December 24th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day! Life Changed!
As I sit in this large restaurant, there are so many people. Waiters and waitresses. Buss boys and cooks. Everyone rushing around. People are busy eating and visiting. It gives me pause. I think on the hustle and bustle, of Bethlehem this night. The streets were crowded. The taverns where filled to overflowing. The hotels had no vacancies, and the shop owners were selling merchandise, left and right. No one had any idea what was about to happen. Everyone was going about their busy lives, just as they are tonight. No one had a clue, that on the edge of town, the world was changing. Life was transforming, for all of eternity. The Savior of the world was being born. God was appearing in the flesh. And yet everyone was busy with their agenda. Busy with their list. Busy with what they considered important. I see that today. We go about our busy lives, with not a thought as to what is right before us. We rush here and there, with no thought of our Savior. The one that brings meaning and glory to our souls, is a part of everything around us. He is in the people we see, and the air we breath. He is right before us, every minute of everyday, and most of us never even notice. Take time to pause. Take time to see him… feel him… and cherish him. Because of tonight… life will never be the same.
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
December 19th, 2022
Happy Jesus Day!
Joseph’s Burden!
I’m not sure what I am to do. My future wife is pregnant, and it is not mine. How can I stay with her? She is disgraced among our people. How can I be expected to raise this baby, as if it were mine? There was this angel. I think it was an angel… it could have simply been a dream. I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. How am I suppose to be a dad, to God’s only son? How do I discipline him? How do I teach him? How do I simply talk to him, knowing who he is? I’m just a simple man. Why was I chosen to bear this burden, and be blessed at the same time? There could be no greater honor, but I simply fell in love with a girl. Am I expected to help her deliver this child? Will there be help from above? An angel maybe? What am I to do when he arrives? Will I fall to my knees, or simply shout out, when I feel his beating heart? Just like Joseph, so many times we feel intimated by his presence. Maybe we feel overwhelmed, or we feel as if we are not worthy. Then our Lord takes us in his arms and reassures us… he simply loves. He simply cares. He simply forgives. There is no greater honor than to be one of his children.
“If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!”
Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed. Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”
Then Moses summoned Joshua. He said to him with all Israel watching, “Be strong. Take courage. You will enter the land with this people, this land that God promised their ancestors that he’d give them. You will make them the proud possessors of it. God is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t worry.”
That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.
So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
December 12th, 2022
Happy Jesus Day!
Greatest Love!
So many days, my thoughts turn to the love of our Savior. I think about all the things he did, because he loves us. He made food taste amazing. He made the world look spectacular. He put love in our soul, so we would find joy in each other. He gave us eyes to see, and ears to hear. He gave talents, to so many, in order that we may enjoy each of our senses. However, the greatest show of love he gave, was making himself human. Leaving his throne of glory and becoming just like us. If he had not become human. If he had not rose again in human form. We would not have been saved. We would not have been able to look upon his face… feel his warm touch… or look into his loving eyes. He could have simply came here, corrected our sinful ways, or said “I’m done” and allowed us to die. Instead he came, he allowed himself to see and feel what we do. To suffer as we do. To laugh as we do. He came, in order to produce more sons of his father God. To turn us into himself… so we may call ourselves God’s children. God doesn’t just want better people, he wants children who call him father. The only way that would happen, is for us to see his child in human flesh. That is the greatest love of all.
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.
Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.
They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.
He made to be their true selves,their child-of-God selves.These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten.
In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.
Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!
December 5th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
He Was Fully Human!
Do you find it hard to think of Christ in human terms? To think of him as a person, just like you… like me? Not until we grasp that concept, will we fully understand the importance of his birth… his death… his resurrection. He was fully human. He had odor after a long hard day. His poop stunk, just like ours. He got gas from what he ate. He got boogers in his nose, from time to time. He liked some foods, more than others. His breath didn’t smell the best, right after he woke up. He had to clip his finger nails. He enjoyed laughing. He was tempted, by all the things we are. Sexual desire, stretching the truth, anger, selfishness, malice, conceit, and so many more. The whips that hit his back, caused great pain. The thorns on his head, were like so many needles. The driven nails were excruciating. Then just like us… he died. His heart stopped beating. His lungs gave their last breath. His brain waves were no longer. However, he lives again. His heart beats, his lungs breath and his brain waves respond. So when we think of his birth… it was miraculous… but it was still human. I gain great peace in knowing that he understands my struggles. I take greater peace in knowing my heart will stop at some point, but just like his, it will beat again.
God didn’t put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we’re dealing with here.
Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.
Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he’s listening. And if we’re confident that he’s listening, we know that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.
So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,he humbled himself in obedience to Godand died a criminal’s death on a cross.
November 28th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Loving God!
Some days I see him on the corner, near our house. His legs are so bent, he would fall over, if it weren’t for his cane. He can’t speak. One of his hands is deformed and of not much use. To take a blessing, he has to balance on his cane, in order to use his good hand. His hair is grey… his eyes are full of love. As I gave him some money, I prayed. I wonder about his journey… his life. I touch my heart and point at his, so he is aware that I love him. He does the same, but points to the heavens. As I drive away my heart is filled with compassion, but also with shame. It is easy for me to love God. Wearing nice clothes, healthy limbs and an expensive truck. Here is a man that loves God, in a life that seems to be nothing but hardship. I wonder, if I were in his shoes, would my love for our Savior still be strong? Would I have love for others, that could be seen in my eyes. All my life I have lived in comfort… in blessing… in never ending joy. We need to stop, and notice those less fortunate than we. God puts them in our path to teach. To teach gratitude, and to teach unending love. I am still praying for him. I am also praying, I don’t take one blessing in this life for granted. After all, each blessing, is but a gift from God!
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.My strength comes into its own in your weakness.Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.
Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
November 21st, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Grateful Heart
Seven thirty. As I walked outside, the temperature was perfect. The sun was shining thru the trees, as to create beams of light. A few clouds billowed in the sky. Pure joy came over me. My hands flew into the air. Laughter came from deep inside. I shouted “Father thank you for such a magnificent day! You are an amazing God!”. So easy to have a heart of gratitude, on such a day. However, doesn’t he want us to live our lives with such a heart? To lay our burdens on him, and spend our days in prayers of thanksgiving. Tragedy will always happen. He whispers… I have this, so rest in my presence… and be thankful for all I have given you. It’s hard at times. Loved ones die. Satan punches at you daily, thru temptation… thru financial hardship… thru hateful people… thru medical issues. As hard as life is sometimes, Jesus came to destroy that hardship, and give us a peace that passes understanding. We simply have to lay all those burdens, at his feet. Be thankful first for his presence. Then spend each day looking for the joy in life, that he creates. The darkness will only last for a short while. New joy comes in the morning. I pray we find a way to have lives of daily thanksgiving. For me, just knowing that he is my God, brings joy to my soul.
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
Come, let’s shout praises to God,raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!Let’s march into his presence singing praises,lifting the rafters with our hymns!
