Choose The Right Cup

This morning I am thinking of a Pastor I knew who started drinking and stopped ministering. He died that way.

1 Corinthians 9:25-10:6 ESV - "Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did."

It is Monday and we have good spiritual food to eat. We are running a race and there are people that need us to keep running it. I plan to find strength in God and not seek to escape reality. We can face challenges with courage. God is faithful. If we are renewed in our mind we will see the provision.

Psalm 116:12-13 ESV - "What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD"

If we drink out of God's cup we will win this week. God puts it in front of us so we will partake of it. There is no Earthly substitute.

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The Long Vacant Job Posting

"And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." - Ezekiel 22:30 ESV

Yesterday I saw very clearly, in my mind's eye, the role of 'Savior of the World' as a job vacancy. Many times when a job is 'posted' there is already a candidate groomed in the wings to fill this position. Jesus was chosen before the foundation of the world but Adam could have filled the position. All he had to do was resist the temptation to eat the forbidden fruit offered by Eve. He could have waited until the next morning and spoken to God at the appointed time that they met every day. Conceivably, He could have died in her place. He didn't.

"And a ruler asked him, 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." - Luke 18:18-19 ESV

This wasn't just theoretical. History up until this moment had proven this to be true.

Jesus was challenging this person. Do you know me? I am manna from Heaven but do you see it?

" 'As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.' I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.' Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." - Psalm 2:6-12 ESV

Scholars say this is the Psalmist peering into Heaven after Jesus rose from the grave and ascended to sit at God's right hand. The interviews were over. Jesus had passed the background checks. God was welcoming His Son back to Heaven to take His rightful position as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

"No one is good except God alone." - Luke 18:19b ESV

Why should we strive to be good? The position of the 'good One' has already been filled.

"Then they said to him, 'What must we do, to be doing the works of God?' Jesus answered them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.' " - John 6:28-29 ESV

Salvation is very simple really. We accept that a position needed to be filled to save our soul and instead of claiming to fill the position ourselves we agree that God chose Jesus for that role and that His work of the cross was enough to accomplish the task.

Simple but also impossible unless God speaks to our heart and brings us to a place of decision and we use our will to decide.

Finding a 'soul mate' isn't going to save us. Raising good children won't. A government can't. We can't. Our own transgressions disqualify us from saving ourselves or anyone else. That position has already been filled.

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" - John 7:37-39 KJV

Yes. Believe in Jesus and receive the Spirit who will wash you. That is why Christ came. No man or woman met the qualifications of the job that needed to be done but then Jesus came to build a bridge back to the Father and send a cleansing rain to wash your soul and mine.

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My List Of New Year's Resolution(s)

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." - John 20:30-31 ESV

Yes.

Jesus is 'the Christ' and it is important to the writer that each of us know this. He sees it as vital.

The phrase 'Christ Jesus' is used 58 times in the Bible.
'Jesus Christ' is used 187 times.
Some other combination of the two words 'Jesus' and 'Christ' 301 times (such as the verse quoted above).

'The Christ' is the anointed One. He Is the One who was prophesied to come and save Israel. Jesus reveals who this person Is. Jesus gives Him a name. We need to know that name. People were anointed before Jesus but no one was 'The Anointed One'. Only Jesus holds that title.

"And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds." - 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 ESV

Um... Wow.

Paul sees a light in the world that is not 'The Light'.

Not all light that illuminates is 'Jesus Christ' illumination. I find it interesting that the writer uses the phrase 'apostles of Christ' and not 'apostles of Jesus' or some other phrase. Jesus is His personal name.

Compassion divorced from Jesus does not impress me. Knowledge divorced from God gives light but is it the full spectrum of Light? Are we dazzled by it?

In 2019 'Jesus' and 'Christ' are one person to me and He Is who I will lift up. The full dimension of who He Is has been my salvation and that Is the light that will bring salvation.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." - Hebrews 13:8 ESV

"This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:11-12 ESV

Moral power isn't my goal. Plucking people's heartstrings is not lasting. The knowledge of the deity of Jesus transforms and that is and will be my message. It is the only thing on my list of new years resolutions.

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Praying With Tenacity

You have been praying but it hasn't happened yet... so... keep praying...

