotional thought from the wonderful book of Proverbs!

This has been an interesting couple of months. I have led you through the Four Core Facts (Jesus’ death on the cross, the despair of the Disciples, the change in the Disciples, and the conversion of Paul) and the Four Core Values (Desperate pursuit of God, diligent prayer, consecrated heart, focused life) for the youth group I work with, led by our wonderful youth pastor, Jesse Bollinger (www.ferventyouth.org).

After learning about why the Christian faith is true and what that means for the Christian (the Core Values), that leaves one important thing to cover:

The CORE Mission:

The Core exists to make a worldwide impact for Christ through fervent prayer and by living consecrated lives.

It is true that this was all covered over the past two months. It is also true that sometimes we just need a concise reminder of important things, that little thing to kickstart or restart us into action.

As has been discussed over the past couple weeks, things seem to work well together and often need each other to work well.

The Reason

If Jesus of Nazareth really is Jewish Messiah, the Son of the Living God, then everything He said and did really happened and really matters.

If Jesus really died to take away the sins of the world, the world has a reason to love God and needs to know.

If Jesus really rose from the dead and conquered the grave, the world has a reason to hope and needs to know.

If Jesus really said it requires repentance and belief to be saved from their sin, then the world needs to know.

If Jesus really is God, He deserves our hard work and worship.

The way (Small “w”)

The most efficient way to share the message of Jesus Messiah with the world (also known as sharing the gospel, which means “good news”) is also one of the most difficult things in life … but also the most worth it.

As discussed over the past month, it takes a life focused on the desperate pursuit of God. This means needing a consecrated heart, a heart dedicated to finding and loving God wherever He may be. It is easier to know where God is moving, to dedicate your heart and stick to the dedication of your heart to God, and focus on following and serving God when you are in constant communication with God.

It can easily be argued, therefore, that this all hinges on communication with God.

It must first be understood that God always initiates contact first. We come to God, because God seeks us out. He even reminds us again and again when we forget Him, yet He still likes us to come to Him.

Coming to God is reading the Bible, spending time with other believers, and praying.

When done with a sincere heart willing to be changed by God’s love, grace, and majesty, it becomes easier to give our hearts and lives completely with joy and to know when and where God is moving. We also have a growing desire to share the love, grace, and majesty of God with others.

The Hard Part

This sounds rather easy, though. We simply need to grow closer to God and share Him with others.

Yet, consider this:

  • Reading your Bible means setting aside time from watching your favorite show.
  • Praying means setting time aside from hanging out with friends, seeing that movie, and … learning to be quiet. (Trust me, it is way more difficult than it sounds, especially in our culture)
  • Helping and sharing with others means risking rejection, hurt feelings, and being taken advantage of by others, even loved ones.

The Core

It may be hard, but as I said, this life means time with other Christians. The Core may be the name of the youth group, but we all need to be in a “Core”. Jesus had His 12 Apostles, and of those He was closer to Peter and the brothers James and John. These were Jesus’ core group.

Your core group should include Jesus at the center and some with whom you are close, those who can hold you accountable and lift you up when you fall or are feeling sad, defeated, or stressed.

Most importantly, your core group is where you draw closure to our Lord. As a group you are able to grow in knowledge, grow in compassion, grow in grace, and grow in love. It is most effective when you are also reaching out to others. Not just Christians, but especially to non-Christians and/or those in need (the Bible usually says “the poor, the orphans, and the widows”).

GO!

The moral of the story: the Core Mission is to obey Jesus command to “go and make disciples of all nations” through constant communication with God and by growing in love and grace through study, fellowship, and reaching out to others.

So go! Get to know God better. Grow closer to others. (Matthew 22:36-40)

2012
10/02
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Carry your cross
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 09/30/2012

I think a young woman from the camp I worked in five years ago put it perfectly:

“Live a weak life!”

—Cheyenne (camper at Junior Camp, UCYC, June 29, 2007)

We must live a weak life.

We can try to use our strength,

But we can only get so far.

So, if we live weakly,

God can move through us.

When we are weak,

He is stronger in us.

Live a weak life,

and God will use you.

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 168.

2012
09/30
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Funny, eh?

I can not remember where I found this, but I had to share it:

FUNNY ISN’T IT?

