Standing in the Gap!

Fresh Manna 2009© by Pastor Tim Burt

Ezekiel 22:30 “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap for me… but I found none.”

Today I was reminded of a special moment I had with one of my sons – the kind of moment that makes you proud and extremely thankful to God. One Saturday morning we had gone out for breakfast at a local restaurant. There was a waitress there that we had become acquainted with from her serving us on a few occasions. As our acquaintance and communication level grew, we had the opportunity to share the Lord with her. Because we had taken the time to befriend her, she had opened up to us sharing personal things close to her heart of concern about her young son. She had shared that she was bringing him in for a medical exam because the doctors suspected there was a serious problem with his health and that he had an unusual disease. We asked her if we could pray for her son and she lit up like a Christmas tree. She was ecstatic that we would want to pray for her son. People are always a little shocked when you start praying for them right then and there, but they are also blessed at the same time.

A few weeks later, we came in to have breakfast. She lit up when she saw us. “I’ve been waiting and hoping you’d come in! I’ve wanted to thank you for your prayers and tell you the good news. My son does not have the disease they thought he did. He is going to be fine! I wanted so bad to tell you because you are one of the few people that has ever offered to pray!” We were excited for her and it continued to help us stay focused to pray for her.

While we were having breakfast, my son Peter was catching me up on the job he held at that time. “Dad, I work with this one guy. He isn’t the most intelligent person and that seems to have hindered his getting promoted – but dad, he is the nicest guy I’ve ever worked with! He has two kids and doesn’t make that much money. He has a pair of shoes that have got to be ancient. They are old and absolutely worn out. I am going to buy him a new pair of shoes!” At that moment, I was so proud of my son. He was a college student at that time and money was extremely tight for him. Even so, he saw someone else’s need and decided to do something out it. It seemed as though, everything I had ever tried to impart to his heart was manifesting at this breakfast. He had taken hold of a simple truth. One person can make a difference in life even if it’s just one person at a time that you touch.

If Jesus ever taught us anything – and the truth is He taught us countless things – He taught us that one person can make all the difference. His life on earth is the greatest example of that truth we will ever know. So many people want to do great things! Too often, people have good intentions and want to do good things for others, but they imagine doing such grandiose things in magnitude that they in all likelihood won’t do, that they let the little opportunities that they could do, pass by. The result being good intentions but little to nothing being done. What a shame because people can make a difference in the small things in someone’s life every day!

James 1:17 says that “everything good comes down from the Father…” Everything good does! That means when you feel your heart being promoted to do something good for someone – it’s most likely being steered by God. In 1 Corinthians 4:7 the Apostle Paul put it like this: “… what have you that you did not receive from God? Now if you did receive it from God, why do you want the glory for it as if you had not received it from Him?” The point here is this: if the good we receive or do is from and with the help of God, then why do we want the credit? Why don’t we forget about whether anyone ever knows the good we do and just do it unto the Lord giving Him thanks for helping us to be this way?

Jesus teaches us that there is great blessing in making a difference but not looking for public credit or glory. We read it in Mat 6:3-4 “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Making a difference in the lives of others can be a daily thing. It’s sacrificially touching one person’s life with some random act of kindness. It may be the giving of moral support, taking time to pray for someone, the giving of resources or time, or making an even greater sacrifice you feel prompted to make.

In today’s Fresh Manna verse, we see that this was a cry from God’s heart to His people at a time when they had appeared to have lost their way. It says, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap for me… but I found none.” We dream about changing the whole world. It starts by trusting that God will lead you and work through you to stand in the gap for others.

This made me so proud of my son. He’s learning this truth and is learning to walk it out! God would love for all of us to stand in the gap – even in the smallest ways!

