2nd Look at Stones Crossing Church

2nd Look 12/12/11

2011-12-12T06:25:00.000-08:00

Devo 1

Luke 1:38 (NLT)

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything You have said about me come true.”

My favorite Christian author is Philip Yancey. His latest book “What Good Is God” is a masterpiece, in my opinion. Other highly recommended books--- “Prayer—Does It Make Any Difference?”, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”, “The Bible Jesus Read”, “Disappointment With God”, and “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”. These are all books that can be read over and over again.

In one of his other books--- “The Jesus I Never Knew”-- Yancey points out that the society when and where Jesus was born resembled that of Russia in the 1930s under Stalin. The regime of Herod the Great was one of strife and terror, with daily executions and slaughters that are never pointed out in Christmas cards.

Mary was likely no more than a 13-year old Jewish girl when the Holy Spirit chose her to be the earthly mother of the Savior of the world. Think about the scandal of today when a teenage girl becomes pregnant; imagine what it must have been like back then? Yet, when the angel, Gabriel, told her that she was the “favored one” (Luke 1:28) and after she naturally asked how could this be (Luke 1:34), she responded with words of acceptance.

Despite the potential danger and ridicule that Mary knew she might face, she said “yes” to the Lord’s request. As Yancey pointed out, often a work of God comes with two edges, great joy and great pain, yet Mary embraced both. She was the first person recorded in the gospels who accepted Jesus on His own terms, regardless of personal cost.

Note her affirmation, “I am the Lord’s servant”. The Greek word she used was “doule” (“doo-lay”) meaning “female slave”. Other translations use the word “bondservant”, a word the apostle Paul used to describe himself (38 times, e.g. Romans 1:1, Philippians 1:1). Also Peter, James and Jude used this term that has several meanings:

· Does not expect to be served but to serve others and to serve without being paid back.

· Does not expect to be treated better than their master

· Understands her/his ultimate purpose in life

Does this describe you? Is the Lord calling you to serve Him? Are you saying “yes” or “no”? Pray about saying “yes” and, if you do say “yes”, you will find that everything God says will come true for you!

Devo 2

II Corinthians 5:13-14 (Message Bible)

If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.

Paul writes about the dominating force of Jesus Christ in his life. He has just written about the judgment seat of Christ (verse 10) and then discussing how hard he works in persuading listeners of the need for the gospel of Christ. Yet apparently listeners were accusing him of acting crazy or acting overly serious. As a Christian have you ever been accused of acting in these ways? Maybe a second question: If not, why not?

The Greek word translated here as crazy is “existemi” that has several meanings---to amaze, to astonish, to throw into wonderment---but also can mean “to be out of one’s mind” or “to be insane”. This same word was used several times in the gospels to describe people’s reactions to Jesus’ words and deeds, e.g. Matt 12:23, Mark 2:12, Luke 2:47. It was also the word used in Acts 2:7 and 2:12 to describe reactions to Christians being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Those spirit-filled Christians were acting crazy to Jewish observers. Acts 2:13 states that “others were mocking and saying ‘they are full of sweet wine’”.

Paul was viewed by some to be a religious fanatic, perhaps a madman. However, Paul was not concerned what others might think of him because of his enormous faith in the Lord and being unafraid to preach about it. He admits in these verses that his actions are extreme. Paul is an example of a person who has completely sold out his life for Jesus Christ. We see the same thing today where a few Christian people we know are completely sold out for Christ and we are cautious of them. Yes, there is a fine line between legitimate enthusiastic faith and works that can be attractive to others and “crossing the line” into outrageous religious fanaticism that can be very distracting to others and scare them away from the faith.

Would you be able to say with a clear conscience that everything you do is motivated by the love of Christ in your life? Do you have such deep faith that you know without a doubt that Jesus Christ loves you and such knowledge drives you to sell out your life for Him? Indeed, that is extremism, but is this not what the Lord expects of His followers? When He says in Luke 14:33 that “no one can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions”, that is extremism. When He says in Luke 9:23 that “if anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me”, that is extremism. These are the measuring sticks that gauge how deep, how committed is your love for and walk with the Lord in your life. How do you measure up? Are you afraid to be an extremist in your devotion to Christ? The vast majority of Christians indeed seem to be afraid. They are afraid of what others will think of them. Proverbs 29:25 says that “the fear of man brings a snare” and that snare is keeping you from fulfilling all that Christ intends for you to fulfill.

May you seek to be sold out for the Lord such that your love for Him as His love for you manifests itself in extreme ways---how you witness for Him, how you serve others for Him, and how you put Him first in everything you do.

Devo 3

Proverbs 29:25 (NIV)

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

It is written time and again in the Scriptures that followers of God through Christ are always to fear (reverence) God, but never fear man. Yet, our human nature does the opposite; we have great fear of man and little, if any, fear of God.

The fear of man will prove to be a snare. The Hebrew word for snare is “mowqesh” that means “to bait or to lure”. Think about bait and lure, what comes to mind? Being trapped or captured. What comes to mind when you think about being trapped or captured? You have lost your freedom. That is what the fear of man does to you, it causes you to lose your freedom; freedom to be what God intended you to be and live the abundant life He planned for you.

How is the fear of man manifested? You fear about looking or dressing inappropriately because of what others might say or think? You fear speaking in public? You fear speaking up at meetings? You fear telling the truth, e.g. you didn’t understand something but don’t want to appear ignorant? You fear disagreeing with someone? You fear disapproval? All of these and more are fears we have of what other people might think of us.

The most disturbing manifestation of the fear of man is the fear of being ridiculed or disapproved of or rejected by freely speaking and acting in a Christian manner. Are you afraid of being obedient of God’s Word because of what others might say or think of you? Interestingly, fear of others and what they think of you is strongly connected with the sin of pride. Pride is putting yourself first before God. You are afraid of what others will say or think that will adversely affect your pride, your self-image, and so you don’t say or do anything that will cause this problem for you.

Pastor Dale Campfield of Eastgate Community Church (http://www.eastgatecommunitychurch.com) wrote that the fear of man comes from the following desires/preferences in our lives:

1. needing appreciation

2. being compensated

3. wanting that next promotion

4. feeling esteemed (there’s the pride issue)

5. needing to feel protected

6. avoiding confrontation

You overcome the fear of man by claiming the promises of God that He will be your protector, guide, and strength (Phil 4:13). He is your Father and you are His child (John 1:12). You can claim the promises for standing firm against the potential thoughts and words from others (Psalm 37:23-24, Isaiah 41:10). Jesus promised that if you know the truth (the Word of God), you shall be free (John 8:32). Freedom includes not being afraid of other people that will snare you. Ask God to enable you to overcome your fears and enjoy the freedom of being guided and strengthened and encouraged by the Lord as you interact with others.

“The fear of man is being more impressed with man’s reaction to our actions than with God’s reaction. That ís bondage. When we have the fear of God upon us, we are impressed only with God’s reaction. We are freed from the concern of what people think. That ís freedom! That ís release! That ís great relief!”---Joy Dawson, “Intimate Friendship with God Through Understanding the Fear of the Lord”, p. 33

Devo 4

Matthew 1:18-25 (NASB)

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

When a child or someone asks you to define Christmas, what would you say? Anything else other than it’s the time of year where the Christian church celebrates and/or commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ? Yet the majority of people in the world think of Christmas either as a non-holiday for them or the time for Santa Claus to visit. No thought nor appreciation for the real reason why Christmas exists.

The real reason why Christmas exists is explained in this passage from Matthew. The key statements of this passage are (1) “……..for He will save His people from their sins” and (2) “God with us”. Two extraordinary, indescribable truths, yet so many fail to grasp their true significance for this life and the life to come. Either people don’t understand, don’t believe, don’t care, or simply take these truths for granted without giving them any thought and how they apply in life on earth and life eternal.

Take time right now to meditate over these two remarkable, almost incomprehensible truths. First Jesus was born for the purpose of saving you from your sins. Okay, so what? So what means that without Jesus there would be no way for your sins to be forgiven. Without forgiveness the penalty for sin is death---eternal death---complete and forever separation from God. Eternal death is oblivion. I know people and you do too who claim that they know that when they die, they will enter oblivion and don’t seem to be concerned about it. Oblivion means to be completely forgotten. Oblivion is a component of being in hell. Yet Jesus came to save all believing souls from oblivion. He was born on earth to be the atonement for the penalty of sin and complete and eternal separation from God. What Jesus did on earth enables you, if you believe in Him, to escape oblivion and have eternal life with Him in heaven. He also promises you an abundant life while living on this earth.

That thought leads to the second great truth here—Jesus means “God with us”. Before Jesus came to earth, man was separated from God. There was no way for a holy God to be connected to sinful man. Jesus was born in order eventually to die for the sins of the world. Think of the cross as the connector between holy God and sinful man. Think of the vertical beam as the pathway for man to enter into the presence of God. Think of the horizontal beam as Jesus outstretched arms to gather you into His presence and His presence to enable you to be intimate with God. Immanuel---God with us.

Norman Vincent Peale wrote the story “If He Had Not Come”. A little boy woke up on what he thought was Christmas day. Yet his joy turned to horror when he saw no stockings hanging from the fireplace mantel. No Christmas tree. No Christmas lights, no singing, no time off from work, no joy in the world, not even a church. The little boy saw a man injured in the street, yet no ambulance was available to pick him up because there was no hospital. The little boy was so horrified over all this that he had to find the family Bible. Yet where the New Testament should have started, there were only blank pages. There was no Christmas story, nothing. The little boy began crying terribly when his mother ran into his room to wake him up. He had been enduring a nightmare. He leaped out of bed and saw the stockings, the tree, the lights, heard the music, heard the church bells, and all other aspects of Christmas that is celebrated. The little boy shut his eyes and said, “You came……thank You for coming."

2nd Look 11/28/11

2011-11-28T06:27:00.000-08:00

Devo 1

Ephesians 2:1-2, 7-10 (NLT)

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world…So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Biblically, to be dead is not necessarily to be physically dead, but to be spiritually dead. To be spiritually dead is to have your soul separated from God. Some believe that spiritual death makes one unable to repent and believe in God. In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam that he would “surely die” if he ate the forbidden fruit and that death meant both physical eventually and spiritual immediately. Jesus experienced spiritual death on the cross as He was dying for the sins of the world. He cried out “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? (Mark 15:33-34). This is the only time recorded in the gospels where Jesus did not refer to God as His Father because during His time on the cross He was spiritually separated from His Father.

What causes a person whose soul is separated from God to be reunited with God? God’s grace! Spiritual death, even physical death, is not yet eternal death so a person who is separated from God because of his sinful nature still has hope of seeing the light of Jesus Christ and having his soul and spirit reborn and saved. A dead spirit is separated from God, but that spirit can make the decision any time to enter into the presence of God and be saved.

Pastor Scott used the example of the disciple Matthew to exemplify being dead in all his sins, yet being saved in Christ. It is not because of anything Matthew did; it was all because of what Jesus did. Matthew’s story (including all those people listed in his genealogy in Matt 1) is your story and mine. Salvation is a free gift from God. This truth is so simple that so many people refuse to believe it. There is nothing you can do to earn your salvation, to earn your way to heaven, to earn God’s favor. Salvation is free and is a gift from God because of what Jesus came to the earth to do. We celebrate Christmas because:

· “…..it is He who will save His people from their sins” (Matt 1:21)

· “…..I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentence” (Matt 9:13)

· “…..the son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10)

· "…..just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matt 20:28)

· “…..Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” (I Tim 1:15).

In my early career I wrote a scientific document that the vice-president of my division called a “masterpiece”. I didn’t think it was, but someone of importance for my future thought it was. That simple compliment inspired me to become a writer within my scientific field and also in the church. Paul writes in Eph 2:10 that we are God’s masterpiece. You may not think of yourself as God’s masterpiece, but God says that you are. Doesn’t that thought inspire and encourage you? You are God’s masterpiece because you have accepted His gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, you have been created anew—reborn into the Kingdom of God---so that you will fulfill His will for your life. Put a smile on your face as you meditate upon being a masterpiece of God! Reflect on this poem written by Deidra Foster:

My face might not be as beautiful as others, but my face is still God's Masterpiece.

My smile might not be as bright as others, but my smile is still God's Masterpiece.

My body might not be shaped like others, but my body is still God's Masterpiece.

My laughter might not be as cute as others, but my laughter is still God's Masterpiece.

Everything I have is God's Masterpiece!

Devo 2

Acts 18:9-11 (NLT)

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

Have you ever experienced the Lord speaking to you in a vision? We can be very skeptical of people who claim that God spoke to them personally. Televangelists commonly make this claim. It’s impossible to know if they are telling the truth, or if they are delusional, or if they are lying in order to leave the impression that they have special connections with the Almighty that no one else has. Cult leaders are notorious for claiming that God told them to do this and that. Indeed, beware of anyone who claims that he/she has received a special revelation from the Lord. People who boast of this proclamation most likely are self-centered, unstable psychologically and aim to deceive others.

However, God does speak to us through the listening part of our prayers and especially through His Word (which, of course, people in biblical times did not have so God by necessity needed to speak to them through visions until His Word was written down). You certainly can be praying over some fear/anxiety and be reading biblical passages/verses that speak about not be afraid and, like Paul’s vision, you will feel like God is speaking to you personally. The Bible is totally sufficient in providing guidance to you without the need for any special vision from God. God has revealed His will for you through His Word and no longer needs to speak to people through special revelations.

God revealed to Paul and now reveals to you in this passage several truths that you should never forget:

1. Do not be afraid—The Bible is very clear that you should never fear anyone (Heb 13:6) nor anything (Isa 41:10).

2. Do not be silent—This is in reference to being bold in declaring your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ (II Tim 1:7)

3. God is with you—You do not need to pray “God, be with me”. He always is with you even if you don’t “feel” like He is. You must rely on your faith that He is always with you (Joshua 1:9, Heb 13:5)

4. No one is going to attack and harm you—I admit that this promise sometimes is difficult to believe. We know of many examples where God’s anointed followers (e.g. missionaries) have been physically harmed/killed. Even this promise to Paul did not last. Yet there also are many more examples where Christians have been miraculously protected from harm and Paul was protected unless he had achieved God’s will for his life. When you think about what a dangerous world we live in (crime, terrorism, natural disasters, accidents, illnesses, etc) it is very reassuring to believe in God’s truths that He protects you from most/all of these dangers (Proverbs 1:33, 12:21, 18:10, Psalm 91, Isaiah 41:10).

You’ve heard the old saying, “the closer you are to the Shepherd, the farther you are from the wolf”. Trust in the Lord that His presence in your life will protect you. Do not fear anyone or anything except fear (reverence) in the Lord. Whatever fears and worries you have right now, lift them up to the Lord and ask Him specifically to guard and protect you. Also ask for sufficient faith that will enable you to trust in His Word that promises to keep and protect you and your loved ones. Amen.

Devo 3

John 1:12

Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—

Bill Glass was an All-American football player (lineman) for Baylor in the 1950s, then became an all-pro defensive end for the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns for 11 years. While with the Browns, Bill studied at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. After football he launched a new career as a Christian evangelist (his ministry now called “Champions for Life) and was a frequent speaker at the Billy Graham crusades. He is still a sought-after motivational speaker.

I heard Mr. Glass speak years ago and will always remember him preaching about his life’s verse---John 1:12. Up until then and even today, I have never heard anyone else claim John 1:12 as their life’s verse. Being led by God to be an evangelist, Mr. Glass focused on this wonderful yet very simple promise that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ is given the right become a child of God. It was his life’s mission to lead unbelievers to Christ and this was the verse on which he based his life and ministry.

To receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, you must believe in Him. Note that the Bible does not state “believe Him”, but believe in Him. That preposition provides the imagery of action, of moving toward, of making a proactive decision. To believe Him has a shallowness or superficial meaning while to believe in Him requires greater depth of intent and definite personal action.

The word “right” (exousia) can also mean "power" or "authority." It is not a legal term, but conveys the imagery of a person becoming person of power because of his/her belief in Christ. Christ does not make you a child of God, but He does give you the power to become a child of God.

Have you ever looked upon a crowd of people and thought of them as children of God? Of course, you don’t know who is or is not a true child of God, but having this thought makes people more acceptable and personal. This thought gives me a deeper feeling of love and caring for others than I would have if I didn’t think of them as children of God. On the other hand, it saddens me greatly to look upon a crowd of people and realize that God is not everyone’s Father and Jesus is not their Savior and they are lost.

Again, God gives you the right or power to become His child, it does not come from your own power. However, it is up to you to receive this power from God and you receive this power through your receptivity to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Plus think about what it really means to be a child of God. A child is an heir to his/her father’s estate. All that belongs to God now belongs to you (read II Cor 2:12). Affix this thought always in your mind—“I am a child of God, now and forever”. What amazing grace!

However, if you are reading this and know that you are not a child of God, what are you? You are a slave to sin (Romans 6:6, 16, 20). You are not an heir. You are judged to be an unbeliever (John 3:18) and face final judgment (Rev 20:12-15). Yet this does not need to describe you, all you need to do is to receive Christ as your Savior and believe in Him. Please pray about this, talk to a believer whom you trust, and make a life-changing decision that will affect not only the rest of your life on earth, but also your life for eternity.

2nd Look 11/21/11

2011-11-21T06:37:00.000-08:00

Devo 1

Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)

Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.

I cannot comprehend the truth expressed in verse 4, can you? God making the world is incomprehensible enough much less the thought that before creation God loved you and me and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. Really, can anyone understand the depth of this thought? Well, no, you cannot, but of course there are innumerable things in life and natural creation that the finite human mind cannot comprehend. Yet we accept them without worrying about having to understand. So it should be with biblical truths such as Ephesians 1:4.

Who is Paul writing to when he affirms these unbelievable words? The answer is in Eph 1:1---to the saints specifically living in Ephesus and also to all people who believe in Jesus Christ. Saint means holy and holy means separated unto God and unto Jesus Christ. Saints were/are dedicated Christian people, but they are still people, not perfect. So Paul’s outrageous claims about God’s love and choosing His people are directed toward those who He knows believe or will believe in Him.

Note that salvation is not originally based on your choosing God, but God choosing you. This truth disturbs many people because it suggests that God does not choose everyone. Theologically, these verses describe the Doctrine of Election and such doctrine is very controversial. You may have heard of the term ‘Calvinism’, named after John Calvin, that strongly espouses the doctrine of election, that God extends His grace and grants salvation only to chosen people or “the elect”. Another name for this theology is “predestination” (read Romans 8:28-30). It is up to you to determine whether you believe or not in the doctrine of election, based on Ephesians 1:4-5 (and other passages). One of those other passages is I Cor 1:27-30 where Paul writes that God chose particular kinds of people—the foolish, the weak, and the low—to be part of His church.

The Bible teaches both the doctrine of election and the doctrine of salvation. William MacDonald in his book Believers Bible Commentary (page 1908) writes that both doctrines are found in John 6:37 where the first half of the verse speaks of God’s sovereign choice while the second half speaks of salvation offered to everyone. I Tim 2:4 speaks of God’s desires that everyone be saved, but He also knows that not everyone will believe in His salvation.

What helps me to believe in the doctrine of election is a verse from Matthew 22:14, “Many are called, but few are chosen”. Many people are called/invited to enter the Kingdom of God, but only those who have been chosen will actually believe in Jesus Christ and accept the invitation. God knows beforehand who these people are and indeed many people have a problem with this. However, keep in mind that the world revolves around God, not around human beings. Many people hear the call of God through various means---creation (Romans 1:18-23), other people sharing the gospel, their own conscience---but only a few of those hearing the call will truly respond. Everyone has ears but only a few listen and respond (Matt 11:15, Mark 4:9, Luke 8:8, 14:35). It is God who draws certain people to Him; otherwise they cannot come on their own (John 6:44).

The doctrine of election causes people to question God’s fairness, that people really don’t have choice (we are God’s robots), and that evangelism is unnecessary. If you read Romans 11, you will better understand God’s fairness/mercy to all. If you read Romans 10 you will see the need for evangelism, and Romans 9 deals with the question of choice.

I believe that anyone attracted to the gospel of Christ has been chosen by God, even if you are still wavering in what you truly believe. Before the creation of the universe God thought of you. He did not choose you because you chose Him first; He chose you so that you would choose Him, does that make sense? He did not choose you because you were already holy and without fault, but he chose you so that you would become holy and without fault. The Scripture says that God decided in advance to adopt you into His own family by bringing you to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. It is up to you whether or not to believe this.

Devo 2

I Peter 1:3-5 (NLT)

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

Many Christians read this passage and it goes right over their heads. In other words, you read these words, but can you really grasp and explain them? For example, do you really understand what Peter meant when he wrote “we have a priceless inheritance…….”? Do you really understand “God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation…..”?

First, realize that you are saved in Christ not because of anything you did to earn this salvation. You are saved because of God’s mercy. Never forget that. Yes, you made the decision to accept God’s merciful offer of salvation, but that decision was enabled because of the mercy of God. Never forget that. You cannot allow pride and ego to interfere in your thoughts and sharing with others about your salvation. You did nothing, God did it all. Salvation means that you will never face eternal death; that you will live in heaven forever because Jesus defeated the penalty of sin—eternal death—through His suffering and dying for you and then being raised from the dead. Never forget that.

What is the priceless inheritance for the born again believer? It is everything that God has to offer. If you are in Christ and Christ is in you, you have everything Jesus has. The imagination wilts at what that everything is----all knowledge and wisdom, peace and contentment, indescribable joy, perfect love, timelessness, dimensionless experiences---all God’s treasures in heaven are yours. And, unlike the uncertainty of earthly inheritances (how much, worth, legal technicalities), your inheritance in heaven is unchangeable, undeniable, and undefiled.

Not only is the Christian inheritance in heaven guarded, but also while still on earth Christian people are themselves guarded/protected (read John 10:28). You are eternally secured. Nothing can take this inheritance away from you. Your faith saves you permanently. You’ve heard of the three stages/phases of salvation—justification, sanctification, and glorification. This passage is referring to the third phase—glorification—you will always be saved and forever free from sin and death because of the power of God behind you. Glorification of all believers will occur some day—on the last day—that all humanity who has ever lived on the earth will see. Boggles the mind, doesn’t it, but our finite minds simply need to believe that someday this will happen.

Peter wrote to fellow believers being persecuted and executed for their faith in Christ. He gave them hope that is living and lasting. May you also feel/sense that hope as you think through the meaning of these words by going deeper than the surface of the words themselves.

“If you...come to Christ, He will appear as a Lion, in His glorious power and dominion, to defend you. All those excellencies of His, in which He appears as a lion, shall be yours, and shall be employed for you in your defense, for your safety, and to promote your glory; He will be as a lion to fight against your enemies. He that touches you, or offends you, will provoke His wrath, as he that stirs up a lion. Unless your enemies can conquer this Lion, they shall not be able to destroy or hurt you. Unless they are stronger than He, they shall not be able to hinder your happiness.”--Jonathan Edwards 

Devo 3

Judges 20:1-2 (NASB)

Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.

Recently, while teaching on basic doctrine about the church, I was asked if the church was part of the Old Testament. I knew that the Greek word for church in the New Testament (“ekklesia”, meaning “called out assembly”) would not be in the Old Testament, but wasn’t sure if there might be a similar Hebrew word for church. So I did some research and came up with the following.

“Ekklesia” can also be translated as “assembly” or “congregation”. Judges 20:1-2 contain these words. The original Hebrew word used for congregation in verse 1 is “edah” that can mean congregation, company, assembly, and people. The original Hebrew word for assembly in verse 2 is “qahal” that also means congregation, assembly, company, and multitude. Edah is used 149 times and Qahal 123 times in the Old Testament all in reference to people being together. Therefore, the idea of people being together for the purpose of praising and listening to God and supporting one another is a very old concept. Indeed “church” existed in the Old Testament.

Another connection between the concept of church in the Old and New Testaments is the fact that “ekklesia”, the Greek word for “church” is closely related to “ekklesiastes”, in turn which is related to “qoheleth” that is translated in English as “preacher”. Indeed the poetic book, Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon later in his life, focuses on the preacher, e.g. Ecclesiastes 1:1 says, “The words of the preacher (qoheleth), the son of David, king in Jerusalem”.

We all know what a preacher does in a church. Preacher is also closely related to Teacher; in fact, many Bible translations use Teacher rather than Preacher in Ecclesiastes. Note what Ecclesiastes 12:9-10 says: “Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.” Is this not a true description of a preacher/teacher in the church today?

There is at least one other connection between church in the New Testament and congregation/assembly in the Old Testament. In Acts 7:37-38, Luke writes, “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.” The Greek word used for “assembly” in this passage is “ekklesia” which indeed is translated in the King James Version as “church”.

While this teaching might seem esoteric to some readers, to me, it is very important to realize that the concept of church that Christians hold to dearly since Christ established it (Matthew 16:18) is closely related to the Old Testament concepts of assembly and congregation. I like what a fellow named Bridge Willard wrote: “Church isn’t where you meet, it isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Don’t go to church, be the church.” What are you doing to “be the church”? What purpose of the church do you feel strongest about? What can you do to make your congregation even stronger?

2nd Look 11/14/11

2011-11-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

Devo 1

James 1:2-4 (Phillips)

When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence.

The book of James is not afraid to “get into your face”. Here’s an example. After one verse of introduction, he moves right into an area of life that happens to all of us. He writes about trials and temptations that he knows are common to every single person who lives life on this earth. He states somewhat matter-of-factly that (1) not if trials and temptations occur in your life, but when they occur; (2) that you will face not one but all kinds of trials and temptations; and (3) these problems will cause inconveniences and frustrations and pressures—they will “crowd into” your life!

Anyone who reads these words for the first time is incredulous that you are to face your problems as friends, not intruders; in fact you are to welcome them. Oh, come on, that’s not right! Well, from a limited perspective, if God were not around, indeed that would be a laughable statement. However, from an eternal perspective, from the viewpoint of God, welcoming trials and temptations as friends is a profound statement, full of wisdom. Why? Because trials and temptations produce at least three qualities in you that have eternal value—

§ They test your faith that reveals your true character

§ They produce in you the quality of endurance (perseverance)

§ They produce in you mature character that gives God the opportunity to mold you into His likeness

The Greek word for endurance is “hupomone” that the scholar, William Barclay, defined as “having the quality to stand, to face the storm, to struggle against difficulty and opposition, to make progress against a trial, rather than merely waiting out the difficulty with passivity”. Furthermore, Barclay commented that these trials and temptations are not meant to make you fall and fail, but to make you stronger as a person and to make you soar. So, as best you can, rejoice in these trials knowing what their real intent is and what they will be producing in you.

Is there anything better in life that becoming what God wants you to become? He uses both joyful and sorrowful events of life to perfect (mature) you. Yet your growth into a mature person does depend on how you react to your problems. Of course, you will experience fear and anger and depression. You will have doubts and you will plead with God to help you. But, you need to find ways to replace all these normal and nature human reactions and emotions with the attitude of faithful expectation that the Lord is in control and is using these trials and temptations for a higher purpose in your life.