I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello!Faith Under PressureConsider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
November 14th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Don’t Need Proof!
As we toured the museum, and the replica of Noahs’ Ark, a strange feeling came over me. I was almost ashamed, at the amount of money the founder had spent, in an effort to prove his point and disprove another. He had invested millions, with the purpose of trying to prove that the word of God… mostly the old testament, was true. The whole premise of the exhibit was to bring light to facts, as he knew them, in an attempt to disprove science. As I examined the displays, my heart spoke to me. God doesn’t want to be proven. He wants our faith. It’s easy to love something or someone that is seen… felt… and right in front of you. It takes greater dedication and commitment to love someone or something based on shear faith. If God wanted us to believe in him, based on proof, he could have easily left behind so many things to prove his existence and that of his son. Then why did he not do that. Why not leave us the chalice from the last supper? Or the tablets of law inside the Ark? Why not the cross its self? Because we would worship those items instead of him. He doesn’t want proof. He doesn’t want worship of that proof. He wants desire… faith… and worship of him. Only that will prove we truly love him.
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.
By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
God’s Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.
Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’
So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word.
Our true identity is flat and plain, not puffed up with the wrong kind of ingredient. The Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has already been sacrificed for the Passover meal, and we are the Unraised Bread part of the Feast. So let’s live out our part in the Feast, not as raised bread swollen with the yeast of evil, but as flat bread—simple, genuine, unpretentious.
Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.” But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensableweapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters.
May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!
November 7th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
What Do You Believe?
So much of our belief system, the ideas of our theology, come from our parents… our families… our traditions. We believe half truths, because we listen to the stories of our ancestors, and those that lead our churches. Do you wear the name Jesus? Do you claim to know his heart and the words of his story? We have a Savior, who loves us more than we could know. He doesn’t follow rules. He doesn’t worry about the traditions of families, or the laws of religion. He is consumed with love. He wants us to lay ourselves out bare before him, with no facade… no pretense. When God spoke to Adam and Eve, after their mistake, he asked “who told you, you were naked”. It was not about clothing. God wants us to be exposed before him. He doesn’t want pride, he wants honesty. He wants us to know, his forgiving nature. It’s about making ourselves humble before our fellow man. Making ourselves open, to being fully human, and not worrying about if we look weak to others. As you come to a understanding of Jesus’s heart, you will see that he laid himself open, to all mankind, in order to save us. There is freedom in doing the same. The only truth that matters, comes from the one who has scars on his hands… his feet. The rest is simply wasted time.
My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it.
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”
Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.12-14So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
October 31st, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
My Hearts Prayer!!
My eyes have not beheld what my heart so clearly sees. Daily I reach for you… knowing that your hand will be there to guide me. To welcome me. I rest in the comfort that your light will shine… to lead… where my life must follow. That your love will bring freedom to my soul, as it longs to soar to your waiting arms. My life… given in service to you… and all your children… as I desire to mirror your love. To be the hands… and feet… of your glory to all those I encounter. I fall prostrate to the ground as I behold your grace… your majesty… I try, with all my strength, to follow your truth… your life… your way. I ask for wisdom, for guidance, to love all your children without forethought or motive. To allow you to guide me in your ways and in your plan for me. That my life may be nothing more than a tribute to you. That the breath you have given me will not be in vain, but will be in service and dedication to you. Come… Father come… and fill my soul with your presence. That others may see the glory of you… through me.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
October 24th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Simplicity!
So I need you to have an open heart and mind! I need you to think outside of the box, for a moment. Lorna and I recently had a chance to visit a famous nude beach. Wanting to experience as many things in this life as we can, we decided to go. I will tell you, it is not what you think. There is no sexual tone, or even one of mistrust. It is simply people being, as God made them. As I observed the crowd of people, it came to me. This is how God sees us. When you strip away all the pretense. When you take away the trappings of this world. When there are no material items to judge on, then you are seeing what God sees. WE ARE ALL THE SAME!! On that beach was every race of people you could think of, and everyone had one thing in common. No clothes. Didn’t matter if you were rich or poor. Fat or thin. Asian, Spanish, Black or White, everyone was the same. To me… everyone looked to be, a child of God! Whether you think it is good or bad, is beside the point. What I saw was a world, where we are more alike, than different. A world where people can have respect for each other. A world were judgement was not, and people felt at ease, with others. Look at it this way. If Adam and Eve had not messed up, we would all be sitting on a nude beach!
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”
You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.
God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.
Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.
Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our natureSo they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,the birds in the air, the cattle,And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”God created human beings;he created them godlike,Reflecting God’s nature.He created them male and female.God blessed them:“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
October 17th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
A World Of Love
Her question was simple. Anyone who knows me would say it was well warranted. My sweet granddaughter was simply curious and concerned. “Why do you cry so easily”? I cry so often, I think Kleenex could use me as a poster boy! My answer was simple. “God blessed me with a heart, so full of love for him and those around me, that sometimes that love spills out of my eyes”. I see so much hatred. Daily I deal with people that could care less, about those around them. I saw the news, by accident, the other morning and within one minute they reported three shootings. Would you not rather live in a world of love? A world that Jesus taught, and a world he made possible. It can happen… but it has to start with you. With me. We have to take it everywhere. We can’t allow our differences, to produce hatred, instead of love. I can’t allow your treatment of me, to determine my love of you. I know it’s hard, but it’s what our Savior taught. Instead of seeing differences, look for what makes you more alike. Instead of worrying about who’s right and who’s wrong, be accepting. When faced with violence, return with love. Then when your eyes fill up with love – let it flow – and get a Kleenex.
“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for. “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family. “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.
Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.30Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.31-32Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
October 3rd, 2-21
Happy Jesus Day!
The Truth Of Our Being
He never held back. He never questioned why! He never asked are you worthy? What religion are you? Where do you come from? He never wondered why they needed help… why do they think they deserve it? He never once refused to help someone in need. Our Savior… our Jesus… healed those who asked. Gave advice to those who pondered. Gave help to those in need… and not one time do I see where he judged before or after. He simply did his fathers work, to the best of his ability, and without hesitation. Many times I am asked, “why do you help all those on the street”? “You have no idea what they do with the money”. Doesn’t matter! Christ would. Why do you give second chances to those with a criminal record? Doesn’t matter! Christ would. Why do you love without limit and without forethought? Because Christ would. There is a difference between the way of our being and the truth of our being. The world teaches the way they think we should be. Christ teaches the truth of the way we should be. I think we all should be following the truth of our being. The truth of our being is simply love. Anything else is falling short of the spirit within us… that is Jesus.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.Colossians 4:5;Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.
Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?18I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help.
