Fall Creek Christian Church

"Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. I've promised it once, and I'll promise again: I will obey your wonderful laws." Psalm 119:105-106 As the light began to fade on my flashlight, I realized just how much I desperately needed it. The crawl through the cave was intense enough with a flashlight, but without one, it was just dangerous. Thankfully, I was with a group of guys whose flashlights were still shining bright and we were near the final stretch before the exit. Even still, I acquired a few unnecessary bruises due to what was lurking in the shadows.  The author of this Psalm was passionate about the word of God. He knew that all of life was critically shaped by God's instructions. He knew that truth had been revealed through God's word and to neglect it would mean to surrender the freedom that it produced. He pointed out in these verses that taking even one step untrained by God's word was a step into darkness.  If ...

"But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples -- the one who would betray him -- said, 'That perfume was worth a small fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.' Not that he cared for the poor -- he was a thief who was in charge of the disciples' funds, and he often took some for his own use." John 12:4-6 Her words hit my chest like a sledgehammer -- "So and so told me that you started talking to some other girl." It took me a second to compose myself. That so and so was my friend, so I thought. I don't remember ever feeling before what I felt in that moment. Betrayal. I might have had a few conversations with someone, but I really liked the other girl. Ouch! My teenage drama took a dark and painful turn that day. Jesus was on his way to the cross. Pain, suffering and the wrath of God for sin was awaiting him. He was anointed with oil as a sign of love and respect and all old Judas could think of was getting more money ...

"When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, 'Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord.' But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:6-7 My athletic prowess peaked in elementary school. Once 7th grade hit, my glory days were over. As a skinny little kid, I would get picked near the end of the team selection process and I loved it. Why? Because it wouldn't take me long to prove that I should have been picked first. During a 3rd grade kickball game, my first at bat was a home run to the surprise of everyone. Ah ... those were the days.   Physical appearance, social status, and socioeconomic position are the things our culture tends to look at for significance and potential to accomplish great things. As we read our story from thousands of yea...

"The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon, and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which means the Christ). Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, 'You are Simon, the son of John -- but you will be called Cephas' (which means Peter; literally 'rock')"  John 1:41-42 The other day my cable/tv remote was not working. Being a serious channel surfer, this breakdown was a serious problem. I pushed on those buttons and turned everything off and on so many times I got dizzy. With frustration building with each passing minute, I remembered this thing called the internet. Amazingly, I found the solution to my problem relatively quickly. Why do we tend to complicate the simple?   Andrew was a no-nonsense thinker. He was the straightforward uncomplicated kind of guy. He knew who he was looking for. God said it. He believed it. A Messiah, a Savior, a Rescuer is coming. When he was intr...

  "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare of the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him. Psalm 91:1-2 While enjoying a day on the beach with my family, my wife and I took a long stroll together enjoying the sun, surf and people watching. It's a great sport, people watching. We're all so unique. Anyway, during the stroll, I looked up at a gentleman playing with his grandchildren having a blast. Then it hit me, he is the former coach of such and such NFL team! I wonder how many times a day he's asked, "Are you so and so?"  Identity is a big deal. The Psalmist wanted everyone to know who it was that he was living under. We all make a choice who we are going to trust. He described powerfully and briefly just exactly who he was willing to trust with his life. The Most High. The Almighty. The Lord. His Refuge. His Place of Safety ... God....

"I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me ... to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave from my heart a good report ... I followed the Lord my God completely. So that day Moses promised me, 'The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your special possession ... because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.' ... Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey ... So I'm asking you to give me that hill country that the Lord promised me ..." Joshua 14:6-14 Starting and finishing are not the same thing. I've driven my wife crazy and myself too for that matter by leaving things half done. As I write this devotion, my garage is half-cleaned and half-sorted leaving it nearly half-functional. I, of course, have lots of great reasons (lame excuses) why the mess remains, but the painfully obvious reality is that finishing it would be awesome.  Caleb was a ...

"One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight.When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said,"Woman, you are healed of your sickness!" Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God!" Luke 13:10-13 Entitlement is an ancient plague. Individual lives, families and even entire societies have been decimated by its deep soul penetrating tentacles. I grieve the many times I have been given an amazing gift only to fail to recognize it or properly express my gratitude for it. It makes me wonder, what might eighteen seconds in hell do for our appreciation of what Jesus did for us on the cross?  The woman in our story was a prisoner in her own body for eighteen years. The devil had her all contorted and crippled. I wonder what was going through her mind when Jes...