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt

Published by Pastor Tim Burt
Copyright© 2009 Tim Burt, All rights reserved.
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/

Hard Work & Enjoy Times of Refreshing

Fresh Manna 2009© by Pastor Tim Burt

Proverbs 6:6-8 (NLT) Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

Renee and I just returned from our vacation. We spent ten day on the gulf in Mexico. We had really needed some rest as we had worked extremely hard this past six months. When we really need to rest, we try to get out of the country. It seems with technology, no matter where we are in the United States; we are still contacted and can’t make the mental break from everything we desperately need. (Of course that’s really our fault for just not turning off everything.) When we get out of the country, we do and we stay disconnected for the entire time. It leads to the quiet time we need alone together.

I really don’t know how others do vacation. I just know that Renee and I probably don’t do them like too many others. When we get away, we don’t stay up late and sleep in. We get up early – really early, to watch the sunrise and to read our Bibles and pray as the ocean waves roll in. We also set our sights on eating healthy and lean. We eat a healthy breakfast, skip lunch and eat an early dinner. We both come home having lost weight. I doubt if that is typical. Most of the people around us eat and drink all day on their all-inclusive deals. We also always try to stay at location with a fitness center. Each day we go in and work through our exercise routines. By the time we have done this for ten straight days, our pumps are re-primed with motivation to stay in this routine when we get home.

Beyond all that, we spend the rest of the time, swimming (body-surfing for me,) reading, and relaxing. To us, this is our perfect vacation. We spend great time together and great time with God. Each morning we sit together at the ocean having spend time in the word of God and then sharing what God was speaking to our hearts. We then pray for all of our loved ones and those God has given us in our realms of responsibility (including you!) All together this made for a wonderful time of refreshing for us.

On the 9th day of our 10 day vacation, we looked at each other and both said we were ready to come home and get back to work. Vacation is great but there comes a point where it can work against you. Rest is critical but, once you get it, it’s a joy and blessing to be able to work hard, especially if you can find purpose in your work. Some jobs seem more significant than others, but neither Renee nor I have tried to find significance in our job as much as we’ve tried to find significance in how we’ve done our job and treated others while doing our job. For fourteen years of my life I was a flight attendant in the airline. Serving coke and seven-up at 35,000 feet didn’t necessarily feel significant. But, living to be a light and witness for Jesus always did. That was my inward drive. When I had a business it was the same thing there. The interaction with people and bringing the love of God is what made my job significant.

Anything can tire you out after a while and we all need to find ways to get refreshed, but hard work is a part of a healthy life when kept in balance. Putting your hand to whatever God has given you to do and doing it to the best of your ability and unto the Lord develops character and inward strength.

Today’s Fresh Manna verses say, Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. Proverbs 6:6-8 (NLT) This verse reveals that hard work is wisdom in action. It reveals unneeded supervision to be motivated. It reveals planning for good times and bad.

The continuing verses go on and speak to the opposite of this wisdom saying, “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest– and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 6:9-11 (NIV) These verses always help remind me that there are limitations to our times of taking a break. Our flesh would lean to the lazy and permanent vacation if we let it go there. But good hard work and then periodic times of refreshing to relax, smell the roses, and thank God for His blessing on your life are a good mix.

Over all our years, Renee and I have felt that if we wanted to keep our usefulness to the Lord at its highest, then working to maintain this balance was one of our highest priorities. Consequently we have strived for that and done pretty well. The last couple of years – with the continuing ease of technology, we violated that somewhat and seemed to do some work on our time away. Not this time. We disconnected. We got refreshed. And we are back ready to charge and work hard.

The ability to work hard and be a light for Jesus is a gift – a precious gift. Keeping yourself in that place daily where you can let His Word speak into your life, give your thoughts and cares over to Him, and trust Him for His help each day is critical to your daily refreshing. It is all important to you and the wisdom of God!

Published by Pastor Tim Burt
Copyright© 2009 Tim Burt, All rights reserved.
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/

The Joy of Letting God Work In You!