September 26th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Speak To Me
It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart. Father… without saying a word you can light up the dark. Each day as I find myself surrounded by so many negative people, and so much evil, your love gives me peace. A love that can only be found in your presence. Your arms wrap me in a positive warmth, that only you can provide. The light that shines new each day comes from the hope that is found in your grace… your love… Your heart, speaks to my heart, in ways that I can only understand when I take the time to be still, and truly know who you are. When I put aside the worlds negative view… and fully concentrate on the love you provide. A love that is humble… accepting…understanding… and never ending. A love that gives me assurance of a future with you, and your father. A love I will never fully comprehend. A love I can firmly place my faith in, and give my heart to. Father, give me the wisdom to hear when you speak. Give me the understanding to know what you are saying. To hear with an open heart, and a creative mind, that I may come to truly know your ways… your truth.
Don’t Throw It All AwaySo, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in sea storm and earthquake,Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains.
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
“But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God.They’re like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers—Never a worry through the hottest of summers,never dropping a leaf,Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.
Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
“I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act? But if I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone on God’s side listens to God’s words. This is why you’re not listening—because you’re not on God’s side.”
September 19th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Loving Anyway!
As we talked… I expressed to him the heart of our Savior. The longer we visited, the more he become uncomfortable. Every human, deserves our love and respect, as they are children of God. Each one made in his image… given a purpose… given a part of his spirit. Because each person holds Christ DNA in them, we are to love them all. He commented, “what about the guy that steals from me”? Jesus says give him your coat also. “What about the guy who harms me”? Jesus says turn the other cheek so he can hit it too. He was struggling. He was having trouble understanding, because the world he was raised in, taught just the opposite. Then he commented. “if he has done something to me, then he loses my love… my respect”. So now we are ranking sin based on what is important to you? Should we operate off of Christ standards… or our own? Christ and God do not rank sin. One is bad… the next is the same. However, we operate from our own scale. We see sins’ in a hierarchy. The lie I told yesterday, could not be as bad, as the murder he committed. It is but for the GRACE of our Savior that any of us can rest. I for one, am so THANKFUL, that my Savior does not lose love and respect for me, because of my actions.
Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.
The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: “Love others as you love yourself.” But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. The same God who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you’re a murderer, period.
Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good,Here’s what you do:Say nothing evil or hurtful;Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you’re worth.God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he’s asked;But he turns his back on those who do evil things.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
September 12th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
It’s All About Jesus!
Monday! Most of us don’t like Monday! To me, it offers new hope and a chance to be back with the people, I love to work with. However, this particular Monday, was a day full of disappointment and frustration. There were times, I felt as though it couldn’t get any worse. People who say they love you… but leave. People who say they want what is best… but do not do their best. Religious leaders who reflect only the world. Then I saw it! Our Saviors letters and the stories he left for us. It only takes a moment to remember… it’s all about Jesus. Doesn’t matter what others say or do. It’s all about Jesus. Doesn’t matter what the outcome is. It’s all about Jesus. Doesn’t matter that others are rude and angry. It’s all about Jesus. Doesn’t matter if the world likes you, or not. It’s all about Jesus. When the world knocks us down. When others disappoint. When people could care less about you. When the world shows hatred… malice… envy… violence and indifference. All that matters is Jesus. When he is front and center in your life, you will return hatred, with love. Malice, with compassion. Envy, with sharing. Violence, with peace. Indifference, with caring. It’s simply all about Jesus. What a comfort that is… in this crazy world.
All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.
Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
September 5th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
So Many And Yet One!
So many! As I stand on 16th street in Denver, so many people. Sitting. Standing. Walking. I try to see each one. I don’t want to see a forest… I want to see a tree! So many, that it would be easy to look at them as a crowd, but I desire to see a person. To notice each. To try to see Christ in this one and that. As he stopped to ask if I had a cigarette, I noticed his face was severely disfigured. He was missing his nose along with other scars. Now homeless… I asked if he could use some money. My heart aches as I think, but for the grace of God… go I. If I had a handicap such as his… would I be on the street, as well? Did he turn to drugs to run from the pain? Did he turn to the street to escape the ridicule. I tried to visit with him, but he was gone as fast as he came. I would have told him that one day there will be no more scars. One day his nose would be whole again. For now, all I can do is pray, that he finds peace in our Savior. Our Savior always saw the person… and not the crowd. I pray that he blinds me, to the mass of people, and leads me to the one that needs a kind word. We can make a difference… we just have to take the time.
“Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’
So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.
Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,God is there, ready to help;I’m fearless no matter what.Who or what can get to me?
Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
“Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I’d never forget you—never.
Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:“Be good to me! Answer me!”When my heart whispered, “Seek God,” my whole being replied,“I’m seeking him!” Don’t hide from me now!
August 29th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Do You Reflect HIM?
Do you struggle to understand as I do? Daily I see people, many who call themselves Christ followers, doing everything, but reflecting the heart of the Savior. Daily I think: Everything I do… everything I say… the way I act… the way I conduct business… the way I treat others… is a direct reflection on the one I follow. When I wear the name Christian. When I profess to follow Christ. Others look to me… to see what HE is like. Do I truly understand his heart? Do others see him in me or the world? I go to a Christian concert, and I watch as people shove to be first in line. As they throw down their trash. I observe, as they yell at each other over a parking place. Is that Christ? I deal with church leaders who are deceitful… hurtful… and self-serving… Is that Christ? When I was a kid, I behaved, not because I was afraid of getting in trouble. I was good, because I wanted to reflect well on my earthly father, whom I adored. Should we not do even more, for our heavenly father? Tomorrow, as you go through your day, look to his heart in everything you do. Reflect his love to everyone you meet. Above all else be the mirror of his spirit. That, and only that, will bring others to him, and put a smile on his face.
Wake Up from Your Sleep1-2Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.3-4Don’t allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.5You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God.6-7Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that.8-10You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.
If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.
These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they’re worshiping me, but they don’t mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy.”
They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They’re real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings.
Friend, don’t go along with evil. Model the good. The person who does good does God’s work. The person who does evil falsifies God, doesn’t know the first thing about God.
Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.
The Stone
Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent:Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion,a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundationwill never have cause to regret it.To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him,The stone the workmen threw outis now the chief foundation stone.For the untrusting it’s. . . a stone to trip over, a boulder blocking the way.They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted. But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.
Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.
August 22nd, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
He Is Standing Near
Five thousand had come. Matthew says men, which meant many women as well. All they heard was grumbling, and throws of insults, as everyone was hungry. As the twelve checked their bank book, they soon realized, they had not enough money to feed the crowd. They were frightened… worried… afraid of what the people might do. How easily they had forgotten who was with them. Who was standing near. They forgot who was about to speak, to this mob of people. Yet while they worried, Jesus took five loaves, and a few small fish, and fed the thousands. In the blink of an eye… problem solved. He not only fed them, but had twelve baskets, of left overs. What seems like an insurmountable problem to us… is but a whisper to God. What seems like a never ending nightmare… is but a day dream to our Savior. Are you standing near to him, yet have forgotten who he is? Are you listening to him speak, but don’t trust him to solve the problem? No matter what… when… or how big… he will turn a few loaves, into a feast. You simply have to trust… hand it to him… and watch him work. Then when he is done, sit back, and listen to him speak.
and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
And God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that ye, having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto every good work:
And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.
casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you.
