Carved In Stone

I saw a gravestone recently that had the name of a man with the date of his birth and death. His wife’s name and birthday was also on the tomb, and though there was yet a date for her passing, death is sure to come. The stone cutting tool is waiting to mark the day. The starkest reality in life is death. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” The Apostle Paul puts it another way in Romans 6:23, where he says, “The wages of sin is death.” If death is going to happen to all men, why are we so afraid of it? I’m very careful crossing streets. I don’t go too close to the edge of a cliff. I always wear my seat belt and I never climb ladders.I can talk a good game and say death doesn’t worry me, but the truth is that we all wonder at times. We see a loved one pass suddenly or slowly, and it hits us in the gut. We wonder why, as we stand next to an open grave among loved ones weeping. In the gospel of John chapter 11, a good friend of Jesus died and was placed in a tomb. The man’s sisters, Martha and Mary, called for Him when their brother Lazarus was sick because they knew Jesus could heal him, but He didn’t come. In fact Jesus delayed his coming on purpose. He seemed to have wanted Lazarus to die, not so He could do a miracle and amaze everyone, but so He could demonstrate that He had power over death. It was not that Martha, Mary and the disciples were not aware of Jesus’ power. They had seen it first hand. This case though was personal. It was their brother. How often we are very brave in death when the dead person was not so close to us. When someone who means a lot passes away it’s another story which includes pain and grief. We are hurt deeply, as Jesus was when He wept. Here is the point: we trust in Jesus, therefore though our names may be written on a stone marking our physical end, we know, because of our faith in Christ, that this is just the beginning. Our names are written in a more permanent place than stone; the book of life (Revelation 3:5). Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) Jesus is more than religion, and we are more than religious followers. Jesus is everything. We may fear physical death for others, and ourselves but the assurance we have is that the One who promised us eternal life rose from the grave, never to return to it. He was victorious over death.1 Corinthians 15:55 asks, "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The victory is in the empty tomb of Jesus. Yes our names may be one day written in stone, but be assured they are first in the book of life, if our trust is in its Author. That’s why Psalm 116:15 can say, precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints, for we go home to join the great reunion of saints and will live with Him and be used by Him in His eternal plan. Let our names be carved in stone to signify that our name will not die with our body, but it is right now written in the book of life.

Put A Sock In It

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Romans 3:19

There are a lot of mouths in the world. Paul the apostle speaks of every mouth being stopped that would try to justify itself by its owner’s ability to defend against the accusation of being unjust.

All people want to be accepted in their culture, to be respected and some to be looked up to as an example of goodness and moral virtue. One’s outlook on their personal life is always based upon the accepted norms of their society, and their relative goodness when compared with others possessing the same values. This was how people of the 1st century saw things, and not much has changed in the 21st century. We are taught throughout our lives that goodness gets us acceptance, and that acceptance produces peace.

Romans chapter 3 when properly understood quickly dispels this notion of peace and acceptance. Verse 20 says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” In other words our adherence to a set of principles, no matter how high the standards are set won’t make us accepted by God. The principles themselves prove in fact that we are unrighteous. The Jewish law could only do one thing. That thing was to show people that no matter how hard they tried to measure up, they were always at least and inch short, more often a mile. Trying to adhere to the law would be like a paper airplane trying to match the speed of an F-16 fighter jet, it’s not going to happen.

That’s why He provides another way for us to keep up. “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24) God justifies us apart from the law, apart from all of our efforts at self-righteousness. Justification is a free gift to those who believe. Make no mistake about it, God can’t not allow us to be accepted into His kingdom without us being just as holy and perfect as His Son, “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” (Romans 3:25) The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross made it possible for those who would believe in Him to be released from the penalty of sin and be looked on by God as being as perfect and sinless as Jesus.

Romans 11:32 says it this way, “For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.”

Thank God that we were condemned in our flesh, and declared to be disobedient, so that we would be in a position to receive God’s mercy. This mercy was made possible only through the substitutionary death of Jesus on our behalf.

If you are trying to please God through your goodness, or attempting to make up for past wrongs by some sort of penitence or self-sacrifice you will never be satisfied with your efforts. Close your mouth. Put a sock in it! There will always be more to pay for. As the song says, “ It wouldn’t be enough to buy one splinter of the tree Jesus died on, and I couldn’t pay the price for one single drop of blood that was shed for my salvation.”

Let’s stop pleasing and start trusting in the grace and mercy of God. Then we can do the true work that God in Ephesians 2:10, has ordained for us to do.

Not Impressed

And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Exodus 40:33



This short verse describes the last step in the completion of the Tabernacle in the wilderness by Moses and the children of Israel. The Tabernacle would be the place where the people would offer sacrifices to God for their sins and for thanksgiving for blessings. It was to be the heart of worship for all Israel.



The interesting thing about this place of worship was that it was so small. In American terms, the length of the place was only about the width of a football field, and the width only half as long. Considering that this was to be the home for the Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, it seems rather unremarkable. This point is especially magnified when you consider the place where Israel had grown into such a great nation, Egypt.



In Egypt there were huge pyramids and monuments and many gods embodied in stone structures. The places of worship were magnificent and awesome to behold, so I don’t think it is a great stretch to imagine that some of the Israelites may have been disappointed by the place that they were commanded to build. It seemed like a temple on the cheap.



“Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:34-35)



Imagine the shock and surprise that came upon the people as the saw this small structure transformed by the presence of God. This was something that in Egypt they never saw. They saw impressive temples yes, but even those great structures could not compare with the Glory of God.



What is the lesson here you may ask? It is this, God can and does use the most unlikely people and things to show Himself to the world. You may think you are not much to behold, that you have no special talent or gift to offer. This is where we err as believers.



“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)



The Church of Christ and each individual believer is the temple of God (1Cor. 3:16; 6:19). We are the ones with all of our shortcomings and failures who God decided to put His home in. We may not be much to look at. People may even call us fools. Indeed we are, fools for Christ.



Don’t worry that you may not be the most likely character to show God’s glory to the world. You are a testimony to His grace and mercy to one who dared to believe in a Man whose greatest accomplishment was dying on a cross.

Escape The Sword

Then Abner called to Joab and said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the latter end? How long will it be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their brethren?" 2 Samuel 2:26

Abner was the general of the army of Israel, and Joab was the general of Judah’s army. There was a great division in the land since the death of King Saul. Most of Israel followed Saul’s son Ishbosheth, who Abner had made to be King. Judah, David’s home tribe, followed him and the kingdom was divided. The scenes that follow Abner’s cry out to Joab get worse and worse, as we vividly imagine the suffering caused by these very angry people. We witness murder, betrayal, revenge, jealousy and other forms of hatred on the historical pages of 2 Samuel. The tragedy comes into focus even more when we realize that the people fighting are all cousins called by God to represent Him to the world. They failed miserably simply because they could not resist fighting each other long enough to put away anger and forget old rivalries.