Fresh Manna 2009© by Pastor Tim Burt

Special Note from Pastor Tim: Hi Readers. I just wanted you to know that this will be my last Fresh Manna for a couple of weeks. I have not taken a break from writing for over three years – even on my vacations. I am going to this time! Renee and I have been working furiously hard the past six months and we are going to take two weeks off together just for ourselves. No writing, no work, no phone calls or emails – nothing – just each other. I’ll be back to writing on Tuesday, March 31st. In the meantime, you can go to my web site: http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/ and click on the archives button and you’ll find hundreds of past devotions I have written you can read. We’ll be praying for God’s best for each of you every day! Thanks for your understanding for the break!

Your servant Pastor Tim

Hosea 12:6 (NLT) “…come back to your God! Act on the principles of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on your God.”

Many years ago, when all four of our children were very small, it was quite a feat on Sunday mornings to get them up early, get them fed, dressed, and in the car for church. For a season it was stressful most every Sunday. It was the only day of the week that demanded that particular routine. I just kind of had this expectation that because we were going to church, things should be peaceful and go smoothly. It seldom was! Anyone who has small children knows exactly what I’m talking about.

During those years as a younger Christian, I was working hard at learning patience. I was trying to keep cool in those stressful moments. I was trying to love each of my children and give them the godly help and nurture they needed. It seemed like there were too many Sundays where if I was grading myself, I would have given myself a low grade. It made me feel bad. I had a tendency to beat myself. I’d talk to the Lord about not wanting to be some plastic hypocritical Christian who didn’t love his family the way he was supposed to. At times like that the Lord would forgive me and encourage me to remember that I was a work in progress and that I’d get it over time if I just kept seeking Him for help.

Over the years, I’ve changed a lot. The Holy Spirit is a wonderful helper. It’s important to lean on the Lord in prayer and let His Word be the mirror of what you purpose to become instead of looking into your own mirror. When I looked into my own mirror I saw a guy that couldn’t measure up and that fell short in his efforts way too often. If I’d have kept looking in my own mirror – examining too closely my failures vs. successes, I’d have quit trying. Instead I looked at who and what God said I was “in Christ.” 2 Cor 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” God said He made me a “new creation” and I believed what He said. I was new “in Christ” and that God was doing a new work in me. I had to be patient for transformation to happen. I kept focusing on what God said I was and worked to match that. For example, 1 Cor 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Instead of meditating on how often in failed at these I instead made them the continuing prayerful confession of the work God was doing in my by His Holy Spirit. I’d say, “Jesus, though I missed it again today, I thank you that I have a beautiful wife who loves me and is patient as I become a godly man. I thank you that your Word says I have “your love shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 5:5) Because I do, I thank you that I am patient and kind. I do not envy. I rejoice in others blessings. I do not boast. I know every good thing in my life is because of Jesus. I am not proud because I don’t want the glory for what Jesus has done in me. I am not rude because I love people and want to represent you. I am not self-seeking because you’ve directed my life to be about helping others. I am not easily angered because I am patient to know others perspectives and they usually shed light on a situation. I keep no record of wrongs because you have forgiven me every time I ask. I Praise You! I hate evil because you do and will work to expose it, not secretly live in it. I will work to protect, trust, hope in, and persevere in my love toward people because that is the purpose of the life you have given me in Christ.”

I’ve made way too many faults and made way too many mistakes and sins along the path of life. If I focused on those, I’d never change, only become discouraged. Instead I let God’s Word be the letter and mirror of my heart and who He has created me to be. I would pray and say what God said about me often, daily, and sometimes even more often.

Over the years God did do a work in my. I leaned on this promise – Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” It made me thankful because if God was confident of performing a good work in me, then I could be confident of it too.

On my way to church this Sunday morning all these years later, there were a few stressful things going on. I responded to them with great patience and calm. Suddenly the Lord spoke to me about how I had actually changed over they years. He was encouraging me that He had done a great work in me (and still is!) I was so thankful for His encouragement. It reminded me of how today’s Fresh Manna verse: “Act on the principles of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on your God.”

I was so thankful for His grace in helping me change and grow. I’m just as dependent on Him today as I was those many years ago. It’s just that I have a confident dependence. Praise His name!

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt

Published by Pastor Tim Burt
Copyright© 2009 Tim Burt, All rights reserved.
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/