The Lord gives perfect peace to those whose faith is firm. So always trust the Lord because he is forever our mighty rock.
August 15th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
What He Ask or What He Needs?
Do you give God what he asks for… or what he needs? When this question entered my thoughts I found it to be strange. God doesn’t need anything from us. The more I have contemplated, the more I have come to understand, the depth behind this question, the Holy Spirit put on my heart. There are those that follow rules. There are those that are happy to stand behind years of tradition, and years of never ending patterns, in a hope to find God. They come to believe, that God wants us to follow this rule or that. If we don’t give him what he asked for, he will be unhappy with us. Some believe he wants us to perform a certain way. After forty seven years of walking side by side with him, I have come to realize what he needs from us… is simply love. What he needs… is simply a relationship. True love means you don’t need rules that are written down. True love means you will do what is needed… when it is needed… simply because you love. I don’t wash the dishes because I’m afraid my wife will be unhappy if I don’t. I do it because I love her. True love means you don’t find favor with another, simply because they perform to a certain level. You find favor… because they are the one you truly love.
I don’t want to hear any of you bragging about yourself or anyone else. Everything is already yours as a gift—Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, the future—all of it is yours, and you are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.
And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God to no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.
The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
But woe unto you Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over justice and the love of God: but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.
Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”
August 8th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Fervor For Life!
He had no idea the affect he was having on me. He made an impact on my life, after twenty short minutes of knowing him. He was simply doing his job with fervor, with zeal. After many times of being in Juvenile Detention he joined a program that changed his life. A year long plan that takes young people, in trouble and teaches them how to work. How to do life. How to love and honor others. He was now back at the restaurant, that houses this program, as a supervisor and lighting up the room with his spirit. Through tear filled eyes, I hugged this young man and told him how proud I was of who he had become. Once a stranger… now a young man that had my heart! You never know, each day, who’s life you are touching and how it can affect them. Do you touch lives for good… or bad? Are people better for having crossed your path… or worse? It doesn’t matter where you are… who you encounter… as followers of Christ it is our job to show love. To show hope. To show a fervor for life. To create happiness and caring with everyone, each day. JD learned that lesson, at the young age of twenty. I think we need more JD’s in this world.
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.
So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
But if you correct those who care about life, that’s different—they’ll love you for it!Save your breath for the wise—they’ll be wiser for it; tell good people what you know—they’ll profit from it.
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”
Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
August 1st, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Love To Overflowing
He could have walked away. He could have stuck by his claim when he said “Woman it is not my time”. Out of love for his mother, he went ahead and turned the water into wine. Not just any wine, but the kind you find on the top shelf. Wine that would cost several hundred dollars a bottle, in today’s world. Why not cheap wine? Why not wine that you would buy at the local convenience store? Because he came to bring life… to bring it to abundance… not just a mediocre existence but life in full glory. Should we not do the same, because he did and does? “When you do something do it as if your working for the Lord”. Christ never once said “I am only going to do a little because that is all you deserve”. He never said “I am only going to save a few, because not all deserve my grace”. Instead he worked tirelessly, to fulfill the work of his father, and he did it in abundance. Daily I encounter people who only want to get by. Some who claim the title “Christian” but only want to do the bare minimum, in an effort to get a reward. Those that want something for nothing. In everything you do, whether for money or not, do it in abundance. Then sit back and watch. He will provide to overflowing.
Servants, obey in all things them that are your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord: whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ. For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons
but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us
For I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith.
And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.
July 25th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
A Place In The Heart
Why do we insist on playing God? Daily I have conversations with people that rank sin. They judge other peoples lives based on the sin they perceive. Those who judge, based on one lifestyle or another, feed their egos by thinking that my interpretation of scripture is right, and yours is wrong. Why do so many of us, presume to know the heart of God, simply because we can quote scripture, one after another? When you understand the heart of our Savior, you see a man who embraced all people. A man who took the laws of the time and threw them out the window. A man who took every human, from every walk of life, and every lifestyle, and made them his own. Jews… Gentiles… Samaritans… Prostitutes… Evil infested… Lepers… and everyone in between. He loved them! Accepted them! Sat them in a place of honor and formed relationships with them. He cultivated friendships and sat down to eat with them. It is not about keeping laws. It is about love… it is about relationships. Mostly It’s about forgiveness… and it is a place in the heart.
We’re not in charge of how you live out the faith, looking over your shoulders, suspiciously critical. We’re partners, working alongside you, joyfully expectant. I know that you stand by your own faith, not by ours.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same things. And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practise such things. And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. One only is the lawgiver and judge, evenhe who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor?
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins.
and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.
July 18th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Our God Is Good!
Her life seemed to be one tragedy after another. As I listened to her story of abuse… of harm… of the attempt by her ex-husband to kill her… I thought of the goodness of our God. I use to wonder how our God could allow so much suffering… so much pain. If he is a loving God? If we are his children? Then why does he not protect us? Our God is so good, that he stands with us in the fire, of this broken world. He walks with us through the pain… through the tragedy. The cross! The most disgusting torture device ever created, by the evil side of our nature, he used for glory. He didn’t save his son… himself… from that tragic device. He embraced it and used it for good. He took his own son and proved that no tragedy, not even the evil of the cross, can keep us from him. Every season in your life. Every tragedy you have gone through. Every illness or loss you have encountered, had a purpose. To be used for good and to bring glory to him. God is good, all the time, whether you embrace him or not. She made it through the fire, her ex-husband set to kill her. The only part of the house that didn’t burn, was the closet she was in! Our God is Good!!
Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.”
The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.
There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
Don’t panic. I’m with you.There’s no need to fear for I’m your God.I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.”
July 11th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
It’s Not In A Book!
I could read daily, a book about Lorna, my wife. Daily I could study, read, highlight, and outline word, after word, about my beautiful wife and still not truly understand her heart. It is not until we have a daily intimidate relationship that I came to know her… her heart… and her spirit. So is our relationship with our Savior. Daily I study scripture. Daily I read book, after book, about him and his journey. I have done that most of my life. It was not until I felt one with him, that I truly understood his heart… his spirit. As time passes, I spend day after day praying, contemplating, and walking by his side. Looking to him for every answer and every direction. After so many years of that journey, I am starting to understand and feel his heart and the way of his being. I can feel his spirit in my life, in my heart. From the deepest part of my soul, I feel his guidance… his love… his grace. I rest daily knowing what he wants for me and I feel the security that comes from knowing him intimately. So sometimes put down the scripture. Put down the book. Simply walk… and talk… with our Savior. You will be amazed at everything he will reveal to you. There is no better feeling!!
This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit.
“The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.
“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.
Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out.
If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!