Many people have asked how God could allow this to go on. After all these were God’s people. How far they had fallen in just a few generations from the mighty warriors of Joshua who kept the Lord’s command as they claimed the promised land, to two groups of people who had put their personal hatreds ahead of the greater good; the love of God.

They had indeed forgotten the mandate of God written in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 which says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” How careful we must be never to fall into the trap of hatred and envy. Of course in our niceness we can be really good at covering up these feelings we may harbor, but deep down we often hold on to things that bothered us about people in the past. It’s even possible that we had been wronged by someone and that person never apologized. We then hold that against them, never being released from the wound, and suffering for years with the pain of it. That’s how Joab and Abner lived. They knew no other life and in the end it was the very thing that killed them.

Let’s learn to live a better life than these two men and their followers by hearing and obeying the instructions they ignored. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32) This lesson will most assuredly lead to a life of love and peace that overcomes and defeats all the ugliness and hatred that is thrown at us. We won’t be devoured, because we put down the sword that we held against the neck of the one we were angry with and developed a relationship with them based on the love of Christ. Instead of pursuing our brethren we love them and obtain a lasting peace that the sword can’t give us.

He Can And He Will

Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Mark 1:40

Almost 2000 years ago in a city on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee a nameless Jewish man afflicted with a dreaded skin disease came and begged Jesus for healing. This man somehow picked up this infectious skin disease and had been pronounced by the Hebrew priests to be unclean. He therefore could not be part of the community of Israel and was shunned by all around him for fear that they too would be infected by this dreaded malady.

Leviticus 13:45 in describing what the leper must do when coming close to people says, “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’”
Though the leper in this case had a sort of curse on him, he came to the right person and asked the right question.

Leprosy in the Bible is sometimes used as a metaphor for sin. Though we don’t necessarily go out looking for sin, we sometimes, in the course of life, get infected by evil, immorality, or many of the other traps that lie in wait for Christians.
When we realize we have been wrongly influenced we sometimes find that the sickness is hard to shake. We begin to find fault with members of our families, friends and people in the church, and wonder why we are not happy. That’s when we must look at ourselves and see how we are living and compare it to what the Bible teaches. The Apostle Paul writes that we must examine ourselves, “to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5.)”

This was the job of the priest, but now it is our job. We must keep ourselves in a place where we can hear from God through His Word and the conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit within. When we find that things aren’t right we must, as did the leper in Mark 1, come to Jesus.

“Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed" (Mark 1:41.)” Jesus is the one that we go to because He is willing to heal us and deliver us from the thing that plagues our lives; sin. He cleansed the leper who was already a part of the chosen people, and He is willing to clean you. You are part of His body.

Thank you Jesus that you cleanse us and take away our guilt. May we cry out to you always in time of need, because we know You can and You will.

An Unpopular Message

1 Peter 2:13-14 says, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”

This is a tough passage to digest for independent thinkers. Many kings, presidents, governors and other government officials have been notorious for dishonesty, as well as harshness and injustices toward citizens and subjects.


The Emperor had unjustly exiled many of the people to whom Peter addresses from Rome. I imagine that they had feelings toward government that we all have had, only worse. Have you ever complained about a speed trap? Are your taxes too high? There is always some thing to gripe about concerning the civil authority. Here Peter is saying that it is sometimes the will of God that we are brought before government officials and punished even though we are innocent. This is such an appalling thought to the natural man. I include my natural man in that statement. The last thing in the world I want is to be accused of a crime I did not commit and to be paraded publicly in handcuffs in front of TV cameras on the 6 o’clock news.

Imagine how Joseph felt when his brothers sold him into slavery, and when his master’s wife accused him of rape. What about Jeremiah who was put into a well to die because he simply proclaimed God’s decree? Then there were Stephen, James, Paul, Peter and others who all eventually were executed though they lived righteous lives. But the ultimate injustice was the torture and execution of the Righteous One, Jesus Christ, Who, “suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1Peter 3:18).

The goal in any suffering that we have is to witness to the power of a life that has been changed by the love of God. Injustice was and is still rampant. When it happens to Christians they are to seize the opportunity as the apostle Paul did and let their “light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). This is the purpose of our suffering.

Lord help us to walk in a way that will glorify you in every opportunity that presents itself, and may our lives be a witness of your love, drawing others, Christians and non-Christians to faith in You.

Chosen/Royal/Holy/Special

Chosen/Royal/Holy/Special

1Peter 2:9 says four specific things about the Church: it is chosen, it is a royal priesthood, it is a holy nation, and it is God’s own special people.

Those are some powerful thoughts that we need to ponder as believers. All of them have to do with the fact that Christians are in fact part of Christ. Therefore the Father sees us in His Son, which means He honors us as He honors Son.

When a sinner believes in Christ, Colossians 1:13 states, we have been “delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” 1 Corinthians 12:13a also says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” That body spoken of is seen in 1Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” We, who were once condemned and without hope now have the greatest hope of all, membership in the family of God.
We are chosen because Jesus was chosen.
We are a royal priesthood because Christ is the author of eternal salvation, having offered His own blood as an atoning sacrifice for us, rather than the blood of bulls and goats (Hebrews 5:9, 10:4).
We are a holy nation for we have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ (1Corinthians 12:13).
Finally, we are His own special people because we are family. As John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Why has God done these things? It is clear in part b of 1Peter 2:9, “that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” We who were once not all these things, are now the people of God. We are to proclaim his praises and to glorify Him doing it.
This is why Paul says to give thanks for everything, in 1Thessalonians 5:15, because though we might not like the thing we are giving thanks for, we know that all things work together for the good to those who love God, (Romans 8:28). So we glorify him in weakness, in strength, in fullness and in emptiness. We honor Him even when our feelings don’t want to, and we come back to Him though we may be far away. Why? It is because we are the Church, the body of Christ. We are a chosen, royal, holy, special bunch of misfits that fit perfectly together when placed by God where we belong, and have every reason to give Him all the glory.

