Some wonderful promises in this next passage. I am savouring them this morning...
"For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." - 1 Corinthians 15:53-58 ESV
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Monday, September 10, 2018
Who Is My Neighbor?
"But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' " - Luke 10:29 ESV
What a question. Mercy doesn't ask this question. Here is Jesus' answer.
"Jesus replied, 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?' He said, 'The one who showed him mercy.' And Jesus said to him, 'You go, and do likewise.' " - Luke 10:30-37 ESV
Wow.
"...'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' " - Luke 10:27b ESV
Who deserves respect?
Who is more important?
Jesus pointed to a man who was beaten and laying on the road to get this man to answer this question himself.
I am convicted more and more that it is what I do and not just what I talk about that is the measure of my impact on the world around me. I don't want to strive but maybe it would be good if I imagined bloody people laying on the side on the road more instead of having a fine-tuned sense of categorizing people as worthy or deserving based on appearances.
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What a question. Mercy doesn't ask this question. Here is Jesus' answer.
"Jesus replied, 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?' He said, 'The one who showed him mercy.' And Jesus said to him, 'You go, and do likewise.' " - Luke 10:30-37 ESV
Wow.
"...'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' " - Luke 10:27b ESV
Who deserves respect?
Who is more important?
Jesus pointed to a man who was beaten and laying on the road to get this man to answer this question himself.
I am convicted more and more that it is what I do and not just what I talk about that is the measure of my impact on the world around me. I don't want to strive but maybe it would be good if I imagined bloody people laying on the side on the road more instead of having a fine-tuned sense of categorizing people as worthy or deserving based on appearances.
--
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Destabilization - Part 1
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Peter 5:8-11 ESV
The roar is meant to be 'destabilizing'. The roar is meant to disorient potential prey.
"They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates." - Judges 5:11 KJV
The sound of arrows passing close to a person's head is meant to be destabilizing. People would drop their water and any other possessions to get to safety but there is a group that is delivered from that noise. The ones that 'rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD' those same people can also understand what Peter is talking about because they have a firm faith that isn't based solely on their present feelings.
"Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?' " - Matthew 21:42 ESV
Jesus is the cornerstone that was rejected but has been recognized by a group of people and that knowledge gives them stability. No roar or sound of an arrow will affect them because they have a stability that comes from understanding who Christ Is and what He has done.
Don't get me wrong. That roar is no joke. The roar of cancer. The roar of rejection. It makes a person want to run in a thousand directions at once just to get away but Jesus is above all that. Build on Him.
"For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward." - 1 Corinthians 3:11-14 ESV
My faith isn't built on a moral code or even a specific outcome. It rests in a person. Jesus knows me and He loves me anyway.
"At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of things that are shaken - that is, things that have been made - in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." - Hebrews 12:26-29 ESV
The things that can be destabilized (shaken) will be destabilized. I want to build on the Rock that can't be moved. It is the wise place to build. It doesn't seem like the most convenient place but it is the most stable place. When the storm comes those who built on the Rock will have continued stability.
--
The roar is meant to be 'destabilizing'. The roar is meant to disorient potential prey.
"They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates." - Judges 5:11 KJV
The sound of arrows passing close to a person's head is meant to be destabilizing. People would drop their water and any other possessions to get to safety but there is a group that is delivered from that noise. The ones that 'rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD' those same people can also understand what Peter is talking about because they have a firm faith that isn't based solely on their present feelings.
"Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?' " - Matthew 21:42 ESV
Jesus is the cornerstone that was rejected but has been recognized by a group of people and that knowledge gives them stability. No roar or sound of an arrow will affect them because they have a stability that comes from understanding who Christ Is and what He has done.
Don't get me wrong. That roar is no joke. The roar of cancer. The roar of rejection. It makes a person want to run in a thousand directions at once just to get away but Jesus is above all that. Build on Him.
"For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward." - 1 Corinthians 3:11-14 ESV
My faith isn't built on a moral code or even a specific outcome. It rests in a person. Jesus knows me and He loves me anyway.
"At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of things that are shaken - that is, things that have been made - in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." - Hebrews 12:26-29 ESV
The things that can be destabilized (shaken) will be destabilized. I want to build on the Rock that can't be moved. It is the wise place to build. It doesn't seem like the most convenient place but it is the most stable place. When the storm comes those who built on the Rock will have continued stability.
--
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Sent Ones
"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!'... The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me." - Luke 10:1-5, 16 ESV
The 'greet no one on the road' statement got me this morning. The disciples were to treat this like a business trip and not a vacation in that they weren't supposed to get sidetracked by social matters and not get around to talking about Christ.