  • Funny how a $10.00 bill looks so big when you take it to church, but so small when you take it to the mall.
  • Funny how big an hour serving God looks and how small 60 minutes are when spent playing golf, fishing or shopping.
  • Funny how long a couple of hours spent at church, but how short they are when watching a movie.
  • Funny how we get thrilled when a football game goes into overtime, but we complain when a sermon is longer than the regular time.
  • Funny how laborious it is to read a chapter in the Bible and how easy it is to read 200-300 pages of a best-selling novel.
  • Funny how we believe what newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
  • Funny how people scramble to get a front seat at any game, but scramble to get a back seat at church service.
  • Funny how we cannot fit a gospel meeting into our schedule with yearly planner but we can schedule for other events at a moment’s notice.
  • Funny how we need 2 or 3 weeks to fit a church event into our schedule, but can adjust it for a social event at the last minute.
  • Funny how much difficulty some have learning a simple gospel well enough to tell others, but how simple it is for the same people to understand and explain gossip about someone else.
  • Funny how we can’t think of anything to say when we pray, and don’t have any difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a friend.
  • Funny how we are so quick to take direction from a total stranger when we are lost, but are hesitant to take God’s direction to be found.
  • Funny how people are so consumed with what others think about them rather than what God thinks about them.
  • Funny how so many churchgoers sing “Standing on the Promises” but all they do is sit on the premises.
  • Funny how people think that they can get more accomplished in a lifetime without God than in an hour with Him.
  • Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven, provided they don’t have to believe, or to think, or to say, or to do anything.

Funny how we all need to read this.

2012
09/27
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The Core Values: Engrossed Existence

Here is another friendly reminder to head over to Proverbial Thought for today’s devotional thought from Proverbs!

We now continue our look at the Four Core Facts and the Four Core Values, having examined the desperate pursuit of God, diligent prayer, and a consecrated heart.  If you are interested in a more in-depth look at the Core Facts and the Core Values, look up my wonderful youth pastor, Jesse Bollinger, at Fervent Youth.

As I said before, all of the Core Facts and Values flow together. The Values are useless without the truth of the Facts. Without a desperate pursuit of God bathed in diligent prayer creating a consecrated heart, we play a dangerous game with the fourth Core Value:

A Focused Life

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified . . . For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7

Why would I say we play a dangerous game with a focused life without the Core Facts and Values?

Perhaps you have heard that line that goes something like “Those who believe in nothing will fall for anything.” People can devote their lives to just about anything out there (read the tabloids, news, and/or history books).

Some people even dedicate their lives to God without considering the possibility that God will come collect. Then they are surprised at what God wants.

It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider his vows
Proverbs 20:25

This is why we need a foundation based on the reality of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God, and a value-system based on the truth revealed in the Bible.

FOCUS!

Have you noticed how easy it is to be distracted? Humans have always found a way to distract themselves, but Modern Man has really excelled in this area.

We have access to an entire world in ways barely imaginable 100 years ago, from cars to trains to airplanes.

We have access to an entire world through the internet.

We have access to endless entertainment through books, movies, television, video games, sports, the internet, and various other entertainment-industry options too numerous to list here.

We have access to friends and family any time of the night or day around the world through telephones, cellular phones, e-mail, Facebook, the internet (noticing a theme?), and so many other things.

We have more than enough to distract us, and we have even made it possible to stop using our own imagination.

But what do the most successful people in our world have in common?

Focus.

Their lives are dedicated to one major thing (which can include many smaller things, but usually related things), and they do not let anything get in the way of their dreams and goals.

They each have a focused life.

This is basically what God has called all who would follow Him to do. Be focused.

On what?

The answer comes in a rebuke of Peter by Jesus:

“You must follow me.”

We have to focus our lives on Jesus.

However, I will take this a step further.

There are a lot of people who claim to follow Jesus, and they show up to church regularly, tithe, donate, and volunteer.

They live good lives.

While their lives are engrossed in Jesus, I would posit that their entire existence is not engrossed in Jesus. (See the title of the post worked in there?!)

In truth, these people (and even many people engrossed in following Jesus can succumb to this) are distracted by serving.

How do we know when we get distracted by service?

One of two things is usually what happens:

  1. We are not going where Jesus is going. We find ourselves in the church building all the time, or at church functions, and we know everyone we see or know someone who knows that person well and we are all Christian. We rarely encounter anyone who is hurting, mourning, in desperate need, or stuck in sin (of which we are aware).
  2. We are exactly where Jesus is, but we are “pulling a Martha“. Sometimes, we are so busy serving Jesus that we forget about actually serving others, and we are surrounded by people who really need Jesus.

The Problem and Solution

We are not fully engrossed in following Jesus. That is just the way it is.