"And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, 'In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.' And the Lord said, 'Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?' " - Luke 18:1-8 ESV

I don't think we are going to wear down God with every request... this was a widow who needed justice... this was a person who used to have the support of a husband but now no longer has that support... Is what we are asking for this urgent and needed? Is God the only one who can do it? If that is the case and it is a need and not just a want or a preference then Jesus is giving us clear instructions about what to do.

There are a dozen things I want this morning but do I have a cause like this? Is the great commision a cause like this? I say that it is. I want to do my best to wear God down for souls and the salvation of people. I can't do what only He can do. I am like a widow in this area. I can say words but only He can save souls.

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16 KJV

That unrighteous judge couldn't stop that widow from coming. God doesn't want us to stop coming.

Thank you God! Really... Give us this heart. Make us tenacious people who keep coming to You over and over until we see You move.

The Umpire Of Our Soul

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts..." - Colossians 3:15a ASV

That word 'rule' is the Greek word brabeuō (Strong's G1018) and it means to govern or umpire. This tiny passage hidden in Colossians is likely where the idea of 'Christ coming into our hearts' comes from.

Some folks have a problem with an altar call that leads people in a prayer to have Christ come into a person's heart and I understand why. Salvation is the promised result of believing.

"But Jesus, not heeding the word spoken, saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Fear not, only believe." - Mark 5:36 ASV

"But Jesus hearing it, answered him, Fear not: only believe, and she shall be made whole." - Luke 8:50 ASV

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20 ASV

Salvation comes when we believe. We don't save ourselves by our actions. God saves us when we believe. It isn't a work of any kind. It is trust. We open the door to the One who claims to be our friend and is the only One that has the legal right to save us because of His work on the cross.

"For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens." - Colossians 1:19-20 ASV

It says Jesus made peace with God the Father through the blood of His cross in the first chapter of Colossians.

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts..." - Colossians 3:15a ASV

We can allow this peace to govern us. It can become an umpire that makes rulings.

'Do I have peace about what I'm planning to do?'

'Does this reflect the love and forgiveness in Christ?'

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3:12-17 ESV

For many fear is the unofficial umpire of their soul. If we have no peace there is a void. Fear fills that void and we do or don't do based on fear.

Only believe.

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." - Ephesians 4:30 ESV

Peace can become our oasis. Peace can be our umpire. The peace Jesus has and has won for us becomes ours and no one can take it away. Perfect love makes a ruling and casts out fear.

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Drawn By The Father

I love the Bible! What a dance this next passage is of free-will and God moving and waltzing with a person's decision-making faculty. Hoping that a bond will form and remain.

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.' So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' They said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?' Jesus answered them, 'Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me - not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life." - John 6:38-47 ESV

The Father draws a person close enough to hear the words and those words are like bread. Jesus Is the bread. He Is that Heavenly manna. But will we eat? It is our choice. Will we look and not turn away? I believe in this next passage Satan is counterfeiting the work of the Father.

"Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.' " - Matthew 4:8-10 ESV

I believe the Father draws us out of the forest of ideas and shows us His Son. We momentarily have an option that was not there a moment before and may not be there a moment later because we will again be living with a mind that is at enmity with God.

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." - John 20:30-31 ESV

We were musing with this next idea on outreach this last Saturday.

"And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' ... And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." - Mark 10:17, 21-22 ESV

We know Jesus loves people but this is a very specific instance where the Bible says it explicitly. This man called Him 'good teacher' and used the Greek word for good that implies Heavenly good. I believe it was flattery but does Jesus look at this man and hear these words and say in his heart, 'Look. My Father Is drawing this man. He says things no one can know now.' This man was brought to the place of decision and Jesus saw that and loved him in part because He saw that His Father loved him.

"Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' " - Matthew 16:16-18 ESV

Peter was drawn by the Father and taught by the Father. The rich young ruler was drawn but turned away choosing to cling to his personal possessions.

We get a glimpse or glimpses and we have a real choice to make. We have that moment when a friendship could form but then off we go traveling in our own circles again prehaps never to see that person again.

"Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision." - Joel 3:14 ESV

We have this one day. We have this one life. What will we say about Jesus? Who is he? Was he just a man like us or was He the 'good teacher'? Was He manna from Heaven?

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Surrender To Love

Free will. We have it.

"Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' ' " - Matthew 23:36-39 ESV

Wow. Can we fathom this? The all-powerful God wants something but He does not get it because we can choose and we often make the wrong choice.

God made free will agents and loves them (us) hoping they will love Him back knowing scores will hurt Him and spurn His Love.

"And he began to tell the people this parable: 'A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.' But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.' And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.' When they heard this, they said, 'Surely not!' But he looked directly at them and said, 'What then is this that is written: ' 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.' " - Luke 20:9-18 ESV

Fall on the Rock today. Do it this weekend. You have a choice. Just let God love You. If you harden your heart again and again you may lose your capacity to say, 'Yes' and that is a scary idea. Say, 'Yes'... surrender to love.

Beleive in the Son. Honor the Son. He cares for you and He Is your last and only chance at making sense of this life.

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John's Grumpy Babtisms

"He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?' " - Luke 3:7 ESV

This kind of makes me giggle. This was John the Baptist's opening line. He didn't preach the forgiveness of sins. No. He preached that the Messiah was going to come and save people. That was his 'good news'. His baptism was a 'you all are filthy from playing in the mud. Get in this water and wash off your filth.'

Here is his advice to three groups of people. I thought of a parent trying to navigate a car and yelling at his squabbling children in the back seat.

"And the crowds asked him, 'What then shall we do?' And he answered them, 'Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.' Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, 'Teacher, what shall we do?' And he said to them, 'Collect no more than you are authorized to do.' Soldiers also asked him, 'And we, what shall we do?' And he said to them, 'Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.' As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, 'I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.' So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison." - Luke 3:10-20 ESV

John's message was simple, 'Stop being jerks to one another until Messiah gets here to save you!' but people hand out the same advice today as if it has saving qualities. It doesn't. John's 'you all stink' message got him locked up in prison. He is the last prophet under the law of Moses. The law can't save anyone... even it's messenger. John died preaching his 'take a bath already' message.

I don't believe anyone in this age has a ministry like John the Baptist. We don't tell people to clean up their act because salvation is on it's way. We tell them that salvation has already come. We say that Jesus died and is risen from the grave. We preach the forgiveness of sins.

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?' But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he consented." - Matthew 3:13-15 ESV

I think this is the heart of why John was unwilling to baptize Jesus. Jesus didn't stink. He was the only one that didn't stink. John was well aware all that time as he was dunking others that he needed a bath also but there was no one to wash his soul on the scene yet.

Jesus is the only one who can cleanse our soul. His red blood meets our blackened heart and makes it white as snow. Moral water isn't enough. It never has been.

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Dunked Into The Name

I'm old enough to remember VCR tapes, cassette tapes and even fax lists as methods people used to spread ideas. The internet and social media have replaced those methods.

Someone would give you a tape and say listen (and/or) watch this and then say, 'Tell me what you think.' or you would get a fax from an unknown number and somewhere on it there would be a statement something like, 'Please send this to everyone you know.'

I don't know about you but my mailbox is still full of junk I have to sort through.

I love Jesus' prescribed method of spreading information to the masses...

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.' " - Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

I like this translation very much the only thing I would change is that it says, 'baptizing them IN the name' but a better translation would be. 'baptizing them INTO the name'.

Jesus said dunk them into the culture of my name (which carries the idea of character and nature). People get the information but they get it with a simultaneous dose of fellowship that has the Savior who will never leave right there in the middle of it all.

I remember hearing the Gospel and thinking that the people who gave me the information were just well-meaning simpletons. My culture and even my ethnicity excluded me from buying what they were selling. My ancestors had been killed 'in the name of Jesus' but as a group, they had something that fascinated me. Then one day as they sung their songs at the start of Church I sensed something more... a purity... a holiness... a love. As vessels of clay, they had a treasure. It was God's name on display and I was dunked in it subjectively during the song service and then objectively in the clear message of redemption.

Later, still before my rational acceptance of the message, a man who came to Church with us began mocking the Pastor by imitating him and I remember getting so angry that I confronted Him in a brutal way that shut his mouth. Even as a heathen I instinctively knew that mocking God's man was wrong. I didn't yet have The Spirit making my spirit alive in a continual quickening.