They said this when they returned...
"The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!' " - Luke 10:17 ESV
There is power in this focus of being 'sent ahead of Him' like a plough is sent into the fallow ground to get it ready for seed.
--
The 'greet no one on the road' statement got me this morning. The disciples were to treat this like a business trip and not a vacation in that they weren't supposed to get sidetracked by social matters and not get around to talking about Christ.
They said this when they returned...
"The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!' " - Luke 10:17 ESV
There is power in this focus of being 'sent ahead of Him' like a plough is sent into the fallow ground to get it ready for seed.
--
Friday, August 24, 2018
The Valley Of Dry Bones
"And he said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, you know.' " Ezekiel 37:3 ESV
Take a look at the field of dry bones (the dead structure of a promise from God) and answer God out loud. Ezekiel gave the right answer. It was health to Ezekiel's bones to answer with a faith answer. He didn't say 'Yes'. That would have been a hyper-spiritual lie. He didn't say 'No' because He knew He was conversing with The Almighty God. Ezekiel was ready to witness a miracle if that is what God had in mind. Are we?
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, you know.' Then he said to me, 'Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.' So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.' " - Ezekiel 37:1-14 ESV
I see stages here. I see stages of edification and faith. A vision dies and leaves full grown bones but then God has a person speak faith over that dead vision and the bones take form and get covered with sinew, muscle and skin. Then in another stage breath is given by words of faith. Then hope.
Bones are out there in a field like that because there was a battle and the ones who fell in that battle were left out there to rot and get bleached by the sun.
Our world is filled with valleys of dry bones. People have souls that resemble a field of dry bones.
We, the ones who believe, are the ones who look out at the disaster and say 'O Lord GOD, you know.' and speak the life found in the finished work of Christ by faith.
--
Take a look at the field of dry bones (the dead structure of a promise from God) and answer God out loud. Ezekiel gave the right answer. It was health to Ezekiel's bones to answer with a faith answer. He didn't say 'Yes'. That would have been a hyper-spiritual lie. He didn't say 'No' because He knew He was conversing with The Almighty God. Ezekiel was ready to witness a miracle if that is what God had in mind. Are we?
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, you know.' Then he said to me, 'Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.' So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.' " - Ezekiel 37:1-14 ESV
I see stages here. I see stages of edification and faith. A vision dies and leaves full grown bones but then God has a person speak faith over that dead vision and the bones take form and get covered with sinew, muscle and skin. Then in another stage breath is given by words of faith. Then hope.
Bones are out there in a field like that because there was a battle and the ones who fell in that battle were left out there to rot and get bleached by the sun.
Our world is filled with valleys of dry bones. People have souls that resemble a field of dry bones.
We, the ones who believe, are the ones who look out at the disaster and say 'O Lord GOD, you know.' and speak the life found in the finished work of Christ by faith.
--
Thursday, August 23, 2018
We Need Talk About It To Heal
There is a right time and place to talk about things. Verbalizing is often an important part of healing. God is our high rock and strong tower. We can discuss issues with Him first as we live in awe that we are granted a daily audience with The King and Saviour. We don't only vent or gossip with Him. He Is holy and has done things already that relate to the present situation. He has given us precious promises. Venting soon turns to praise. The psalms are full of this type of communication. If we bottle it up it can fester and rot but we have the option to cast all our cares on God and He will take them. If we have guilt or shame or blame he will take that red wound and make us white like snow.
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Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Rosters
The Bible teaches us that rosters are used in spiritual matters. There is a 'book of life' and there are other books also. Names are written in those books. The living have their name written in specific place. Names get blotted out. That is how they are removed. This concept reveals a high level of organization. This isn't random or unorganized. It is purposeful.
Jesus has blotted out our sins. Our name was on a list but now our name is covered and no one who reads that ledger can see our name. At the same time our names are written in the palms of His hands which is a profound concept. The lamb has his own book of life that has names. Once your name gets added to that roster it never gets removed. That book is spotless. It has no stains or blots. Amazing isn't it?
The lists of this world will pass away. The junk mail will turn to dust but the lists in Heaven last forever and shine with newness that will never fade. They will be memorials to God's care and complex loving artistry.
Jesus has blotted out our sins. Our name was on a list but now our name is covered and no one who reads that ledger can see our name. At the same time our names are written in the palms of His hands which is a profound concept. The lamb has his own book of life that has names. Once your name gets added to that roster it never gets removed. That book is spotless. It has no stains or blots. Amazing isn't it?
The lists of this world will pass away. The junk mail will turn to dust but the lists in Heaven last forever and shine with newness that will never fade. They will be memorials to God's care and complex loving artistry.
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