This is where the other values come in. To be fully engrossed we must desperately pursue God by reading the Bible, learning what it means through teachings and fellowship, and seeking where God is working. To effectively pursue God, we must be in constant communication with Him through diligent prayer, and this helps us grow in a desire to study the Bible and find where God is going. As we pray and study, we find our hearts are growing ever more consecrated to God, and our desire to seek Him and talk with Him grows. The more consecrated our hearts become for God, the more we find our life being focused on God.

The only other step is that we must put it all into practice.We must be with those who are hurting and in need. We must show love and grace. We must forgive ALL people.

We must effectually become like Jesus Christ.

Our focus in life must be to be completely engrossed in living and loving like Jesus, pushing aside distractions and pushing on in faith, grace, and love.

Next week, I will briefly discuss The Core Mission.

What are your thoughts? How are you doing?

2012
09/25
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 09/23/2012

While it is not always pleasant to think about, one of the biggest ways God grows a consecrated heart in us is through trial and pain.

towards hope

You allow suffering to come
they are sent so we become
a people that will persevere
even if these last for years
with Your strength to get us there
it builds up our character
as we become a people for You
we get a hope that is true
it encourages us to the inmost parts
as You pour Your love into our hearts
as towards hope we continue on
it is because You sent Christ Your Son
He came when we were powerless
at the right time in our distress
because You sought our hearts You missed
Your love was demonstrated in this
while we still lived lives of sin
Christ died to bring our hearts to Him
because He persevered to death
yet He rose up to life again
let us persevere through struggles
towards hope that is eternal

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 165.

2012
09/23
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The Core Values: Cardiac Consecration

Here is your regular, friendly reminder to head over to Proverbial Thought for today’s devotional thought from Proverbs!

We now continue our look at the Four Core Facts and the Four Core Values, having examined the desperate pursuit of God and diligent prayer.  If you are interested in a more in-depth look at the Core Facts and the Core Values, look up my wonderful youth pastor, Jesse Bollinger, at Fervent Youth.

As I said before, all of the Core Facts and Values flow together. The Values are useless without the truth of the Facts. Without a desperate pursuit of God bathed in diligent prayer, there is little need for the third Core Value:

A Consecrated Heart

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8, NIV

This requirement of a person seems simple enough. To put it in overly simplistic terms, we are required to do good, be forgiving, and live life honestly … with God.

Why are these so difficult, then?

To do good, to act justly, often means to think of others before yourself and to sacrifice.

To be forgiving, to love mercy, often means showing love, grace, and, yes, forgiveness to those you feel are least deserving … or to whom you would rather not.

To live life honestly, to walk humbly, often means realizing you do not understand this world or yourself as well as you think. It always means realizing you are someone in need of a Savior.

These are the beginning steps to having a consecrated heart.

But what is the first step?

Why not start with what it really means to have a consecrated heart …

From Merriam-Webster:

1
: to induct (a person) into a permanent office with a religious rite; especially: to ordain to the office of bishop
2
a: to make or declare sacred; especially:to devote irrevocably to the worship of God by a solemn ceremony
b:to effect the liturgical transubstantiation of (eucharistic bread and wine)
c: to devote to a purpose with or as if with deep solemnity or dedication
3
: to make inviolable or venerable <principles consecrated by the weight of history>
I especially like definition 2a. In fact, the second definition is the whole point.

In fact, this may help sum up this post pretty quickly.

Having a consecrated heart simply means that you declare your heart sacred, that you set aside your heart to be devoted completely to worshiping God.

Simple, yes? Declare your heart as God’s own.

For it to really mean anything, as stated before, it requires the Core Facts and the other Core Values.

You need faith that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was necessary for your salvation. Without this knowledge, you can consecrate your heart to anything. It happens all around our world every day. Look at all of the religions, numbers of gods, lack of gods (and God), and every other belief, including in the self. Apart from God, we can do nothing, especially save ourselves from condemnation. (A simple, quick explanation: No God = No humans, thus we can do nothing without God.)

You need to have a desperation to know God, which comes from a desire to know truth. (Many seek truth, but not all seek to know truth.)

We grow more desperate to know God through diligent prayer. At the same time, diligent prayer usually grows out of a desperation. (Kind of like wanting to talk to that boy or that girl on the phone at all times of the day or night, because you can not seem to get enough. You find yourself falling ever more in love the more the two of you talk. You know what I mean 😉 .) With the desperate pursuit of God and diligent prayer, it can often be a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma. It always depends on the person, the circumstances, and the ways of God.