There are many causes out there begging for our attention. Many are good and many are not what they seem to be. Nothing has changed my life like the Gospel of Grace has. Jesus' cause has become intertwined in my life. He took someone who was disqualified and baptized him into the name above all names.

Perhaps this blog is my VCR tape and you are my fax list but this is no impersonal communication to get you to change your mind and funnel resources my way. This is just me talking in awareness of the great 'I AM' hoping your day will be touched by holiness from above. My God wants 'whosoever will' to taste and see that He Is good so that He can be a covering.

"...Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by." - Psalm 57:1b ESV

The 'shadow of His wings' is a refuge for you in your personal storm. May you be safe under them today and all of this week.

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The Elders Who Were Carried Away Captive

I'm reading Jeremiah chapter 29 again and again this morning and it is very instructive to me. This letter is to Israel and Israel is a unique nation. It isn't the Church. The Church comes from the same root but that is a different message.

We can look at Israel's cycles and see similarities to the cycles and mentalities of an individual human being. Israel is a survivor. God has caused them to survive.

"Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive--to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace." - Jeremiah 29:1-7 NKJV

Perhaps we look at the life we had and the one we have now and wonder, 'What parts have me have survived and what parts haven't?' Our cells die and are replaced and we change as we grow. For many life has taken them captive... or it seems that way. Actually, God sends us all into captivity but it isn't to hurt us. It is to grow us up.

"Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them." - Exodus 1:1-7 NKJV

Why God does this is mysterious but it clearly has to do with our free will. He wants us to choose freely but fallen people need limitations or they will destroy themselves. We need a tower of Babel as much as we need a Savior. We just don't know it. We long to be free but God sets boundaries and says, 'Live here with these restrictions.' and we fight against those boundaries.

If I kept writing today my post would be 100 pages long because there is so much here in this chapter. There are false prophets in our captivity and all kinds of obstacles but Israel was told to focus on God and the salvation that was coming.

"For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive." - Jeremiah 29:10-14 NKJV

Our salvation is a person. We focus on Him.

Survival mode comes in seasons for us. There is no shame in it. Guilt and shame have real remedies in Christ. Sin, failure and just plain falling short are resolved in Jesus' time on the cross. Shame is self hatred. None of that. No. Never. God loves us and He isn't thinking that way. His thoughts are peace.

"He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days." - Psalm 102:23 ESV

Yes. It happens to all of us but God has a well-timed plan that we will see unfold in due season. Don't despair if you feel trapped. God will release you when the time is right and you will thank Him for all of it. Yes. All of it. We don't know what we need. God only knows that.

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Numerical Correlations - Part 1

You may have noticed that I don't rely heavily on 'numerical correlations' in my interpretation of the scriptures. Some preachers do and they use that method wisely. Clearly, some numbers in the scriptures have great meaning and significance.

Twelve, for example, is used again and again. Israel had twelve tribes and many twelves in the Hebrew scriptures relate to that. Piles of twelve stones. Twelve loaves of show bread. Jesus has twelve disciples in the Gospels.

Ok, I see that. The number twelve represents something. The question is, 'How far do I take that?' because I see people go quite far down the rabbit hole and start finding 'numerical significance' everywhere and start using it to justify 'doctrinal significance.' They start saying things like, 'This person should be in elected into leadership because they have twelve letters in their name.' or they use strange arithmetic adding and subtracting and coming to conclusions.

I am very wary of that kind of teaching. Authoritative claims are made that are not found in a plain reading of the text. The scripture has one 'essential' doctrine and to understand that doctrine you don't need any understanding of the numbers of the Bible.

Salvation is the 'essential' doctrine.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." - John 3:16-18 ESV

The Bible is an amazingly symmetrical book like nothing else. There is much to be learned by examining the engineering of it but Christ must be central.

Who called the twelve disciples? He did. Who gave Abraham twelve children? It was God.

If someone does not have the core understanding of salvation by grace as central in their teaching I really don't care what else they have to say about the Bible or spirituality. Knowledge like that is a distraction and not a blessing.

So, I ask you. Do you have the 'essential' truth of the scripture? Do you know that Jesus came to Earth and died on a cross to save your soul and everyone who would believe in Him?

Let that be our foundation. If we have that we can study the Bible and it will blossom like a flower. Then the tools we have can be useful and helpful in watering the incorruptible seed that has taken root in our life and given us a brand new identity.