Have A Taste

And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, "Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies." So none of the people tasted food. 1 Samuel 14:24

This is a strange story, and it relates to Saul’s attitude toward God. After being anointed King of Israel, Saul was not up to the task. He was timid and feared failure, so when a challenge came, he relied on his own know how rather than obedience to God’s command. At one point when he was to kill every person and animal of a certain kingdom Saul instead spared the King and the flocks. "Why waste good animals? It just doesn't make sense." Saul was not confident enough in the Lord his God to obey what he could not understand. This is the same spirit that Achan had in Joshua 7. In victory Achan was not satisfied and took the Babylonian garment, the silver and gold in contradiction to God’s edict.

Jonathan, King Saul’s son, along with his armor barer made a bold attack on a Philistine outpost that threw the Philistines into great confusion and rallied the downtrodden Israelites to a great victory. So why was Saul intent on having everyone suffer hunger in the midst of victory? It was because he thought it would please God and give him more favor. The thing is, they had already won and were mopping up after the Lord had obviously gone before them in the battle. Saul was blind to God’s ways.

Saul’s son, who was igniting a faith victory, was not around to hear Saul’s curse on the one who would eat before evening and innocently tasted some honey he found in the forest. The honey gave him physical renewal and he questioned his father’s wisdom in making the soldiers abstain from food during the battle. Triumph was on the menu for Jonathan and no one, not even the King, was going to spoil it.

How miserable we are when we try to do God’s work without God’s help. When Saul finally asked God’s help, God would not show him what to do so he looked for someone to blame. Every bad thing that happened in Saul’s life was due to his own sin and pride. To prove he was righteous he was willing to sacrifice the one spiritual person in the crowd, his own son. Saul tried to lift himself up but was torn down instead and ultimately would die in battle because of his foolishness.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10) Had Saul learned this lesson of humility and reliance on the Almighty history would have been kinder to him.

Saul lived in defeat, and finally tasted death as a broken man. Though Jonathan who tasted the honey and was revived would also die in battle, he was never defeated in spirit because he trusted in the Lord. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8)

Which Way Are You Growing?

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:1-2

The Apostle Peter tells Christians to lay aside these five things listed in verse 1. They are all characteristics of fallen man.
Peter, under the direction of the Holy Spirit is pointing out some of the negative things that are affecting people in the church. He is assuming that since people are now believers that they will change the way they live. How shocking! How could God be so presumptuous as to ask us to conform to a new belief system and to live a life that turns its back on the world and its ways?
I fear that as a Christian I sometimes ignore the commands of the Word of God in order to live a life style that is more convenient to the 21st century. What a mistake it is to brush off these protections that have been put in place to help us to grow into the fullness of our salvation.
“As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word.” Our goal here, according to the Word, is to regress from our human ways and sophistication and become like a hungry child craving that which is good. A newborn has not had the time to learn all the negative habits of the world. All it knows is it must drink milk. That is what the new Christian needs to experience, not all the dogma of denominationalism or even how to dress to be accepted in the church. What one must do is crave to know God through His word leaving behind all the things that would taint their new relationship to their heavenly Father.
When this principle of Christian behavior is followed then a newborn babe will not only grow, but will do it in the strength that can only come through God. The prophet Jeremiah would say, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” (Jeremiah 15:16a)
Have we become too laid back as Christians? Have the commands of the Bible become suggestions rather than ordinances? If they have then we won’t grow into the men and women that God desires us to be.
Are we becoming more like Christ, or more like the world? Let’s take a look at our lives and evaluate what direction our Christian path is taking and then make the necessary adjustments.

Try Me

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7
Sometimes as Christians we have the misconception that we should not have any problems, as if Jesus died to take away our difficulties. Jesus didn’t, by the way, die for our problems, he died for our sins. There is a difference.
If the verses above are to be believed, problems, or various trials are things that are allowed by God to test our faith and make it more pure. I have heard that an untested faith is a worthless faith. I tend to agree that it is how we react to seemingly negative situation which reveals the type of faith we have.
I know a man who went through a tremendous amount of uncertainty at his job for about a year. Though everyone where he worked was uncertain about their future employment he trusted that whatever happened would be of God for him. He was so calm throughout the trial that people who he worked with asked him why he wasn’t freaking out like they were. The genuineness of his faith was being tried and he passed the test.
Proverbs 17:3 says, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the LORD tests the hearts.”
The Lord will use relationships, jobs, sickness and many other trials to show us what our faith is made of. He tests us. We certainly don’t have to seek trials, they find us.
Next time you are ready to react to a trial or difficulty, pause and think of Christ on the cross and how He reacted. Then I think you can trust yourself to make the right decision.
Lord help us to consider you in all of our choices and relationships, that we may be opened to be tested and changed more into your image than ours, amen.

Details

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. Colossians 3:23

As Christians we are called to do the things that we do to the Glory of God rather than to please people.

At our church in Silver Spring Maryland I recently spoke with our helpers and musicians about how we can get bogged down by the details of life. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. Frustration can rule in our schedule unless we slow down and consider for Whom we do the things we do. We do them for God.

“Whatever you do,” the verse says you do it to God. That means that though for sure you are serving people, your service is really to the Lord Jesus.

In Matthew 28:38-40 speaking in parable Jesus spoke the people ask, “When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
‘And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

Serving people is serving God. Helping people is helping God. Loving people is loving God. God is in the details.

Lord may I serve you with a pure heart not seeking to please men, but to please you.

Hey Stranger

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. (1 Peter 1:1)
In the opening greeting of Peter’s first letter to the churches, he refers to the people he was writing to as strangers. A stranger in this case is a foreigner, one who comes from another country and resides side by side with the people of the land in which they find themselves. It is an arresting choice of words to say the least. Why does Peter call these people as strangers? He does so because they were, just as every Christian is today who has experienced the new birth. Just as Abram was called out of his home to be a stranger in the land of Canaan (Genesis 17:8), we are called out of darkness into His marvelous light (1Peter 2:9).

Let’s face it Christians, we are changed, like it or not. One of the problems with the church today is that people don’t want to be different. They want to act the same, listen to the same music, speak the same language, and have the same values as the world. Unfortunately when this is our mindset it is very hard for anyone to make a distinction between the saved and the unsaved. This is why unbelieving people laugh when some believers try to give them advice. They see no discernable difference between in the life of the advisor, so the words they hear are hollow and meaningless. If there isn’t a life of conviction and example behind the words, then our council to the world is like a warm bottle of flat soda; not very appealing. When the Christian life becomes something that costs us very little we soon find that we got what we paid for. Being like Christ comes at a price, but the benefits themselves are priceless. Yes, it costs us the world we love so much, but in exchange we experience a Savior who promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 3:5a) In addition we receive grace to live, peace in difficulty, answers in times of crisis, knowledge of how to raise our children, direction in marriage, exhortation to the wayward, and conviction of sin. These are just a few of the good things that a stranger to this world acquires through the new birth.
Lot was for a time a stranger. His story in Genesis 19 is a good example of how a disciple trades an eternal promise to lay a permanent foundation in the comfort of this world. He came to utter destruction, the whole while trying to hang on to things that were passing away. Meanwhile his uncle Abraham was living in a temporary dwelling, a tent, and having the time of his life being blessed beyond measure. He secured promises that extended beyond his earthly life to his heavenly home.