Have you not experienced a serious illness where after healing had occurred you realized what a joy it is to experience the ordinary things of life that you could not enjoy while ill? God used your illness to refine you so that you developed a much more mature perspective about life. You didn’t realize the benefits of your illness initially, but now you appreciate aspects of life that you never appreciated before.

To conclude here is a quote from Gil Rugh, pastor of Indian Hills Church in Lincoln, NE: “God is in the process of making us everything we should be as His children. He intends for us to be mature, functioning in every part of our being exactly as He intends. For this to be accomplished, trials are necessary. They build in us endurance, a steadfastness under pressure which will develop us as mature men and women in Christ. What a tragedy that trials often become the occasion for complaining and discouragement. We become obsessed with getting out from under the pressure rather than from learning to stand firm and thus become everything that God intends us to be (Romans 5:2-5; II Thessalonians 1:4 and I Peter 1:6,7).” Amen.

Devo 2

James 1:5-6 (NLT)

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

Wisdom is one of those words that you think you know what it means until you try to articulate that meaning. It’s a principle or character trait that we may not know how to define it, but we know it when we see it in others. Rarely does a person see wisdom in him/herself; indeed, you are not supposed to (Prov 3:7). There are various descriptions of wisdom. A dictionary definition of wisdom is “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; to have insight, common sense, and good judgment, and the sum of learning through the ages.”

Biblically, wisdom is looking at life from God's point of view and associated with the fear (reverence) of the Lord (Prov 1:7, I Cor 12:8, Eph 1:17). Wisdom gives you pause and to ask the question "What would Jesus do?” Wisdom is clarity of vision. Charles Swindoll said: “You look at difficulties and tests as God looks at them. You look at family life and child rearing as God looks at them. You interpret current events as God would interpret them. You focus on the long view. You see the truth even though all around you are deception and lies.”

When James wrote about asking for wisdom, the context for this request is with respect to why you are going through trials in your life and the testing of your faith (James 1:2-3). The wisdom that God generously gives is greater understanding why you are going through what you are experiencing. He helps you see what you are becoming through the trial(s)—maturing your character and softening your heart so that you will be able to help others in your future going through what you have gone through (II Cor 1:4-7). The wisdom gained through trials in your life produce other admirable character traits—gentleness (James 3:13), discretion (Prov 8:12), power (Prov 8:14), control of your speech (Prov 10:31), humility (Prov 11:2) and self-control (Prov 19:11).

James 1:5 makes it very clear that God will not rebuke you for asking why He is putting your through whatever trial(s) you are facing. He wants you to be honest with Him and He wants you to be open to His ultimate will for your life for which trials help you to become who He wants you to be. Being given wisdom is a gift from God. People with the gift of wisdom are problem solvers, decision-makers and counselors. They are looked to for advice and counsel. It helps to give greater purpose and meaning for your life.

However, James 1:6 says that if you ask for wisdom for facing your trial and understanding its potential eternal benefits to you, you must be sincere in really wanting to know God’s intentions. Pastor Scott said: “Listen to me church family: You’ve got to really want to know God’s wisdom, because He’s going to tell you. You have to ask in faith, not doubting. Some of you are living that exact life because you’re not in true submission to God in the midst of your trial. I know what I’m talking about. To humble yourself and say, ‘God, teach me whatever You want to teach me. I don’t want to have to come back this way again.’ If you don’t really want to know what God wants to teach you, He’s not going to answer. You’re going to say, ‘I keep asking for wisdom, but He’s not telling me.’ He’ll tell you when you’re ready to know—when you really want to know what He’s teaching you.”

St. Augustine wrote: “Patience is the companion of wisdom”. Pray for patience as you ask God for wisdom in facing your trials and be sincere in your desire to learn and achieve godly wisdom through patient endurance as you proceed through your trial(s). Such wisdom will result in incredible blessings for you in your future and for others of whom benefit from your wisdom.

Devo 3

II John 6

And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

Have you ever read II John? It is only one chapter and only 13 verses. Have you ever heard a sermon preached from it? Have you ever been part of a Bible study class where the topic for discussion is II John? Do you ever see any of the 13 verses in II John quoted in any Christian writings? My guess is that you would answer “no” to all these questions. II John is probably as obscure a book of the Bible as any in the New Testament and ranks with certain obscure Old Testament books like Obadiah. Yet II John is part of the canon of the Bible so it’s there for a purpose, either to teach you something, correct you, reprove you, or train you in righteousness (II Tim 3:16).

So what Is II John’s purpose? I selected verse 6 as the key verse of the 13. It defines love. Not as I Corinthians 13 defines love, but much more succinctly and directly. Love is living your life according to God’s commandments. God’s commandments were given not to restrict you or to overwhelm you or to make your life miserable. His commandments are given in order for you to live a holy life, a life free from any kind of encumbrance, and a life full of blessings and honor and peace.

Love and keeping God’s commandments are also emphasized by Jesus in John 14:21 and 14:23. If Jesus asked you personally, “Do you love Me?”, what would your answer be? “Yes”, you would reply. “Oh, really?” He would say…….”then why are you not following My commandments?” You know deep in your heart whether or not you are following His commandments. Plus, basically, His commandments involve loving God and loving others as yourself. Are you?

John writes “this is the commandment”. Not a commandment, but the commandment. It is the same commandment since the beginning of mankind. The commandment? That you walk in or according to His commandments. Your main purpose in life is to live your life as best and as close as you can in obedience to the commandments of God. That’s how you demonstrate and prove your love for Him.

However, guess what? You cannot fulfill this commandment on your own. No, you cannot. You need the Spirit of Christ in you and not quench Him. What is the number one fruit of the Holy Spirit? Love (Galatians 5:22). God will see not your human nature, but His nature in you and seeing His nature in you will enable you to fulfill this commandment.

Pray everyday for God to forgive your sins and for the Holy Spirit to fill you and lead for the rest of that day. That is the key to living the obedient Christian life.

2nd Look 11/7/11

2011-11-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

Devo 1

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NLT)
And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

Deuteronomy means “second law” and the book of Deuteronomy is a review (or 2nd Look!) of the laws of God already presented in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. For example, the Ten Commandments are given in Exodus 20 and repeated in Deuteronomy 5. If you didn’t know or hadn’t noticed already, the Bible is full of repetitive truth as God knows His creation where we must be repeatedly reminded of His commandments and truths.

Keep in mind that this is God speaking. He says, “You MUST (not should) commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today”. So many people, including Christian people, do not pay attention to what God says. He wants His Word on your heart; that is, not only to know it, but also to believe it and practice it. You claim that you love Jesus? How do you prove it? Jesus said in John 14:23---“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…..”

How do you get God’s word into your heart? It must be taught. It must be taught to you by someone and in some way and then, you, in turn, must teach it to your children. In verse 7 Moses writes that parents must commit their lives to obey God’s commandments and then repeat them again and again to their children. How else will your children learn the Bible? Not in schools and maybe not in all churches. The best place for biblical teaching to occur is by parents in the home and whenever the family is together.

The Hebrew word used here for talking or teaching means to sharpen. Biblical teaching must be instructed sharply. It cannot be taught half-heartedly plus children can tell if your heart really isn’t interested in teaching them. There are four situations given where and when you are to talk about God’s Word to your children---(1) When you are at home—do you talk about God during meals? (2) When you are on the road—do you talk about God in the car? While on vacation? (3) When you are going to bed—do you have bedtime conversations about God? (4) When you are getting up—do you have any kind of conversation early in the morning?

Does anyone come close to meeting one of these situations, much less four, to talk to your children about God and His Word? Statistically, in an average week, parents spend less than 70 minutes in focused conversation with our children. There doesn’t seem to be much time at all allocated to conversation about God in the home and lives of a typical family these days.

Now that you have carefully read these verses and this brief message, what must you do? How might your family interactive dynamic be changed if you are not already reading and discussing the word of God together? If you don’t feel qualified or comfortable in starting Bible teaching in your home and elsewhere, there are plenty of family-oriented Bible story and study guides at any Bible bookstore. Do a Google word search for family Bible study and you will find all kinds of help. Just do something, don’t ignore these clear and firm commandments from God Himself.

Devo 2

Ephesians 5:33-6:3 (NASB)
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise) so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

Ephesians 5:22 through 6:4 can be subtitled “The Christian Home” with specific commands and guidance for each member of the family. Verse 5:33 starts with the transition word “However” that reflects on what Paul wrote in verse 32 that speaks of the mystery of God’s institution of marriage. Indeed marriage can be a great mystery with the husband representing Christ and the wife representing the church. If the apostle Paul cannot adequately explain why God instituted marriage, can you?

So, Paul essentially is writing, “let’s move on” and he then gives the command that a husband must love his wife as he loves himself just like the second greatest commandment that the Lord gave is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:39). Also the wife must (not should) respect her husband. The choice of verbs is interesting (husband love, wife respect). The choices of these verbs imply that women more naturally know how to love and men more naturally know how to respect. Men are most motivated and self-loved when they see others respect them, especially respect for wives. Men need and live for respect. When a man feels disrespected, he cannot love. Women are most motivated and self-loved with they see their husbands truly love them. Women need and live for love. When a woman feels unloved, she cannot show respect.

Children are commanded to obey their parents. To obey them is to honor them and to honor them has great rewards. To obey is to follow or harken a command, to do what your parents’ ask/tell you to do. To honor is to revere and value them. Children as infants obey their parents because they have no other choice. As they grow older rebellion against obedience plays more of a role and it’s up to the parents to earn a child’s continued obedience. Yes, Paul writes that children are to obey their parents, but children by nature will be rebellious and will only obey if their parents earn the right.

What does that mean? Just as love and respect are so important in the husband-wife relationship, parents must love and respect their children so that children grow to love and respect their parents. A child must experience love and respect from his/her parents. Parenting indeed requires a healthy balance between tenderness and discipline, strength and vulnerability, being an authority and being a friend, being available, but not overbearing, and so forth. A child needs to see in you as his/her parent a faith the loves God and loves others as you love yourself. This kind of parent will earn honor from your children.

Children are to obey their parents in the Lord. This means that children should only obey their parents when their parents are commanding them to do things that are right in God’s sight. To command children to lie, steal, be disrespect of authorities like government and church leaders are not to be obeyed.

What are the results of obeying and honoring your parents? Two promises are given—that your life “will go well” (prosperity) and you will live a long life (longevity). Do you know of any example of a person who grew up obeying and honoring his parents whose life did not turn out to be respectable? Yet, when you read about the lives of criminals, almost always you find out that they grew up in homes where obedience was either not practiced or, in some cases, over-enforced (abuse) and parents did not deserve honor from that child who is now a criminal.

What is a happy family? Here is one description (anonymous):
• Within the happy family you hear cheerful laughter and warm, welcoming goodwill.
• A good home environment will be pleasant, restful, and relaxing as a rule.
• Even with pressures and trials, family members will get along in a loving way.
• The family will provide a stable environment in the midst of storms.
• Hurting individuals will be met with sympathy and feel the touch of loved ones.

What life application principles can you apply from a study and meditation of this passage?

No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished? -- Elbert Hubbard

Devo 3

Ephesians 5:3 (NIV)
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

To be holy is to be free of sexual immorality, be free of any kind of impurity, and to be free from any kind of greed. These are three clearly identified areas of impropriety according to God’s Word. They also are in line with what I John 2:16 writes: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (sexual immorality), the lust of the eyes (impurity), and the boastful pride of life (greed) is not from the Father, but is from the world”. Let’s take a deeper look:

Not a hint of sexual immorality:
Sexual immorality includes not only adultery, one of the Ten Commandments (Exo 20:14), but also includes fornication (unmarried sex, read Heb 13:4), various perversions such as sex with a relative (Lev 18:6), homosexuality (Lev 18:22, Rom 1:26-27), sex with animals (Lev 18:23), and immorality of the mind (Matt 5:28). Immorality of the mind is the most difficult aspect of immorality to overcome because this involves complete control of your mind and your eyes (see Job 31:1, Matt 6:22). Such control is often usurped because of supersaturated and rampant emphasis on sex in all media—movies, television, magazines, even newspapers—and the overwhelming availability, now to epidemic levels, of pornography on the internet.

The Bible is clear…….if you wish to be holy (to be separated from evil), there must not be a hint of sexual immorality in your life. This is where you must claim the promise God that nothing is impossible with Him (Luke 1:37) and giving over your problems to Him will help you overcome the problem of sexual immorality in your daily life (I Cor 10:13).

Not any kind of impurity:
Impurity means contamination or uncleanness. In the pharmaceutical business, drug impurity can lead to injury and death. Impurity of the mind and heart also can lead to spiritual injury and death. Impurity is strongly connected with sexual sin(s), but in this passage and in Gal 5:19 and Col 3:5. Immorality and impurity are separate words either describing different sinful natures or reinforcing how much God hates immorality and impurity. Conversely, purity (and not morality) is a description of a godly man as Paul writes in I Tim 4:12 and 5:2. While impurity is closely connected to sexual immorality, it also can refer to sins of envy, covetousness, jealousy, lying, and, well, practically any kind of sin. Your life must be free of any kind of impurity and that’s why it is so important everyday to confess your sins for the Lord is faithful to forgive you and to cleanse (purify) you of all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).

Not any kind of greed:
The problem of greed is very relevant in American society lately evidenced by all the “Occupy Wall Street” protests going on in America. The NBA lockout is also a prime example of rampant greed going on in this country. Greed is idolatry and any kind of study of the Old Testament becomes very convincing how much God hates idolatry. The world has always been filled with people who are greedy; you can read about some of this in I Cor 5:10-13. The famous “greed is good” quote by Michael Douglas in “Wall Street” shows the emphasis that the world has about money and covetousness. Greed is associated with wickedness (Prov 21:26) and contrasted with righteousness that is associated with giving away. Jesus warned us against the sin of greed in Luke 12:13-15. Greed is powerful enough to keep you from entering heaven according to Mark 8:36-37. The greatest guard against greed is to learn to be content (Phil 4:11, Heb 13:5) with what you have that will prevent you from having an unhealthy and spiritually dangerous love of money (I Tim 6:10).

2nd Look 10/24/11

2011-10-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Hebrews 11:24-27 (NLT)
It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.

Hebrews 11 is the well-known faith chapter of the Bible. Verses 1 and 6 are among the most quoted verses of the entire Bible. Many examples of what faith means are written in this chapter. One of those examples is Moses, whose faith is described in verses 24-27.

Moses knew who he was and who he was not. Pastor Scott stressed that leadership begins with understanding yourself. Leadership does not begin with understanding the people you are trying to lead. You need to know who you are and you need to know who you’re not. You need to come to grips with your background. You need to know your strengths and your weaknesses. Moses knew that he was imperfect. In fact, throughout the Bible, God used people with great weaknesses. He uses people for His purposes in spite of their weaknesses. If you avail yourself to Him, as Moses did (read again this passage), God will use you in some kind of leadership role.

A major teaching here is that you are not to try to be someone you are not. Moses had to choose whether to be the adopted grandson of the most powerful person in the world at that time or be a follower of the Lord. He chose relative misery and a humble life over fame, fortune, and comfort. Why? He chose to be who he really was, the son of a Hebrew slave. He did not choose to be somebody that he really wasn’t.

I see this occasionally in my own life and I believe that most people deal with this. You have a hard time accepting who you are, who God created you to be. You pretend to be someone else. Steven Jobs expressed this well in his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University: “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Moses chose not to waste his time living someone else’s life. He knew who he was, he was not a phony. So don’t you be one either. Quit trying to be somebody you’re not. Be yourself. Be who God created you to be. How do you do that? It’s a mindset you develop. You accept yourself. You ask God to give you guidance. Like everything else in the life of a Christian, it’s a faith issue. Like Moses and all other faithful people listed in Hebrews 11, you choose faith in God and let Him take over your life and guide you. When you know who you are you can serve God and through faith in Him serve others. Humility, as Moses’ example demonstrated, comes easily when you know and accept who you really are, who God created you to be. Otherwise, your life will always be filled with stress because of your phoniness. Keep your eyes, your mind, your heart on the One who is invisible as Hebrews 11:27 says. You will find peace and rest for our soul.

Devo 2

John 17:1-4 (NIV)
After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify You. For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do.

When you think of the Lord’s Prayer, you have been taught that it is “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name….......” found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Actually, this is not the Lord’s Prayer, it is the disciples’ prayer. The true Lord’s prayer is found in John 17. If you skim over John 17, you miss the real depth of what Jesus is saying. He prayed this prayer aloud; otherwise the disciple John could not have recorded it. In fact Jesus prayed this prayer in the presence of all His disciples as obviously He wanted them to hear it and for us, through John, to read it and understand what Jesus wanted us to learn.

Keep in mind that Jesus knew when He prayed this prayer that the cross was facing Him. His disciples then realized that the end was near when He uttered the words, “the hour has come”. The disciples were filled with fear, knowing that their master was soon to leave them, yet Jesus was filled with anticipation. Yes, He knew that He was going to suffer and die; yet He also knew that He would soon be reunited with His Father in Heaven. Recall that several times in the gospel of John (e.g. John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20) Jesus used the phrase, “My time (or hour) has not yet come”. Yet, now, as He prayed this prayer in John 17, He knew that the time finally was here for Him to depart this earth via His death and His resurrection. His work on earth could not be truly fulfilled unless He first fulfilled the principle of death (John 12:24).

Everyone reading this must realize that someday your hour will come. You can view this both physically and spiritually. Physically, your hour will come when you must face your own physical death. Spiritually your hour will come, if it hasn’t already where you must make a choice between living your life for yourself or living it for Jesus. Ray Stedman referred to this time as a time of “abounding opportunity” where once you make a decision to live for Christ, He gives you “almost unimaginable realm of service and blessing and glory”. Do you or can you believe this?

In this prayer notice that God gave to Jesus the power to have authority over all people. Such power and authority are manifested in Jesus’ ability to give eternal life to you. Eternal life is knowing Jesus Christ personally. The analogy might be knowing Jesus like you know your spouse or a dear friend with whom you can share anything about your life. There is both breadth and depth in that enriching relationship and it is a wonderful thing. Eternal life is your only hope for life after death and such hope comes only from having a relationship with Jesus. Where do you stand?

Jesus declares that He has finished the work on earth that God gave Him to do. He is your example in that you should live your life so that as you near the end you can declare the same thing. Do you know the work God has given you to do in this life? If not, you need to pursue what that purpose is. I believe that deep down in everyone’s heart, you know what your purpose is for living the life God has given you. You know what motivates you, what Bible verses speak loudest to you, what calling(s) you feel if you avail yourself to listening to the Word of God through reading and hearing it. Then, once you know what God wants you do accomplish while living your life on earth, are you indeed fulfilling that work? Again, deep down in your heart, your inner spirit convicts you whether or not you are fulfilling His purpose for your life. You need to act upon whatever you sense God is telling you to do, either continue what you are doing or start doing what you know you are not doing yet. If you don’t know what your life’s purpose is, what you are to achieve in this life God has given you, then indeed you won’t achieve much and you will miss out on the most fulfilling, abundant life God created you to have.

Devo 3

Luke 24:32 (NASB)
They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”

Luke 24:13-35 describes the Emmaus walk, Emmaus being an ancient town halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The site today is part of Canada Park, a Jewish national park. Luke tells the story of two disciples walking on the first Easter Sunday afternoon when the risen Christ appeared to them. The United Methodist Church established a ministry called “The Walk to Emmaus” where I am quoting from one of their websites: “The Walk to Emmaus®” is a spiritual renewal program intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. The model for the program is Christ’s servanthood and encourages Christ’s disciples to act in ways appropriate to being ‘a servant of all’. The Emmaus® walk usually begins on Thursday evenings and concludes on Sunday evenings with men and women attending on separate weekends.” You may be someone who has participated in this program. I have not, but everyone I know who has participated raves and marvels at the experience.

The key word in verse 32 is “burning”. The Greek word used is “kaio” that simply means “set on fire”. It also can mean “to bring light”. This word describes the reaction of people who hear (“speaking to us”) and understand (“He was explaining”) the words of Jesus. You may be thinking to yourself, “Well, sure, if the person of Jesus Christ was walking with me and teaching me the Scriptures, of course my heart would be burning too!” Yet, did you not know that one of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit within the hearts of every Christian person is to do the same thing? Jesus said in John 16:13 that the Holy Spirit will “guide you into all the truth” and the same Spirit will “bear witness of Me” (John 15:26). Therefore, if the Holy Spirit is alive in you, if you have not quenched Him through unconfessed sin and/or apathy (I Thess 5:19), He will explain the Scriptures to you just like Jesus did in person to the disciples.

It is a fantastic experience to be part of a Bible study where you can feel, enjoy, and benefit from a burning heart. Has not the following been your experience when engaging in a group Bible study? The start was somewhat slow because you all were transitioning from secular life experiences (just the daily routines of life). Even when the Bible verses were read, your heart was still more connected with the secular than spiritual world. Then the transformation occurred. As people started discussing their observations and interpretations of the Scriptures and as a master teacher facilitated these discussions, the conversations became really interesting and stimulating. Often, because of time limits and the discussions needed to cease, you were disappointed that they had to end. That’s because your heart was burning because of the power of the Scriptures. That’s what the disciples were describing on their walk to Emmaus.

Does your heart burn with zeal when you open and study the Scriptures? Are you convinced of the truth of God’s Word and desire to believe and do what it says? Or, are you casual about the Bible and can take it or leave it? Is your Bible study real fellowship, authentic sharing and passionate discussion, or is it going through the motions, routine, and shallow? What will it take for your heart to burn again when reading, studying, and discussing the teachings of the Bible?

2nd Look 10/18/11

2011-10-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Psalm 24:1-5 (NASB)
The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Imagine looking at a photograph showing a panoramic view of one of the most beautiful sights on earth. Imagine the caption of that photograph----Psalm 24:1---the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. Every time you are driving or flying or boating or wherever you are when you gaze upon the scenery around you, think about this fact that everything you see belongs to our creator God, He established everything. This is one of those truths too great to comprehend, but just thinking this while admiring something in the natural world is an act of sincere worship.

I had written the above first paragraph before attending a wedding held at a place called Nestldown, located in the Redwoods forest near Los Gatos, CA. What a magnificent venue for an outdoor wedding where guests are sitting in an outdoor chapel nestled amongst these towering trees, the sun set glazing through the forest, the music (e.g. “Alleluia”) heard over loud speakers located high up in the trees. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever see in person and while I was sitting there during the ceremony I could not help but recite Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s and all it contains………”

Nestldown is one of these places in God’s creation where words cannot describe what the eye sees, the ear hears, and the mind thinks. Words simply don’t adequately describe God’s awesomeness.

The Lord created everything. Everything that man has created/built came from the earth that the Lord made. You’ve heard of this familiar joke: A summit of scientists believed that because they now had the power to create life, God was no longer needed. One of the scientists climbed to the top of a high mountain and called upon God. “God! We humans now have the ability to bring people from the dead, we can create our own life; we don’t need you anymore so you can leave us alone.” God smiled and replied, “OK that’s interesting, show me. So the scientist bends down and starts to work with the soil. God interrupts the scientist, “Get your own dirt”.

All humans sometimes or, sadly, all the time think like this scientist where we think that we can do things on our own without the Lord’s help. He has given us free will so we take advantage of our independence and self-reliance. Yet we are still not God and cannot do things He can do and has done including all that is in creation.

A rhetorical question—who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and who may stand in His holy place? Indeed, not everyone and, in fact, most human creation cannot. Only those “who has clean hands and a pure heart”; only those who have “not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully”. Is there any sin not covered in these four types of descriptors? Hands represent actions, heart represents thoughts, falsehood represents words, and deceit represents attitudes.

Just take some moments everyday to acknowledge God who has created everything including you and all your loved ones and simply thank Him. And spend time to search your heart and allow the Holy Spirit in your to reveal to you when and where in your life have you failed to have clean hands, a pure heart, to tell the truth and done deceitful things. Acknowledge where you have failed, ask for forgiveness, be filled with the Holy Spirit and keep praising God who has created all and has given you so much. Alleluia!

Devo 2

II Cor. 4:4 (NLT)
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The Lord’s Prayer says-- “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, thus imploring God to rule over what is going on in our lives on earth as He does for all in heaven. Why does He not rule us while on earth?

When Adam and Eve committed the first sin, called original sin, that you read about in Genesis 3, God cursed the earth (v 17) and sentenced all mankind through Adam and Eve to a hard life that ends in death (v 18-19). Since Adam and Eve, through the free will God gave to them, chose to listen to the serpent, representing Satan, rather than to God, God gave the earth over the Satan. Thus, Satan and his demons rule the earth and Satan is called “god of this age”.

The major characteristic of Satan is that he has the ability to blind the minds of unbelievers, those who will not or cannot believe in God’s way of salvation through Jesus Christ. Such blindness prevents people from seeing the light of the gospel (John 3:16) and, therefore, cannot believe that the glory of Christ is the image of God.

Spiritual blindness………what is it? Basically it is not seeing life and the world the way God sees it. It is not understanding God’s ways. It is not having the capability of seeing how we sin in His sight. It is the failure to understand and apply God’s truths in our lives. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were examples of spiritually blind people (Matthew 23:16-26).

How does Satan blind the minds of people today? Well, he uses the same mechanisms he always has—lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life (I John 2:15-16). Such lusts lead to all kinds of problems including addictions of all kinds, sexual immorality, greed, theft, hatred, murder, lying, prejudice…….really, every kind of problem that is anti-God starts because of selfish and sinful lust.

David Jeremiah, in his 2011 book, “I Never Thought I’d See the Day” (pages 47-60), listed five key words that summarize how Satan deceives, divides, and destroys God’s people:
1. Indifference—making you believe that he doesn’t exist
2. Ignorance—not knowing how Satan attacks you and how to resist him
3. Infiltration—allowing/tolerating sin through your lifestyle choices
4. Intervention—keeping you too busy to follow God, tempting you in various ways, especially with money, using multimedia to flood your mind with anti-God messages, convincing you to be self-sufficient, no need for God or a Savior in your life.
5. Intimidation—non-biblical fear of Satan, not realizing the power of Christ is greater than the power of Satan.

Do you see any spiritual blindness in your daily life? Indeed you are involved in a daily struggle against Satan, the god of this age, who desires to destroy you and all your loved ones. Simply being aware of his tactics and how to fight him will keep you from being spiritually blinded. Study Ephesians 6:10-18 and take advantage of the spiritual armor that God has provided to enable you to be victorious over the enemy.

Dr. Jeremiah concluded his writing on spiritual blindness and warfare with these words ( paraphrased in some parts): “Satan could rule the world were it not for the spilled blood of Christ. Christ’s shed blood makes all the difference in our spiritual battle. We do not have to live in fear of the devil. We need enter only the spiritual battle to which we have been called, aware of its reality and its subtlety, and armed with the truth that the ultimate victory against Satan has already been achieved (Romans 8:37, I Corinthians 15:57)”.