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Everything Everywhere

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." - 1 John 2:1-2 ESV

The whole world is everything everywhere. All time. All thoughts. Every culture. Every family dynamic. Everything.

That alone is mind boggling.

John's reasoning for telling us this is so that we 'may not sin' because every action taken without this knowledge is flawed in some way. It isn't a command to keep pure. It is a declaration that pure individual faith actions are now possible because of this knowledge.

Secondly, If we do sin we have an advocate with a divine person who is now our father. Jesus is the propitiation for sin, all sin, that has turned God's anger aside.

That dark part of your soul that you hide has been dealt with by God. That injustice that shapes your world that no one seems to care about or do anything about has a solution in Christ.

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved -" - Ephesians 2:1-5 ESV

People are dead in sin. Sin killed them but Jesus makes people alive again in this truth.

By grace we are saved if we believe in this grand all-encompassing truth.

"Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him." - Luke 20:38 ESV

He isn't the God of the spiritually dead but the hope is that the dead can be made alive if this truth is presented and received.

Keeping silent isn't an option. This is to big and wonderful.

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Fan The Holy Flame

Fan into flame the gift of God. He hasn't given you the spirit of fear. His Holy Spirit came with the gift of salvation and His Spirit is clean and full of love.

"As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." - 2 Timothy 1:4-7 ESV

Most of us don't 'fan' things today. When you fan something you are directing air on it. The Greek word pneuma (Strong's G4151) is the word for Spirit and for wind. Pneuma is moving air.

Think with God and be alive today. Fan the flame of faith. Fear freezes us or causes a reaction of fight or flight. God instructs us to fan the flame of faith and live in power, love and self-control. New life is a gift and there is power that came with that life. We have God's Holy Spirit intermingling with our human spirit.

I plan to go into this weekend stirring up love and directing spiritual life so that holy fires are ignited and enlarged.

Others (like Lois and Eunice mentioned in the scripture quoted above) have believed before us. Now it is our turn. We have been given new life because of what Jesus did on the cross. Now we can fan the flame of that good news in our hearts, in our circles of influence and beyond.

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Confess With Your Mouth

Faith confession... very powerful.

"But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.' " - Romans 10:8-11 ESV

We can do this today. If we have never done it we can do it and be saved eternally. Then as a redeemed person, we can do it again and again.

Instead of rehearsing our frustrations, seeming limitations or past failures we can rehearse this and speak it and the words have the power to build and restore because they resonate with divine reality.

In my mind, I'm picturing someone overboard and struggling in the water. Then they cry out and the person looking and listening on deck hears them and throws them a lifeline and they are saved.

Let your voice be heard. Confess who Jesus Is out loud. Say what happened at the cross.

If we do that we are bringing those words into our present situation and mindset. Those words need to be said. Heaven hears that humble confession and God gives greater grace to the humble.

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Kiss The Son

God loves you.

Three simple words but some are going through life truly misunderstanding and missing the point of them. How many of us understand what love is?

"Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." - Psalm 2:10-12 ESV

Some read that and say, 'No No No. That is not love.' but, 'Yes Yes Yes it is.'

I think of the person who finds out at a high school reunion that the beautiful girl he secretly loved but was too scared to approach had a crush on him. But now they are both married to other people and have children. The window was forever missed.

Don't miss the window with God. Psalm 2 speaks of God's Son. It is no mystery who that Is. It is Jesus. Don't let theologians mix up your head with mumbo jumbo. Kiss Jesus. Kiss Him like you would kiss the ring of a King. Give Him his due. Don't die and then stand before Him and have him say...

"And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' " - Matthew 7:23 ESV

God loves you... really He does. Kiss Him while you can. No one knows how much time they have to respond. You can do it today. Consider the cross. Jesus died there for you. Resist the resistance of pride and respond to God's love... a day more may be too late.

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The Knocking Savior

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20 ESV

This is a continuation of the gate versus pathway thought from yesterday.

The knock on the door is a gate that gets our attention. The knock comes and the dog goes crazy and barks. Someone is right there outside... just on the other side of the door and they are calling to you but nothing has changed inside. Your location and environment stay the same (except for the dog that is).

When we go through the gate we change location but this is a challenge to let God in to our home life.