The world may label you as weird, or crazy, or a bible thumper, or many such adjectives that are used by people who reject Christ. Don’t let this stop you from being different. Remember, godliness has never been popular to the masses, and never will be. One thing though that is sure, godliness is very important to God. That’s why the Psalmist in Psalm 4:3 says, “But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly.”

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1Timothy 6:6) We will gain much more than we could ever lose by being a stranger to this world. God has made you to be different and in this case different is good. Remember, “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

Give Me A Lift

“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Luke 4:8
Pride is a very strange attribute when you think about it. Human beings are subject to the things that are common to mankind. Those things are weakness, disease and ultimately death. There are those who are smarter, stronger and more famous, but in the end it is as the Bible says in 1Timothy 6:7, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” That phrase really deflates some egos.
Where exactly does pride come from? Quoting the devil, Isaiah writes in Isaiah 14:13-14, “For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”
“Can you imagine this angel who was created by God now wanting to be above God? That is the essence of egotism. I am not comparing pride with the natural instinct of many to improve their situation or to climb the ladder of success in whatever field of work they have chosen. This is about getting ahead at the expense and detriment of another.
The devil said “I will exalt my throne.” He saw that there was someone who was above him and he lusted after that position rather than choosing to be content in the perfect place that God had given him. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews said, in 13:5a “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.” In other words, don’t look on the things or the position of others with a desire to take them.
We must be careful not to let our pride control us and make us into someone who must win every debate and is looking to be better than someone else. There is no contentment in that scenario. We may go beyond the person that seems to be ahead of us, but undoubtedly there will always be one with a little higher stature than us.
Jesus, who had every right to authority and position, chose instead to give it up for the sake of others. Rather than using His royal power, our Deliverer, “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 4:7-8) The devil said to Him that he would give Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would bow down and worship him because the final goal of all pride is to replace God as the King of our lives and worship self. Wasn’t that the trick the serpent used on Eve? He asked her, “Has God really said that?” He called into question the veracity of the Almighty and became God’s judge.
Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18) Just as arrogance brought the devil down to the lowest pit, it will bring us down even as we think we are being lifted up. The way we get a lift is by trusting that God has restored us to the dignified position that He meant us to have all along, which is the privilege of being a child of the Most High God.

Around and Around

I remember early on in my working life seeing my boss got cheated by a customer. He didn’t get too upset in learning the facts that someone walked out without paying his bill. His comment on the matter was, “What goes around comes around.” This of course is to say that something that person will somehow have to pay for his bad deed in the future.
The writer of Psalm 73 saw the opposite. He saw wicked people prospering in this life and complained to God about it. He said in verse 3, “I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” He was envious of these wicked people because though they were evil they still enjoyed everything they needed and wanted and then got even more good stuff. “Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches.” How unfair is that? I thought what goes around comes around, and whatever a man sows, that he will also reap?” (Galatians 6:7)
If we try to figure out the why of every seeming injustice, our head will just spin around and around in confusion. God doesn’t deal in fairness, He deals in justice. That means we are all subject to the same curse because of sin. That curse is death. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) This is a thing that all of us fear, none of us can avoid, but no one wants to talk about, yet it is right around the corner. The ones who are reveling in their power and wealth now and ignore the fact that someday this life will end will have to deal with it at a less convenient time. Jesus calls these people fools.
“Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
"And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?'
"So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'
"But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'” (Luke 12:16-20)

As Psalm 73 describes the life of wicked people the writer gets back into a right relationship to God and begins to see clearly the end of the path of someone who chooses not to seek God in this life. It’s a sad ending, “But it is good for me to draw near to God.” (Psalm 73:28) It is then when the writers head stopped spinning.

Save Me!

Save Me!

Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.
And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." Matthew 14:25-27

Imagine you were one of the disciples on the boat in rough seas in the night and you see someone walking on the water. What would you think? Would you be afraid? They were rough waters this evening and it was the first time they’d seen someone walking on them. Jesus though speaks to them and says, “Don’t be afraid. Take courage.” Jesus’ words were so comforting that Peter stood up and said to the Lord, “If it is You, command me to come to You on the water."

Peter really lives up to his reputation as the one who talks before he thinks, but I think sometimes God likes this because we put ourselves in situations where we have to trust Him. “Jesus, tell me to come,” says Peter. “Come,” Jesus replies.

As believers we hear God’s word preached and it reveals that Jesus is near. We then begin to see Him and hear Him speak. This buoys our confidence and desire to walk in the places where Jesus walks, and to do the things Jesus does. So we pray to Him and ask to be called to a life of faith. Jesus then calls back to us and says, “Come.” Then we experience the joy of walking by faith. There is such freedom in trusting Jesus for our lives, for our families and our future. After walking toward that life we at times start to see the turmoil in the world around us. Then fear sets in and we sink into despair because without realizing it we have taken our eyes off of Jesus and placed them on the problems that confront us. “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30)


Christians sometimes think that they have a lot to fear because their choices in life are often very different than what some may have wanted. Perhaps they chose the life of a missionary, or a worker in a church. Maybe they gave up what seemed to be a promising career to follow Jesus to a place that not many people go. Then comes the phone call from a friend or well-intentioned family member asking what they are doing with their life. Then they ask the same question, “What am I doing?” This is where fear comes in and people wonder about the future. I have looked at successful friends and thought, “They have it made,” only to find out that down the road things were no so rosy after all. We imagine that others have no fear, when in fact they have more fears than we could imagine. Fear of failure, future, security, health concerns and other things weigh heavy on people’s minds. The problem is that most don’t know or believe that they can be free from these fears.

Though Peter forgot to keep looking at Jesus, he didn’t forget to call on Him when he was in need. “And beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him.”

I’m so glad that even when I fail, all I have to do is call on Jesus to save me and He will.
In Isaiah 43:5 God says, “Fear not for I am with you.” He is with you today if you have trusted Him. Now call on him in your need and He will save you and lead you.

What Evil

But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"
Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him.” Luke 23:21-22

Pilate asks the question that no one else is willing to ask on this day of days when Jesus is crucified. “What evil has He done?”