When you believe something so strongly, you dedicate your life to it. That is what a consecrated heart is. It is praying “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, NIV)

And it leads to the fourth Core Value: A Focused Life

What do you believe? Why? What do you spend your time doing and with whom and about what do you talk? To what have you dedicated your life?

Why?

2012
09/18
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 09/16/2012

Seeking God includes talking with Him. It is not enough to just talk and ask and command. We must listen. However, when we ask for the correct things, we will also see our hearts and lives change.

how can i know Your will
if i do not ask for knowledge

how can i express Your love
if i do not seek it out first

how can i teach Your Word
if i do not study Him

how can i live my life
if i do not start living for You

how can i live for You
if i do not accept Your Son

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 158.

2012
09/16
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The Core Values: Diligent Dialogue

Here is your friendly reminder to head over to Proverbial Thought for today’s devotional thought from the wisdom book!

Last month we looked at the Four Core Facts, and this last week we looked at the first Core Value, the desperate pursuit of God.  If you are interested in a more in-depth look at the Core Facts and the Core Values, look up my wonderful youth pastor, Jesse Bollinger, at Fervent Youth. Today’s entry also

Now for the second Core Value:

Diligent Prayer

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

Jesus demonstrated diligent prayer. At one point, Jesus had to drive out a demon because His Disciples could not. When asked why they could not do it, Jesus “said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.’”

Jesus did not simply mean “if you fast and pray you can cast out all demons.” Jesus was saying it takes a life dedicated to prayer and fasting, to seeking out the will of God, to get to know God intimately.

I knew this man who once taught a group of us (and some of them told me this was in no way a new teaching of his) that the biggest reason we see so few miracles in the Church anymore is because of a lack of dedicated prayer and fasting within the Church. I have come to see how true this is.

Where is the love?

I have heard the excuses. Perhaps you have, too.

    • I am too busy to pray.
    • I am a person of action, not prayer.
    • When all else fails, pray.
    • God knows my thoughts, anyway.

I am too busy to pray

I have covered the topic of prayer before here and here.

I am a person of action, not prayer

Perhaps you have also heard the line “Without God, you are doomed to fail.” Why should God bless your work if you do not talk with Him about it? Why should He help you if you do not want to include Him from the beginning?

(He still can work through you, of course. Balaam is a great example of that!)

Perhaps they fail, because God has not been involved from the beginning! Is it really that important to you if you have not included God the entire time, as in from the beginning?

Why do we tend to wait until the last second to include God, to talk to Him about what is happening?

Does that work with kids? Ask most parents and teachers: you ask a child to do something once, there is no guarantee they will think to do it again later (which is why children need to be constantly reminded to clean their rooms, feed the dog, take out the trash, brush their teeth, or a myriad of other things).

How does this relate?

As humans, we seem to expect people to listen to us and do what we want and think the way we think … WHEN WE NEVER SAY ANYTHING! (We may never stop talking, but we rarely say anything.)

Why should God help us if we are not sharing with Him? He may know what we are thinking, but if we hold it back is that not like saying “Butt out!” That is a far cry from “I love you!”

Love the Lord your God

As I have said before, all of the Core points work together. We should pray, because we love God so much that we are desperately chasing Him.

Imagine getting your dream job. If you never talked with your boss, would you last long? (Unless, of course, you are self-employed)

(Ready for a tired argument that is oh, so true?)

Try being a friend, a husband, or a wife without ever communicating. It will never last. Your friend or spouse (or even you) will complain about not being loved … or even liked.

If you claim to love God, you should talk with Him.

Notice how I worded that:

We must talk with God.

Some time in the future I will share some of my own story on prayer, but the most important thing I have learned is that prayer is a conversation.

Conversations go two ways. To be diligent in prayer, we must be able to listen at least as much as we talk.

Therefore, we must learn to praise and petition, to read and to listen.

Diligent prayer means to first ask God to help us, to change us, to grow us.

Diligent prayer means to study the Bible to know what God has said.

Diligent prayer means to share our troubles.

Diligent prayer means to hear our teachers.

Diligent prayer means to tell God how great He is.

Diligent prayer means being quiet before our God.

Diligent prayer means listening … all the time.

Notice the first word: It takes diligence. This means practice, dedication, and passion.

If you are desperate for God, you will want to talk with Him and make very crazy requests.

Fall in love with God. Talk with Him. Often withdraw quiet places to be with Him.

See amazing things in your life.

Next week I will tackle the third Core Value: A Consecrated Heart

Thoughts? Concerns? Questions?

2012
09/11
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