Devo 3

Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Christians agree that prayer is a necessary discipline of a dedicated Christian life. Yet, most of us struggle in how to pray and what to pray for. We often don’t know what words to use or exactly what we should be specifically praying for. For example, how do you pray for someone close to you or even someone not so close who is seriously sick? What words do you use to express exactly how you feel for that person and what you hope that God will do? And, if you are asked to pray publicly, your stress level significantly increases, as you want to say the right words, yet don’t really know what to say. And because of these struggles, many Christians do not pray as much or as fervently as we should and certainly avoid public prayer. Be honest, how much time do you pray each day? How difficult is it to pray specifically for prayer concerns you know exist around you? Do you like or dread praying in the presence of others?

This passage addresses these struggles of knowing how to pray and what to pray for. The verse starts “in the same way” where Paul is referring to the groaning of creation that started when Adam and Eve committed original sin that, in turn, caused groaning of humankind because of God’s penalty for sin. We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for eternal reunification with our Creator and the ultimate redemption of our bodies to incorruptible and eternal bodies.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. Oh my, we know that we are weak in so many ways—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Yet, the weakness Paul is referring to here is our weakness in knowing intellectually what to ask God as we pray. I have already indicated one area of weakness in knowing how to pray for someone to be healed when we know that death eventually occurs for everyone. How do you pray for needs versus wants, especially in the use of your finances? How do you pray for someone when you are not exactly sure what he/she is going through? How do you pray for wisdom to make right decisions? Indeed, the main concern in many of your prayers is saying the right words for something to happen or not happen in the future of which you have no control over.

The beauty of the promise of this passage is that the Holy Spirit will intercede for you to pray the right words. To intercede means to speak and/or do on your behalf. The Holy Spirit will interpret what is in your heart that words many times cannot describe. You don’t need to worry about what words to say. Many times, I have prayed something like, “Lord you know what the situation is with (provide person’s name) and you know what I am trying to say but don’t know how”. The groaning that the Holy Spirit provides may not be words at all. Think about it……..does God really hear your words in English or whatever your language is? The Holy Spirit in you takes your words and the thoughts of your heart and translates those words/thoughts into some kind of prayer language that God understands.

Note also that the Holy Spirit prays in accordance to God’s will so you don’t need to worry about this. Often you need to make a decision and want it to be the right decision (within God’s will) but you don’t know how to pray effectively for that right decision. Don’t worry about it; the Holy Spirit takes care of this for you. He knows God’s plan for your life and knows what needs to be done in order for that plan to be carried out.

God knows that you have limited capabilities and perspective about your future and the future of those for whom you are praying. Yet you are to pray and with your prayers the Holy Spirit augments or supplements what you are saying or even thinking and properly interprets those prayers to God. The purpose of prayer is to communicate with our Father in Heaven and for your will to conform to His will. Prayer changes you with the Holy Spirit helping to make this happen. God loves to answer prayer, but according to His will and His timing. You do not need to worry about how to pray or what to pray for, but simply to open your heart to the Lord and through His Spirit in you and interceding for you, your prayers will be heard. This is why, after you pray, you always feel so much better. What you may not have known until studying these verses is that everything you pray about is being augmented, supplemented and presented by the Holy Spirit.

May you feel great blessings from now on as you pray knowing that you have a spiritual helper who intercedes on your behalf to allow what is really on your heart to be clearly and effectively communicated to almighty God.

2nd Look 9/26/11

2011-09-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Ezekiel 22:30-31 (NLT)
“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 22 describes the sins of people--spiritual leaders (prophets and priests), government leaders (princes) and all Israeli people--- that had become so great that God Himself had begun the effort to find a person who would intercede for these sinful people. Verse 30 says that He “found no one”. The person God was looking for was someone who could “stand in the gap” in the wall of righteousness that guards the land. Because He could find no one who could fulfill this need, He had to proceed to punish the people for their sins. That punishment was the fall of Jerusalem and all the Jewish people exiled to other lands.

Standing in the gap has several meanings. Think of a bridge without which you could not go from one place to another. Standing in the gap bridges right against wrong. Who is standing up against rampant immorality that is increasing in our nation? All you have to do is think about what you can watch on TV today versus what was allowed in past years to be reminded of how much our society has fallen away from God’s moral standards. Someday God is going to punish America just like He punished Israel/Judah unless He can find individuals willing to stand in the gap and put a stop to rampant immorality. Frankly, does anyone believe that our nation will reverse this downward trend? Yet, nothing is impossible with God if He should see people standing in the gap. The question is, will He?

Standing in the gap allows someone to take that next major step in his/her life. Who has stood the gap for you in your Christian walk? Who has helped you grow from a Christian baby to a Christian adult? Or, are you still someone who cannot yet stand on your own spiritually? You need someone to stand in the gap for you until you can on your own.

Standing in the gap is to come alongside a person in need, praying for them, prayerfully helping them make needed changes in their life, and sharing your time and effort with them. Who has been willing to stand for you when you could not yet stand for yourself? Are you now standing in the gap for someone else who cannot help themselves? Who are you influencing spiritually these days? For whom has God called you to pray and intercede?

God is constantly “roaming the earth” (II Chron 16:9) to find people “whose heart is completely His”. There are plenty of gaps in ministry, missions work, schools, neighborhoods, even businesses that need people—God’s people—to stand in those gaps.
God is always looking for men and women to fulfill His purposes on the earth, to stand in the gap. Are you someone He would call to respond to Him, to make a difference in others’ lives, to fulfill a calling to represent Him on the earth? Where might there be gaps that you believe He is calling you to stand and be the bridge in that gap?

Babbie Mason wrote and sang these words:
“I heard that you were hurting, that you were suffering pain.
But I didn't dare just turn my head and look the other way.
For when your heart is aching, my heart is aching too.
Let me help you bear your burden, that's the least that I can do.
I'll be standing in the gap for you.
 Just remember someone, somewhere is praying for you.
Calling out your name.
Praying for your strength.
I'll be standing in the gap for you.”

2nd Look 9/19/11

2011-09-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

I Peter 5:8-9 (NLT)
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

Spiritual attack! In this era of terrorism where murdering terrorists use guns and explosives to attack and kill/injure people, the imagery of being attacked by an enemy is very real and very scary. What is much less realized because of its invisibility is the reality of being attacked spiritually by the devil and his demons. In fact, most people don’t believe this happens. Oh no? Well, let’s look more closely.

There are several examples in the Bible of being spiritually attacked. The prime example is Jesus being tempted three times by Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). The three types of temptations or spiritual attacks were (1) turning stones into bread representing lust of the flesh; (2) throwing Himself off the top of the temple, representing lust of the eyes and (3) promising Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would worship Satan, representing pride of life. These three temptations represent the three main ways that Satan attacks people (see I John 2:15-16). Jesus also was spiritually attacked when Peter was rebuking Him for His prediction that He would be killed and be brought back to life and Jesus responded, “Get behind Me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23, Mark 8:33).

Being spiritually attacked is manifested in various ways. For new believers, the devil and/or his demons attack you by placing doubts in your mind about your faith. You start to doubt God, doubt your salvation, and doubt biblical promises. Remember that Satan is the great deceiver starting with his deception of Eve and Adam. Temptations are thrusted at you and you start succumbing to them. For experienced believers, especially those who are admired by other believers, the devil and his demons will attack you in ways that might shame you and ruin your reputation and testimony. Examples include sexual temptations and other moral failures, pride and ego overcoming you, spiritual lethargy, overwhelming personal troubles, and attacks on family members who commit disreputable acts that, in turn, can harm your own reputation and testimony.

So, how can you guard against these spiritual attacks? The primary answer is “stay alert”. Other translations use the phrase “be alert and of sober mind”, “be self-controlled and alert” and “be sober and be vigilant”. Be well aware that Satan lurks everywhere, that he desires to cause you great harm both physically and spiritually and you must stand firm against him. Ephesians 6:13-18 describes spiritual armor available to resist Satan, five of these defensive weapons and one offensive weapon. All of this armor enables you to be strong in your faith. Another excellent means to withstand these spiritual attacks is to be part of a strong fellowship team where other Christians (your Christian brothers and sisters) can help and encourage you to stand firm in your faith and negate these attacks. After all, all Christians are attacked spiritually (“going through the same kind of suffering you are”) so everyone knows what the other is enduring. Be praying for one another.

Are you experiencing spiritual attacks right now? Are you seeing other fellow believers being spiritually attacked? Are members of your family being spiritually attacked? What impact is this having on you and/or on them? What steps are you taking to stay alert and stand firm? Indeed, either you stay alert and stand firm or you will fail to resist spiritual attacks. Either stand firm in your faith in God and in His Word or you will fall (I Cor 10:12). Don’t let anything interfere with your desire to stay alert and stand firm. The Lord and other believers will help you if you ask them.

Devo 2

Ephesians 6:12-17 (NCV)
Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world's darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. That is why you need to put on God's full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing. So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist and the protection of right living on your chest. On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong. And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows of the Evil One. Accept God's salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-18 is the famous “Armor of God” passage. Paul says in verse 11 “put on the full armor of God”. Why? So that you “may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil”. The devil’s schemes are many including corrupting your faith (the great deceiver, Gen 3), telling you that committing a certain sin is acceptable (the great liar, John 8:44), and telling you that you are no good (the greater murderer, John 8:44). Then Paul writes in verse 12 that our enemy is not other people but that our enemy or enemies are spiritual forces, aimed to destroy your soul and spirit, along with your body, and keep you from flourishing in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. By that, I mean keep you from enjoying an abundant life that Christ promises (John 10:10) to His followers who truly follow Him as Lord.

The armor of God consists of five defensive weapons and one offensive weapon.
• Belt of truth—John 14:6
• Iron over your chest (breastplate of righteousness)—Matt 5:6
• Shoes of peace—Eph 2:14-15
• Shield of faith—Gal 2:20
• Helmet of salvation (Acts 4:12)
• Sword of the Spirit (Word of God) (Heb 4:12)

If these pieces of armor are too many to remember, just remember your Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Paul also wrote in Romans 13:14 to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”; that is, to protect yourself with His Word, with His righteousness over Satan, with His promises of peace, with your faith in Him, with His salvation and with the power of His Word. Remember, all it took for Jesus to eliminate satanic attacks in His temptation was to quote the word of God.

You simply put on God’s armor by knowing and trusting the Lord. You read, study, meditate, and believe in His Word and stand on His promises. You believe that the Bible is true. You believe that you are forgiven and have the righteousness of Christ (right before God) in you. You feel His peace because of your trust and praying daily. Your faith continues to grow as you live each day dedicated to Him. You have the assurance of salvation because of your faith in understanding what salvation really means. You always come back to the Bible to help you through whatever difficulties you are facing and whatever threats you feel from satanic attacks (e.g. doubt, fear, worry, discouragement, frustration, addictions, hardship, etc).

The biggest lesson you must learn from the armor of God and what you must teach your children is that you cannot overcome spiritual attacks on your own. Your own strength will fail you eventually. Jesus Christ is the only person in history who has defeated Satan through His sacrificial death on the cross and his resurrection. Without the armor of God, you and your family will be defenseless against the deceit, immorality, and disobedience that go on all around you in this society (its culture, media, entertainment, values) we live in. What are you doing to protect your family and yourself? In what areas of your life do you experience the greatest spiritual warfare? If you or a member of your family is being spiritually attacked right now, what must you do?

With the armor of God you never need to fear the devil and his attacks. Yet you must be constantly on the alert to his schemes. He can only defeat you if you let him. Praise the Lord for this wonderful truth.

Devo 3

Nehemiah 4:14 (NLT)
Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”

Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, King of Persia (modern day Iran). Artaxerxes granted permission to Nehemiah and Ezra to return to Jerusalem in 445 BC and rebuilt the city walls, destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The Babylonians were conquered by the Persians (King Cyrus) in 539 BC with the Persian kings being more benevolent toward the Jews than the Babylonians had been.

However, as Nehemiah was making progress in this rebuilding project, he and his people faced opposition by other Jewish enemies---- Sanballat of Samaria, Tobiah the Ammonite, Geshem the Arab, and the men of Ashdod (Neh 4:7). These were the enemies of whom Nehemiah referred in this passage and that the Jewish people must not be afraid of them.

Nehemiah implores his leaders and all the Jewish people not to be afraid. Think about how you would feel if you knew that there were people within miles of your home who were planning to kill you and your family. That’s a situation that thankfully we never have to face living in this great nation, but imagine how you would feel if you and your loved ones’ lives were being threatened? Would you not be afraid?

Yet, Nehemiah writes “don’t be afraid of the enemy!” Why not? Because you are to remember the Lord who is great and glorious (glorious is also translated as awesome). It is a major biblical principle---and please try to remember this!—that you are never to be afraid of anyone or anything except the Lord and fear of the Lord means to revere and honor Him.

While this passage refers to people’s lives being threatened, it can also be used to help fight discouragement. Discouragement is a great enemy of success and victory. By definition discouragement is the opposite of courage. Raphael Oye Taiwo writes that “discouragement is the devil’s tool which has caused many great efforts to be abandoned just when they are about to achieve their superb goals”. How do you fight and overcome discouragement? By remembering the Lord. Remembering His promises. Remembering His power and victory over all the “D” words---discouragement, despondency, despair, depression, and death.

Nehemiah correlates remembering the Lord’s greatness and awesomeness with fighting for your family. An interesting correlation! The Hebrew word for “fight” indeed means to “engage in battle”. Fight is a key word in Scripture, used 177 times in the Old Testament and a few times in the New Testament, most notably in II Tim 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” The Lord wants you to fight for your family. In Nehemiah’s time, this fight was for the survival of the Jewish nation. Today, you are to fight against worldly and satanic attacks on your family. Satan will do anything he can to destroy your family’s mutual love and unity. You are not to fight with your family; you are to fight for your family. How? To do this justice I would need a book to write about all the possibilities, but to summarize, you fight for your family against both physical and spiritual attacks in the following ways:
• Praying for each family member every day.
• Asking God to use His greatness and awesomeness to protect and guide each member of your family and your family unit as a whole.
• Claim God’s promises for your family.
• Encouraging, not putting down, each member of your family. Often encouragement comes in the form of forgiveness.
• Never give up on any member of your family, no matter how much trouble they have caused and how rebellious he/she might be.

There are many other ways that you fight for your family, but simply remembering the Lord and praying for your family (better yet, praying with your family) will go a long way toward keeping your family together and successfully resisting all the various attacks that come from the world and the devil. Fight for your family because if you don’t, no one else will.

2nd Look 9/12/11

2011-09-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

John 9:1-3 (NLT)
As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked Him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."

Early one morning last week I was driving to work listening to a sermon by RC Sproul. He attracted my attention by reflecting on the tragedy of 9/11 and asking the question, “Where was God” when this happened? Sproul’s answer: “God was in the precise place on 9/11 that He was on the day before and the day after. He was on His throne then and continues to be on His throne now because He is the Lord God omnipotent who reigns. He reigns day in and day out in consistent manifestation of His immutable sovereignty. God is immutable, unchanging, even though people and cultures continually change.”

OK, but that does not give much, if any, comfort to those who lost loved ones that day as well as likely does not satisfy those who asked and still ask the question. On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, most Americans still deal with emotional scars from that day and still feel a huge sense of insecurity, especially since the specter and reality of terrorism still clearly exists. Why, God, why?

Evangelists Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell attempted to answer the question. Falwell told Robertson and Robertson agreed that 9/11 was a result of God’s judgment on America’s sinful culture that included prayer being banned in schools and tolerance of abortion and homosexuality. Reaction against these men was so strong that they later issued recantations. It may not have been their place to speak such judgmental words, but who is to say for sure that 9/11 was or was not an act of judgment of God? Recalling the words of the priest in the movie “Rudy”, “Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not Him.”

Jesus’ disciples asked the same question---why? Why did God allow this man to be born blind? It is seemingly so senseless that child be born blind or with any other birth defect. It seems senseless when any kind of human suffering occurs. Why, God, why? Now it’s interesting that the disciples did not wait for Jesus to answer. They proceeded, like Robertson and Falwell, to propose possible answers. Yes, they rationalized, the man was born blind because of sin, but whose sin…….his or his parents? First, they put the blame on sin as many people do today when something bad happens. Haven’t you felt guilty when something bad happened, especially to a loved one and you pinned it as punishment for your sin(s)? If another person experiences great suffering, do you think sometimes that person must have committed a great sin and now is being punished?

Second, they gave Jesus an “either/or” dilemma (blindness due to him or his parents) with no other possibility. This definitely is an example of a rush to judgment. Indeed, Jesus’ answer was that it was not either his sin or his parents’ sin that caused this man’s blindness. His answer was and still is startling---the man’s blindness happened so that many years later, Jesus Christ, son of God, could demonstrate His power to overcome and heal. The man’s blindness and all our sufferings of the world are not senseless. God will work through what originally appears to be senseless and work out something good (Romans 8:28). It takes faith to believe this and time to see the results.

God did not cause the man’s blindness nor the 9/11 attacks nor all other evil that exists in this world. God gave man free will to make choices and this blessing often can became a curse. Man through Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and do evil in His sight. Sin thus entered the world and sin set in motion all kinds of evil and suffering and death (Gen 3:17-19). Yet, God sees all this and often intervenes although just as often does not. He is sovereign; we are not. He has created heaven where there is no death or sorrow or pain or any kind of evil and where believers will be some day. In the meantime, He knows and sees what will happen and always is available to comfort and support. He can turn something evil into something good like He did with the blind man, like He has done with countless people who suffered in one way or another because of 9/11, and like He can do with any suffering you are experiencing right now. Again, it requires your trust in His sovereignty.

Devo 2

Ephesians 6:10-11 (NIV)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Paul concludes his letter to the Ephesian church by describing the warfare each Christian faces every day, warfare that involves daily attacks by the main enemy of the Christian faith—Satan and all his demons. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote a 373 page book entitled “The Christian Warfare”, an exposition of Ephesians 6:10-13. The book deals with the character and all the strategies of the devil to defeat Christians from being effective for God and demonstrates how discouragement, anxiety, false zeal, lack of assurance, and worldliness are the mainstays of the devil’s schemes.

Right now as you are reading this, if you are dealing one or more of the following:
• faith problems (e.g. God is not answering my prayers, doubts)
• money problems (both having it or not having it where money has become an idol)
• moral failure problems (think of Ted Haggard or Jim Bakker)
• relationship problems (e.g. conflicts becoming exaggerated, jealousy and envy)
• psychological problems (e.g. excessive worry and fear, frustration, addictions)
• spiritual problems (e.g. apathy, discouragement, deception)
• confusion (e.g. your life is filled with uncertainties and you are paralyzed by these)
• depression (e.g. I’m not any good, I’m not useful, no one cares for me)

You are being attacked by the schemes (strategies) of the devil. He will attack you daily, persistently, and especially when you are most vulnerable to his attacks. No Christian escapes these attacks; you have to be on guard all the time (I Peter 5:8).

Satan’s main goal is to remove you from being an effective Christian. How many examples exist of people who say that they are believers in Christ, but don’t act like it and are ineffective Christians? Nominal/casual Christian people---Satan won’t waste much time on you. Who Satan really is interested in attacking are Christians who are effective in their ministries and in their walk with the Lord. The more effective you are as a child of God, the more you should expect to experience major attacks by the enemy.

So, how do your defend yourself against Satan’s attacks? You cannot win if you rely on your own strength. Examples of relying on human strength include making resolutions, using human therapists, reading self-help books, and trying to ignore the attacks. Likely any mature Christian will admit that at some time in his/her life he tried to resist these attacks without the help of the Lord and failed. Note that Paul writes that Christians must be strong “in the Lord and in His mighty power”. The sooner the Christian realizes that he/she cannot fight satanic attacks on his/her own, the more successful you will be in overcoming these attacks.

The Lord’s mighty power involves five defensive and one offensive weaponry written in Eph 6:14-18. You need the whole armor of God (“put on the full armor”) not just one or two pieces. Basically, think about the power of God when you think of the resurrection of Jesus Christ where God’s power is so great that He can bring people back from the dead. Think of God’s power when you witness forces of nature. Think of God’s power through the realities of all His creation, the beauty and majesty and order of it. You need this kind of power to help you overcome the attacks of Satan currently in your life and will occur throughout your life.

What do you need to do resist and defeat the attacks of Satan in your life?

Devo 3

Psalm 46 (NLV)
God is our safe place and our strength. He is always our help when we are in trouble. So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and the mountains fall into the center of the sea, and even if its waters go wild with storm and the mountains shake with its action.
There is a river whose waters make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High lives. God is in the center of her. She will not be moved. God will help her when the morning comes. The people made noise. The nations fell. He raised His voice and the earth melted. The Lord of All is with us. The God of Jacob is our strong place. Come and see the works of the Lord. He has destroyed parts of the earth. He stops wars to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the war-wagons with fire. Be quiet and know that I am God. I will be honored among the nations. I will be honored in the earth. The Lord of All is with us. The God of Jacob is our strong place.

On September 11, 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America, President Barack Obama read this psalm in a ceremony at the World Trade Center site. He was asked to read Psalm 46 rather than give a speech so as not to detract from the centerpiece of the ceremony, the reading of the victims’ names.

Likewise, there will be no elaboration of this psalm. Simply read it carefully and meditate in your time of worship about the person, character, and promises of God, especially during a time of fear, grief and despair.

2nd Look 9/6/11

2011-09-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Colossians 4:2-6 (NLT)
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

These are the last words of spiritual instruction that Paul wrote to the church at Colossae. The remainder of chapter 4 relate to general instructions regarding specific people in the faith. What is he encouraging his readers to do and to be? He wants them to pray for a number of specific items, to live wisely amongst unbelievers, and to speak in a manner that is impressive to everyone. Easier said or stated than done, right?

Note the action word about prayer----devote. The Greek word is “proskartereo”, a long word that means to adhere to, to be steadfastly attentive to, to continue all the time, to be in readiness. This same word describing prayer is also found in Acts 2:42 and 46 where it is written that the first Christians devoted themselves to prayer daily.

So, what does this mean, devote yourselves to prayer? Undoubtedly, this means that you give priority to prayer every day. Do you? Muslims pray five times a day, a practice that some might think is contrived, but nevertheless there’s something to admire about this disciplined practice. Christians have no rules to follow about praying, but not to pray or to pray half-heartedly and inconsistently does not follow biblical instruction. To pray with an alert mind and a thankful heart is not praying half-heartedly or inconsistently. Praying with your mind and with your heart strongly signify serious thought and emotion in your prayer time. Too often we pray, but our prayers are rote, routine, boring, and forgettable. Praying with a thankful heart is not boring. Praying with an alert mind is not routine.

One approach I have used over the years that helps to keep my prayers lively is to have a different prayer focus each day of the week: Sundays—praising God; Mondays—praying for unbelievers you know; Tuesdays—praying for everything and everyone you are thankful for; Wednesdays—praying for those in full time ministry—pastors, teachers, missionaries; Thursdays—praying for others’ needs; Fridays—asking forgiveness of your sins and your forgiving others; Saturdays—praying for your own needs.

Besides the emphasis on a devoted prayer life, Paul focuses on living and speaking wisely amongst unbelievers with four specific guidelines:
• Make the most of every opportunity you have in interacting and speaking with unbelievers. For example, do all you can to speak and show unselfishness, interest in others’ lives, being encouraging, never complaining, never cursing, being like salt of the earth and light of the world. (Psalm 19:14, 39:1, Prov 16:24, I Thess 5:11, Titus 2:7-8)
• Speak graciously—use kind and courteous words (Prov 12:25, I Peter 3:9-11, Eph 4:29)
• Speak attractively—what kind of speech is attractive? I think any kind of speech that praises and encourages others. (Prov 10:18-20, Prov 15:4, Eph 4:29, I Thess 5:11)
• Speak correctly—Paul writes that you should have the correct or right response to everyone (Psalm 37:30, 139:4, Prov 25:11-12, Prov 28:23, Isa 50:4, I Cor 2:13, Col 4:6, James 1:19-20)

How difficult all this can be. Depending on your own human abilities to live and speak like this might be close to impossible. I believe that the only way you can accomplish wise living and speaking is through dependency on the Holy Spirit. Luke 12:12 and 21:15 promise that the Holy Spirit will give you the appropriate words to say with the appropriate wisdom behind them. Again, that’s why daily prayer as well as praying silently at the moment when you know that you need to say something graciously, attractively, and correctly will open your heart to hear and know what the Holy Spirit is telling you to say. You will know the right verbal response if you pause and ask God to help you know what to say, if anything.

 "Ten minutes spent in the presence of Christ every day, aye, two minutes, will make the whole day different." Henry Drummond

"A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men." Leonard Ravenhill

"I ought to pray before seeing any one…Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: ‘Early will I seek thee’…I feel it is far better to begin with God-to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another." - Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Devo 2

Judges 4:4 (NASB)
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

In writing about the only female judge in the history of Israel, I looked up how many women are prominent in the entire Bible. What do you think? How many prominent women are mentioned in the Bible? I found an informative website ( http://www.womeninthebible.net/) that lists 16 women in the Old Testament and 11 women in the New Testament. Some women are not named, e.g. Potiphar’s wife who tried to seduce Joseph, the Samaritan woman in John 4 and Pilate’s wife. Some women, especially in the Old Testament are highly prominent, not only Deborah, but also Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Ruth and Esther. Prominent named women in the New Testament are Mary, mother of Jesus, sisters Martha and Mary, and Mary Magdalene. Unfortunately some women are prominent for negative reasons, e.g. Bathsheba, Jezebel, and Deliah in the Old Testament, the adulterous woman in John 8.

From these examples it is clear that God has called certain women to be in certain places and have certain roles in the history of His people and His church. Deborah was called to be a judge, the 4th of 13 different judges that God appointed to deliver Israel from a particular enemy (Judges 1:16, 18). Judges were not kings, simply ordinary people used by God to deliver Israelites over a period of some 250 years. Other well-known judges were Gideon, Samson and Samuel. Deborah was used by God to lead a counterattack against the forces of Jabin, king of the Canaanites, and his general Sisera. Israel then lived in peace for 40 years. Deborah was a great warrior as well as the wife of Lapidoth, yet unlike other married women in the Bible, Deborah stands out on the basis of her own merits, not as the wife of a greater man.

Judges 5:2-31 contains the first poem of the Bible called the Song of Deborah, sung by her and Barak, her military leader, considered a victory hymn. Deborah is described as a prophetess, a judge, and a military leader. Only two other people in the Bible were described as having this range of responsibility and authority---Moses and Samuel.

Why was Deborah chosen to the highest office in the land when throughout the Bible, it is taught that women are not to hold authority over men? Judges does not give a specific answer, but one must deduce that Deborah was the best person available at that time in Hebrew history who exemplified leadership and respect. In Judges 5:7 she stated “Until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel”. Such a statement suggests that there was no one else in Israel then who had more godly character of whom God could appoint as a judge than Deborah. Leah Kohn wrote in Women in Judaism, “She held hope for Israel and inspired a renewed sense of value as Yahveh's chosen people, and exhibited a woman's ability to instill rather than impose, to invigorate rather than force, and to cultivate rather than command.”