When Jesus came into the world the Apostle John states that He came for one main reason. The reason was that God loved the people of the world. The problem was that these people had sinned and were condemned to Hell for eternity because sin and God don’t mix. Humans will never really understand the meaning of holiness and perfection until we see Jesus face to face, but there must be something so great about it, so outstanding, and so glorious that anything less than holy could not stand in the presence of God.

We look at sin so casually as if it were a little scratch on our finger, or maybe as serious as a sprained ankle. Obviously we miscalculate, since the remedy for sin is nothing less than the Creator being tortured and put to death by His creation.

“What evil has He done?” He was bold enough to identify with His creation. His evil was that He came to “seek and to save that which was lost.” The reason He was to be crucified was that He dared to lay every right that He had aside to love the ones who shouted for Him to die. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.” Jesus deserved to be crucified because He dared stand in the place of a guilty sinner like you and me. He became sin for us, so that we could obtain God’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), that was the “evil” He did. "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
How will you look at sin today? Is it just a minor annoyance, something that you can say you are sorry for after you’ve enjoyed its pleasure? Or will you see sin as the thing that crucified the Lord of Glory?

Let Him In

And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
"Hosanna to the Son of David!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Hosanna in the highest!"
And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?" Matthew 21:8-10

Jesus came to the city of Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passion Week to an eager crowd who were ready to make Him King of Israel. They were so excited that they cut down branches and laid down their clothes so that the Lord’s donkey would not touch the ground as he walked. This is in some ways a very strange scene.

Why do I say that? It is because later in the week most if not all of these people would forsake the very King that they had so warmly welcomed into Jerusalem. The one they had welcomed in they now cast out because He would change the status quo and replace the systems that people had become very comfortable with. The religious leaders who had the most to loose stirred up the people against Jesus because they did not want to cede control of what they had to another.

We must be careful not to cast Jesus out of our lives for this same reason. We become accustomed to the way things have always been and we like it. Then we ask Jesus into our lives, sometimes with great fanfare. A short time later we realize that things are changing and we can’t do all that we used to do and we don’t like it and we don’t accept it. We want Jesus to be a part of our lives, but not our whole life. There are some things that we pronounce “off limits” to the Lord.

One of the ways that God causes a Christian to grow in their faith is by showing them that there are some things in their life that must change. He wants us to open the gates of our heart to him and let Jesus be the King in areas that remain under the control of our old life before we were believers. This thing we give Him can be a habit, a relationship, a lifestyle or any such thing that keeps us from allowing Him to reign in areas of our lives. It is like the Children of Israel who during the conquest of Canaan never got full control of the land because they did not drive out all the inhabitants. They didn’t obey what god had commanded them so they never had total peace in their country. Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” To have peace with God and with ourselves it is imperative to let him control all aspects of our lives.

Ask God today if you are shutting Him out of areas in your life. If He shows you that you are, open up the gate of that area and let Him enter triumphantly to make the changes that will allow you to be free from self and fulfilled with all that He has to give you.

What Are We Seeking?

Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. Luke 23:8

King Herod had long desired to meet Jesus of Nazareth because he had heard so much about Him. Herod was not alone in seeking to meet Jesus. The religious Pharisees wanted to meet Him. The people who had heard about Jesus feeding the 5000 sought Him.

Some sought Jesus out of a pure heart because they wanted to know if He truly was the Messiah. The crowd in John chapter 6 was seeking bread. The priests were seeking to trap Jesus into saying something against the Law of Moses. Herod and others like him sought Jesus so he could do miracles in front of them as if he were a magician, only to be disappointed when the Lord would not perform for them.

People are no different today than they were 2000 years ago when it comes to seeking Jesus. Some seek Him for a while but then say, “Jesus is not real” because He didn’t heal someone, or because He allows suffering in the world. Many chase after the Lord because they want something. Their relationship with Him depends on what they get from Him. If things are good then God is good. If things are not then they are doubtful.

The question is, “What am I seeking Jesus for? Is it for satisfaction? Is it to be part of something bigger than myself? Am I following the Lord for what I can get from Him? If so, what do I do if I don’t get what I want?”

The Apostle Paul was a man who sought something from Jesus. Paul had a great story. He was someone who most would love to have in their church, he was a studious man, one of many experiences both good and bad. He had a lot to bring to the table. But with all that he had, all the history and the suffering and the work he did for God, he states, “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8) Paul sought Jesus for one thing, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Philippians 3:10)
“Knowing God” is not a popular reason for seeking Jesus today. In fairness people who are seeking Jesus don’t know what they are seeking for. They simply know they have a need and hope that Jesus can fill it. Indeed He can.
Let us seek to know Jesus as Paul did, and be ready to lead others to the one who can fill their needs forever.

Snowy Rooftops

On a very recent trip to visit our church in Romania we woke up the second day to a 6 inch layer of snow. My son, myself and a few friends then went to the city of Brasov to ascend the mountain that overlooks the city.
When we got to the top of the mountain and looked out across the city I was impressed with all the white roofs I was seeing. It made me think of this verse,

“Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Thank God that we have exchanged our guilt for forgiveness and grace.

I think when God looks down at the snowy roofs He too is reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus, and is pleased that he can’t see the sins of His children.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you so much. His love is unfailing and everlasting. Build yourself up in that truth. You are white as a fresh snowfall. Go out and play in the snow of your purity and enjoy the fellowship of His love.

Being A Friend

Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, 'May the LORD be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.'" So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city. 1Sa 20:42

David made a vow to a friend Jonathan many years previous to his elevation to the throne of Israel. In a time when Jonathan’s father, King Saul, was seeking to kill David, Jonathan pledged friendship forever and David pledged the same to him. Interestingly, that proved to be the last recorded time that David and Jonathan would meet. After their friendship was made it would be tested because of Saul’s hatred for David.
I imagine that David had a lot of bitterness toward the family of Saul in that they were made to be rivals because of God’s displeasure with Saul. Saul of course had an army and David only had his band of misfits who mostly tried to stay out of Saul’s reach. Of course Jonathan was part of the army of his father Saul so it would have been easy for David to wonder how good of a friend he really was. David never did break his vow to Jonathan. His friendship even extended to King Saul. Though the King was trying to kill David, he refused to take revenge on Saul, even when he twice had the chance to.