July 4th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Washing Feet
They simply did not understand. It’s significance gets lost in OUR, everyday lives. Jesus washed their feet. He took off his robe… adorned an apron… got on his hands and knees, then washed their calloused… dirty… stinky… feet! Three years he had taught them. Three years they had watched him heal… even bring people back from death. Now the last thing they saw him do before he was crucified was wash their feet. Why? To show them, and to show us, what heaven is about. To show them and to show us what pure love means. Pure unfiltered… unglamorous… sacred love is simply about humble service. God and his Son do not have to serve us. God, his Son, and the Holy Spirit exists without anything from us. Yet the Trinity out of a deep love for mankind, serves us each and everyday, whether we know it or not. Each day Jesus gets on his knees and washes our feet. He washes away the dirt, the filth, and the mistakes. We should do the same for those around us. When you practice humility by allowing others to be first. By allowing others to feel important. By letting them know you see them. When you show love, regardless of who it is, you are washing feet. Then maybe… just maybe… those we serve, will catch a glimpse of heaven.
It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?
He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”
Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.
Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.
June 27th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Spontaneous Love!
As I entered the room he spontaneously came running to hug me. No hesitation… no worry… no wondering who I was… he simply came to hug. This little boy had so much love in his heart, that he was willing to hug a perfect stranger. He told me his name, asked for mine, than went back to play. Did he feel a connection? I know I did. Did he feel the love of Christ as we embraced? I know I did. His teacher said she had never seen him do that. Spontaneous love… it was pure… it was holy. Isn’t that what Christ wants of us? No hesitation to love. No hesitation to find a connection. No stranger in the room, only people we love. Did our Savior not take perfect strangers and ask them to spend their life with him? I observe, as so many people go through their day, with no thought of the person right next to them. The clerk behind the counter, the waitress, is just another person, in a sea of people we encounter daily. Thought is never given as to their life and how we might help. A kind word or a concerned prayer. So as you go through your day do you see people or do you see a person? We could learn from this young man and the spontaneous love he had to offer. I’m certain it made our Savior smile.
Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.Earn a reputation for living well in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.
“I have no husband,” she said.“That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”“Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”“Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
June 20th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Hypocrisy!
As he welcomed us, to the hotel, he said happiness and peace radiated from us! We then talked about how all of that comes from Jesus… I could tell he was uncomfortable. As we showed the love of Christ to this young man, he shared his life with us, and told us he was gay. He explained he was tired of those that say they love Jesus, being so judgmental. As I hugged him I said… me too!! The religious community has driven him to a point of not caring about God or his Son. How can that be what Jesus would want? How can that be LOVE! Should we not take the log out of our own eye before pointing out the speck in his? Our Savior welcomes everyone. Our Savior is much more comfortable with the sinners, than with those that claim to not be. Our western religious culture, has put so much importance on rules, that we have forgotten, nothing is more important than love of others. As Christians, our job is first and foremost, to live a Christ centered life. To show his love to all those around us. As all people experience us… they should always see Christ shining… from every angle of our existence. Hypocrisy… what our Savior hated the most. We would warrant his favor if we hated it too.
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”
Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones.
The Woman at the Well
Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)10Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.” “I have no husband,” she said.“That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”
“Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”. “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.
”The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.”
“I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.11-13Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.17-19Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”
June 13th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Amazing God!
I see large, white, clouds, as if they are made of cotton, bellowing up into the heavens. What an amazing God! I watch as the sun sets, and turns the sky to a golden yellow, followed by an awesome deep dark orange, with remnants of sun beaming through the clouds. What an amazing God! I marvel at a lighting bug, as it flies here and there, beaming its’ signal to other fire flies. What an amazing God! As if that is not enough, I look into the faces of my family and I see Christ! What an amazing God! I look into the eyes of my wife and I see infinite love. What an amazing God! From the people I work with… to the lady that cuts my hair… to the homeless gentleman we give shelter to… to my dear friends… I look with amazement as Christ shines from each of them. What an amazing God! Even through tragedy I see his hand in everything that I touch… smell… see… or experience. He is an amazing God! So worthy of our praise, simply because he is God! Tomorrow as you wake… thank him for the amazing God he is. Then trust that he will provide, in you, an amazing day!
In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
This is the very day God acted—let’s celebrate and be festive!Salvation now, God. Salvation now!Oh yes, God—a free and full life!
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;don’t try to figure out everything on your own.Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;he’s the one who will keep you on track.Don’t assume that you know it all.Run to God! Run from evil!
June 6th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Normal?
What is normal? Her comment was “why can’t they be normal”? I see people treat others with disrespect because “their lifestyle is different or they dress or behave different then I do”. Daily my heart prays “father make me blind to peoples differences and actions… so that I might see you, in them”. We should not allow ourselves, as followers of Christ, to worry about how others dress, talk, act or behave. As we observe the world around us, we should see Jesus, in all people. Each person, regardless of looks, behavior, or lifestyle was made in his image, and carries within them the spirit of Christ. Mother Teresa said “I see Jesus in every human being. That is why I help them”. What power! What understanding of our Saviors heart! To be a Christian is to see Jesus, in everybody and everything. The very person you look at with distain… because of the way they dress, the way they wear their hair or the number of piercings on their face, is the very person you should love the most. I use to be the one who judged. I use to be that person, that looked at others different than me, with disapproval. Through much contemplation I have come to better understand my Saviors’ heart. Suddenly each face looks like him. What glorious people he has put on this earth!!
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make themreflecting our natureSo they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,the birds in the air, the cattle,And, yes, Earth itself,and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”God created human beings;he created them godlike,Reflecting God’s nature.He created them male and female.God blessed them:“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
A Simple Guide for BehaviorDon’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
May 30th 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Healing
He had waited so long. For lack of hope, he knew not what to do, but try the water. If he could only be the first to touch the moving water maybe he would be healed. A lifetime of not being able to use his legs was almost more than he could bear. Then came Jesus. With a few simple words he healed the man and told him to take his bedroll and walk. Twelve years she had been bleeding. Twelve long years with no help from doctors. One simple touch of his robe and the bleeding stopped. As he turned she made herself known. Jesus knew, Jesus felt, and Jesus blessed. My heart tries hard to imagine how these people and others felt. To be healed by the Son of God. To be healed by the Savior and to look into his loving eyes. To know that he cared enough for each of them, to use the spirit of his father to heal… to save… to bless. Daily I can feel him in my heart. Daily I know that he resides in my soul and his spirit is one with mine. Still I long to sit and visit with these people. To hear the incredible stories of his healing and to know first hand how they felt. One day I will get to look into his eyes and feel that amazing touch. Then and only then will my soul soar… as it did for these.
That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all.
That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile,the joyful anticipation deepens.All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!
I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.
“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”And Mary said,Yes, I see it all now:I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.Let it be with mejust as you say.Then the angel left her.
“Count on it: Everyone who had it in for youwill end up out in the cold—real losers.Those who worked against you will end up empty-handed—nothing to show for their lives.When you go out looking for your old adversaries you won’t find them—Not a trace of your old enemies,not even a memory.That’s right. Because I, your God,have a firm grip on you and I’m not letting go.I’m telling you, ‘Don’t panic.I’m right here to help you.’