Deborah served a unique role for women in Jewish history. What are your thoughts about women leading in the church today? Are you willing to follow the leadership of a woman, either in the church and/or in the business world? If you are a woman, are you experiencing a strong sense that God is calling you into a leadership role as He called Deborah?

Devo 3

Psalm 139-1-4 (NASB)
O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

Read these words carefully……..do you really believe them? If so, do you really understand them? Have you really thought them through? For most readers, I’ll bet not. Do you believe, do you understand and have you thought through what it means with all of the following?
• For the Lord to search you?
• For the Lord to know you?
• Every time you sit down, the Lord knows it?
• Every time you rise up, the Lord knows it?
• That the Lord knows what you are thinking?
• That the Lord scrutinizes where you go and when you stop?
• That the Lord knows every detail….yes, every single detail….about everything you do?
• That the Lord knows what you are going to say, even before you say it?

As you meditate on these questions and thoughts, it is no wonder that Paul wrote in Romans 11:33, “how unfathomable are Your ways”. Really, the finite human mind, even the most intelligent human mind in the world, cannot comprehend what it really means for the Lord to be what is called omniscient. To be omniscient is the capacity to know everything. That’s what these words are saying; in fact, most of what Psalm 139, the entire Psalm is saying……God knows everything (and also is omnipotent and omnipresent). He has unlimited, infinite knowledge. Someone once said, “Did it ever occur to you that nothing occurs to God?” No human has this characteristic so no human can explain it.

So, once again, faith is brought into the forefront. Faith is what you must have in order to believe in the Word of God and trust that it is all true. You cannot understand and explain omniscience, and no human being has it, so all you have left is either faith or no faith to believe that God has it. And, if you believe He has it, then you must realize that all these characteristics of God’s omniscience apply to you personally. The thought---without understanding it---that God knows everything you have done, are doing, and will do, even down to what you think and what you will say---does this not change your life’s perspective a little….or a lot? Are you comforted by this, or, more likely, are you uncomfortable and intimidated by this thought? Really, don’t you shrink a little figuratively as you think about God knowing everything about you and everything that is going to happen?

Isn’t it incredible that God knows everything and is everywhere yet most humans don’t include Him or don’t consider Him important in their lives? People spend most of their time idolizing other gods (money, position, sports, TV, other addictions) and completely ignore the One who is all-knowing. The One who can meet our needs the best and the most is the One we ignore. Why is that the truth for most humans? One possible explanation is that God is not small enough for the human mind to comprehend and so “ignorance is bliss”. If the human mind cannot fathom the character of God, especially His omniscience, why even try?

How difficult is it for you to believe in the omniscience of God? What must you do to gain such belief if you don’t already have it? Or, is omniscience a concept that you cannot believe? How comfortable might you be to express and even try to explain your belief in God’s omniscience to others, especially those you know will doubt, even ridicule you? How do you reconcile the omniscience of God with free will of man? Ah, all these questions are not for the person unwilling to think and meditate about such deep thoughts.

Devo 4

II Timothy 4:6-8 (NASB)
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Paul is nearing the end of his life. Being a prisoner in Rome while Nero was Emperor, Paul must have known that he would soon be executed. Tradition says that he was beheaded several miles outside Rome on the Ostian Road. The San Paolo alle Tre Fontane church was built on the location where the execution was believed to have taken place.

What does he mean by “being poured out as a drink offering”? Drink offering is an Old Testament term first found in Genesis 35:14 where Jacob gave a drink offering to God. That drink offering was poured on a pillar of stone that Jacob had set up to commemorate the place where God spoke to him and changed his name from Jacob to Israel (the name Israel means “God reigns” or “God perseveres” or even “He has striven with God”). A drink offering represents a life “poured out” in God’s service. We celebrate communion with the wine/juice offering representing Christ’s blood that was shed (“poured out”) as a selfless service to God and a love offering to mankind. Paul rendered a similar service to mankind through all his selfless and sacrificial actions, sufferings, and writings to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the known world at that time.

Have you poured out yourself out like a drink offering like Jesus, Paul, and many others throughout the history of Christendom have done?

Paul also writes of his three triumphs in life—fought the good fight, finished the course (race), kept the faith. These three declarations are to be the mottos of every Christian when you come to the end of your life on earth. Life is full of challenges and sufferings, that’s the fight you face and you must fight it to the end. Life is a journey, a race that you run to reach a victorious conclusion where you complete the purpose(s) for which God created you to achieve. And, your life is to be lived as a life of faith, always trusting in God through Christ to whom you surrender your will (“not my will, but Thy will be done”—Luke 22:42). Doing your best to live your life like this will allow you to receive, just as Paul wrote that he will receive, the crown of righteousness on Judgment Day.

Maybe you have seen an email being circulated containing questions God is going to ask you the day you die. Ponder these questions as you meditate on your life of faith, fighting the good fight, and finishing the course:
• God won’t ask you what kind of car you drove. He will ask you how many people you drove who did not have their own transportation.
• God won’t ask you about your house square footage. He will ask you how many people you welcomed into your home.
• God won’t ask about the clothes in your closet. He will ask how many people did you help to clothe.
• God won’t ask you about your salary. He will ask if you compromised your character to receive what you did.
• God won’t ask you what your job title was. He will ask you if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
• God won’t ask you how many friends you had. He will ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
• God won’t ask about your neighborhood. He will ask how you treated your neighbors.
• God won’t ask about your skin color. He will ask about the content of your character.

2nd Look 8/29/11

2011-08-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT)
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.

As a Christian you are to “set your sights on the realities of heaven……” What are the realities of heaven? Pastor Scott’s sermon focused on how you can practically set your mind on the realities of heaven—starting each day thinking about God, praying throughout the day that God would give you a heavenly perspective on the people and events and circumstances of your life, making God’s Word a part of your every day, and spending time around other people who want to think the way you do.

In my Bible are notes describing at least 14 characteristics about heaven that I think readers will appreciate being aware of:
• Everything is new and you won’t remember whatever hurt you while on earth (Isa 65:17).
• There is no more sea (Rev 21:1). Biblically the sea stands for everything that falsely governs your life and anything in your life that is chaotic and uncertain. None of that in heaven.
• There is direct fellowship with God, there is no veil; He will be in plain sight (Rev 21:3).
• There is no mourning, crying, pain or death anymore. God directly will minister and care for you (Rev 21:4). This may be the greatest revelation about heaven in the Bible.
• Your love will be like an angel’s love, so complete that you will not have to prioritize whom to love more or less as you have to do on earth (Matt 22:23-30).
• You do not have to worry about fitting in because you truly home. You will never feel left out. The home of your spirit, the eternal part of you, is not on earth (Phil 3:20).
• There will be true humility, you will not have to be anything more than you are, you will have nothing to prove, you will be completely satisfied (Rev 21:27, 22:9).
• I love this one….there is whole knowledge and complete understanding……no more mysteries about life, about other people, about anything (I Cor 13:12). Have you not thought about all the questions you have about life here that you want answered when you reach heaven?
• There is perfect justice (Rev 19:2). No more controversial issues like the those facing the Supreme Court all the time that remain controversial even after a decision is made needs to decide.
• All nations are reconciled, healing is complete, no more wars or any conflicts (Rev 22:1-2).
• Treasures in heaven are permanent. Nothing can be taken away from you (Matt 6:20).
• You will do work (and not play harp music) that will please God. You will have complete fulfillment with your work (unlike the experience of so few on earth) (Rev 7:15, 22:3-5).
• You will never need any rest or sleep as there will be no night (nor the need for any light since God will be present) (Rev 21:23, 22:5). Also no need for food or drink, complete satisfaction (Rev 7:16).
• There will be no worries about anything. In heaven you are reminded continually that God is in control and you will not worry about anything including those remaining on earth. You will know what is going on in their lives, but being in the presence of God, you will be in perfect peace about them and have no worries (Luke 16:19-31; Heb 12:1).

It is these kinds of truths that Paul urges you to think about, not the philosophies dreamed up by unbelievers of this world. When you were an unbeliever, you could not possibly think about these truths, but now as a believer, you can. Praise God about the reality of your being raised up with Christ and your life is now hidden with Him and you will someday live in glory forever with Him. Live the rest of your life looking forward to the realities of heaven and your place in it.

Devo 2

Colossians 3:5-9 (NLT)
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.

The King James version as well as the New International Version and other literal translations of the original Greek words of Colossians 3:5 use the words “members of your earthly body” that should be “dead to sin”. However, I like the more modern, if somewhat paraphrased, New Living Translation wording that declares “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking with you.” Sin most definitely lurks in our lives. To lurk means to lie in wait, to ambush, to move silently and furtively. God-fearing people do not intentionally want to sin, but sin happens because it lurks in our lives. As Peter wrote in I Peter 5:8: “be of sober spirit, be on the alert because your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. The word “prowl” is like the word “lurking”. The devil, the father of murders and lies and the great deceiver, waits for the right opportunity to catch you at a weak moment and devour you with sin. The most God-fearing/obedient Christians are always vulnerable to these satanic attacks.

What are those sins that lurk within you? Paul lists several---sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, idolatry, anger, rage, bad behavior (malice—hurting others), slander, dirty language and lying to others. You might start your day with the intention not to do any of these sinful things, but by the end of the day, you may have done what the devil knows is your weakest link.

Whatever sins lurk within you, these verses are declaring that you must put them to death because you are a new creation in Christ. The first four verses of Colossians 3 associate the Christian with Christ and if you truly are reborn in Him and His Holy Spirit alive and active in you, you will have no desire and no part of the sins that existed in your life before your salvation experience. To put sin to death simply means to eliminate such sin from your life and to avoid all situations that you know would tempt you to commit those sins again.

A greedy person is an idolater, worshipping things of this world. I cannot help but think of pro athletes, Wall Street finance people, and even company CEOs and presidents who make enormous amounts of money, far beyond what the average person earns and then make a spectacle of themselves in wanting/demanding even more. Our legal system is plagued by greedy and shameless lawyers. I also think of oil companies and other producers of products and services who will gouge the public any chance they get. However, all this being said, each of us needs to be on guard against a natural human tendency to be greedy and self-serving. Indeed, all these sins are part of the old and wicked human nature and must be removed from the life of a Christ-follower.

Note Paul’s warning, albeit 2,000 years ago, that the anger (“orge” = wrath) of God is coming to punish what original translations describe as “children of disobedience”. God hates sin and sin must be punished. God provided the sacrificial death of Jesus to be a substitute for His wrath against sin (II Cor 5:21). Jesus received punishment so that sinful man will not be punished as long as man willingly accepts what Jesus did. This is the good news—the gospel---of salvation. Jesus reconciled sinful man with holy God, but sinful man must take the initiative to recognize his sinful nature, ask for forgiveness and accept Jesus as his Savior. Otherwise the anger of God remains upon the person who does not believe in what Jesus did. It is always a personal choice.

What is your reaction to all this? Paul is writing to Christians; are you a Christian? Even as a reborn Christian, there still might be old sinful habits that must you still get rid of? You know what they are. Use these verses as conviction to put them to death. Ask the Lord to help you get rid of them. Now is the time.

Devo 3

Colossians 3:16 (LB)
Remember what Christ taught and let His Word enrich your lives and make you wise……..

This verse is a very difficult one to follow, even for the most devout Christian. More standard translations state: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom……” Any Christian, even a mature one, must admit that sometimes you have not remembered the Word, and you know that you have not allowed (let) the Word dwell in you richly. The words “dwell” and “richly” are very descriptive that separately would not have nearly the same impact as they do combined in this verse. To dwell means to live, to be part of, to be in a permanent place. The Word of Jesus is to be a very definite part of your life, to have permanent fixture as a basis for your attitudes, action, thoughts, and words.

Yet His Word also is not only to be part of you, but also to be part of you seriously, consistently, and to have overt influence on you. Thinking on the word “richly” or “enrich”, what comes to mind is a rich dessert or some kind of rich food. There is definitely more depth and more substance in something that is rich. To live your life with the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly means that your life is characterized by depth and by substance in your relationships with God and with others. Richness of the Word of Christ in your life energizes you to act and be His representative, His likeness wherever you are and whatever you are doing all the days of your life.

To remember what Christ taught and to let His Word enrich your life and make you wise means that you must have His Word memorized to some extent. Yet, almost all adults shudder at the thought of memorization of God’s Word. It’s a flat out “cop out” to think that you are too old to memorize God’s Word. You are never too old, but you might be too lazy or too unmotivated. The best memorization system I am aware of is the Navigator’s Topical Memory System that involves the memorization of the top 60 most significant verses of the Bible. If that seems overwhelming, how about committing to memory 10 verses of your choice? These should be verses most meaningful to you and your current life situation. With the availability of Google or other search engines, there’s no excuse for not being able to find the appropriate verses.

I beg your indulgence, but here are my top ten favorite Bible verses that all Christians should commit to memory. If you don’t have these memorized already, I challenge you to do so over the next few weeks:

• Psalm 25:12-14
• Proverbs 3:5-6
• Isaiah 41:10
• Jeremiah 29:11-13
• Matthew 6:33
• John 3:16
• John 14:6
• Romans 12:1-2
• Philippians 4:6-7
• Hebrews 10:24-25

Devo 4

Colossians 3:22-25 (NASB)
Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

If Paul had written this passage today, he would have used the word “employees” rather than the word “slaves” (or also translated as “servants). However, in his time in the first century AD, slavery was a normal way of life, especially in a world dominated by the Roman Empire. It is not purpose to comment on the biblical view of slavery, but rather to comment on the biblical expectations of an employee.

This is a very difficult passage to obey if you are working for a “master on earth” who is cruel, manipulative, self-serving, unappreciative or otherwise difficult-to-impossible to work for and please. In reviewing main characteristics of “bad bosses”, here is a partial list:
• Poor communicators, dishonest, withhold information
• Poor prioritizing, poor organizers
• Show favoritism, intimidate, ignore or belittle
• Use inappropriate disciplinary procedures, figuratively slap employees in the face
• Take credit for others’ ideas and contributions, blame others for their mistakes
• Fail to provide rewards or recognition
• Changes mind, flip-flops, unable to make good decisions
• Fondness for following petty rules, micromanaging
• Preference for weak workers, “yes-men”, are intimidated by smarter employees
• Just flat-out incompetent

Not liking or respecting the boss is the #1 reason for employee morale problems, low productivity, and quitting the job. Yet, if you are a Christ-follower, what is this passage from Col 3:22-25 instructing you to do with respect to your job and to the person(s) to whom you report and/or to whom you are accountable?
• Obey (literally to subordinate yourself) to your boss with sincerity of heart.
• Do your work heartily (the Greek word translated heartily is “psyche” that means both “life” and “soul”). You put your whole heart and soul into your work.
• Avoid doing wrong in the workplace.

All of these commands are relative to your position/status as a Christ-follower. You are to work honestly and sincerely, meaning that you are not working simply to please other people. You are working to please the Lord. In other words, and this is hard to accept, your primary motivation for working is not to make more money or earn that next promotion, but to work in a way that you gain eternal rewards from the Lord. A Christian worker should be the best worker on the job. You should not do wrong---e.g. cause trouble or be a disagreeable employee. Indeed, working like this very well might cause jealousy or resentment from co-workers who are not working to please the Lord. Your motive always should be to maintain your Christian character regardless of what others might think of that perspective. Yet you are not to use your faith and motivation to please the Lord as a weapon against others. I have seen Christians in the workplace who cause a lot of problems because they tend to be judgmental of others who do not have the same motivations.

Matthew 5:16 says “to let your light shine before men” and there’s no better place for this to happen than in the workplace. Your light will shine when you always tell the truth, never back-stab others, never complain, never use sexual innuendos or other inappropriate language, and always work and interact with integrity. That is the ideal Christian servant in the work place and indeed that is very hard to do all the time. But, you must try because you are working to please Christ as your main motivation.

Haddon Robinson is quoted: “Your work may be tedious. You may have an employer who doesn't appreciate you or pay you what you're worth. You may want to quit. But you are working for Christ. Do your daily work so that your Master in heaven can one day say to you, ‘Good job. Well done’". That is the reward of the inheritance from the Lord. Consider your workplace---although this might be the most difficult thing you can do---to be a sanctuary where you are doing the most service for Christ!

Devo 5

Psalm 9:9-10 (NLT)
The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.

My wife, Midge, and I attended the funeral of the wife (“Sukey”) of one of my closest friends. I did not know her that well, certainly not as well as I knew my friend, a Wabash College fraternity brother. I did not know how strong her faith was, evidenced by a list of her favorite Scriptures published in the funeral agenda handout. Seventeen Scriptures were listed with Psalm 9:9-10 at the top of the list. I wanted to write about Psalm 9:9-10 in remembrance of Sukey.

Who are the oppressed? The original Hebrew word has the meaning of being crushed, dejected, and afflicted. Have you experienced times in your life—maybe right now as you read this-- when you have felt crushed, dejected, and afflicted? When you think of the word “oppressed” you think of being under the weight of a very heavy burden, almost more than you can handle. Oppression comes in the form of people, organizations, life’s circumstances overall, or even the demonic that could lead you to serious frustration and depression. You lose your job. You lose your health. You lose a loved one. Someone causes your heart to break in many pieces. You make a very bad decision that is very costly. Perhaps one of the greatest outcomes of oppression is the feeling of uselessness. Feeling useless is one of Satan’s greatest tools in deceiving people and causing them to succumb under the weight of oppression.

Psalm 9:9 teaches that the Lord is a shelter or refuge for the oppressed during times of trouble. The Hebrew used for both words has the meaning of a high place, a stronghold, or a retreat that the Lord provides to enable the oppressed and the troubled to find relief and help. How is He a shelter and refuge? Well, first and foremost, there are many biblical passages that make the simple claim, like this one, that He is willing and able to help you (e.g. Psalm 46:1, Isa 41:10, Matt 11:28, John 16:33, Romans 8:35-39, many others). The main problem is that you need to have sufficient faith that God’s promises are true and that as a child of God, you have a Father in Heaven who is greater than any problem you will ever face in your life. Psalm 9:10 emphasizes the importance of trust in God and trust comes from faith built up through consistency in seeking the Lord through Bible study and involvement in His work (church, fellowship, service, interest in others, etc). God also provides people to enter your life who will help you if you allow them to do so. That’s why those who are most helpful to you are people who have gone through and emerged victorious from the same oppression and trouble that you are experiencing (II Cor 1:3-7).

God never abandons those who seek Him. He promises that “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Heb 13:5), but you must have a relationship with Him. He is willing to fight your troubles for you, but you must be willing to give them over to Him and not keep trying to solve them all by yourself. He brings other people into your life to help you. That is one of the main roles of the church, but if you are not involved in a local church, how can its people help you?

I have personally experienced the Lord providing a refuge for me during my deepest troubles that have included being without a job, dealing with a family member who was in serious trouble, dealing with a significant health problem, and feeling like I no longer could contribute anything to anyone. I have been in those situations where I had no answers and had to go to the Lord for help. He provided it, just like He did for many people in the Bible like Joseph, and David and Daniel and Paul and like He has provided for many people I know who experienced far greater problems than I did. You must trust in His Word---His promises—that He will be a shelter, a refuge, a hiding place, a very high place---for you to turn to when you have no other place to go. I am so grateful for God’s helping me in my times of oppression and trouble and promise that He will help you if you trust in Him.

God Himself is your shelter and refuge. Say to Him in prayer as the psalmist writes in Psalm 91:2 “I will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust'”. Seek Him, receive His help, and thank Him as I believe Sukey did.

2nd Look 8/15/11

2011-08-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Colossians 2:16-19 (NLT)
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For He holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

There has always been the problem of zealous individuals and churches attempting and often succeeding in imposing their man-made beliefs onto others. They think they know what is right and wrong by taking Bible verses out of context, flatly misinterpreting them, and/or do not even know what the Bible really teaches. Some examples, similar to what Paul was writing about millennia ago:
• Condemning you for eating certain foods like meat
• Forbidding the drinking of tea or coffee
• Forbidding activities such as dancing, playing football, taking medicine, chewing gum, watching movies, wearing jewelry, and many other false forms of self denial that are not Christ-honoring, but rather man-honoring.
• Condemning you if you worship on a day other than Sunday
• Condemning you for reading Bible translations other than the King James Version
• No reading the paper or watching TV or cooking or anything secular on Sundays
• Enforcing certain dress and personal appearance rules
• Condemning you for any kind of sin without any aspect of grace.

Think about people who exemplify “holier than thou” attitudes and actions:
• Hypocritical judgment of others---condemning another’s sin when the condemner is doing the same thing.
• Claiming to have a special relationship with God that others don’t
• If you do not speak in tongues, you do not have the Holy Spirit in you (and, therefore, you are not saved)

Examples from movies and television:
• The prison warden in Shawshank Redemption
• The townsfolk in Inherit the Wind
• Robbie's wife's parents in Everybody Loves Raymond.
• Dana Carvey’s “church lady” parody in Saturday Night Live

No one has the right to condemn you for your failure to obey man-made rules. For someone to tell you how to without proper or correct biblical referencing is wrong and you are not to listen to them. Paul uses two examples of man-dictated rules---pious self-denial and worship of angels. Pious self-denial means false humility and worship of angels means that angels were worshipped rather than God through Jesus. These are not from Christ. In fact, people who create and/or enforce man-made rules are obstacles to Christ and have historically done the church much harm. Paul calls them sinful and filled with pride and, in fact, such people are not connected to Christ.

If someone you know---and this could be you---starts trying to manipulate and control others through claiming that God spoke to him/her, you know now that the apostle Paul wrote about such people long ago and they are not connected to Christ. Do not be swayed and do not feel condemned by them. Keep your mind and heart on Christ through the careful studying of His Word. Those who are swayed by such false teachers and prophets are those who do not know their Bibles. And, indeed, biblical illiteracy is a huge problem in the lives of most Christian people.

How well do you know your Bible such that you could easily discern man-made rules from what is really taught in the Bible?

Devo 2

Colossians 2:20-23 (NLT)
You have died with Christ, and He has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

It must startle the new Christian to read/hear the words “you have died with Christ”. Paul also wrote in Romans 6:3-8 about being “baptized into His death”, “buried with Him through baptism into death”, “crucified with Him”, and “died with Christ”. Such phrases can be scary turn-offs to people who are not taught their real meaning. Skeptics and enemies of Christianity use these phrases to condemn the faith as foolishness. In one conversation I had with a Muslim, he told me that a main problem Muslims have with Christianity is the image of a savior being crucified and that His followers also must be symbolically crucified.

What Paul means by these references is simply that Christ paid the penalty for your sins and if you accept His substitutionary death, you symbolically are set free from the sin nature you used to have and from the penalties of sin to be judged at Judgment Day (Matt 16:27, Romans 14:10, I Cor 3:11-15, II Cor 5:10). Thus, Paul writes above that “He has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world”. Who are the “spiritual powers of this world”? Eph 6:11-12 gives the answer—evil forces led by the schemes of the devil. Jesus several times referred to the devil as “ruler of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).

If your faith in Christ has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world, why do you keep on following the rules of the world? Paul uses examples of “don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”; what is he referring to here? He is describing “self-asceticism”, extreme forms of self-denial. Yes, Christians are to practice some forms of self-denial that are part of a disciplined lifestyle. Jesus commanded that if you wish to be His follower, you must “deny yourself” (Luke 9:23). Yet your motives for self-denial should be love for Christ and wanting to honor Him. The self-denial Paul is describing here is “over-the-top” self denial that brings attention to yourself, not to Christ.

What are examples of “over-the-top” self-denials that, as Paul wrote, require “strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline”, but are wrong because they are done with self-centered motives and provide no help in conquering your evil desires? There are many examples, but a few that come to mind include living like a hermit, self-inflicted pain (like the monk self-flagellating in “The DaVinci Code”), extreme fasting, and narrow judgmentalism. There are many things in life that are indeed biblically wrong (sexual immorality, lying, stealing, cursing God, causing another to sin, etc). Yet, there also are many things in life where the Bible does not specifically comment for or against. Paul wrote about this in Romans 14 using examples of what to eat and what day to observe the Sabbath. There are dozens of other examples (drinking, smoking, gambling, clothing, personal appearance, entertainment, etc) where the Bible does not specifically declare it is right or wrong, but does give guiding principles to follow (e.g. don’t do something that might be fine for you, but will cause another person to stumble in his/her faith).

People who espouse and practice man-made rules, false piety, and severe self-denial are hypocrites and phonies who are not following Christ. The Pharisees were examples in Jesus’ day and look how critical He was of them. Be careful that you do not fall into the same trap. Be careful that you do not make the same errors. Be very aware of any hint of hypocrisy in your Christian walk. Don’t try to impress other people at the expense of failing to live to the glory of God. If you soberly find yourself behaving like this, return to the Lord through praying for forgiveness and restoration. It is only through Christ that you find true freedom. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free (John 8:32).

Devo 3

Isaiah 30:18-21 (NASB)
Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you. And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice. How blessed are all those who long for Him. O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Much of the book of Isaiah is prophecy concerning the future of the Jewish nation (“people of Zion”). However, Isaiah speaks to individuals too, anyone who believes in the God of the Bible. What caught my eye and heart in reading this passage was verse 21 that speaks of God’s voice speaking to me to guide me to make right decisions/choices. Imagine the Lord Himself speaking to you every day, giving you advice, guidance, instruction, whatever you need to make right decisions. What this says to me is that whatever decision I make---turn to the right or to the left---either God will clearly give me the insight to turn the right direction or, if I don’t, He will speak to me clearly to tell me that the turn I want to make is not the right turn for my life.

Think about how reassuring this truth is……….with God behind you and whispering into your heart what to do, you cannot make wrong decisions nor be outside the will of God. So whatever you are doing and wherever you are right now, you can enjoy enormous peace of mind because you are where God wants you to be and doing what God wants you to do. At times this may not make sense to you, your life may seem full of drudgery and lack of purpose, but rest assured that God is there with you and giving you all of His grace and compassion.

Now, indeed, there is a condition for your assurance that God is guiding you and enabling you to make all the right decisions. What is that condition? You must “long for” Him. The Hebrew word used here is “chakah”, meaning “to wait”. Psalm 33:20 reads “Our soul “chakah” for the Lord; He is our help and our shield”. On the other hand the word is used in Psalm 106:13 where the writer laments that people did not wait for His counsel and soon forgot Him. So the idea expressed by the word “chakah” is that you must exhibit faith that is willing to wait for the Lord to act, to speak, to answer your prayers and while waiting you keep growing in your trust in Him. Oh, indeed, how difficult this is for us impatient and impertinent human beings. Yet, be reminded again and again that our ways and thoughts are not His ways and thoughts (Isa 55:8-9) and for you to benefit from His divine guidance, you must trust in His ways rather than your own.

God’s timing is perfect if only you can believe and practice this truth (read Psalm 27:14). Waiting and longing for the Lord brings Him honor and gives you peace of heart and mind because you have resolved in your heart and the rest of your life’s journey to trust Him to direct you. Such trust does not happen overnight. Try praying to Him every morning and throughout the day, simply asking Him to help you “trust in Him with all of your heart” and not worry about explaining or understanding what is happening or not happening to you (Proverbs 3:5).