When David had taken control of all Israel many years after the deaths of Jonathan and Saul, the first thing he wanted to do was to make good on his pledge to his friend Jonathan. The promise they made to each other extended beyond their lives to the lives of their descendants. David sought out any family that Saul might have just so he could bless them for the sake of his friend. “NOW David said, "Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” 2 Samuel 9:1

Acts 13:22 says that David was a man after God’s own heart. What is God’s heart? It is the heart of friendship. “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15
To be a friend if God is to want what God wants, to obey what God says and to love what God loves. This kind of obedience doesn’t come easily. It is achieved through commitment to a promise. First of all the promise came from God. It is a promise of friendship, a promise of commitment, a promise of forgiveness and a promise of faithfulness.

Our part is to believe and then to let God love us to the point of change. His love can do nothing but change us into His image. David often displayed the image of God in His actions towards others. There are other times where he personified a man who had strayed very far from his friendship with God, but found his way back by recognizing that though he was unfaithful, God could not be.
2Ti 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!

That's Just Wrong

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? Genesis 3:1



Genesis chapter 3 records the first question posed in the Bible. The interesting thing about this question is that it was both a question and accusation in one. The premise of the serpent was that God is a liar. The extension of that thought creates another question. “If He lied about this, what else is He lying about?”



We know the rest of the story. Eve listens to the serpent and both she and Adam eat the fruit and are expelled from the garden to a place where the earth is cursed and they must earn a living by toil and sweat.



When we look at this narrative it seems at first very sad and an incredibly severe punishment by God upon His creation. Certainly Eve did nothing so evil as to merit death. All she did was eat some fruit and then pass it on to her husband to eat. Is God so petty that he would use the slightest miscue against us and sentence us to a life of misery? Doesn't this whole scene cast a poor light on the God of the Bible? As we read on we see other evidences of God losing His temper. People like Uzzah, were trying to help God. What did he get for his efforts? “And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.” (2 Samuel 6:6-7) Newsflash to God – Uzzah was trying to HELP and You struck him down. How could a loving God hurt His servants who are just trying to do the right thing?



What questions might God ask of those who accuse Him of being unfair and petty? Perhaps He would ask, “Why did Eve disobey my direct command? And If I were as evil as my adversary says, why did I not just kill Eve and Adam right away? Why also would I make them a promise that Eve’s descendant would defeat the one who deceived her?”



Well OK God what about poor Uzzah? “You want talk about Uzzah who had already violated the Holiness of my presence by looking at the Ark long before He touched it. The question you should be asking is, ‘Why did I not kill everybody including King David who took part in this misuse of the Ark?’”



What do you mean God? “I mean that because of my extreme patience with Israel and the fact that they desired to honor Me, I let them get away with violating the laws concerning the Ark when I could have justly struck down thousands for not following the commands I gave to Moses. But I didn’t. The basis for all that I do and all the laws that I made are so that people can come to me by faith and receive forgiveness for the wrongs they have committed. Because of my Holiness I can’t stand in the presence of sin or sinful man. Because of my love for sinful man I have exercised patience and waited till the last possible moment for people to turn from their sin and avoid the penalty of death, just as I did for Eve.”

God was more than fair in providing warning to Adam and Eve, to Uzzah and all those who fell short of God’s righteous standard. He also proves He is love by providing for us a way of escape. So instead of saying as we like to these days, "That's just wrong!", and blaming God for the few times he has had to exercise discipline upon his people, let's praise Him for all the times when we deserved to be spanked but instead got grace and mercy.

Goliath Look Up

And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" (1 Samuel 17:44)

David was not impressed with Goliath. He looked at him and though he was nine feet nine inches tall he seemed very small to this young man. David had big words for Goliath. “Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45)


To the observers of the battle it must have seemed like David had a death wish. I Can hear the announcer now: “In this corner we have Goliath, Champion of the Philistines. In this corner David, leader of sheep.” What would the odds in Vegas be on that match-up? Everybody’s money would be on Goliath. I imagine that some had their eyes closed not wanting to witness the slaughter, while others were preparing to run as fast as they could in the other direction. Not David; “So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:48)

He ran to the fight. Why did he do this? David knew he was small but God was big! What? That is too simplistic you say, but that is exactly why David won. Goliath was looking down at a small David, while David was looking up at a big God. Goliath wasn’t even the issue, he was just a test. David wasn’t trying to assess Goliath’s possible weaknesses, he was looking above Goliath and what he saw there was a God that towers over all his enemies including the foul mouthed Goliath. “For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.” (Psalm 61:3) In David’s eyes God is who He says He is.

Are you giving your issue more respect than it deserves? Let’s come out of our corner using big words of faith while we look over the head of our opponent up to the One who will win the victory for us. With this outlook you will be the winner every time.

How Do You Smell?

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
(John 12:3)
This must have been a strange and shocking scene for some of the people attending dinner at Mary’s house. She, seemingly with no notice, pours a pound of very expensive oil onto Jesus’ feet. The value of the spikenard oil was said to be the equivalent of one year’s wages. This does seem to be an extravagant thing to do. This oil could have served many purposes over many years but it got used up all at once and it was gone.
Mary, what have you done? You worked so long and hard for this precious stuff. Now it’s gone. Why?
The answer of course is that Jesus would only be there with them for a few more days and somehow Mary sensed this. Soon her Master would be gone and then the oil would be useless because there was no one else worthy to be lavished with such a precious thing; its fragrance filled the house. Only Jesus was worthy.
The life of a Christian is like this oil. The question is what will we spend our lives on? As Mary did with the oil, let us spend our self for Christ.
Let’s love people; including family, friends and strangers as Christ loves them and gave His life for them. When we are in a dark situation we can be the light as Christ is the light of the world.
Some will say you are wasting your life as Judas said to Mary. As a Christian you are a rare commodity. There are thousands of doctors, professors, scientists, bus drivers, beauticians and athletes to name a few professions, but whatever your profession is you carry the fragrance of Christ to it. That makes you precious. That makes you different. That makes you special in a way that no one can be without having Jesus Christ in their life. The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:15 put it this way “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” People still speak of Mary’s sacrificial act for the Savior.
As I look back on my life I want to be able to say “That smells good. My life was precious oil that carried Christ’s love to others.” It might be strange and shocking to people you know when they see you doing things that are out of the ordinary. Feeding the homeless, visiting nursing homes, teaching Sunday school, praying, reading a Christian book, passing out gospel tracts at the bus stop are things that even the majority of people don’t do. Why be like them? They don’t have the fragrance of the oil.

Think // Speak // Act

A certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered the temple. (Acts 3:2)

Peter and John were on their way to pray at the temple as they did daily. It must not have been the first time they saw this lame man asking for money, but it was the first time they saw him since they had been filled with the Holy Spirit.