May 23rd, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Keep Praying
As she asked me to pray for her son, and his cancer, I could see the 90 year old wisdom in her eyes. I could see the knowing. Not hoping. Knowing. That prayers would be answered, and that one way or another, God would keep his promises. I was honored! Prayer! Such an amazing time to talk with God, Jesus and his Spirit. A time when the world and its’ woes are forgotten and all that matters, is our Savior. My day starts with dialogue to my Jesus… and ends the same. Can’t tell you how much I talk with him during the day, but it is constant. Prayer need not be formal, as so many think. Prayer should be, and is, a simple conversation with someone you love. Can be as simple as “thanking him” for a beautiful tree or as complex as stage four cancer. He knows your heart but he wants to hear your voice. He wants to know your concerns and he wants to share in your victories. Doesn’t matter who you are, or where you come from, he hears them all just the same. She saw me in the crowd and because my shirt said “Happy Jesus Day” she asked me to pray. I’m still praying for her son! Just like her… I rest in the knowledge that God will answer those prayers… to his will. Keep Praying!!
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.
My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he’s listening. And if we’re confident that he’s listening, we know that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.
Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don’t forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I’m locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I’ll be able to make Christ plain as day to them.
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.
Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
May 9th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
He Is Jesus!!!
It doesn’t matter what you think you know! Jesus has chosen you!Each day I study. Each day I pray for wisdom. Each day I read. Daily I am enlightened, in my quiet time, to strive harder. To move closer. To ponder more… in a desire to know the heart of my Savior. We should not study to be wise of men, but to be closer in heart… to Christ. I want to feel his touch. I want to look into his eyes. I want to experience the warmth of his hug. I want to know that he has chosen me. Through study and contemplation we can know these things, while here on this earth. We can feel the healing power of his touch. We can take in the love of his eyes. We can be aware of his warmth… and we can know he has chosen us. He is all around you and me. He is a part of our very soul. His spirit resides in us. He is the foundation of everything we see… touch… and smell. He is the beginning… the end… and everything between. He is the reason for all we know and experience. He is the way… the truth… and the life! He is Jesus!!!
“If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!
The Master said:“These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their hearts aren’t in it. Because they act like they’re worshiping me but don’t mean it,I’m going to step in and shock them awake, astonish them, stand them on their ears.The wise ones who had it all figured out will be exposed as fools.The smart people who thought they knew everything will turn out to know nothing.”
Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.
He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
“And I’ll give them a heart to know me, God. They’ll be my people and I’ll be their God, for they’ll have returned to me with all their hearts.
May 2nd, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Unbridled Enthusiasm!
As he spoke of baptizing his child he said: “it was all I could do to contain myself”. Why would we ever contain ourself, when it comes to God? I watch as people view sporting events and when the team scores they are on their feet, cheering. I watch people at concerts… at children’s performances… and I see unbridled enthusiasm. Why do we not have that same level of excitement about our Lord and Savior? Jesus loved all of his disciples. He spent time with each of them. Why do you think he gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven to Peter first? Why do you think Jesus named Peter “the rock” upon which he would build his church? Peter lived with passion for Christ. Peter jumped out of the boat when no one else would. Peter came to Jesus’s defense before anyone else even thought of it. We should pray daily to have the spirit of Peter. To live our life not only in devotion to Christ but to have an unbridled passion… unbridled excitement… for the one who saved us. It’s great to cheer at a game. It’s important to show emotion at our children’s performances. But so much more important is what Jesus did for us. Don’t you think that deserves some unbridled enthusiasm?
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.
They Can’t Imprison the MessageI want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them.So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.
None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God!
Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name.
Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.
Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.
Hallelujah!Praise God in his holy house of worship,praise him under the open skies;Praise him for his acts of power,praise him for his magnificent greatness;Praise with a blast on the trumpet,praise by strumming soft strings;Praise him with castanets and dance,praise him with banjo and flute;Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,praise him with fiddles and mandolin.Let every living, breathing creature praise God!Hallelujah!
April 25th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
How Much Is Enough?
We seem to be stuck. So many with their feet in the quicksand. Statements like; “She is not living with God in her life. It pains me that I will not see her in heaven”. God loves her just like you!Proclamations like “She died without knowing our Savior, I guess there is no hope”. Maybe no one told her about Jesus! So how much is enough? Do you need to do one more good deed… or twenty? Do you need to go to church one more time… or one hundred? If I can just memorize one more scripture I will have it made. What makes us think that we have enough power to determine our destiny? How can we be so arrogant, as to think we could ever do anything good enough, to stand by his side? If we are earning our way into his presence… what was the cross for? There is nothing you can do. Nothing you can say. Nothing you can give that will allow you to even touch the hem of his robe. There is also nothing you can do. Nothing you can say. That will keep him from you. He is a God who pursues. He is a Savior that loves..unconditionally. He dwells in a spirit of forgiveness. Do what you do… but only out of a deep love for him. He will not ask for anything more.
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
Peter said, “To hell with your money! And you along with it. Why, that’s unthinkable—trying to buy God’s gift! You’ll never be part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways—and now!
“Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn’t want to lose even one of these simple believers.
Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.
April 18th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Don’t Eat The Fruit!
“DO NOT EAT OF THE TREE OF GOOD AND EVIL!” Why? What is good and what is evil? I truly believe that the tree of life gave forth a never ending spring of love and kindness. It produced in Adam and Eve all the fruits of the spirit. However the tree of good and evil produced in them the instant feeling of separation from each other. “I am better than you.” “You are wrong and I am right.” It produced the feeling of blame, shame and hatred. Only after that tree did they see themselves as different. Only after that tree did they point the finger. How often do you eat from the tree of good and evil? Each time you see differences. Each time you judge another. Each time you place blame. Every time you form hatred instead of love. That is when you have tasted its’ fruit. The evil one will tell you it’s alright, just as he did to Eve. Jesus in his life said “live from the fruit of the tree of life”. Eat of the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That is the only way you will truly live… in the flow of the garden. Then, you will find God… walking beside you.
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good,Here’s what you do:Say nothing evil or hurtful;Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you’re worth.God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he’s asked;But he turns his back on those who do evil things.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.Love never gives up.Love cares more for others than for self.Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.Love doesn’t strut,Doesn’t have a swelled head,Doesn’t force itself on others,Isn’t always “me first,”Doesn’t fly off the handle,Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,Doesn’t revel when others grovel,Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,Puts up with anything,Trusts God always,Always looks for the best,Never looks back,But keeps going to the end.Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.
April 11, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Anticipation!