2nd Look 8/8/11

2011-08-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Colossians 1:28 (NASB)
We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

What does it mean for you to be “complete in Christ”? The word “complete” in the Greek (“teleios”) means “brought to its end, finished, nothing more necessary to completeness, perfect, full grown, mature”. This same Greek word is used in Matt 5:48 when Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount that “you are to be “teleios” just as your Father in Heaven is “teleios”. Romans 12:2 says that by not conforming to this world by a renewing of your mind that you will prove the “teleios” will of God. And James 3:2 says that he who is able to control his tongue is a “teleios” man. To be “teleios” or complete in Christ means to be like Christ in how you speak, act, and think. It means that you speak wise and uplifting words. It means that you act humbly and gently as He did (Matt 11:29). It means that “you take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (II Cor 10:5).

Paul wrote that his ministry was focused on proclaiming Jesus Christ and admonishing (urging, pleading, appealing) to every person and teaching every person with all wisdom to become complete in Christ. So how do you get to the place where you are complete in Christ? I think like most spiritual journeys, it begins and ends with saturating your mind with the Word of God. Why? Because Paul in II Tim 3:16-17 wrote that the Word of God (Scripture) is profitable (useful, needed, required) for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness so that he who studies and applies the Word of God may be what? Perfect! The word for perfect in II Tim 3:17 is “artios” but its meaning is the same as “teleios”, to be complete and perfect.

To study and apply the Word of God seems like a simple statement, but one of the most difficult pursuits and challenges in life. The “teleios” Christian person takes his/her Bible and makes it part of his/her life. Just like you eat food several times a day for your physical nourishment, you take in the Word of God every day for your spiritual nourishment. The goal of Paul’s ministry, the goal of every pastor in charge of a flock of Christian people, the goal of every Bible teacher is to take the Bible and help people see that it is spiritual nourishment for every day for the rest of their lives. A Christian matures and becomes “teleios” because you feed on the Word of God.

Do you believe that the Bible has the ability and the capacity to make you perfect? You say, “no one can be perfect and certainly not I”. Yet the perfection referred to here is to be complete in Christ. No, you humanly alone can never be perfect, but your life dedicated to Christ and proving that dedication by studying and applying the Word of God daily in your life makes you perfect in Him. Think about this----do you not believe that Jesus Christ through His Word has the capability of perfecting you? Oh, indeed, someday He will make you like Him, if you let Him, perfect and completed, lacking in nothing (James 1:4). Philippians 1:6 says that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

Candidly answer this question----is the Bible part of your daily nourishment? Do you take as much time and effort studying and applying the Bible as you do to eat? Are you ready and willing for the Lord to work in your life to complete you in Christ?

Devo 2

Colossians 2:2-3 (NASB)
……that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In “Psych Basics” of Psychology Today, the following is written about wisdom: “Like art and pornography, wisdom is hard to pin down, but people generally recognize it when they encounter it. Psychologists pretty much agree it involves an integration of knowledge, experience, and deep understanding that incorporates tolerance for the uncertainties of life as well as its ups and downs. There's an awareness of how things play out over time, and it confers a sense of balance. Wise people generally share an optimism that life's problems can be solved and experience a certain amount of calm in facing difficult decisions. Intelligence—if only anyone could figure out exactly what it is—may be necessary for wisdom, but it definitely isn't sufficient; an ability to see the big picture, a sense of proportion, and considerable introspection also contribute to its development.”

Whatever wisdom is, Jesus Christ is the source. In this passage, Paul writes that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ Himself. In I Cor 1:24 Jesus is described as “wisdom of God” and in I Cor 1:30 He is described as “wisdom from God”. Jesus is not only the source of wisdom, He is wisdom. Wisdom of God also is called “a mystery”, both in this passage and in I Cor 2:7.

Christian people, to whom Paul is writing, should have their hearts encouraged. Why? Because they have been knit together in love. The Greek word that is translated “knit together” is “symbibazo” where the scientific term “symbiosis” comes from. Symbiosis describes close and long-term interactions between different biological species. One example of many is the interactions of coral organisms and various types of algae living inside them that produce coral reefs. Christian people, regardless of age, sex, personalities, cultures, backgrounds, etc, are knit together. The bonding of this knitting is the love of Christ that exists in the hearts of authentic Christians. Such love puts others first where people love others as much as they love themselves. Do you feel “knit together” with other Christians? If so, are not these close relationships a source of great encouragement to you? If not, you are not where you should be and are missing out on what might be the greatest source of encouragement in your life you could ever find.

Are you wealthy? Your first thought when you hear the word “wealthy” is having plenty of money, right? Yet Paul uses “wealth” to describe the result of being fully assured of the relationship you have with Jesus Christ. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1). You are wealthy when you have the full assurance of understanding who Christ is. William MacDonald in Believers Bible Commentary, p. 2000, wrote that the expression “full assurance” is used three times in the New Testament----full assurance of faith (Heb 10:22), full assurance of understanding (Col 2:2) and full assurance of hope (Heb 6:11).

The deeper your understanding of the Christian faith—obtained by Bible study and application, and mutual fellowship with other Christians---the stronger your faith is in practice and the more protected you are against false teaching and other strongholds of the world that potentially could/would lead you astray.

One last thing……..it is a teaching of Christ that He revealed greater depth of His teaching to those closest to Him. He taught in parables so that only those closest to Him would eventually understand the deeper truths of those stories. The mysteries of God—especially the revelation of Jesus Christ—become far less mysterious to those who stay close to Christ through the teaching of the Bible. Draw near to God and He draws nearer to you (James 4:8). Always remember this as you continue your spiritual journey for the rest of your life.

Devo 3

Colossians 2:7 (NLT)
Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

This verse is the basis for the well-known “2:7 Series” discipleship course offered by the Navigators Christian organization. The 2:7 program was designed to build habit forming patterns in living for Christ and is based on the four action verbs found in Colossians 2:7--
• rooted in Christ
• built up in Christ
• strengthened in the faith
• overflowing with thankfulness to God

The progression makes sense. Think of a new plant that you place in the ground, let’s say your favorite flower. For the flower to grow, it must take root. Once it takes root it starts to grow and begins to flourish. The greater it grows the more flourishing it looks. And, for a flower, the more flourishing it is, the more beautiful it appears and will draw high praise from those who admire its beauty.

Pastor Scott used the analogy of a tree to explain being rooted and built up in Christ. For trees to grow, their roots need to go deep into the soil in order to find water and nutrients for such growth. For Christians to grow in their spiritual outlook and influence in bearing fruit in others’ lives, they must commit to deepening their spiritual roots in God’s Word (“truth” in Col 2:7). The best, perhaps, only way to accomplish this is daily intake and meditation on God’s Word. Haphazard Bible study will not deepen spiritual roots and not result in bearing fruit. Both Psalm 1:3 and Jeremiah 17:8 speak of the importance of a life that is like a tree planted by streams of water whose roots are deep and much fruit is borne.

There is something special about the mind that is saturated with God’s Word. The person who allows his/her mind to be saturated with God’s Word becomes a very strong Christian person. Indeed, faith is dependent on knowing the God’s Word (Romans 10:17). And what is the result? You will be overflowing with thankfulness to God. The more you study the Bible, the more your faith deepens and grows and, consequently, the more that your life overflows with thanksgiving. Somehow knowing and applying His Word enables you to see life from His perspective and what you see gives you a higher sense of appreciation and gratitude for all He is and has done.

Here’s another benefit of being firmly rooted, grounded, and built up in the faith. Such a person will bear fruit in other lives and when you see others benefiting from your actions and words, you are going to be especially thankful for what God has done in and with your life. Read and connect John 15:5 and 15:7. Jesus says that whoever abides in Him will bear much fruit (15:5). He also says both abiding in Him and His words abiding in you will greatly affect answered prayer in your life (15:7). Answered prayer(s) certainly elicit great thankfulness, who can argue about this great truth?

How deeply rooted and grounded are you in the Word of God and in your faith? Are you overflowing with thankfulness? Do you know for sure that you are bearing fruit---having a positive spiritual impact---in others’ lives? Are your spiritual roots so deep and your faith so strong that nothing in the world around you—no matter how bad the news—can change how you feel—especially your thanksgiving--about God through Jesus being Savior and Lord of your life? Keep striving to reach this level of spiritual depth and growth.

Second Look: July 26, 2011

2011-07-26T14:03:00.001-07:00

Teaching #1

Colossians 1:15-17 (NLT)

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.

I admit that my finite brain cannot comprehend what this passage is saying. How can any finite human being comprehend what it means to exist before anything was created? How can any human being comprehend the claim that through Jesus Christ God created everything in the heavens and earth? Who can understand things we cannot see such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities in an unseen world? What is Paul writing about? What in the world does it mean that Jesus holds all creation together?

If I don’t know what Paul is writing about here, how can I write anything further? Well, I am simply going to write about what I do understand. First, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus said in John 14:9 that “He who has seen Me has seen the Father also”. God the Father came to the earth in the form of a human being who was/is Jesus Christ. This is a key belief of Christianity, that God the Father and Jesus the Son are the same person. Maybe a bad analogy, but it’s like saying that a man is a father and also a son or a woman a mother and also a daughter.

Paul wrote in Philippians 2:6-8 that (and I’m paraphrasing) Jesus was God, but emptied Himself from being God to take the form of being human. The Message Bible says: “When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.” So I can understand that God became visible to all mankind through Jesus Christ coming to the earth to live for 33 years just like any other human being although He committed no sin and was willing to die a sacrificial and very horrible death to save all sinful people from eternal death.

Second, while I cannot comprehend how He existed before anything was created, I can accept that Jesus is eternal. Since humanity and all of earth are temporal we don’t know what eternal means, but we can accept it since we are not God. If you reject this claim, you have no basis other than you choose to be arrogant in your intellectual limitations and cannot accept anything based on faith alone.

Third, I can accept the claim, without needing to understand, that if Jesus is God, He created all things. The creation story in Genesis 1 is very familiar to followers of God. Yet how many have carefully read what Genesis 1:26 says---“The God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image…”. Did you notice that the pronouns are plural? God is not speaking of Himself alone. He also is not speaking of Himself in a third person way. He also spoke using plural pronouns in Gen 3:22, Gen 11:7, and Isa 6:8. Who is He including? He is including Himself, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. So if Jesus was involved in the creation of human beings, He also was involved in the creation of all things.

No, I nor anyone else can explain these claims about Jesus’ divinity and humanity. All we can do is believe them based on our faith that the Word of God is true. Do you have such faith? If your answer is “yes”, you are blessed. If your answer is “no”, you have a choice of never believing or continuing to pray and seek the God and the faith He can give you through His Word imparted by His Spirit into your spirit (prayerfully study Romans 8).

Teaching #2

Colossians 1:19-23 (NLT)

For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

The glorious gospel message is exclaimed loud and clear in this passage. Do you see it? The gospel includes all the following messages:

· Through Christ, God reconciled everything to Himself

· God made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

· Christ’s blood on the cross enabled reconciliation and peace with God

· You are brought into His own presence

· You are now holy and blameless (without a single fault)

What I really like and treasure with all my heart about this passage is the promise that God through Jesus Christ has brought me and all who believe in the gospel message into His own presence. As a result, I am holy and blameless as I stand before Him and I do not have a single fault. This applies to all who believe in the gospel. Is that not unbelievable? I think of all my faults and yet in God’s eyes, because of my faith in Christ and because Christ paid the penalty of sin by dying on the cross, I am holy and blameless. Not because of anything I have done, but because of what the gospel really means. How can anyone, when confronted with this truth, not be filled with awe at what God has done through Christ? He has freed me from all my faults and presented me before Him as a holy and blameless man. Amazing grace, astonishing mercy, awesome love…..words are really inadequate to express what the gospel message really means.

Notice, thought, the word “But”. This simple word introduces a dependent clause, a condition that must be met for you and me to claim the gospel message and retain it for life. You must continue to believe this truth and you must stand firmly in it. You cannot fall away, or what this translation uses, “drift away” from the gospel message. To drift away is easy to do as you lose some of the initial luster and enthusiasm for the truth of the gospel. What are main causes of drifting away from the gospel message? Unconfessed sin, putting worldly priorities over spiritual ones, giving up on spiritual disciplines such as worship, Bible study, prayer, and interactive fellowship with other believers who should be stimulating and encouraging you to keep growing in your faith. While you cannot lose your salvation you can lose your assurance of salvation through one or more of these actions. Resisting the many forces of this world who attempt to drift you away from your faith takes concerted daily effort as it is so easy to revert to a former life of fleshly and worldly lusts.

Praise the good Lord for bringing the gospel into your life and pray daily for the Lord to help you resist the temptation to drift away from it.

“If you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?” --C.S. Lewis

Teaching #3

Colossians 1:21-22, Romans 5:10, II Corinthians 5:18-20 (NASB)

Col 1:22-23: And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

Rom 5:10: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Cor 5:18-20: Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Reconciliation is a significant concept in the New Testament. To reconcile means to receive a person into favor, to bring together those who are at variance. If you have lived long enough you have experienced (hopefully) reconciliation with someone. You have gotten back together with a boy or girlfriend after splitting up for awhile. You have made up with your spouse after a bad argument nearly split you two apart. You have made peace with a friend or neighbor or family member or business associate after a disagreement pulled you apart. The results of these closures are examples of reconciliations. Bridges have been rebuilt, trust has been restored, and mutual love and caring and respect renewed. Such reconciliations are normally very sweet, very happy, and very fulfilling.

In the same way, God has taken the initiative to reconcile sinful man to Himself. Read again and meditate on these verses. They describe human beings as aliens and enemies of God, being hostile and evil and full of sins. Don’t you hate the thought of being viewed as an enemy of God? Yet that’s what you were and perhaps still are before accepting His conciliatory gesture by offering Jesus Christ to die for you (Romans 5:8, John 3:16). God made the first move toward reconciliation. The cross represents reconciliation. Christ’s death on the cross applies every day to anyone who sees his need for reconciliation with God. Think of a great chasm between you and God. The only way to cross that chasm, the only way for Him to come to you and for you to come to Him is through the cross.

Reconciliation with God not only involves your accepting what God has done through Christ and the cross, but also receiving Christ as your Savior, allowing Him to enter the center of your life and follow His ways rather than your own (II Cor 5:17, Gal 2:30, John 1:12). When you live your life according to the will and ways of Jesus (His will and ways being taught in the Bible), then notice in II Cor 5:20 that you become an ambassador for Christ. You become holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Col 1:23). Is not this initiative of reconciliation by God towards you and what results from it the most unbelievable truths imaginable?

You know that reconciliation with another human, someone you love and care for, is one of the most joyful experiences in life. Just think further about how reconciliation with God and the consequences of that reconciliation significantly and so positively affects the rest of your life on earth and for all eternity.

“The number one problem in our world is alienation, rich versus poor, black versus white, labor versus management, conservative versus liberal, East versus West . . . But Christ came to bring about reconciliation and peace.”—Billy Graham

2nd Look 7/19/11

2011-07-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Colossians 1:9-11 (NIV)
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy……

Many years ago I was asked to teach the Bible to a group of college students at a church near Texas Christian University. I was in my late 20s then, I had never taught anything before, and was quite intimidated by this request. I did not even have my own Bible then and knew nothing about the Bible. Why I was asked to become a Bible teacher when there was no evidence that I could do this is still a mystery to me. A greater mystery is why I accepted; having no idea what I was getting myself into.

Well, I went to a store and bought a paperback Good News Bible, not realizing at the time that it only contained the New Testament. When the students in my class realized that they had a biblically illiterate teacher, rather than rebelling and kicking me out, they took me on as a project. They pitched in to buy me a New American Standard Bible---that I still use nearly 40 years later—and a book entitled “Creative Bible Teaching” by Lawrence Richards.

Why am I writing all this? Because the main text in Richards book on how best to teach as well as learn from the Bible is this passage from Colossians. Richards wrote that teaching and learning on the basis of Col 1:9-11 will overcome the main problem of Bible teaching---why the Bible does not have a greater impact upon people who attend church? Why doesn’t the Bible transform people? According to Richards, the answer to these questions lies in the premise that the Bible is taught ineffectively by most Christian educators, at least back then. Col 1:9-11 basically teaches that the proper and God-intended way to teach, study, and learn from the Bible is the now familiar trilogy “observation---interpretation---application”. Richards uses four words to describe such teaching: hook, book, look, and took.

To summarize the principles or pattern of creative and effective Bible teaching and learning from this passage---
• Effective teaching and learning cannot occur without praying first and specifically asking the Lord to help in these efforts.
• Asking God through reading His Word to be filled with the knowledge of His will. This is the observation part, just reading and digesting what His Word says.
• Relating that knowledge to everyday life—“give you spiritual wisdom and understanding”---not just knowing God’s Word, but having it relate to your daily life. What does God’s Word mean to you? This is the interpretation part.
• Your knowledge, wisdom, and understanding will then allow you to “always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit”. This is the application part, taking what God’s Word is saying and meaning to you and going out and applying it in all aspects of your life.
• Continued personalization of God’s Word and resultant continual spiritual growth and joy as you maintain for the rest of your life personal Bible study and application.

Are you part of an ongoing Bible study, either on your own or part of a group? Are you praying for God to help you learn what His Word says to you before and after you take time to read His Word? Do you feel that you are filled daily with spiritual wisdom and understanding? Are you bearing fruit in others’ lives? Are you pleasing God with all aspects of your life? Are you growing spiritually? Are you filled with joy? If any of these answers is “no” or “don’t know”, then allow the Lord to work through your soul and spirit by reading and meditating over and over these words from Col 1:9-11 and then taking further action. God desires that you be His saint because you allow His Word to have impact on your life.

Devo 2

Colossians 1:12 (NASB)
….giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

All God’s people live in the light. David described the Lord as “my light and my salvation” (Psalm 27:1). Jesus said that He is the light of the world (John 8:12). He also commanded His listeners, those who truly follow Him, to be salt of the earth and light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14). He commanded that His followers should let your light shine before others in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify God (Matthew 5:16). We are to walk as the children of light (Ephesians 5:8, I John 1:7). Jesus said that if your eye is pure, your whole body will be full of light (Matthew 6:22). The Bible is called the “light of my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Everyone knows what light is, but what is light biblically? The Greek word for light is “phos” meaning to shine or make manifest and was used 70 times in the New Testament. The origin and nature of light can be explained in the nature and purpose of God Himself. I John 1:5 inspirationally declares that “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all”. Light is God! Light is the opposite of darkness. Light is everything God is---beauty, order, peace, holiness, purity. So when Paul write in Col 1:12 that God has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, you are part of God’s world, part of heaven, and not part of darkness; darkness being symbolic of sin and separation from God.

Do you wish to inherit light or darkness? Who loves to live in the darkness and who would want to live in the darkness forever? Only those who hate what is good. Don’t you notice a change in your mood if you are alone at night versus alone during the day? People generally associate light with joy and vitality and goodness while darkness is associated with all that is sad, lonely, and wearisome. There exists a clinical disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that affects millions of people because of the lack of light.

Darkness is representative of hell. Jude 13 speaks of “black darkness” that is reserved for ungodly people of this world. If God is light then hell is darkness because hell is a place that is farthest removed from God.

Therefore, what a wonderful promise and blessing that we read in Col 1:12. What qualifies you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light? Your faith in Jesus Christ (Col 1:4). Give thanks to God daily for the reality of your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. And if you are reading this and do not have such faith, then open a Bible and start reading about Christ, especially read John 1, 3, and 14 and the entire epistle of I John. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

“When you possess light within, you see it externally" -- Anaïs Nin

Devo 3

Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT)
For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

The word “darkness” is a frightening term. The phrase “kingdom of darkness” is even more frightening. Darkness suggests all kinds of scary thoughts---devils, demons, bogeymen, ghosts, whatever is viewed as evil. Negative emotions such as fear, worry, loneliness, depression, heartache, and discouragement also seem to be prominent when it is dark. Murder mysteries and scary movies always seem to have the scariest moments when it is dark.

The kingdom of darkness, biblically, refers to Satan and his demonic rule. Eph 6:12 says that we wrestle against “the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness……” Right after Jesus made His famous John 3:16 quote, He said in verse 19 that even though His light has come into the world, “men still love the darkness for their deeds were evil”.

God rescues people who desire to escape the kingdom of darkness. Perhaps you can clearly remember your experience in the kingdom of darkness and your decision to escape it. Or maybe you are still in it. You confessed your need for salvation through God’s provision, Jesus Christ, believing that He died on the cross for your sins. Jesus’ sacrificial death was God’s purchase of your freedom and His initiative to enable you to be forgiven of your sins. Pastor Jim quoted Gal 1:4 that says, “ Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we're in by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins”. God's plan is that we all experience that rescue.

As a child of light rather than a child of darkness you will never stumble again (John 11:9-10). The word “stumble” that Jesus used can mean “be induced to sin”. As a child of light, you hate sin as the Lord hates sin. You are human so you will continue to sin, but you will always regret your sin and ask for forgiveness every day. A life free from guilt, free from enslavement to sin and free to choose what is right in God’s sight results from your decision to be saved out of the kingdom of darkness by choosing the kingdom of light, the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Think of this verse the next time you are driving in your car and you drive directly into the sunlight. What does your windshield look like? It looked fine and clear while driving in relative darkness, but the light reveals how dirty and unclear it really is. That is how a life of darkness appears to God. It may look fine to you, but not when it is exposed to the clear light of God. Choose the kingdom of light and escape the enslavement of the kingdom of darkness.

“There is not enough darkness in the world to put out the light of a single candle”. The light is greater and more powerful than the darkness (I John 4:4).

2nd Look 7/5/11

2011-07-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Colossians 1:1-5 (NIV)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven…….

Faith, hope, and love are three lasting virtues that Paul wrote about to conclude his famous chapter on Christian love in I Corinthians 13. These three virtues were part of Paul’s letters to other churches, e.g. Col 1:1-5, but also Gal 5:5-6, Eph 1:15-18, Thess 1:3, and I Tim 4:10-12. They represent a triumvirate guideline….no, even stronger……authority from which Christians should live their lives. While we use faith, hope, and love in everyday communication, these three words are deeply spiritual words; that is, they relate to qualities of the inner person that are manifested in our outer person behavior.

Think of a person(s) in your life who you believe exemplifies the life of a person of faith. How about a person who exemplifies a person of hope? The same question for a person who exemplifies love. Might the same person exemplify all three virtues? Perhaps, yes, because these three virtues are related to one another. In fact, every Christian person who is filled with the Holy Spirit will be an example of faith, hope, and love. The key here is being filled with the Spirit, not having the Spirit quenched through sins of omission or grieved through sin with sins of commission. Faith, hope, and love are the ultimate and eternal spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. In I Cor 12 where Paul writes about spiritual gifts, these gifts are not the “greater” gifts (I Cor 12:31) and eventually will be “done away” (I Cor 13:8-10). Faith, hope, and love last forever.

Paul described God’s people in Colossae as faithful, hopeful, and loving. A word he also uses in this passage that covers faith, hope and love is the word “holy”. The original Hebrew word Paul used that is translated “holy people” is the same word used to describe “saints” (“hagios”). A very important word in the New Testament, used 229 times to describe people, places, covenants, and the Holy Spirit. To be holy is to be faithful, hopeful, and loving. Would Paul describe your church---the people who belong to your church---as holy? Does your church membership show faith, hope, and love?

You can only control how holy you are, not someone else. And, of course, you are not to be “holier than thou”. You are to practice disciplines that strengthen your faith, hope, and love. Bible study, praying for the Lord to fill you daily with the Holy Spirit after asking for forgiveness of your sins, and practicing what the Bible teaches are the primary disciplines that will strengthen your faith, hope, and love.

Without faith, hope, and love, you have nothing. With them, you have everything. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1) and love never fails (I Cor 13:8). How would you describe right now the depth of your faith, the height of your hope, and the width of your love? How can you give gifts of faith, hope, and love to others in your church and in your life?

Devo 2

James 2:1-4 (The Message)
My dear friends, don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, "Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!" and either ignore the street person or say, "Better sit here in the back row," haven't you segregated God's children and proved that you are judges who can't be trusted?

One Sunday morning years ago I was teaching a Bible study on James 2. Prior to the day of that study, I asked a friend not to shave for a few days, not comb his hair, dress like a bum and come into my class late, and act like he was drunk. He came through for me, looked liked a complete bum when he stumbled into this classroom filled with 30 or more adults. I surveyed the faces of those in the classroom and sure enough saw looks of dismay, annoyance, and even horror. Then as we read this passage from James, I asked for honest feedback about first impressions and thoughts about the appearance and demeanor of my bummed-out friend. While many people wouldn’t admit anything, others were candid about their less than favorable first impressions with some bordering on being negatively judgmental.

Why do people quickly show favoritism and judge others on the basis of appearance, be it height, weight, skin color, beauty vs. ugliness, hair style, clothing, jewelry, physical handicap, etc.? Is not a main basis of materialism to impress others because of the reality of judging others and materialists want to be judged favorably? James is writing about the sin of partiality that must not be part of the character of a faithful Christian person. Christians tend to forget or ignore this teaching. You see this every Sunday where most people congregate before and after services with those they know and barely look or acknowledge strangers. And, woe to the stranger who does not look good, or dress nicely, or comes from a different culture or ethnicity compared to the usual church crowd. Often such actions and responses are not necessarily intentional or antagonistic; it’s just the way we are programmed in the natural world. However, for others, there is intentional dislike and unfriendliness and opposition to those who do not fit a certain code of appearance and background expectation.

James warns Christians against showing favoritism or discrimination. Christian love is supposed to be unconditional and sacrificial. In our pursuit of Christlike character, we are not “to look at the outward appearance, but look at the heart” (I Samuel 16:7). No, we are not God, but we can pursue to be like God (Matt 5:48, John 17:20-23, Rom 8:14-18, Eph 3:19). The mature Christian is someone who looks at others and does not judge on outward appearance. This is a good measure of your own maturity in Christ---how much favoritism towards other people still exists in your life? How willing are your to interact with poor, ignorant, ugly, handicapped, and other kinds of people who Jesus described as “the least of these (Matt 25:40)? How willing are you to go to hospitals, nursing homes, shut-ins, prisons, and other places where the “least of these” are found?

The next time you see people in your church who you don’t know and who is not wearing nice clothes or otherwise does not look physically attractive, will you ignore them or will you make the effort to show Christian love toward them? Your action/reaction will be your indicator of your true Christian character. Do you tend to cater to people who can help you or cater to those to whom you can help? Does God see you playing favorites?

Devo 3

I John 4:7-11 (NLT)
Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining. If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

What does love one another really mean from a biblical perspective? I don’t think most people really understand what loving one another really means in the sense of humans loving one another in the same way as God loves us. God not only loves us, but God is love. Love is the nature of God. Love is not the nature of man. Man has to be born again and then learn and grow in the process of what it means to love others and God loves. The process of continuous daily growth in the ability to love others the way God loves them is a new commandment every day.