Some folks have a big problem with the phrase, 'Ask Jesus into your heart.' and I understand the conflict. A relationship starts with trust and belief. We 'only believe' and that births a relationship with God. We believe in Jesus... who He Is and what He did on the cross. Telling people they must 'ask' implies they must do something.

But Jesus is a knocking Savior. We don't ask Him to knock. That is who He Is. He isn't just out there somewhere as some theoretical theology. If that is all He Is then there is no active relationship. Conversion accompanies communion. God wants to eat with us in our home just as we will one day live with Him in His home after this life is over. We must participate in communion by opening this gate.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20 ESV

Do we hear His voice? Are we going to ignore Him or are we going to answer the door?

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A Metaphor / We And One

A METAPHOR

"And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam..." - 1 Samuel 17:7a KJV

This is a metaphor. If I know nothing about a weaver's beam the sentence is meaningless. 'Weaver's beam' might as well be 'Fubdwd Polulvue' if I have never seem or heard of such a thing. I know less then I did because now a gap has opened.

Our mind stumbles. Our mental picture has a spear in it but we only know that some piece of knowledge is missing about the spear. The sentence made us dumber. If 'Weaver's Beam' is never defined we have a closed circle... a mystery with no end... a cliff hanger with no resolution.

Math is a universal language. Simple math can be explained with rocks. Metaphors are relational. The words need definitions or else the concepts fall flat. God is far beyond math. He made math. Math is baby talk compared to what He wants to explain to us.

God is like Jesus and Jesus is like God. The cross is like grace and grace is like the cross.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ... For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." - John 1:14, 17 KJV

If Jesus isn't defined we can't know God. No math will bring us there. God is lost to us without understanding who Jesus Is.

If what Jesus has done means nothing then we are cut off from understanding the first thing about God. But if we do know Jesus then we know the most vital things about God. A relationship is established on this common understanding. We become alive.

Without Jesus all we have is death because it is all we understand.

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WE AND ONE

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.'

Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' " - John 3:1-3 ESV

Nicodemus said, 'We know... '

Who is the 'we' that Nicodemus is speaking of? Is it a group present for the conversation? Is it a group of scholars who he represents? He isn't saying 'you and I' know. We refers to a group somewhere.

Then Jesus narrows it down to, 'unless one is'

A 'we' has political power but vision is singular.

"Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.' " - John 3:5 ESV

Entrance is also singular. The 'we' does not enter. We enter one by one.

Let's watch the singular and plural references in the next passage.

"Jesus answered him, 'Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." - John 3:10-15 ESV

Wow. Jesus has the 'we' of the Trinity and He shines light on this man's religion that has been spoon fed to Nicodemus by a group.

""For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." - John 3:16-18 ESV

One of the greatest and most known passages in the scriptures. One God gave one Son so that each person out of the full group that comprises all of humanity might believe and be saved.

'We' isn't going to save anyone. You must be born again. Salvation isn't skimmed from a collection of cultural ideas. Salvation is one person who is washed by a triune God because he or she believes that one Father sent one Son to die everyone's death.

"And the people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.' So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.' " - Numbers 21:7-8 ESV

Moses made a brass serpent in a time of great crisis. Each person had a choice. Israel was stuck in a herd mentality. Don't we see that around us today? People say 'we believe this' but then the next day the 'we' shifts.

God makes it simple. Where will you look? Only you can enter in. No group on Earth can go for you. Each one sees and enters individually.

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Reading Missionary Newsletters

Missionary newsletters are interesting things to read. I read a few this morning and prayed for the people involved. Missionaries are people and like all people they have different perspectives, propensities to communicate and levels of transparency. Some letters come off as a sales pitch others a general's account of a campaign and yet others are very human accounts of day to day life and relationships.

I like reading them. All of them. They inspire me.

"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.' " - Mark 16:15-16 ESV

That end of that passage sounds kind of hardcore doesn't it. Those who don't believe a frail human being are condemned... really?

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." - John 3:18 ESV

Actually they are condemned already. All of us are in our natural state. Without Jesus our condemnation finds us eventually. The miracle is salvation.

Maybe because of my upbringing I'm very aware of the reality that people can tend to sell their cause. Some are aware they are doing it and others have bought something and they need to justify why they have made the investment.

Still...