Peter’s thought upon seeing this man in the past might have been thoughts of pity, but now they were thoughts of faith. What can God do for this man? God raised Jesus from the dead. I’m sure he can raise this man to his feet.

Peter didn’t stop and just say a prayer. He took it a little further. “Then Peter said, silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6) Peter has not just thought faith but now has spoken faith. I think if it were me, at this point I’d have said, “I’ll pray for you brother, have a nice day,” and moved on into the temple. There’s no hurt in thinking faith. Even speaking faith is not too risky. It’s what Peter did next that makes us cringe with fear. “And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up.” (Acts 3:7a) He actually reached down and yanked the crippled man who had never walked to his feet.

Pete! Are you nuts? I see lawsuit written all over this crazy scheme of yours. Just leave the guy alone. I’m sure if God wants to heal him he’ll reach down from heaven and do it himself.

Peter was not satisfied with just thinking or speaking, he would be content with only one thing and that was giving this man healing through the name of Jesus Christ. The great Apostle acted in faith and the results were as he thought and said they would be. “And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.” (Acts3:7b)

Peter had faith thoughts. The end result was the physical healing of one man, and the spiritual healing of about five thousand who believed on Jesus for eternal life after seeing the power that one can have when he is willing to think, speak and act in faith.

Let’s do as the apostles did: think in faith, proclaim faith and follow up with faith actions as we see opportunities to make known the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Seven Envelopes

Several years ago on my birthday I woke up and found a birthday card on my dresser. I didn’t open it. As I proceeded to the next location, the bathroom, I found another card on the sink. The next stop was the kitchen table, then my desk, then the computer station. All told there were seven birthday cards all from my wife, and for some reason I was not interested in opening any of them.

As the day went on there was a lot of busyness for we were having guests over to celebrate later in the day. Unfortunately the joyous occasion was filled with strife and anxiety and I asked myself, why are we even doing this?

Finally before everyone arrived I had to get out of the house, so I took a walk just to get my mind right. That’s when God spoke to me.

I realized how callous I had been to my wife that day. She had taken the time to buy 7 birthday cards and put them in places that she knew I would be to bless me, and I had ignored every single one of them. I then ran home and opened every one and apologized for my cold hearted attitude towards her loving initiations.

Then I pondered how often I have avoided messages from God. His Word is a message of love and forgiveness. The notes are there for all to see yet often we are ignorant of them because the envelope stays sealed.

The verse then came to my mind from Jeremiah 31:3 which says, “The LORD has appeared of old to me, [saying]: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you.”

Then came Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus speaks to us through His word. These are messages of love to heal us, guide us in paths that lead to good things, and to protect us from the dangers of sin. Let’s open up the cards and integrate His message of love into every thought, decision and relationship that we have.

God bless you

I'll Take Two

And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?"

Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me."

So he said, "You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so." 2 Kings 2:9-10

Elisha was Elijah’s “Prophet in Waiting.” It had been revealed to the prophets that Elijah would be taken up to heaven alive and Elisha seemingly would now be his replacement.

Elijah asks Elisha what he wanted from him before he went up and Elisha makes a bold request to receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, and he does. Elisha had the nerve to ask this man who, among other things, had stood up to a king, killed the prophets of Baal, raised someone from the dead, and brought down fire from heaven to give him two times the spirit that he had.

When I look up at those who have gone before me and see the great feats of Christian leaders and missionaries I say in false humility, “I could never do that. There’s just no way! If I could be half the man he was, I would be content.” Imagine now if Elisha had asked for half the portion of the spirit of Elijah. What would the future have been like for Elisha? Human attitudes limit the power of the Almighty in vessels of weakness. Why do we say “I hope I can be half the man that he was?, If our marriage could be a 10^th of what theirs is, if our kids were a 20^th as good as theirs are.” The equations are endless if we want to think that way. It is because we are such nice people. We don’t want to be seen as audacious, or presumptuous. I have an answer for that: Stop being so nice, offend some people with your boldness, presume a little. Don’t worry about whose toes you step on and just go forward in God’s plan for your life. It might be that he wants you to be not the next Billy Graham, but the next _____________ (fill in the blank). Jesus said, in John 14:12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” You see the truth is that God does not need another Billy Graham, or CT Stud, or Dwight L Moody, or James Kennedy. What God needs is you. He needs you to be a person who is not afraid to ask. Elijah said to Elisha, “You have asked a hard thing.” Jesus says to us in Luke 11:9-10, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

We “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone].” Ephesians 2:20 The things we do therefore are eternal in the Lord. In 2 Kings 13, after Elisha had died, men burying a friend had to stop because of a military incursion into their land, so they put the body of their friend into the tomb of Elisha. When the man’s body touched the bones of Elisha, the man came back to life. This represents our lives having an affect on people even after we are gone.

We must believe God for hard things. Thankfully we have many examples of men and women who have gone before us who can show the way of faith.

200 Denarii And Beyond

Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."

John 6:5-7

Jesus was having some fun with His disciples in this story. He had been performing miracles of healing and therefore drew a large crowd. He looked up and saw a huge number of people following and He asks the question, "Where shall we buy bread?"

Philip shows by his response that though he has just seen Jesus heal the multitudes miraculously, he does not understand that the Lord also can feed them in the same fashion. “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient” He says.

It is believed that a denarii in the time of Jesus was equivalent to a day’s wages for a laborer. So for Philip, who perhaps had never seen this much money, 200 denarii was as far as his imagination could take him. Jesus wants Philip and the other disciples to have their faith stretched beyond their capacity to believe.

"There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" (John 6:9) What a question posed to the master of the universe, the One by Whom all things were made. Did Jesus need 10 loaves and 4 fish to feed everyone? Or how about 40 loaves and 16 fish, “You think you can work with that Lord?” The number of loaves and fish did not matter to Jesus, nor should it matter to us His disciples. In one sense, the loaves and fish on hand represent our unbelief and our lack of spiritual vision. Jesus has no such restriction. The disciples then hand the fish and bread to Him and watch Him work. It is truly amazing. Everyone had more than they needed and as much as they wanted. When all was said and done there were twelve baskets of fragments, which to me represents how God can multiply our faith when we give Him the little that we have.

“So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

200 denarii was Philips "Faith Horizon." Can you believe beyond the problems that confront you today though they seem insurmountable? What is your "Faith Horizon?" Is there something that you are not willing or able to trust God for, or is nothing impossible for you? Give what faith you have to Jesus now and watch Him work a miracle in your life beyond your horizon of faith.