Jesus lived the truth of this commandment and if you have been reborn you too are living this commandment every day because the Spirit of Christ dwells in you. Now, you can quench the Spirit through actions and attitudes and the love of Christ is not revealing in you. But, when you sincerely confess and repent of your sins and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit, His light shines in you. People can see His light shining in you through your cheerfulness, peace, and genuine love and concern for others.

What is the Lord truly requiring of you when He says to love God and others?
• Your love for others is the same as you love yourself and you must love yourself (Matt 22:36-40, Gal 5:14)
• Your love for others is sufficiently strong that you are willing to give up your life for them (John 15:13)
• Your love for others is manifested by using spiritual gifts God has given you to build them up (I Cor 12, Rom 12:6-10)
• You consider others’ needs as more important than your own (Phil 2:1-5)
• You bear others’ burdens (Gal 6:2)
• Christian love is the apex of eight callings of the Christian life (II Peter 1:5-7)
• You are to love your enemies (Matt 5:44).

It takes an extremely mature Christian to “live in the light” by demonstrating all of these love qualities. Such a person is a true disciple of Christ (John 13:34-35). Which ones do you know that you still need to work on, that you are not yet that loving of a person towards God and others?

What does John mean when he writes that if you hate another Christian (brother or sister) you are still living and walking in darkness and are blinded by the darkness? If you do not love another Christian, you hate them as there is no middle ground with God. With God there is either love or hate, light or darkness, life or death, and obedience or disobedience. Someone once said that “anything less than active benevolence toward brothers and sisters in Christ is hatred”. History is filled with examples of Christians destroying one another through words and actions. Perhaps you know what it is like to be wounded by another Christian and how hurtful that experience is. Have you done or said anything that has wounded another brother or sister in Christ? Such wounds are the equivalent of hating the other and hate belongs in the darkness. Darkness blinds you to the light. Only the grace of God through the forgiveness of sin made possible by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ allows you to escape the darkness and be in the light.

Re-examine your Christian love life and be honest in how strong or how weak it is. Either continue to strengthen your love or ask for forgiveness and help in becoming a more loving person as you know that the Lord commands you to be.

“The proof that you love someone is not that you have warm affectionate feelings toward them. The proof is in your actions, your words and your sacrifice, your willingness to give the best of yourself and your willingness to get nothing in return.” --Katherine Walden

2nd Look 6/27/11

2011-06-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Titus 3:5 (NLT)
He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit

Have you ever wanted to find a passage of Scripture that best describes what it means to be a Christian? That passage is found in Titus 3:5-7. This is the gospel. Verse 5 is part of a long four verse sentence (in the King James and NIV/NASB versions) starting in verse 4 and ending in verse 7. The main verb of this lengthy sentence is “saved”. The word for saved is “sozo” meaning “to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment and to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance” (got that?).

To be a Christian means to be saved forever from the penalties of sin and that salvation is based totally on God’s mercy and grace toward sinners. Salvation has nothing to do with anything you can ever do to earn it and this one key truth differentiates Christianity from all other religions. Your salvation is based completely on the work of God through Jesus Christ (verse 6). Salvation not only washes away your sins forever, but also enables you to become children of God (heirs, verse 7) and have eternal life.

“He washed away our sins” does not refer to baptism. In the context of this passage it refers to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, the justification segment of salvation. Salvation has three segments—justification, sanctification, and glorification.

Justification—Past Salvation—“Just-As-If-I-Died”—The salvation of your spirit. You are justified the moment you believe that Jesus Christ died for you. Your belief in His sacrificial death for you in an instant delivered you from being lost, from being in darkness, and from the penalty of eternal death (John 1:12, Rom 3:24, II Cor 5:21, Col 1:12-13). You don’t have to do anything to be justified other than to believe what God did through Christ. As this passage states, you are reborn and have a new life with the Spirit of God now living in you.

Sanctification—Present Salvation—The salvation of your soul. Every day for the rest of your life after being justified in Christ, God is working in you to perfect you if/when you submit to Him. Philippians 2:12-13 says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” So, indeed, once saved through justification, you do need to work out your salvation for the rest of your life. Sanctification is a continuous salvation process of Christian/spiritual growth.

Glorification—Future Salvation—The salvation of your body. When you die as a Christian your salvation will be completed with eternal glorification. You will be like God for eternity as you will be free from the presence of sin (Rom 8:18, I Peter 3:5, I John 3:2-3).

“In the gospel, we discover we are far worse off than we thought, and far more loved that we ever dreamed”--Steven Curtis Chapman and Sonny Smith, Speechless: Living in Awe of God’s Disruptive Grace (Zondervan, 1999). Would you agree? How might you work in the truths of Titus 3:4-7 into your own testimony about your salvation experience?

Devo 2

Numbers 23:19 (NLT)
God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? 

God does not lie. How do you and I know this for sure? Well, here is where the Bible says that God does not lie. Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18 also state that God cannot lie. So, you either believe this claim or you don’t. If you do, you have great peace that whatever promises are made in the Bible come true and you can stand on whatever biblical claims you wish. If you don’t, well……you have nothing to trust in, nothing to stand on, and nothing to anchor your life’s views.

In contrast to God always telling the truth, what about people? I was watching a TV news program about politicians caught lying. Remember Bill Clinton firmly and vigorously denying that he had sex with Monica Lewinsky? John Edwards was shown replying to a reporter with as straight a face as you can ever see that he did not have a relationship with Rielle Hunter. Anthony Weiner lying through his teeth about lewd photos on Twitter. I’m picking on politicians because their lies were so visible yet how good they were for awhile at lying. It seems to be the case that the more a person knows how essential it is to tell the truth, the better he/she is at telling a lie.

All of us have been victimized by liars. We’ve experienced lies from family members, workplace management, friends and neighbors. We’ve experienced broken contracts, promises not kept, and excuses we knew were untrue. We’ve been lied to and deceived by political leaders, athletes, business leaders, and those we believed were telling the truth.

Plus, because you are human, you have lied too, maybe a little, maybe a lot. There is so much written about lying in the Scriptures (e.g. Lev 19:12, I Kings 22:16, Prov 14:5, 19:5, 9, and 25:8, Zech 8;17, and Rev 21:8) because it is human nature to lie. Lying is one of the seven abominations to the Lord (Prov 6:16-19). The Lord destroyed Ananias and Sapphira for lying in Act 5:1-11. While lying is within our nature, it is wrong, and must be stopped.

People will always be liars this side of heaven. Of course, as Christians, we are to tell the truth always and the more mature we become, the more truthful we become. Colossians 3:9-10 affirms that Christians are never to lie to one another. Yet, because of human nature there will always be the tendency to lie.

Back to God…..He never lies. Because He is not human He does not change His mind. He does not renege on promises. Everything promised in the Bible will come true, if you truly believe them. Promises of salvation, forgiveness, eternal life, peace, provision, comfort, answered prayer in His will, being children of God, courage, protection, love, joy, guidance, success, and many other types of promises will come true for you if you truly believe.

If you know that you have lied and have not confessed both to God and to whomever you lied, it is not time that you do so? If someone has lied to you, can you find strength through Christ to forgive that person in your heart? Can you resolve in your heart today, with the Lord’s help, never to lie again? And, can you believe that God never lies and in all His promises that apply to your life and claim them right now? If not, why not?

Devo 3

John 14:6 (NLT)
Jesus told him “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”

Other than John 3:16, John 14:6 might be the most frequently quoted and used verse in the entire Bible. These two verses are the cornerstones of the Christian faith as they both focus on Jesus being the Son of God and that He is the only way to the Father and the only One through whom humankind can have eternal life. Of course, many religions dispute and refute these claims of Christ. It is up to every individual soul to examine these claims of Christ and decide whether or not to believe them.

John 14 starts with Jesus telling His disciples about His departure from this life. His statements in John 14:1-3 give great hope about heaven and eternal life. Then in verse 4 He tells His disciples that they know where He is going. Jesus made this statement as a reply to His disciple, Thomas (doubting Thomas), when Thomas said, “No, Lord, we don’t know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Good ol’ “doubting Thomas”! Without him, we would not have answers like John 14:6 (Thomas also doubted that Jesus was resurrected until He saw the wounds of Christ from the cross and then exclaimed “My Lord and My God”—John 20:25-28).

Jesus reply to Thomas makes three claims about Himself. First, to answer Thomas’ specific question, He says “I am the way”. He is the way to salvation that leads to the Father and the Father’s house (John 14:2). Second, He is the truth that means not only that He does not ever lie, but also that He is The Word that John speaks about in John 1:1 and 1:14 and all His promises and all His statements are true. Third, He is the life that is connected to His earlier statement in John 11:25 that He alone is the source of eternal life to all other human beings.

In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis wrote on page 50: “A car is made to run on petrol (gasoline). It would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make you happy in your own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give you happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

Thousands of pages of books have explored the meaning of these three claims of Christ. However, they boil down to you either believing Him and His claims or not. What do you believe? Is there any doubt in your mind and heart that Jesus is not who He claims to be? He is the way to salvation, He is the truth of God, and He alone provides abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven. Reflect for the rest of the day on these great truths.

Devo 4

Romans 1:16 (NIV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Define gospel. Don’t read further; just define what gospel means to you. Do you feel clumsy putting it into words? We take the word for granted at times as we do many other words where trying to define such words to someone else is not easy. For example, define art, beauty, pain, old, health, love. Such words are difficult to define because they are subjective words with slightly different meaning to different people.

Gospel can have many meanings
• Good news of Christ
• Good news concerning Christ, the Kingdom of God, and salvation
• The life of Christ
• The first four books of the New Testament
• The truth
• The proclamation of redemption preached by Jesus and the Apostles
• Evangelical
• Relating to music
• Any system of religious doctrine

The word Paul used for gospel was “euaggelion” meaning “good or glad tidings of salvation through the grace of God in Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God”. This was the same word written in verses describing Jesus’ teaching, e.g. Jesus preaching the “euaggelion” in Matt 4:23 and 9:35; Mark using this word many times, e.g. 1:1, 1:14-15, 8:35, 10:29, 13:10, 14:9, 16:15, and Acts 15:17 and 20:24.

It is this gospel, however you define it, that Paul boldly declares that he is not ashamed of. Why? He proceeds to give four reasons: (1) It is power (“dynamis”); (2) It is of God (“Theos”); (3) It is salvation (“soteria”); and (4) It is for everyone (“pas”).

By this definition in Romans 1:16, the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to you and to anyone who believes……….believes in the gospel of God (Romans 1:1) that He promised in the Old Testament (verse 2) concerning His Son (verse 3) who had the power to be resurrected from the dead (verse 4). So belief is referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ , Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Jesus came to save sinners from being separated from God.

The Roman world knew what power meant and Paul used “dynamis” to describe just how powerful the gospel is, even more powerful than any Roman army, sufficiently powerful to defeat death. Such power can take the greatest sinner and convert him/her into the greatest saint. Paul was such a person, a former killer and persecutor of Christians, now a minister of the Christian faith.

Is your faith in Jesus Christ sufficiently solid and deep that you could easily proclaim this same message to anyone else? If not, why not? Is there still some kind of shame or embarrassment in what you believe? Where do you need to change, to grow, to deepen your belief? What does power mean to you? How can you apply that power in your daily life? What weaknesses still exist in your life where God’s power can overcome (II Cor 12:9)?

Devo 5

I Peter 3:15-16 (NLT)
And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.

Have you ever been asked, perhaps challenged by someone trying to embarrass you or refute your belief, to explain why you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior (your Christian hope)? Maybe some of you have been confronted many times. I have been a Christian for 35 years and have been asked to explain my faith only a few times. However, whether many times or just a few, each of us must be prepared to give an answer in a convincing manner why we believe what we believe.

Have you ever seen the movie “Inherit the Wind”? It tells the story of the Scopes “Monkey Trial”, one of the most famous battles in history between evolution and creationism. In 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, public schoolteacher John Scopes was taken to court for teaching evolution, which had earlier been banned by the state of Tennessee. The ensuing court battle pitted two famous men at the time as defense and prosecutor lawyers. The defense lawyer was William Jennings Bryan, a former Democratic presidential candidate. The prosecuting lawyer was Clarence Darrow. The movie depicts Bryan as a fundamentalist Christian with blind faith who cannot answer basic questions logically about his faith. The movie puts Christianity in a bad light because of the bumbling failures of Mr. Bryan to defend adequately why he believed what he believed. Sadly, Bryan’s failures depict the status of the majority of Christians today who also cannot defend why they believe what they believe.

How can you be prepared to respond to someone who asks you why you believe in Jesus as your Savior, especially when that someone is challenging why you believe? Sooner or later, if you are being a faithful witness about your faith (others in your life know clearly that you are a Christian), you will be strongly challenged to defend why you are a Christian, why you believe the way you do. Do you realize that those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior typically have these characteristics:
• Do not believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
• Do not believe that Christ died a substitutionary death on the cross for the sins of mankind.
• Do not believe that mankind is morally corrupt and sinful.
• Do not believe that God is sovereign.
• View God in some false way, not the way God is taught in the Bible.

So you need to be prepared to respond to questions related to these characteristics of the non-believer.

Did you know that if you are a Christian, it is your duty to be an apologist? Apologist? What’s that? Am I supposed to apologize for my faith in God through Christ? The term “apologist” or “apologetics” refers to the reasoned defense of the Christian faith. This is what I Peter 3:15 is saying. In fact, the word “explain” (or other translations use the phrase “make a defense”) comes from the Greek word “apologia”. The Word here is saying that you need to be ready to defend your faith, to give rational and reasoned explanations to doubters about why you believe they way you do and why you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

You need not only to be ready to defend your faith, but also you need to know what you are defending and be comfortable with your position. Examples of how Paul did this are found in Acts 14, 17, and 19. Note that he reasoned with doubters and critics because he knew his Bible (the Old Testament). For you today, the main key in defending your faith is that you must know your Bible, at least to some extent. You must have solid knowledge of the faith you profess. It’s also a good idea to have some knowledge about other religions. For example have you ever interacted with a Mormon or a Jew or someone of another religion who not only could clear articulate what their beliefs were, but also knew the basics of Christianity? You can be made to look really bad if you are not equally prepared.

The best way to be prepared to defend your faith, especially against someone who thinks that you’ve been ‘brainwashed’ or you are not being intellectual or you are being a ‘prude’, is to declare that you simply believe that you were a sinner, but Christ died for your sins, you believe that this is true and that His Spirit lives in you because you confessed your sinful nature and gave your life over to His authority. Your basic defense is the gospel and your story in describing what the gospel has done to change your life. A few basic Bible verses memorized—the famous ones like John 3:16 and John 14:6 go a long way in helping you defend your faith.

In your defense of your beliefs, I Peter 3:16 also says that you should be gentle and respectful. You do not need to get into a shouting match. You should not put down others for what they believe or don’t believe. You should be calm, cool, and collected in your demeanor where it is obvious that your faith is strong and deep and allow others to see that your actions back up your words.

Perhaps our church and all other churches of those reading this devotional should periodically teach their flocks how to defend the basics of their faith.

"Faith in Christianity is based on evidence. It is reasonable faith. Faith in the Christian sense goes beyond reason, but not against it." --Paul Little

2nd Look 6/20/11

2011-06-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Luke 15:17-24 (God’s Word)
“Finally, he came to his senses. He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat, while I’m starving to death here? I’ll go at once to my father, and I’ll say to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore. Make me one of your hired men.” ’ “So he went at once to his father. While he was still at a distance, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son, put his arms around him, and kissed him. Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore.’ “The father said to his servants…. ’My son was dead and has come back to life. He was lost but has been found.’ Then they began to celebrate.

“He came to his senses”……..does not that describe most people who make dumb or wrong decisions in life and eventually “see the light”? This prodigal son thought he knew what to do with his life that started with his rebellion against his father/family, took off for what he figured would be a much better and much more fun lifestyle, and wasted everything he had that included half his father’s fortune. Don’t most of us do something like this at some point in our lives? Maybe not as frivolous or expensive or rebellious, but still thinking that you knew what to do better than anyone else and you would do it your way? You may still be a prodigal right now or maybe you forgot how you were at a younger age, or perhaps you have other prodigals in your family—children and/or grandchildren.

When the prodigal son came to his senses, he sobered up. He realized finally that the “grass is not greener”, that he gave up too much, that he was foolish, that he didn’t appreciate how good he used to have it and now doesn’t have anything. His failures gave him a whole new perspective on life and about his life specifically. Luke 15:17-24 focuses on the compassion of the father who represents God. Note that the father was looking for his son, otherwise why would he have seen his son at a distance? When people are sinning and rebelling against God, He does not look away, He is always looking for the time when His people finally see the errors of their ways and return to Him. Of course, many never do.

Then, when the father saw his son at a distance, he did not wait for his son to come to him, but he ran to his son. Imagine God the Father running to you when you made the decision to come to Him. You’ve heard the expression “God is never in a hurry, but never late”, yet this imagery of the father running to greet his repentant son contradicts that expression. Have you ever heard the words to the song “When God Ran” written by Benny Hester?

 Almighty God, The Great I Am, Immovable Rock, Omnipotent, Powerful, Awesome Lord, Victorious Warrior, Commanding King of Kings, Mighty Conqueror and the only time, The only time I ever saw Him run, was when...  He ran to me, He took me in His arms, Held my head to His chest, said "My son's come home again!" Lifted my face, Wiped the tears from my eyes, with forgiveness in His voice He said "Son, do you know I still love You?" He caught me by surprise, When God ran...  The day I left home, I knew I'd broken His heart. And I wondered then, if things could ever be the same. Then one night, I remembered His love for me. And down that dusty road, ahead I could see, It was the only time, it was the only time I ever saw Him run. And then...He caught me by surprise. And He brought me to my knees. When God ran... I saw Him run to me. 

And what did the father do after he ran to greet his son? He put his arms around his son, he kissed him, and he hosted a celebration. The son protested, said that he did not deserve anything his father was doing, but the father celebrated anyway. Why? Because his lost son was found. His wayward son came to his senses and came home. His son was dead to everyone and everything except his own selfishness, yet he realized his terrible mistakes and decided to come home. To come home meant that he had come back to life. To come home to God means that you have rejected what the world offers (fun for awhile, but unfulfilling in the long run) and have chosen the abundant and eternal life that God offers.

That’s why God and His angels celebrate every time someone chooses to give up following the world and its evil, asks for forgiveness and returns to the right relationship with God. God created mankind to have a relationship with Him, not to reject Him.

Romans 8:1 (Amplified Bible) exclaims: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.” Read also Ephesians 2:12-13. You can live a life as bad or worse than the prodigal son (as Paul wrote about himself in Romans 7), yet once you choose to come back to God and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, nothing you have done in your past will be held against you and nothing you do as a Christian as long as you ask for forgiveness every day will ever be held against you. That’s how unfathomably awesome is the mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and love of the Father for His children.

Devo 2

Luke 15:28-32 (God’s Word)
“Then the older son became angry and wouldn’t go into the house. His father came out and begged him to come in. But he answered his father, ‘All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you. I’ve never disobeyed one of your commands. Yet, you’ve never given me so much as a little goat for a celebration with my friends. But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came home, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “His father said to him, ‘My child, you’re always with me. Everything I have is yours. But we have something to celebrate, something to be happy about. This brother of yours was dead but has come back to life. He was lost but has been found.’ ”

The prodigal son story is best known for the actions and eventual sorrow of the wayward younger son, but Jesus wanted to equally instruct on the attitude and actions of the older son. Have you ever seen the famous painting by Rembrandt? Look it up on the web. You see three very remarkable images:
• The prodigal son, head shaved, on his knees, weeping in his father’s bosom, ashamed, humiliated, sorrowful, repentant and perhaps wondering what his father will do.
• The merciful father, his arthritic hands on his son’s back, with a face that shows very old age yet filled with deep emotions of love, mercy and compassion.
• The older son standing to the right, hands crossed, not touching his brother, looking very stoic, perhaps even disdainful as this passage above from Luke points out.

The older son was not happy about the response of his father toward his brother. When you read this passage what pictures enter your mind? Someone who is angry (Luke 15:28), pouting, protesting, jealous, dismayed, resentful, embittered.......all natural reactions from someone who feel like he has been treated unfairly. The older son was so angry that he repudiated his relationship with his brother, calling him “this son of yours”.

The older son in Jesus’ story represented the Pharisees, Jewish leaders who were blind to their self-righteousness and close-mindedness. The older son also represents Christian people today who also are blind to their self-righteousness and judgmental attitudes. Christians always must be on guard against “Phariseeism”---acting morally superior, judging others, being hypocritical, being legalistic, and being too harsh and unforgiving when others fail. There is also a Pharisee sense of entitlement in that the longer you serve God, the more blessings you deserve compared to others who have hardly served Him at all. Jesus teaches against this attitude not only in this story but also in His parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16).

A question you need to ask yourself, not evaluating others, but only yourself---are you a prodigal, or are you like the older son, or are you like the father? Are you lost and far away from the father? Do you need to admit your separation from God, your desperate life apart from Him and ready to ask for His forgiveness and come home again? Are you smugly self-righteous and incapable of rejoicing at a prodigal’s return? Or, are you Spirit-filled and always happy when someone lost has been found?

Devo 3

I Corinthians 13:13 (NLT)
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

The number three represents completeness. God exists as three persons--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was tempted three times. Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus asked Peter ‘Do you love Me?” three times. Mankind has three components--body, soul, and spirit. Time has three components--past, present, and future. Space has three dimensions--length, width, and depth. Human capability has three components--thoughts, words, and deeds. God has three main enemies—the world, flesh, and devil. People are tempted in three main ways---lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life (I John 2:16). We often repeat words three times to emphasize a point or a question (e.g. are you sure, are you sure, are you sure?).

Faith, hope, and love are the three greatest words in life. They describe the three descriptions of the grace of God that last forever. Faith is the starting point. Faith gives you light to have hope. Hope is a positive word that allows you to demonstrate love. Love is the pinnacle of these virtues. Is it possible to love another and to be loved without faith and hope? Ponder that question for awhile. Think about your relationship with a loved one. Your faith in him/her saying/doing/accomplishing something might not always come true. Your hope that your loved one might say/do/accomplish something might not come true. But, your love of that person will always be true.

On the topic of “threes”, here is a list of trilogies that describe other aspects of life’s truths: (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nubia_group)

Three things in life that………….

once gone, never come back: time, words, opportunity

can destroy a person: anger, pride, unforgiveness

you should never lose: hope, peace, honesty

are never certain: fortune, success, dreams

make a person: commitment, sincerity, hard work

are most valuable: love, family/friends, kindness

Ty Lacy and Kevin Stokes wrote a song about faith, hope and love recorded by the Christian music group Point of Grace.

Faith, hope and love is more than enough when times get tough  
Faith, hope and love will tunnel through what's in front of you  
If you just trust in faith, hope and love   

There's a lot of things we face that seem to pull us down
 There's a lot of tears and pain that turn our world around  
Seems the hammer always falls against us at our weakest times  
But I know a power that can heal the wounds it leaves behind  
It's a stone's throw away from anything we may face   F

aith, hope and love is more than enough when times get tough
 Faith, hope and love will tunnel through what's in front of you  
If you just trust in faith, hope and love

There's a lot of hurt and sorrow that can cloud the bluest skies
 Still there's hope in tomorrow if we just close our eyes  
To every fear we must face as we learn to embrace

Faith, hope and love is more than enough when times get tough  
Faith, hope and love will tunnel through what's in front of you
 If you just trust in faith, hope and love

  You can trust, you can really, really trust in faith, hope and love
 Just a little faith will pave the road before you to see you through  
Faith, hope and love is more than enough when times get tough  
Faith, hope and love will tunnel through what's in front of you
 If you just trust in faith, hope and love  

Reflect on these words. Better still, listen to the actual song, as you deepen your thoughts about the grace of God through His faith, hope, and love given to you. How can you increase your faith, hope, and love for God and for those closest to you?

2nd Look 6-13-11

2011-06-13T05:54:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Luke 14:28-30 (NIV)
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

When you read Jesus’ “mini-parable” above, apart from the rest of the chapter, you might conclude that He is giving financial guidance. And, perhaps He is. If we were not a credit-dominated society and people were aware of Jesus’ financial wisdom from these three verses, perhaps the majority of home foreclosures suffered by so many Americans would not have occurred.

You might also conclude from these three verses that Jesus is touting the importance of valid planning. Good planning envisions what the end product will look like, then backtrack to determine the steps in the plan and its cost.

Yet, from a contextual viewpoint, what Jesus is speaking about is the cost of being His disciple. Two of the most difficult statements of Christ are given before and after these three verses. In Luke 14:26 we are told that you cannot be His disciple if you love your immediate family members more than Him. In Luke 14:33 we are told that you cannot be His disciple if you do not give up all your own possessions. It takes extreme personal sacrifice to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

His analogy of the cost of discipleship to the planning of building a tower requires that you seriously think about what it means to be a Christ follower. It is not a trivial matter. It is not a casual matter. It is not a convenient matter. It is not a social matter. What Jesus is teaching here is that He not only wants His followers to start following Him but also finish following Him. To start is easy, God has paved the way where there is nothing that you need to do other than declare your sincere faith in Jesus as the Son of God who came to this earth to suffer and die for your sinful nature. Salvation is the free gift from God. But, there is more to salvation that the initial justification part. Salvation also includes your resultant actions as a Christ-follower. That’s where so many Christians fail to complete the mission.

Once the initial excitement and enthusiasm of giving your life to Christ has dissipated, then the hard part starts. Oswald Chambers in his Oct 31 devotional wrote: “….. we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (II Cor 5:7). Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried.”

Jesus not only wants you to start in your faithful relationship to Him, but also wants you to finish it. Otherwise, Jesus warns, you will be ridiculed by others. To finish it requires a lot of personal sacrifice, overcoming many stumbling blocks (temptations, disappointments, faith being challenged many times), and perseverance. There is a price to pay to follow Jesus as His disciple and you need to realize that up front. You must understand the complete picture of being a Christ-follower, it is not an easy life that most Christians want it to be and backslide when they find out it is not.

Are you truly prepared to be a Christ-follower? Are you willing to accept the possibility that your own family might reject you for your faith? Are you willing to face persecution (II Tim 3:12)? Are you willing to keep the faith as you encounter various trials the rest of your life? Are you willing to give up everything for your faith in Christ? These and other questions are what Jesus is speaking about in this passage.

Devo 2

Proverbs 13:22 (NLT)
Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren......

Being a grandparent I asked myself “where else in the Bible are grandparents mentioned?” Well there are a few instances. Proverbs 17:6 says that “grandchildren are the crown of the aged…..” Psalm 103:17 says that God’s love and righteousness continues to the grandchildren whose grandparents fear the Lord. Paul commends Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, for bestowing Timothy’s great faith (II Tim 1:5). Deuteronomy 4:9 commands grandparents to make the Lord’s goodness and mercy known to their grandchildren. And there is the infamous warning in Exodus 34:6-7 that the “iniquities of the fathers” will be visited on their children and grandchildren.