I also know the power of God's word and the commission God has given all those that know Him.

"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." - Isaiah 55:11 KJV

Are we missionaries? I say we are and if we are then we do well to believe that God is going to give results if His word is given in context.

"Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul." - 1 Peter 2:10-11 ESV

If we know Jesus we are sojourners here in this world. When you walk out that door you might as well be in a foreign country. Let's live out our Heavenly culture here on Earth and see who wants to be baptized into it.

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The Only Loophole

It is very interesting to read the genealogies in the Gospels. They prove Jesus' royal right to the throne of Israel. He was, and Is, The King of the Jews. He is qualified like no other and the proof is right in the two genealogies printed in every Bible.

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit." - Matthew 1:18 ESV

Before this grand statement Matthews gospel reveals Joseph's lineage but Joseph was not Jesus' the biological father. Why have his lineage listed. Joseph was of the royal line of David and the Messiah needed to be a royal descendant of David.

"Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon)." - Matthew 1:11 NLT

" 'As surely as I live,' says the LORD, 'I will abandon you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off... This is what the LORD says: 'Let the record show that this man Jehoiachin was childless. He is a failure, for none of his children will succeed him on the throne of David to rule over Judah.'" - Jeremiah 22:24, 30 NLT

Jehoiachin, sometimes translated Jeconiah, was cursed by God to never have a child on the throne. Jesus' birth had to be a virgin birth or it would have disqualified Him to be Messiah. At the same time He needed to be the son of a man from the royal line in order to be qualified to be Messiah.

Moses was raised in Pharaoh's house but was not genetically linked to Pharaoh. Jesus was raised in Joseph's house but His Father was God himself.

There can be no other Messiah. No one could prove their lineage. Rome destroyed the temple in 70 AD and the official record got destroyed also. No one can prove that their father's fathers came directly from David and even if the could Jeconiah would be there in the bloodline poisoning it.

Is it any wonder that we are reborn in a strange way. Everyone who is born of God is born strange. Adam's line is cursed to die. God snuck us in to His family using a loophole just as He put Jesus in David's royal line using a loophole.

It is funny in a way because Joseph's Davidic heritage was discounted because of Jeconiah. His family was not a political threat because they were known to be disqualified by that ancestor.

Mary was also of David's line but in Jewish tradition you don't get to be king because of your mother. Your Father must be royal.

"Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' " - John 3:5-7 ESV

Jesus is the king that will sit on the throne of David. He died but He lives forevermore so no one will come after him to inherit that throne but if God is your father then you share in the inheritance of royal lineage. God has no grandchildren. You must be born again. That happens when a person believes in Jesus. Only believe. By believing we escape the curse of the fall. God brings us into His family using the only loophole available to mankind.

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Many Tears Wiped Away

I just had a wave of thankfulness to God in my prayer time as I remembered last Saturday's outreach time.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." - Revelation 21:4 KJV

It is hard to know the difference between an empty confession and a confession with a conversion but if there is a confession there is hope for a conversion.

"...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.' " - Romans 10:9-11 ESV

Only God knows and sees the heart.

If we confess with our lips while believing in the center of our being then all tears will be wiped from our eyes.

I got to be a witness to a few mustard seed confessions last Saturday. A seed so small going into the ground doesn't look like much but that seed grows into something fragrant and great.

"Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." - Luke 15:10 ESV

I gave a man I dearly love a hug at Church on Sunday after a tender exchange where we both got a little teary-eyed and He said, 'I'm 78. I cry more now.' and I said, 'I'm much younger than you and I cry more also.'

I will one day have all my tears wiped away and I am confident that many of the people I have had the privilege of praying with over the years will all be having their tears wiped away also at the same time. Sure some prayed to get rid of me but others prayed believing and those who believed have this promise given to them.

Thank you God. Life can get complicated. Anger flares. Tears are shed. We wonder at puzzles and complexities but this is a simple promise and a beautiful one. Because of You we have hope that one day everything we go through will be worth it.

Hebrews 11:35 speaks about a 'better resurrection' for those that hold unto hope and live in their called instead of denying it in passivity. It is for those who choose to live in who God has made them to be instead of in who they once were.

God help us. Give us the courage to walk as ministers of reconciliation. We want to see many many tears wiped away on that promised day.

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