As I sat in the middle of thousands of people, she decided to go shopping. “I will be back shortly” was the words she lovingly used! A kiss was given and I sat down to wait. More time passed than I thought would, so I found myself constantly surveying the crowd, anxiously waiting for the return, of the one I love. Then my heart paused! The one I love even more than my wife, told me he would be back one day! One day he would return to care for us. To bring us to where he is. To wrap us in his love and warm embrace. I want to wait daily with anticipation. With an anxious feeling in my heart. With a stronger fervor than I had for the return of my wife. So many distractions. So many Interruptions. So many life moments… stealing my look from the return of my Savior. I know he will return. He will one day open the eastern sky and we will be taken to the place he has arranged for us. I sit patiently. I wait with anticipation. I wait with an anxiousness in my heart. I did the same for my wife. She did return, and a joy filled my heart. One day. One moment. One second. He will be back. Unspeakable joy will fill my heart on that day as well.
Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.
“Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”
Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.
Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences. Christ’s death was also a one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him is, precisely, salvation.
You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart.
These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”
You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.
Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.
April 3rd, 2021
Happy Jesus Day
Torture and Love!
We tend to glamorize it. We even make beautiful jewelry out of it. We don’t want to face the truth. The whip had metal, and bones, in the ends. As Jesus was struck, flesh was torn away from his back… his sides… his neck. This would continue until near death. Our Saviors raw muscle, tendons and bones would have been exposed. His wooden cross was made to have splinters. As he carried it on his shoulder and back the splinters would lodge in his open wounds. The nails driven through his wrist, were placed as to touch nerves. Any movement was excruciating. As he was lifted upon the main pole his shoulders would have been dislocated from his own weight. Then both of our Lords’ feet were held together and one large nail driven through them. Breaking bones in the process. Then the suffocation starts. The only way to breath, was too push up on the nail through his broken feet, so his diaphragm could expand. His legs would have been bent at a 45 degree angle, meaning all of his weight was on his thigh muscles causing excruciating cramps. The cramps would worsen as he pushed up to breath. As he lost blood all of his organs would begin to cry out in pain. All these things were happening to our Jesus at the same time. With no way for relief. Why did he not call his army of angels? LOVE!!!!
Jesus said, “Put your sword back where it belongs. All who use swords are destroyed by swords. Don’t you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?”
Jesus kept silent.Then the Chief Priest said, “I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”Jesus was curt: “You yourself said it. And that’s not all. Soon you’ll see it for yourself:The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One, Arriving on the clouds of heaven.”At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, “He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse him? You all heard him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?”They all said, “Death! That seals his death sentence.”Then they were spitting in his face and banging him around. They jeered as they slapped him: “Prophesy, Messiah: Who hit you that time?”
Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.
God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
That accounts for the prominence of blood and death in all these secondary practices that point to the realities of heaven. It also accounts for why, when the real thing takes place, these animal sacrifices aren’t needed anymore, having served their purpose. For Christ didn’t enter the earthly version of the Holy Place; he entered the Place Itself, and offered himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins. He doesn’t do this every year as the high priests did under the old plan with blood that was not their own; if that had been the case, he would have to sacrifice himself repeatedly throughout the course of history. But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin.
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!
He Tore Down the Wall1-6It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you. And pray that we’ll be rescued from these scoundrels who are trying to do us in. I’m finding that not all “believers” are believers. But the Master never lets us down. He’ll stick by you and protect you from evil.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.
Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: “Since you are God’s Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread.” 4Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, “Since you are God’s Son, jump.” The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: “He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone.”Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: “Don’t you dare test the Lord your God.”For the third test, the Devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth’s kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, “They’re yours—lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they’re yours.”Jesus’ refusal was curt: “Beat it, Satan!” He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs.
For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; 19in which He also went and preached to the spirits now in prison.
March 28th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
He Deserves Better!
They knew what he had done. So a hero’s welcome… a kings honor. The robes from their backs, and palm leaves paved his way. Put yourself in Jesus’s place. Not wanting the spot light, but knowing the donkey ride and the king’s parade, is what was needed to send the religious leaders to the edge. Knowing they needed one final push to send him to the cross. I’m sure as he gazed at the gathering of people, he was repeating what he would say on the cross. “Forgive these people, father, for what they are about to do.” The same people that praised his entrance today would later cry out for his crucifixion. They knew what they had seen… had heard… but chose to send him to the cross. Twelve best friends… twelve men who walked in the parade with him… men who said they would die for him… ran and hid. Do we not do the same thing when being his child is too hard? When we ignore praying because it’s not politically correct? When we turn away from a homeless man because it’s too hard to love him? When we do not trust? Christ deserves better. I’m going to spend my life trying to give him that. I hope you will too.
What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
The Royal WelcomeWhen they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you.”This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:Tell Zion’s daughter,“Look, your king’s on his way,poised and ready, mountedOn a donkey, on a colt,foal of a pack animal.”The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?”The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.”The man asked, “What in particular?”Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.”The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?”“If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.”That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.”The disciples were staggered. “Then who has any chance at all?”Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”Then Peter chimed in, “We left everything and followed you. What do we get out of it?”Jesus replied, “Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”
“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
March 21st, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Getting Back!
Walking past I heard him talking. All alone. My heart paused… maybe he needs someone to talk too. As I sat down beside him I simply asked “tell me how you got here”? Three years. Danny’s mom had died and he simply couldn’t move on. Three years on the street… simply doesn’t know how to get back. Fifty eight and sleeping under a bridge. He simply doesn’t know how to get back. Do you ever feel lost? Like you don’t know how to get back, to the place where you were? Doesn’t matter how far gone you are, God can find you. God will run after you and bring you back. Back from addiction. Back from grief. Back from pain and back from despair. Then just like the father of the prodigal he will rejoice with you. He will welcome you home. As I left this nice man I prayed, “thank you Father for always bringing me back”. “Father, I asked that you show Danny the way home”. “Give him the mind to realize it when you lead him”. As i rejoined my family the tears came. I always think…”but for the grace of God go I”. Never take the guidance you are given for granted. It comes from the Father.
Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.
Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.
Let me give you some good advice;I’m looking you in the eye and giving it to you straight:
My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world’s language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception.
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
March 14th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day
Eight Simple Words
Not sure what his life was like. Scripture doesn’t tell us. The bible doesn’t even tell us where he came from. I simply know he must have had a troubled life, given the fact he was being crucified, next to our Savior. “Jesus remember me when you enter your kingdom”. Eight simple words. So much power in eight words. A lifetime of sin erased by eight words. We have a God who chases after us. He chases… he calls us by name… and he looks for the good in us… We have a God who simply wants a relationship. He simply wants us to acknowledge and love him. Our Savior is not about rules. He is not about worshiping one way or the other. He is not about doing everything right. He is simply about love. We are a people who have been taught that nothing is free. Everything has to be earned. Rules must be followed and reputations have to be upheld. Many times that even applies to our human relationships. But Jesus… the Christ… our Savior… says don’t worry about the rules, you can’t possibly fulfill all of them. Love me… love others… and I will remember you, when you come into my kingdom.
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”
By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story.4-7“Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.