The Hebrew word for “good” (“towb”) in describing people (grandparents) is the same word used in the creation story where God evaluated His creations and “saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). Good grandparents are not only good, but also pleasant, agreeable, prosperous, and ethical, all different translations of “towb”. Such good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren. The Hebrew word for inheritance means to obtain possessions such as land and other properties. Therefore, good grandparents make sure that not only their children but also their grandchildren inherit things of value after grandparents die.

This might be a big surprise to you if you have the “Die Broke” philosophy where it is your intent to spend all you have on yourself and leave nothing for your children, much less your grandchildren. Our society emphasizes your need to fulfill your dreams in your lifetime and let future generations worry about how they will be able to do the same. Yet the idea of a “generational transfer” is clearly biblical, not only referring to this passage but also referring back to the promises of God to Abraham and Moses and others that their future generations would be blessed.

With so many people struggling to make ends meet today, how can we have some assurance that we will leave an inheritance to our grandchildren? Some might argue that today’s economic disasters, causing millions of people to be jobless, makes it nearly impossible to provide an inheritance for your children much less your grandchildren. Yet do you think people throughout most of history convicted by this proverbial teaching had savings accounts, or IRAs, or a lot of land, or a nice house and many possessions? No, yet they did what they could. If you are convicted from the teaching of this verse, you will do whatever you can, e.g. something as simple as setting aside a few dollars a month in a savings plan or college education account for each grandchild.

Right now, whether you are rich or poor, does it not inspire you a bit (or a lot) to reflect on the fact that financial decisions you make now will affect your grandchildren, even if you don’t have grandchildren yet? Their inheritance from you can include physical things (money, land, home, possessions), and also can include spiritual and relational things. You can be praying for them, spending time with them, communicating with them, and clearly letting them know and see how much you love and care for them.

Reflect on the fact that in the eyes of almighty God, you are viewed as “good” if you striving to leave an inheritance for your grandchildren. Include this goal in your bucket list.

Devo 3

I Timothy 5:8 (NASB)
But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Paul has been writing about honoring widows, with widows representing all people who are neglected, lonely, helpless, and despondent. Then in verse 8 he presents a somewhat surprising and harsh condemnation to anyone who does not provide for his own relatives and immediate family. Since this verse is within the context of widows, Paul is condemning anyone who is not taking care of older members of his/her family. Yet, it also applies to anyone who has any kind of family responsibility.

Who are “his own”? Other bible translations use “family relatives” in the context of “his own”. Who are family relatives? How far out do you go with relatives, i.e. is this referring to aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, even distant relatives? I don’t think so although your conscience will tell you if any of these relatives are close enough to you that you should call them your own. In the context of I Timothy chapter 5, I believe that “his own” refers to immediate family not living in your home with you. So this would include your mother, father, grandparents, brothers and sisters as well as children and grandchildren who no longer live in the same house as you.

Who are “his household”? The Greek word translated as household means “belonging to a house or family, related by blood”. So household include those living in the same house as you plus those related to you by blood, i.e. grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, and spouses. Essentially you are to provide for those who you know are dependent on you.

Why is there such condemnation for a person who fails to provide for his own? Paul is writing to believers in Christ. He has observed that unbelievers, despite their lack of faith, still take care of their own while perhaps also observing that people claiming to be believers are not taking care of their own. If a Christian does not take care of his own, he indeed is worse than the unbeliever who does take care of his own.

Can you do anything that better glorifies God than to provide for the needs of your family, those who clearly depend on you? I read of an interesting statistic where, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving and the American Association of Retired Persons in 2009, 29% of the U.S. population or 65 million people, provide care for a chronically ill, disabled, or aged family member or friend during any given year and spend an average of 20 hours per week providing care for their loved one. At great sacrifice—time, money, personal health—so many Americans are lovingly providing for family who cannot provide for themselves.

God blesses those who provide for others even though at times you might not “feel” His blessing. You are storing treasures in heaven. Conversely, those who ignore the needs of loved ones, who don’t invest in time and/or money visiting aging parents and looking after their needs, are worse than unbelievers in God’s eyes and there will be consequences in this life and the life to come.

After reading and reflecting on this Scripture and these comments, do you feel blessed or do you feel guilty? Are you guilty of being a deadbeat dad or son? Shame on you. Heed Paul’s warning. If you are unemployed and unable to provide for your family as you wish you could, God is not judging you. This passage is referring to those who have the means of providing for family members, but do not. You know what you need to keep doing or what you need to start doing in order to fulfill your biblical responsibilities for your family, especially those who need your help.

2nd Look 6/6/11

2011-06-06T06:23:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

I John 2:15-17 (NLT)
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

The emphasis of this passage is that the world (kosmos in the Greek) and God are opposite. We are told not to love the world nor the things it offers you. The things it offers you include a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything you see, and the pride that accompanies your achievements and possessions. Yet it is this same Greek word that is used in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. So why are we not to love the world while it’s clear that God loves the world?

Kosmos has several translations from Greek to English. One is “inhabitants of the earth, the human family”. This is the focus of the world in John 3:16. Another is “the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ”. This is the focus of the world in I John 2:15 and other passages like Romans 12:2. The worldview of man and the worldview of God are different. God created the universe including mankind to live in harmony with Him and with one another. Original sin by Adam and Eve, caused by the same lustful and prideful temptations described in I John 2:15, separated man from God. God still loves all people in His creation, despite their sins, while He hates what their sins have produced in the world. Lust and pride have resulted in horrific wickedness in the history of mankind. Lust and pride have produced an evil world system of rebellion against God, selfishness, lying, stealing, hate, sexual immorality, covetousness, and all the other evils that Jesus lists in Mark 7:21-22 and Paul lists in Galatians 5:19-21.

The three temptations—craving for physical pleasure (lust of the flesh), craving for everything you see (lust of the eyes), and the pride that accompanies your achievements and possessions (boastful pride of life)—that attack us every day were the same three temptations that the devil used to tempt Jesus (Matt 4:1-10). Turning stones into bread (Matt 4:3) represented lust of the flesh. Telling Jesus to jump off the temple (Matt 4:5-7) represented boastful pride. Offering all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus (Matt 4:8-10) represented the lust of the eyes. Jesus resisted and refused all three, all by quoting Scripture, setting the example for how we should resist the temptations of the world. If you profess to be a Christian, you act like one by resisting the temptations of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. These evil ways are not to characterize your life. However, so many times we fail to resist them.

God is not the source of evil. He is the source of love. Evil someday will be eliminated forever. The world’s way and all its cravings will be done away with. And those who please God will be saved. The good news of the gospel, the really great news of the gospel is that all you need to do to please God is to accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as your Savior and do all you can to follow Him as Lord of your life. You will stumble at times, but God will forgive you as many times as you ask for His forgiveness.

In the context of this passage, what must you do or stop doing in order to please God? What world cravings do you know you have that are wrong and must be stopped? What Scriptures can you use to help you resist succumbing to these cravings? The availability of Google and Bing search engines will help you find the appropriate Scriptures to arm you to defend yourself against habitual cravings you know that you have. Also being accountable to another Christian is a valid way to help you resist certain temptations in your life. Do you have a Christian family member or friend you can trust to help you change and please God because of your new resistance to your former cravings/lusts?

Devo 2

Luke 15:11-12 (NLT)
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

These are the first two verses of the famous parable of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal Son means “wasteful and extravagant”. This son exemplifies a common characteristic of immediate gratification. What amazed Jesus’ listeners then and even today is that the father in the story agreed with his son’s request. If you are a father, would you agree to give your son his share of your estate right now knowing that he was going to leave you and foolishly lose it all? Especially with a son like the son in this story who wanted everything of the father he could get without wanting the father personally. Doesn’t that sound like people today who want all the blessings of God, but want no relationship with Him? Yet the father in the story divided his wealth between his two sons and allowed the prodigal son to waste it all.

I believe that the Prodigal Son story and the other two stories in Luke 15 make this chapter the greatest chapter in the New Testament. Why? Because it shows how much God cares about the lost of the world. It shows how great the love of God is, greater than any human is capable of loving. God shows His love for sinners, a characteristic that humans rarely have. You read in Luke 15:20 where the father, representing God, ran to greet his lost son. This is the only reference in the entire Bible where God ran. He ran to greet a sinner. He ran to be reunited with his sinful, lost son. That is a remarkable picture that unquestionably depicts the unconditional love God has for his children, regardless of what they do. Jesus displayed this same love on the cross with his unbelievable utterance while being tortured, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Rob Bell wrote a very controversial best-selling book, “Love Wins” (HarperOne, 2011) where he questions the prevailing position of the Christian community that of billions of people who have ever lived on earth, only a select few, those who have declared faith in Jesus Christ, will end up in heaven. Bell asks the following question (page 2) “Has God created millions of people over tens of thousands of years who are going to spend eternity in anguish? Can God do this or even allow this, and still claim to be a loving God?” Now I am not defending or agreeing with Rob Bell’s position (you have to read the book to gain your own perspective), but I am intrigued by his use of the Prodigal Son story to make most of his points. One of those points, relevant to verses 11 and 12 here, is that no matter how much and how terrible people sin, the Father’s love cannot be taken away. Nor can the Father’s love be earned. It just is.

Perhaps you have been a prodigal at one time or another in your life and you have a prodigal child or children. Realize that God loves and forgives you regardless of your sins, and you should aspire to be like Him with those who exasperate you at times. Jesus’ stories in Luke 15 clearly point out His association with sinners and His willingness to forgive them. What an unbelievably loving God we serve.

Read as much as you can about the various stories from the Prodigal Son parable and what the three main characters—the younger son, the older son, and the father—teach you about the ways of man and the ways of God and how opposite God’s ways are from man’s ways.

Devo 3

Hebrews 13:4 (NASB)
Marriage is to be held in honor among all and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

I have a close friend who claims to be a Christian, yet tried to convince me that he was not sinning by having sex with a woman who was not his wife. He argued that his wife was becoming more and more difficult to live with and she was not the woman he married many years before. He ended up divorcing his wife to marry his mistress and I think still believes that he did no wrong.

I wish that I had known about this verse when listening to my friend attempting to justify his actions. Not that these words would have changed his ways, but might have been a conduit for the Holy Spirit to change his thinking. My friend was not holding his marriage in honor, he was defiling the marriage bed, and he was a fornicator and an adulterer.

Marriage is to be held in honor, literally meaning to be viewed as precious, like a precious stone worth a fortune. Yet, do American men and women view their marriage like a precious stone worth a fortune? Not if you believe marriage and divorce statistics where up to 50% of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. Yet, how blessed are those marriages where the husband and wife do view their marriage in honor, like a precious treasure. There are no happier people on earth.

God will judge fornicators and adulterers. First, what’s the difference between a fornicator and an adulterer? The Greek word for fornicator is “pornos” that means sexual immorality, prostitution, any illicit sexual relationship. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew in the Old Testament (called the Septuagint), pornos or porneia (fornication) referred to Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord (e.g. Hosea 1:2, 2:2). Adultery (Greek = moicheia) refers to immoral sexual acts after marriage. Fornication, when used with adultery, refers to immoral sexual before marriage. Jesus used the word porneia when referring to adultery in Matt 5:27-32, thus referring to all immoral sexual acts. Fornication and adultery also result in lying and cheating that destroy individuals and relationships.

What is the judgment of God against fornicators and adulterers? Well, in Jesus’ discussion of fornication and adultery in Matt 5:27-32, He said that it would be better for you to tear out your eye or cut off your hand than to see your whole body perish (verse 29) and go to hell (verse 30). Furthermore, fornicators are listed with other sinners in Rev 21:8 who will be part of the lake of fire. So God’s judgment against fornicators and adulterers is horrible. God’s judgment against fornicators (immoral people) also is mentioned in passages such as I Cor 5:9-11, I Cor 6:9, Eph 5:5, and I Tim 1:10, all warnings that such people will not be part of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God not only is eternal, but also exists during life on earth so it’s a terrible judgment to be put outside His kingdom. Fornicators and adulterers exist in a hell on earth because deep within their souls, they know they are violating God’s commands against these kinds of actions.

Obviously, defiling the marriage bed through fornication and adultery is very wrong in God’s eyes. Succumbing to the temptation of instant gratification can have immediate, long term, and eternal bad consequences. Yet God provides a way out through recognition of the sin, asking forgiveness, repenting from it, and living the rest of your life free from this extremely hurtful and egregious sin. Easier said than done. Sexual sin is extremely difficult to escape and be free from it because of the inherent sin nature of man and the emphasis on it in our permissive society. However, you always will have hope and the power of God in you if you give over this sin to Him and live your life everyday by asking for forgiveness, asking for the filling of the Holy Spirit, and taking all protective measures to get away from these easily addictive and destructive sexual sins.

“Even adultery is not the unforgiveable sin. It is a terrible sin, but God forbid that there should be anyone who feels that he or she has sinned himself or herself outside the love of God or outside His kingdom because of adultery. No; if you truly repent and realize the enormity of your sin and cast yourself upon the boundless love and mercy and grace of God, you can be forgiven and I assure you of pardon. But hear the words of our blessed Lord: “Go and sin no more.” —Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Devo 4

Psalm 37:4 (NIV) 
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

There are two key words here, the verb “delight” and the noun “desires”. The word “delight” has an element of “joy” in the original Hebrew. What in your life delights you? I admit that when I think of the delights of life, I think of certain foods, good coffee, my cozy home, working in my home office, walking in the woods, playing golf, my love for my wife and children and grandchildren, and so forth. What are the delights of your life?

The Bible says here that you are to delight yourself in the Lord. How? You can measure your delight in the Lord by how you would answer these questions, each of which start with the words, “Do you look forward to and enjoy………”:
• Spending time in His Word?
• Studying His Word?
• Applying His Word?
• Attending church?
• Interacting and spending time with other believers?
• Your quiet time that includes Bible study and prayer?
• Serving the Lord in ministry by serving others?
• Sharing your faith with others?
• Being obedient to what His Word teaches?

There has to be genuine delight---happiness, cheerfulness—with all of these attitudes and actions before the Lord will fulfill His promise. And what is His promise? At first glance, this verse seems to be stating that the Lord will give you what you desire to be or to have. No, that is an incorrect interpretation. What the verse is really stating is that the Lord will incorporate into your heart—your mind, emotion and will—what those desires ought to be. This word "desires" means “requests”. What are the requests of your heart? Does this not really mean what are the prayers of your heart? The desires of your heart (Note: it does not state the desires of your flesh) that the Lord puts there will not be selfish or self-serving, but will be unselfish, putting others’ needs first, and being humble. Indeed, the initiative you show to delight yourself in the Lord will be continued through the Lord perpetuating your desire to delight in Him.

This same theme of delighting yourself in the Lord is also found in Job 22:26 and Isaiah 58:14, both passages of which affirm that taking delight in the Lord follows your attitude and actions to be obedient to Him. All these passages state that if and when you delight yourself in the Lord, He gives something to you.

Again, what are your delights? And, what are the desires of your heart? Is the Lord involved in both?

2nd Look 5/31/11

2011-05-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Proverbs 29:17 (NLT)
Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.

I routinely share with younger parents with children under driving age that they must do all they can to teach and discipline their children because once they start driving parents lose control of many decisions that their children make. The Hebrew word for discipline is “yacar” (pronounced “ya-sar”) that is used 43 times in the Old Testament. English translations of “yacar” include to chasten, instruct, correct, reprove, admonish, and discipline. So, in context of all these various definitions, to discipline your children does not necessarily mean to spank or do anything physical to them. The use of physical discipline with children is very controversial. Fundamentalist Christians believe that passages in Proverbs using the word “shebet” (rod) justify the use of a stick or paddle or belt or other object to spank, even beat their children (Proverbs 23:13-14). Other Christians do not believe that the rod in Proverbs verses like 13:24, 22:15 and 23:13 are literal commands, but rather figurative. The rod represents correction and teaching, not beating. The rod of discipline is the rod of guidance and caring like the rod of Psalm 23.

I was taught that parents should only use physical discipline in cases where the child could have harmed himself and/or others (e.g. playing with matches, fire, sharp objects, poisons, etc). Proverbs 22:15 says that “a youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness, but physical discipline will drive it away”. Also, parents should not physically discipline their children with their hands since our hands represent love. That’s why the Proverbs references the use of a rod, never the use of the hands to discipline a child.

Each parent must determine what they believe to be the best method to discipline their children, but the motives for discipline are to teach children to be responsible, unselfish, and respectful in life and to be faithful to the teachings of the Lord through His Word. Extremes in discipline---excessive spanking/beating or ignoring discipline altogether—are absolutely unbiblical. Yet there seems to be a trend for parents not to discipline their children at all. This may be especially true in households—now the majority—where children are growing up with only one parent. How many children are growing up not being taught the difference between right and wrong according to the Word of God?

Every parent understands that there may be no better blessing in life than having children who give you peace of mind and make your heart glad. Conversely, there may be nothing worse than having children who have grown up to be irresponsible, troublemakers, and in trouble themselves. Frederick Douglas wrote, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”. The willingness to discipline your children while they are growing up goes a long way toward making the difference whether they are strong or broken.

Devo 2

Proverbs 22:4 (NLT)
True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life.

A great truth expressed and great promises given as long as two important conditions and attitudes are fulfilled. Let’s take a deeper look at each of the five components of this oft-quoted verse...

True humility—The Hebrew word for “humility” occurs only 5 times in the Old Testament, (II Sam 22:36, Proverbs 15:33, 18:12, and this verse, and Zephaniah 2:3). In the Samuel verse it is translated as gentleness and in the Zephaniah verse it is translated as meekness. The character of humility is somewhat hard to define. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart may be most famous for his quote about pornography---“I cannot define it but I know it when I see it”---and this quote could be applied to humility. Humility is much better seen than defined. We see humility in action when a person submits to God’s authority. We see humility when someone recognizes your talent and praises you without bringing any attention to him/herself. Humility is also seen when someone recognizes his/her own limits in talent, ability, or authority and does not strive for anything further. Often we witness false humility where a person denigrates his/her talents and accomplishments but you can tell that the person is really seeking praise. In my experience in the business world, most high level executives exhibit false humility in this way. True humility is exemplified by Jesus, described in Phil 2:1-17.

Fear of the Lord—The Hebrew word for “fear” occurs 45 times in the Old Testament, all in reference to reverencing the Lord. To fear the Lord simply means to respect Him not only with your thoughts and words, but also with your actions. Your life demonstrates your faith in and obedience to Him. You allow Him through Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life. You obtain a greater perspective of what it means to fear the Lord when you read the book of Ecclesiastes where the author tried everything life had to offer and nothing had lasting satisfaction except in what he writes as a conclusion to the entire book in Eccles 12:13-14. The only fear you should ever have in your life is to fear God. Never fear anyone or anything apart from God.

Riches—The Hebrew word for “riches” occurs 36 times in the Old Testament, all referring to monetary/possession wealth. In II Chron 1:11-12, God blessed Solomon because Solomon asked for wisdom rather than riches and He gave Solomon both wisdom and riches. The Bible promises, somehow, that humility and fearing God will bring wealth to you, wealth both spiritually and physically. This sounds like prosperity gospel teaching that is frowned upon by many, but there is no other way to interpret this promise resulting from a life of humility and fearing God. A person of true humility, by definition, is not someone whose primary motives are wealth. If you are thinking that you can gain wealth by being humble, your motives are wrong. Wealth resulting from humility and fearing the Lord is a natural consequence that such honorable people never think about. Yet, such honorable people are so much in the minority in this world full of pride and greed.

Honor—The Hebrew word for “honor” occurs 200 times in the Old Testament, 166 times referring to “glory”. Whenever the phrase “glory of the Lord” is seen in the Old Testament, the word for glory is this same word translated in Prov 22:4 as honor. By definition, humble and God-fearing people are honored in ways that we cannot see. This kind of biblical honor is not the same as people honored in human ways such as being honored for accomplishments, honored because of one’s office, rank or position in government/military/ business, or honored in other respectful ways. The honor bestowed upon a person of true humility and fearing the Lord is not bestowed by other humans, but bestowed by God Himself. The best form of honor is someday to hear God tell you, “well done, good and faithful servant”.

Long Life—The Hebrew word for “long life” occurs 501 times in the Old Testament and refers not only to life but also to a “lively life” (e.g. flowing water, green vegetation, reviving of springtime). The promise of a long life for the humble, God-fearing person is also found in Proverbs 3:1-2. Proverbs 3:16 basically makes the same promise as this Proverbs 22:4 passage. We cannot define what “long life” actually means in terms of years, but long life not only refers to quantity of life (days/years of living) but also the quality of life. Quality of life refers to daily certainty, security, and peace of mind. Quality of life also refers to a life of contentment. How many of us would love to live a long of life peace and contentment? You can by resolving to live your life in true humility in relation to other people and true reverence in relation to almighty God.

Devo 3

John 11:33-36 (NIV)
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

Jesus wept--the shortest verse in the entire Bible. The Greek word used for wept simply means to ‘shed tears’. This is the only time this word for wept was ever used in the Bible. Why did Jesus cry? He was deliberately late to respond to Mary and Martha’s pleas (11:6). He had said that Lazarus’ illness would not end in death (11:4) so He knew that the eventual result would be happiness. He is God Incarnate so He knows that earthly death is not the end. So why did He weep?

Have you ever wept when you did not expect it? You have watched movies where all of a sudden you start crying? Something reminds you of a past experience with a loved one and you shed a few (or many) tears. At the end of a long grueling day something is said or happens and you start crying unexpectedly. Do you think that Jesus wept unexpectedly?

Jesus wept because He was human as much as He was/is divine. He reacted to the grief He saw from the family and friends of Lazarus as any compassionate human being would react. Plus verses 3 and 5 exclaim that Jesus loved Lazarus. His weeping showed His emotions of not only compassion, but also love, mercy, sorrow, and even anger and frustration. This shortest verse in the Bible reminds us that Jesus understands any and all emotions that you may have at any time. It reminds us of His extreme caring for you. You should never try to hide your emotions and feelings when you pray to Him. Those who wrote the Psalms did not hold back emotions, even those that expressed rage and frustration against God.

However, I wonder if Jesus wept also because He was hearing such selfish words being expressed (verses 21 and 32). Both Martha and Mary and likely others were complaining that Jesus had not arrived fast enough and had no concern (or understanding) about how God can be glorified through suffering and death. Of course, that is true for all of mankind, we naturally only think of time and events here and now, not for eternity. We only think of our own interests most/all of the time and not about God’s interests that transverses times and individuality. Jesus might have been weeping over the attitudes He was seeing that are the same today, “what’s in this for me?”

Jesus may have wept because of all the cynicism that He was seeing and hearing. Read the words of verse 37; don’t you feel the underlying sarcasm? All the good that Jesus did and does, yet if He doesn’t respond the way we want him to at any time, do we not have the same kind of attitude as those whose words are recorded in verse 37? Isn’t it so human to view others as only as good as whatever they were or did the last time you interacted with them? It’s this prevalent attitude we see all the time—“If you don’t meet expectations every time, well, that’s not good enough for me”.

Jesus wept for many reasons. He continues to weep at times today. A main learning point I take away from this shortest verse of the Bible is that I hope that Jesus weeps with me not because of me because of my sin and rebellion. I hope that readers take away the same point May my life and your life be full of love and compassion and caring for others that sometimes will cause me to weep and knowing that my Lord weeps with me. May my life and your life be empty of any cynicism, grumbling, or selfishness that will cause my Lord to weep because of me. May my life and your life be full of the character of our Lord, full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. May Jesus not weep because we quench the Spirit and do not exhibit these Christlike qualities in our daily lives. May He rejoice and we rejoice with Him every day for the rest of our lives.

Second Look

2011-05-23T06:59:00.001-07:00

No Second Look this week

2nd Look 5/16/11

2011-05-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Romans 13:1-5 (NLT)
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

The main problem in interpreting/following Romans 13:1-7 is when truly evil governments are in control. Nazi Germany used this passage to browbeat Christians that God put Hitler in power (Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer adamantly opposed the Nazi view of Romans 13 and was eventually executed). Other evil governments have misused this passage to justify their evil. Opponents to the American Revolution used this passage to condemn the revolution. How do you know which governments God established and which did He not establish? Government extremists will use this passage to justify an existing government because God put it there while anti-government extremists will use this passage to defend their protests that God did not put an existing government in place. So a relatively controversial passage of Scripture.

My experience as a Bible teacher helps me remember that in attempting to interpret a particularly difficult passage that you need to understand the context of the passage. Who was the intended audience of the writer and what did it mean to the people to whom it was written? Paul wrote the Romans letter not to all Roman people but to all saints in Rome (Romans 1:7). He wrote to Christian people, not to unbelievers. He did not write this passage for Christian people to obey the Roman government; otherwise, why would the Roman government eventually behead Paul? Modern Bible translations use words “government” or “governing” whereas the original Greek words are “hyperech” meaning “higher”, and “exousia” meaning “power”. Paul wrote that Christian people are to submit to those of higher power or those who rule over them with their authority coming from God Himself. There must be evidence that those in power are themselves under the authority of God. Hosea 8:4 says that there are many kings and princes in power who were not put there by God.

There are many authorities in our lives---parents, teachers, coaches, employers, government, and, for Christians, the church. We are to submit to their authority and abide by the principles that Paul writes about in Romans 13:1-7 as long as these authorities are ruling under the authority of God. For example, you are not to obey a parent or other authority if that person orders you to do something that you know is sinning against the laws of God. Otherwise, you are to submit to authorities that God has put in your life. Remember the umbrella imagery that Pastor Scott portrayed where as long as you are under the umbrella, you are protected, but if you step away from the protection of the umbrella, you are exposed to trouble, as emphasized in Romans 13:2-5. Staying within the umbrella of authority also frees your conscience from guilt and worry (verse 5).

Indeed, it is difficult sometimes for Christians to discern if their governmental leaders are under the authority of God. While most American Christians might not have a problem following American Presidents who openly declare their faith, Christians around the world certainly do have conflicts in deciding whether or not to obey their governments. The utmost priority, however, is to obey God’s Laws (recall the two greatest commandments). Such a choice, in some nations, indeed can lead to persecution, imprisonment, and even death.

Bob Deffinbaugh in bible.org wrote that “Romans 13:1-7 informs Christians that civil government is one of God’s instruments through which divine retribution is administered in this life”. What do you think of this statement? What causes you to agree or disagree with the principles of obedience to rulers in Romans 13:1-7?

Devo 2

Proverbs 16:25 (NIV)
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

How do you interpret a verse like this (also repeated in Proverbs 14:12)? What do you think Solomon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, really meant when he wrote these words? What “way” is he writing about?

The word for “way” in the Hebrew has several definitions---journey, direction, habit, a course of life, and/or the moral character of a person. This verse implies that the ways-directions-habits-course of life and moral character of man will lead to death and this is not the way of God. The ways of man without the guidance of the Bible will lead man astray and ultimate death (spiritual and perhaps physical). The ways of man are not the ways of God (Isaiah 55:8-9). Some people, perhaps many, stubbornly never refuse to believe this or never realize this.

This verse speaks of a very popular philosophy today called humanism. Humanism believes that man is basically good, that mankind (not God) is the highest entity, that there is no absolute right and wrong, and that anything is good and right as long as no one else gets hurt. The beliefs of humanism are very appealing to the natural human heart that basically desires to rebel against God. Humanism is anti-God and anti-Bible.