Gentle Words

The teachings of the book of Proverbs are very practical for our lives today. Though written almost 3000 years ago they ring true today even in our fast paced society. Why is that? It’s because man never changes; only his surroundings do. One of the lessons that we can learn in proverbs is how to communicate better to others.

“A soft answer turns away wrath,

But a harsh word stirs up anger.

The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly,

But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” Proverbs 15:1-2

To be gentle in our speech is not always easy to do, and for most of us it doesn’t come naturally. The reason for that is that when we hear people speak we often misinterpret their tone and intention which may cause us to fire back with harsh, hurtful words.

This is most often true in familial situations between spouses or parents speaking with their children. The problem is that we often don’t understand the intention of the one speaking to us. Perhaps they had a rough day and they are talking from their emotions and we take it as a personal attack and spit some fire at them, and then a blaze erupts in the relationship.

We need to be taught how to speak. Our answers must be caring and thoughtful rather than harsh, always imagining that our character is under attack. When we learn to be humble in our speech by controlling our tongue we become a winner in life. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” Proverbs 16:32

Let’s learn as believers how to use our tongues in a way that will honor the Lord and edify and bless the body of Christ. In this way too we are a testimony to those around us who are hit with negativity and anger on a daily basis. Our words should challenge those who need it and we should not cover truth to make someone feel better about living in sin, but even in these circumstances our encouraging words can be used to lead our friends to the one who has the ultimate words of comfort.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Now those are gentle words.

Preparation

Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. He prepared himself for the task ahead. Judges 3:16

Ehud was a man of Israel that we don’t know much about. His story is in the book of Judges Chapter 3. You should read it.

Ehud won a great victory against Moab which gained freedom for the Israelites for 80 years. How did he do it?

The answer is found in verse 16, “He prepared himself for the task ahead.” Ehud studied what needed to be done, practiced and executed (literally) the plan.

We can learn so much from this short history of Ehud. How prepared are we to fight the every day battles that come our way?

Ehud expected opposition that’s why he made a plan for the opposition. We need to anticipate problems in our lives and be prepared for them. Will temptation come our way? It might not today but perhaps tomorrow. What about sickness and unexpected changes in our relationships? Are we prepared?

Ephesians 6:13 says, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

We can stand like Ehud did and indeed be victorious with overwhelming odds against us if we prepare with the whole armor of God, truth, righteousness, faith and the gospel of peace.

Why was Ehud the only one initially to prepare for the battle? It was because the whole of Israel had settled for defeat at the hands of their oppressors. They were subjugated to Moab. Let’s not be under the control of anything but the Spirit of God as we walk in faith and stand in Grace.

A View From Above

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

When you think about all the great things that men and women have done over the centuries of human history it is hard to understand how we could be made from such a common substance as dirt. But that’s what the Bible says. It is humbling to realize that man is made from something so common. The word dust is mentioned in 102 passages of the Bible. The word means dry or loose dirt. God made man from dirt.

People who succeed at navigating life well and get to the end without having suffered great disappointment or great loss will still die. They may be able to look back and say “I did well for my wife and kids. I built a good business. I was a good man, and never even got a parking ticket.” I say hooray for those who can look back and say their life was a success. The flip side to this is the person who cannot make the same declaration. They were not good. Their goals were never met. They suffered much pain, sickness and disappointment. They might even have become a criminal in life and spent their years in a cage. No one plans for this to happen. They aspire for success, but the gravity of sin and weakness pulls them down and causes them to forget right and wrong and just do what seems right for the moment. Either path ends in dust.

This is where redemption comes in. When a person looks to Christ and believes in the power of His work on their behalf, this individual is no longer just dust, controlled by the wind of life, but an object of God’s grace, love and mercy.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-6)

As God breathed the breath of life in Adam, and brought him up from the dust, we who put our faith in Jesus are lifted up from this world system and made to sit together with Him in the heavenly places. In other words, though we might seem to be an insignificant speck, we are in fact made alive eternally, raised up, and seated above.

We can have a new view. We no longer have to look up at the hurts and sins that weigh us down, but we can look forward with a vision of a new life in Christ, knowing that old things are past away and all things have become new for the one who trusts in Jesus. Our position is not looking up at our problems, but looking down from above with a heavenly perspective that says, “Success in life is great, but do I want to come to the end of my life and be able to show all the stuff I was able to accumulate?” The answer is no. I want to say, “In this life I found freedom not to be controlled by the necessity to succeed, but by the need to know the Savior and make Him known.” That is a view that can’t come from the dust of the natural life but comes through the above life of Christ.

That Which Quiets and Assures

By Pastor Phil Walter

There is something God has given each of us, which, like most blessings God provides, isn’t tangible, but is nonetheless very much real.  It produces what Isaiah 32:17 speaks of, quietness inside that makes us confident in our union with God.  When we become troubled in our emotions because the adversary of our souls brings back the memory of just how imperfect we’ve been lately, or even long ago, this gift from God can reassure us.  It can also give us an expectation of good for our lives from our Father {Psalm 27:13 – 14; Jeremiah 29:11.

Ephesians 1:7 says that our redemption came at no less than the price of Jesus’ Life in our place.  And what is our redemption?  Nothing less than the forgiveness of our sins.  It was the ransom Jesus gave, His blood {Acts 20:28; Leviticus 17:11} that is the basis for us to no longer live in guilt, no longer have memory of personal offense {done to as well as done by us}, and to share in a destiny {with all who’ve trusted Christ as their Savior} from Heaven.

No matter what we’ve done, said, or even thought, once we acknowledge to the Holy Spirit that we’ve again fallen short of His glory {Romans 3:23}, we say individually to God, “Yes, what was done, said, or thought was not from You.”  Then, we’re catapulted right back into fellowship with our Lord.  This happens because of the value to God the Father of Jesus Christ’s offering of Himself {John 10:17 – 18}, and our choice to specifically do what we’re told in I John 1:9.  Now, having done so, any guilt we still feel is not bonafide, and remains because of the devil speaking lies to our conscience that Christ’s payment for our sins was not sufficient.  These feelings of guilt after confession of sin must be resisted by the repetition of Truth to ourselves {Psalm 15:2c; 51:6} or, we have an experience in time severed from the enjoyment of our Father’s love for us.

So, the permanent removal of our sins gives us the opportunity to not live in guilt, provided we don’t ignore the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sins {John 16:8 – 9}.  Our minds can always be refreshed {Ephesians 4:23} by the truth that Christ’s blood does remove guilt from the conscience {Hebrews 9:14}.  Perhaps all we need sometimes is just some minutes reminding ourselves of this.