What are some examples of “ways” that seem right to a man, but, according to the Word of God, are ways that lead to death?
• Thinking only of yourself, your wants/needs, never those of another person (Phil 2:3-4)
• Submitting to your lusts without any concern of the implications and consequences (James 1:14-15)
• Making decisions apart from seeking the guidance of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10)
• Choosing to follow false prophets and leaders whose beliefs are contrary to the Lord’s (Matt 7:15, Col 2:8, I John 4:1)

What is really tragic is when a person sincerely believes in something or sincerely believes that something is true and right, but such sincerity does not absolve that person from terrible consequences. You may sincerely believe that a pathway or a philosophy or a cult is right, but when you learn it is wrong, you don’t escape the consequences. Just like believing in some investment where you give a huge amount of money, then find out later it is bogus--- your belief was sincere, but you still lost all your money. Consequences of sincere belief in wrong things can result in spiritual or physical death. Wrong choices, despite how much you might have believed in the truth of your choice, can lead to death.

There exists a spiritual law that states that man’s sinful nature separates him from fellowship with God. Nothing man can do, no matter how right it seems, can bridge that gap. Only faith in Jesus Christ can. Without Jesus, the ways of man will lead to eternal separation from God, thus, eternal death. Thank God that His way, if you believe His Word, will lead you, not to spiritual death, but to eternal life.

Are you aware of a way that you are proceeding right now that you know deep within your heart is not the way God wants you to go? May be a career direction, relationship, habit, how you are spending your time/money/energy, whatever. Be wise and make some changes right now. Ask God to help you to provide whatever you need to change---courage, wisdom, resolve, discipline, counseling from others, whatever it might be.

Devo 3

Proverbs 6:20-23 (NCV)
My son, keep your father's commands, and don't forget your mother's teaching. Keep their words in mind forever as though you had them tied around your neck. They will guide you when you walk. They will guard you when you sleep. They will speak to you when you are awake. These commands are like a lamp; this teaching is like a light. And the correction that comes from them will help you have life.

Chapters 1 through 7 of Proverbs focus on a father’s advice to his son to be wise in all respects. I count at least 16 times where the phrase “my son” or “my sons” is used in these seven chapters. Much of Solomon’s advice to his son warns against sexual misconduct and it takes great wisdom to resist such temptation. Wisdom comes from the Word of God and is personified in the Person of Jesus Christ (“who became to us wisdom from God”—I Cor 1:30).

Have you thought of the father commanding and the mother teaching? According to Proverbs 6:20 the father sets/establishes the rules and the mother implements the rules. This may not be true anymore in today’s society where both parents work full time, but historically, the father would work away from home all day while the mother stayed home. Therefore, the father did not have nearly as much time to spend with his children and teach them continually whereas the mother did have the time. Think about your upbringing……who taught you the most---your father or your mother? Of course, in two parent families, both fathers and mothers teach their children, but this biblical model teaches that the father commands and the mother teaches with both commanding and teaching related to knowing and understanding the commandments and teachings of the Bible.

In writing this, it is so sad to reflect on the fact that a large percentage of children live in homes without a father and how devastating divorce is on the upbringing of children. God intended fathers and mothers to have complementary roles, not roles that either one can do without the other. Unfortunately many children grow up with a single parent trying to be both father and mother and this is not God’s intent.

What are children to do with the father’s commands and the mother’s teachings? Bind them continually on your heart and tie them around your neck. The heart is the center of your life and must be fed continually. The feeding here is nourishing from the Word of God. The words “bind” and “tie” convey the sense of strength, something that cannot be broken or taken away. To bind is to commit God’s Word to your heart. To tie is to be reminded of God’s Word in your life every day. Do you try to memorize verses of the Bible that mean the most to you? Do you apply those verses to your life every day, especially verses that give you wisdom to deal with daily temptation, stress, and other life challenges? In the context of these chapters dealing with sexual temptation, to tie God’s Word around your neck will keep you from turning your neck to lust upon women.

What will your father’s commands and your mother’s teaching do for you if you bind them to your heart and tie them around your neck?
• Guide you when you walk—always lead you in the right directions and make the right choices in your life, both in your personal and in your professional life
• Guard you when you sleep—allows you to have peace of heart and mind that, among other things, enables you to sleep well
• Speak to you when you are awake—a heart full of godly wisdom will enable you to have an ongoing dialogue with the Lord throughout your day and produce wise decisions, actions, words, and thoughts.

Psalm 119:105, made famous by Amy Grant’s song, says that God’s Word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. Your father’s commands are the lamp, your mother’s teachings are the light. They keep your pathways in life straight and enable your life to be free (John 8:32) and abundant (John 10:10).

As a father or a mother and as a son/daughter, what do these verses say to your heart?
 “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.”--Charles Wadsworth

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”--Abraham Lincoln  

Devo 4

Proverbs 30:11-14 (NASB)
There is a kind of man who curses his father and does not bless his mother. There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, yet is not washed from his filthiness. There is a kind--oh how lofty are his eyes! And his eyelids are raised in arrogance. There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords and his jaw teeth like knives, to devour the afflicted from the earth and the needy from among men.

This passage describes four detestable things in the eyes of God. Each detestable thing is prefaced by the phrase “There is a kind of man……..”
• Who has contempt for his parents (curses his father and does not bless his mother)
• Who is self-righteous (pure in his own eyes)
• Who is arrogant (lofty eyes, lifted eyelids)
• Who cannot control his tongue (puts down the afflicted and needy)

The Hebrew word for “kind of man” is “dor” that means “generation”. Such was the generation that caused God to flood the earth in Noah’s day. Such a generation will come again (II Tim 3:1-5). Every older generation thinks that the next generation or two fits these descriptions. Only God knows.

God through His Word makes it absolutely clear that you are never to dishonor your father and mother or there are severe consequences. A person who cursed his father or mother, thus breaking the 5th commandment, was put to death in Old Testament times (Exo 21:17). How about what Proverbs 30:17 says—“The eye that mocks a father and scorns a mother, the ravens of the valley will pluck it out and the young eagles will eat it”. Mocking and scorning are signs of disrespect of authority and elevation of oneself as superior. An eye that mocks and scorns is an eye that is rebellious and filled with pride and God will eventually destroy such an eye if it is not corrected. All children need to realize how serious God is about honoring their parents and never showing attitudes of mocking and scorning. All parents need to be on guard for these potential signs and attitudes in their children and correct them immediately.

The self-righteous person is who Jesus called blind and full of sin (Matt 15:14, John 9:40-41). The Bible is full of verses that speak of God’s hatred of pride and arrogance (e.g. Prov 8:13, 16:18, Mark 7:20-23, I Peter 5:5, I John 2:15-16). And the Bible has even more warnings about an uncontrolled tongue (e.g. Psalm 10:3-7, Prov 6:16-19, 15:2,4,7, James 3:2-6).

Do you think that these verses are speaking of four different kinds of men or that the same person displays the four behaviors? Well, keep in mind that it is referring to a generation and such a generation will exhibit all four behaviors. Yet, of course, every generation has its share of these kinds of behaviors. I think of the word “obnoxious” to describe an individual or a group or a generation that acts like this.

The motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, said something interesting about obnoxiousness. He said that obnoxious behavior very well might be a cry for help. This perspective might help you if you dealing with such a person. As Christians, not only we need to love others no matter how obnoxious they are, but we also need to be careful that we ourselves do not act obnoxiously. You may think that Christians never act obnoxiously, but I beg to differ. Think of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time. Yes, Christians can act as arrogantly and obnoxiously as unbelievers and, of course, such behavior significantly damages the reputation of the Christian faith.

How do you guard against these arrogant and obnoxious behaviors creeping into your life? As Jesus preached, first remove the log in your own eye, then you can deal with the speck in your neighbor’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5).

2nd Look 5/9/11

2011-05-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Proverbs 31:10-12 (NLT)
Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

Women are described in three different ways in the book of Proverbs---(1) personification of wisdom—e.g. 2:4, 4:6-9, 8:1-3, 9:1-3, (2) personification of immorality—e.g. 5:3-8, 6:24-26, 7:8-27, 9:13-18, and (3) personification of virtue—Chapter 31

Proverbs 31 describes the “ideal woman” so women reading this chapter, while hopefully inspired to follow the example of the ideal woman, should not berate yourself when you realize that you are not perfect as this Proverbs 31 woman is. However, with respect to a role model, of course it is infinitely better to follow the example of the Proverbs 31 woman than to follow most celebrity females of dubious character existing today. Plus, be reminded that the woman/wife described in Proverbs 31 is God’s role model of what she should be. Booth Tarkington once wrote: “An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband”.

Let’s evaluate what this passage is saying. It is saying that a man is extremely fortunate to find a virtuous and capable wife. Other translations use adjectives like “good”, “strong character”, “noble character”, “excellent”, “intelligent”, and “worthy” in describing this ideal woman. Other characteristics of this virtuous and capable wife are preciousness, being trustworthy, enriching her husband’s life, and bringing his life good things, never harmful things, all the days of her life. No wonder the writer says that to find a woman/wife like this is worth far more than expensive jewelry.

The word “virtuous” uses the Hebrew word “ishshah chayil” that literally means “one of power either in mind or body or both”. This verse can be translated “Who can find a woman of strength, efficiency, and ability?” The power and strength here refers to power and strength of character---being morally excellent, morally admirable, always telling and representing the truth, honorable and highly-principled. These are ideals that women should strive for just like all God’s people should strive to be holy, even perfect, although such achievement is impossible from a human perspective. Still, we should strive always to come close to reaching and being these ideals.

To be precious means to be “highly esteemed”. Time is precious because it passes by so quickly. A child is precious because he/she represents your progeny. Expensive jewels are precious because of their monetary worth. Family keepsakes are precious because they are irreplaceable. So a good woman and good wife are precious.

To be trustworthy is a quality that unfortunately is lacking in the majority of marriages in America if you believe the divorce rate statistics. Admittedly, trustworthiness is more of a problem women have with men than vice versa. To trust your marriage partner is the fundamental foundation of a strong God-honoring marriage.

To enrich her husband’s life and bring into his life good things, never harmful things, are qualities of a virtuous wife and woman that any man would dream to have. Sadly, many women do not have these qualities and more sadly still, many women do, but their husbands are fools who don’t realize what they have and certainly don’t appreciate their wives. How richly blessed is the man who has a wife who only desires God’s best for him, but also does all she can to be a benefit and blessing to him.

The tone of the question “Who can find?” suggests that it is very difficult for a man to find such a woman. Proverbs 18:22 says “Who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord”. How many happily married husbands would agree? Unhappy husbands and divorced husbands might also agree although in these situations men might be the problem, not the wife. I know that I can only speak of my own situation, as is the case with any individual man; that I am blessed to have married the woman I married and believe that she fits this role model. She is the most selfless person I know. I hope every married man reading this can say the same thing about your wife and all you single men can aspire to find this kind of woman to fulfill your life someday. If you are single and looking for the right woman, look to the Lord in prayer so that the Lord Himself might find her for you.

What qualities of God’s ideal woman portrayed in this chapter do you have? What qualities do you not have? What must you start or stop doing?

Devo 2

Proverbs 31:28-31 (NLT)
Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!” Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

On any given day, especially Mother’s Day, the greatest feeling a mother can have is to know that her children praise her. Praise for who she is and what she has done. Think about it-----isn’t it the most wonderful feeling to hear and witness praises and blessings from those who know you best? What mother would not long to hear these words from Proverbs 31 from her children and her husband? Yet, realize that to hear these words, a mother must invest her life in her children and husband and indeed this always involves self-sacrifice. In this modern world where more and more women are competing with men for workplace achievement and/or working to bring home more money, self-sacrifice for the family often takes a back seat. Some women have no problem with this: others feel guilty and frustrated.

To bless someone is to make that person happy. Not only do children bless a mother who they know has sacrificed for them, but note that the children “stand”. To stand has the imagery of utmost respect. You stand when you meet someone for the first time. You stand when someone of authority comes into your presence. You stand to greet someone you respect. So children stand figuratively when they bless their mother.

Wives---has your husband ever said words to you like the husband said in this passage? Maybe not these exact words, but words that let you know that in his mind and eyes, you surpass all other women? Husbands, have you ever spoken words like these to your wife? Good for you if you have and shame on you if you have not. If you have not, why not? Is it because she frankly doesn’t deserve hearing such words or is it because you are too proud?

Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last. Both refer to the external features of a person. Charm means to find favor in the eyes of someone, to be graceful and elegant. Charm can be deceptive; what you see is not necessarily what you get. Beauty does not last; it is vain. Yet, it takes a lifetime and, often, excessive time and money, to see the truth in this. The sooner that you learn that charm and beauty come from within, the happier in life you will be.

Proverbs 31 concludes with the most important attribute a woman can have-- reverence for the Lord and such reverence will be rewarded. Inner beauty is a natural result of a right relationship with the Lord. It is so unfortunate that so many women value outer beauty more than inner beauty. Is this true with you? Why? Do you fear what other people think of you more than you fear what God thinks of you? Don’t let this be true of you. Look to the eternal, not the temporal. Look to eternal rewards, not to earthly rewards that are so fleeting and ultimately meaningless. Read passages like I Cor 15:58, Eph 6:8, and Heb 11:6.

“As a woman of godliness, we have the wonderful opportunity to let our lives sparkle with God's love--if we let Him. Almighty God is our guide and shepherd and will give us the spirit of godliness to complete the spirit of loveliness in our lives!"-- Emilie Barnes

Devo 3

Deuteronomy 8:11 (The Message)
Make sure you don't forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today.

I have been reading Kent Hughes 1992 book Disciplines of a Godly Man. In his chapter on “Discipline of Purity”, he quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Temptation, SCM Press, 1961, p 33) that I have not quit thinking about: “When lust takes control, at that moment, God loses all reality……Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with the forgetfulness of God.”

Forgetting God is a characteristic of wickedness. Indeed, God would consider a person wicked who never thinks about Him. Wicked moments in our lives are a result of forgetting God. There are many passages in the Bible that speak about the tragedy of forgetting about God. Human pride in the form of self-sufficiency causes people to forget God (Deut 8:12-14, Hosea 13:6). When people backslide, God is forgotten (Jeremiah 3:21-22). When you start following other gods (money, pleasure, human achievement, etc), you forget about God (Deuteronomy 4:23, II Kings 17:38). Indeed, the cycle of sin and confession (sin—sorrow—confession--repentance—forgiveness/restoration—sin again) written about throughout the Old Testament is fundamentally the result of forgetting God in everyday life.

James 1:14-15 gives the “LSD” of sin: “Lust-Sin-Death”. Note that verse 14 says that you can be “carried away” or “dragged away” by lustful temptation(s). Lust is simply the desire for things forbidden by God and His Word. Lust lures you away from the safety of self-restraint to sin and when you sin you are separated from God. Being separated from God prevents you from remembering Him and His commandments; you simply forget about Him. The most common sin committed by men is sexual lust; the most common sin committed by women is pride (according to a 2009 Vatican survey). If you are a man reading this and you start thinking about sexual lust, why might you continue to think about this subject? Because you have forgotten the presence of God in your life. The same is true of women when entangled by pride and envy.

The Bible commands that you not forget God. You are not to forget His works (Psalm 78:7, 106:13), His benefits (Psalm 103:2), His Word (Heb 12:5, James 1:25), His commandments (Psalm 119:176), and His past deliverances from your sins (Judges 8:34, Psalm 78:42).

One approach you can make to keep from forgetting God is simply to resolve in your heart never to do so. Psalms 119:16 and 93 simply proclaim that “I will not forget Thy Word”. Another approach, of course, is to keep feeding yourself spiritually by daily reading and meditation of the Bible. Evangelist Joseph T. Larsen wrote in the Moody Bible Institute Monthly (July 1993) that America is progressing toward forgetting God “by largely banishing the Bible from schools and by misinterpreting it in universities, criticizing it in theological seminaries and colleges, and scoffing at it among the infidels and atheists of the nation.”

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”--Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, April 30, 1863

2nd Look 5/2/11

2011-05-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

Devo 1

Proverbs 17:27-28 (KJV)
He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

In 1608 England’s King James convened a group of scholars to translate the ancient Scriptures from the Hebrew and Greek languages into English. That Bible was first published in 1611, exactly 400 years ago. So I have used the King James original version for expressing Proverbs 17:27-28. However, if you are distracted by the old English, here’s the most contemporary translation from the Message Bible: “The one who knows much says little; an understanding person remains calm. Even dunces who keep quiet are thought to be wise; as long as they keep their mouths shut, they're smart.”

The words “knowledge” and “understanding” have great significance in the book of Proverbs. The premise for the book of Proverbs is found in 1:7 that simply says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”. Later, 9:10 says “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. So biblically, knowledge is not intelligence, it is wisdom since both are based on fearing (respecting, reverencing the Lord). Furthermore, 9:10 say that “the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. So knowledge and understanding are connected and what does 17:27 say about them? A person of knowledge does not need to say much, he spares his words. A person of understanding has an excellent spirit, he can be described in today’s vernacular as “calm, cool, and collected”.

Interestingly, verse 28 indicates that the fool can be thought of as wise if he keeps silent, but he’s still a fool. Biblically, the fool is one is does not and will not obey the commands of the Lord. The fool never learns, the fool never develops wisdom, the fool thinks that his ways are superior to God’s ways.

The Bible emphasizes the importance of listening as a priority over talking. Why were we created with two ears but only one mouth? James 1:19 says to be “quick to hear, but slow to speak”. Proverbs 10:19 says that the more you talk, the more likely you are to sin. You know that you have been guilty at times of talking too much when you should have been listening more. We all know people who love to hear themselves talk and the more they talk the less we listen and the less we respect them. A colleague of mine likes to use the word “blathering” in describing people who talk too much without saying much worth remembering. To blather means “to talk foolishly at length” or “to talk nonsense”. What these proverbs are warning against is “blathering”.

Examine yourself-----do you “blather” too much? Do you think before you speak? Are you careful not to talk excessively? Do you make sure you listen to another person speaking as much or more as you expect him/her to listen to you? Do you think that people think of you as “wise” or a “blatherer”?

“It is a wise thing to say as little as possible to man and as much as possible to God” – FB Meyer

“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”.—Abraham Lincoln

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something”--Plato

Devo 2

Proverbs 20:3 (ESV)
It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling.

Do you know someone who seems to enjoy arguing (or you are convinced actually loves to argue)? Do you know someone who is not happy unless he/she is creating chaos? What about the person who loves to play “devil’s advocate”, always taking an opposing position regardless of their true beliefs? Might you be one of these people? The Bible calls them fools.

Look at politics today with partisan quarrels that never get to the truth. Congress cannot seem to accomplish anything because of absurd quarreling. Deborah Tannen authored a book “The Argument Culture” where she describes our society today as : ''a pervasive warlike atmosphere that makes us approach public dialogue, and just about anything we need to accomplish, as if it were a fight. Politicians trip up partisan opponents rather than cooperate for the good of the country. Lawyers engage in inane adversarial tactics, like sending documents on paper that smells so bad it makes people sick. Television producers recruit enraged zealots for shows where they yell at one another like lunatics instead of conversing maturely about their differences.”

Quarreling describes the majority of marriages. The National Football League is shut down because of quarreling between owners and players over one another’s greed. The Christian right points the finger at anyone disagreeing with them; Christian evangelism often has resulted in unresolved differences. Do you think there would be the huge number of church denominations and non-denominations today if there was no quarreling amongst believers? Yes, there are a lot of fools in our world and in the history of mankind.

Proverbs 20:3 speaks in absolute terms. Every fool will quarrel. Why is quarreling so associated with being a fool? I looked up the definition of a fool in the Pictorial Bible Dictionary (Zondervan, 1967). Here’s part of what it says: “Proverbs and Ecclesiastes makes about 80 statements about fools, showing their emptiness, conceit, pride, boasting, self-confidence, thick-headedness, and wordiness”. The Hebrew word used for “quarreling” is “gala” that literally means “to meddle”. To meddle can mean to dispute, disagree, differ, find fault, and complain. God does not want His people to do these things in His family. Quarreling is a sin (Proverbs 17:19-20) and sin describes a fool.

You may be thinking “What about the person who speaks lies about the Bible, the church, etc. Am I supposed to say nothing?” Yes, you should/must speak up in defense of the faith, but you need to be led by God as you speak. Arguments are rarely done in a godly manner. Too often impulsiveness takes over, we get angry, and we quarrel negatively. James 1:20 says that “man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires”. If you read carefully the gospels that record Jesus’ words against the Pharisees and other resistant Jews, He never quarreled with them. He listened and then He reproved without displaying anger that accompanies quarreling.

To quarrel is to be a fool and Christian people are to not to be fools. You are to be a good listener, a slow to react speaker and never let anger control you (James 1:19-20). Paul wrote to Timothy that “the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome” (II Tim 2:23-26). Note in this message that the Lord’s servant must be “kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, and with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition”. Is that being accomplished when people are quarreling? Allow these wise biblical words sink deep into your heart in order to apply them in your marriage, in your job, and in all of your life’s interactions with other people. Don’t ever allow yourself to be viewed as a fool by the Lord again.

Devo 3

Proverbs 4:20-27 (God’s Word Translation)
My son, pay attention to my words. Open your ears to what I say. Do not lose sight of these things. Keep them deep within your heart because they are life to those who find them and they heal the whole body. Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. Remove dishonesty from your mouth. Put deceptive speech far away from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead and your sight be focused in front of you. Carefully walk a straight path, and all your ways will be secure. Do not lean to the right or to the left. Walk away from evil.

While Solomon wrote these words of wisdom to his son, we should consider these direct words of wisdom from the Lord to us. Whoever is reading this, cross out “My son” and insert your name. Now note all the references to parts of your body—your ears, eyes, heart, mouth, lips, and legs. While these words of wisdom refer to your physical actions, they more deeply refer to your spiritual actions.

Ears: Ears refer to the ability to hear. However, many people (including me) cannot hear well or at all. Biblically, ears also refer to understanding and acting upon what you hear. Many times Jesus spoke the phrase, “He who has ears, let him hear” (e.g. Matthew 13:9 and 43, Luke 14:35, Rev 2:7, at least 12 other verses). What He meant by this phrase was something to the effect, “I know that what I am teaching to you is difficult and you might resist My teaching because it will require some changes in your life, but don’t ignore Me. Listen carefully to what I am teaching, think carefully to understand what I am teaching, and act on what I am asking you to do or be. Don’t forget.”

Eyes: Wrong use of your eyes can cause all kinds of serious sin. For men, it’s primarily sexual immorality. For women, it might be covetousness or envy. Eyes looking straight ahead have several important implications---being truthful (eyes glancing sideways suggest lying/deceiving), not comparing yourself to others (leading either to prideful superiority or jealous inferiority), being obedient to God’s Word, and always moving forward with your life and goals, not being sidetracked.

Heart: Proverbs 4:23 defines your heart as the source of your life. You are to guard it more than anything else because what is in your heart dictates what your life is like. Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines your heart as the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life, the home of the personal life, and the seat of the conscience. The heart is naturally wicked (Gen 8:21, Eccles 8:11) and must be changed before you can obey the Lord (Psalm 51:10-14).

Mouth/Lips: The commandment here is to be truthful, don’t lie and don’t deceive. Yet lying and deceiving are natural consequences of a life without God and, unfortunately, may continue after becoming a Christian. Lying and deceiving are done to save face, to shift blame, to protect others from knowing the truth, to get your own way, to get out of doing something and many other reasons. What is the underlying reason for lying and deceiving---human pride---the number 1 cause of sin and the main source of evil.

Legs: Like the proper use of your eyes, you are to use your legs to walk a straight path; that is, to walk away from evil and walk toward obedience to the Lord. Make a fist in front of your eyes. Your fist represents sin. Sin is always there. The unbeliever always walks toward the fist; the believer always tries to walk away from it. Sin, represented by the fist, is always around, but it’s our attitude and actions in confronting it. You are to walk to straight path, not wavering left or right. Funny how I think of the Johnny Cash song “Walk the Line” where the first stanza words have a lot in common with this passage from Proverbs: “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine. I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I keep the ends out for the tie that binds. Because you're mine, I walk the line.”

Pay attention to what the Lord is speaking to you through His words right now. What part(s) of your life need to be changed? Ask Him for forgiveness and a fresh start and a new resolve to use your ears, eyes, heart, mouth, and legs according to His will, not yours.

Devo 4

Deuteronomy 8:11 (The Message)
Make sure you don't forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today.

I have been reading Kent Hughes 1992 book Disciplines of a Godly Man. In his chapter on “Discipline of Purity”, he quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Temptation, SCM Press, 1961, p 33) that I have not quit thinking about: “When lust takes control, at that moment, God loses all reality……Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with the forgetfulness of God.”

Forgetting God is a characteristic of wickedness. Indeed, God would consider a person wicked who never thinks about Him. Wicked moments in our lives are a result of forgetting God. There are many passages in the Bible that speak about the tragedy of forgetting about God. Human pride in the form of self-sufficiency causes people to forget God (Deut 8:12-14, Hosea 13:6). When people backslide, God is forgotten (Jeremiah 3:21-22). When you start following other gods (money, pleasure, human achievement, etc), you forget about God (Deuteronomy 4:23, II Kings 17:38). Indeed, the cycle of sin and confession (sin—sorrow—confession--repentance—forgiveness/restoration—sin again) written about throughout the Old Testament is fundamentally the result of forgetting God in everyday life.

James 1:14-15 gives the “LSD” of sin: “Lust-Sin-Death”. Note that verse 14 says that you can be “carried away” or “dragged away” by lustful temptation(s). Lust is simply the desire for things forbidden by God and His Word. Lust lures you away from the safety of self-restraint to sin and when you sin you are separated from God. Being separated from God prevents you from remembering Him and His commandments; you simply forget about Him. The most common sin committed by men is sexual lust; the most common sin committed by women is pride (according to a 2009 Vatican survey). If you are a man reading this and you start thinking about sexual lust, why might you continue to think about this subject? Because you have forgotten the presence of God in your life. The same is true of women when entangled by pride and envy.

The Bible commands that you not forget God. You are not to forget His works (Psalm 78:7, 106:13), His benefits (Psalm 103:2), His Word (Heb 12:5, James 1:25), His commandments (Psalm 119:176), and His past deliverances from whatever sin you committed (Judges 8:34, Psalm 78:42).

One approach you can make to keep from forgetting God is simply to resolve in your heart never to do so. Psalms 119:16 and 93 simply proclaim that “I will not forget  Thy Word”. Another approach, of course, is to keep feeding yourself spiritually by daily reading and meditation of the Bible. Evangelist Joseph T. Larsen wrote in the Moody Bible Institute Monthly (July 1993) that America is progressing toward forgetting God “by largely banishing the Bible from schools and by misinterpreting it in universities, criticizing it in theological seminaries and colleges, and scoffing at it among the infidels and atheists of the nation.”

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”--Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, April 30, 1863