The apostles returned and reported on what they had done. Jesus took them away, off by themselves, near the town called Bethsaida. But the crowds got wind of it and followed. Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those who needed healing, he healed.
On his return, Jesus was welcomed by a crowd. They were all there expecting him. A man came up, Jairus by name. He was president of the meeting place. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his home because his twelve-year-old daughter, his only child, was dying. Jesus went with him, making his way through the pushing, jostling crowd.In the crowd that day there was a woman who for twelve years had been afflicted with hemorrhages. She had spent every penny she had on doctors but not one had been able to help her. She slipped in from behind and touched the edge of Jesus’ robe. At that very moment her hemorrhaging stopped. Jesus said, “Who touched me?”When no one stepped forward, Peter said, “But Master, we’ve got crowds of people on our hands. Dozens have touched you.”Jesus insisted, “Someone touched me. I felt power discharging from me.”When the woman realized that she couldn’t remain hidden, she knelt trembling before him. In front of all the people, she blurted out her story—why she touched him and how at that same moment she was healed.Jesus said, “Daughter, you took a risk trusting me, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!”
By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,your handmade sky-jewelry,Moon and stars mounted in their settings.Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,Why do you bother with us?Why take a second look our way?
March 7th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Are You An Addict?
So I use to be an addict! I’m sure that statement caught you off guard. You may be thinking – this is a surprise! Without hesitation I could raise my hand and say “Hi my name is Perry and I am an addict”. I’m pretty safe in saying we all could. People have a universal addiction to being “right”. We will argue… we will spend countless hours and resources… trying daily to prove that we are right, and others are wrong. I have encountered those that are so addicted to being right, that it becomes more important than loving. I know… I use to be one of those people. We have to find a better way to relate to one another. A better way to love one another. Pure love means I am willing to see you, to listen to you, with an open heart and an open mind. I am willing to walk in your shoes in order to understand the reason for your life… your ways. To be a Christ follower means we are to emulate his heart and his way. His way was never condemning but always loving. So the next time you feel the need to feed your ego… simply stop. Look at the other person with Jesus eyes and let yourself become teachable. THEN SIMPLY LOVE!!
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
Healing on the SabbathHe was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn’t even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. “Woman, you’re free!” He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God.The meeting-place president, furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, “Six days have been defined as work days. Come on one of the six if you want to be healed, but not on the seventh, the Sabbath.”But Jesus shot back, “You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn’t it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?”When he put it that way, his critics were left looking quite silly and red-faced. The congregation was delighted and cheered him on.
Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.
“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
One day at three o’clock in the afternoon, Peter and John were on their way into the Temple for prayer meeting. At the same time there was a man crippled from birth being carried up. Every day he was set down at the Temple gate, the one named Beautiful, to beg from those going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple, he asked for a handout. Peter, with John at his side, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Look here.” He looked up, expecting to get something from them.Peter said, “I don’t have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up. In an instant his feet and ankles became firm. He jumped to his feet and walked.The man went into the Temple with them, walking back and forth, dancing and praising God. Everybody there saw him walking around and praising God. They recognized him as the one who sat begging at the Temple’s Gate Beautiful and rubbed their eyes, astonished, scarcely believing what they were seeing.The man threw his arms around Peter and John, ecstatic. All the people ran up to where they were at Solomon’s Porch to see it for themselves.Turn to Face GodWhen Peter saw he had a congregation, he addressed the people:“Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise, and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his Son Jesus. The very One that Pilate called innocent, you repudiated. You repudiated the Holy One, the Just One, and asked for a murderer in his place. You no sooner killed the Author of Life than God raised him from the dead—and we’re the witnesses. Faith in Jesus’ name put this man, whose condition you know so well, on his feet—yes, faith and nothing but faith put this man healed and whole right before your eyes.
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
February 28th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
He Laughs!
He laughs. He lovingly laughs. I can’t find it in scripture, but I know God lovingly laughs, at his children. He laughs as he says – “make your plans, go ahead and nourish your dreams… your hopes… but don’t forget that I have my own plans for your life. I have my own dreams for your future, and mine are greater than yours”. This last year. This last month. This last week has given me pause to consider that even though my plans are necessary, I should always look to my father for guidance. I should daily say “your will not mine”. I should daily say “you lead and I will follow”. Still I make plans. Daily… weekly… monthly… even as a year progresses, I look to the future with every intention of fulfilling all of my hopes… my dreams. Our father loves us more than we could ever know. When he laughs at our plans it’s because he knows what is best for us. We don’t always know why he leads to the places he does, but we must follow. We must have faith. So make your plans. Have your dreams, but remember, when and if it changes, he is the one giving guidance. He is the one doing what is best for you. There are no better plans than that.
“I don’t think the way you think.The way you work isn’t the way I work.”God’s Decree.“For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work,and the way I think is beyond the way you think.Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed.They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.
This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
Let me give you some good advice;I’m looking you in the eyeand giving it to you straight:
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
We humans keep brainstorming options and plans,but God’s purpose prevails.
Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place.
We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.
Hurry with your answer, God!I’m nearly at the end of my rope.Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me!That would be certain death.If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice,I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you.Point out the road I must travel;I’m all ears, all eyes before you.Save me from my enemies, God—you’re my only hope!Teach me how to live to please you,because you’re my God.Lead me by your blessed Spiritinto cleared and level pastureland.
February 21st, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Too Many Angels
Today the streets of heaven are crowded with too many angels. This week someone very close to my heart, and a once in a lifetime friend of thirty years, went home to be with our Savior. No warning… no preparation… just gone. I don’t really understand, but I’m trusting my God. On top of that this week, we have watched as the weather took its toll, and we lost many things including animals. I don’t understand, but I’m trusting God. Our God uses everything for glory. He will take my dear friends life, and her death, and use it to bless others and to forward his kingdom. He will comfort… he will bring peace… and he will guide… as we walk thru this journey. Without a doubt, he will find a way to use all of our lives, to bring glory to his kingdom, and further his love in this world. I don’t understand his ways, but it is not my place to have understanding. It is simply my place to trust. On February 14th the streets of heaven become crowded with one too many angels. Still I am trusting!!
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;don’t try to figure out everything on your own.Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;he’s the one who will keep you on track.Don’t assume that you know it all.Run to God! Run from evil!
There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse,breaking through the earth and growing tree tall,Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.
“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.
If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there; if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.
I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse!Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember?When I told my story, you responded;train me well in your deep wisdom.Help me understand these things inside and outso I can ponder your miracle-wonders.My sad life’s dilapidated, a falling-down barn;build me up again by your Word.Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;grace me with your clear revelation.I choose the true road to Somewhere,I post your road signs at every curve and corner.I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;God, don’t let me down!I’ll run the course you lay out for meif you’ll just show me how.
February 14th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
God Is Huge
Recently I read the work of an astronomy professor. He shared in his writing that fifty years ago we believed there to be six stars in the sky for every one person on the planet. WOW! Because of the Hubble Telescope we now know there are six galaxies in the heavens for every one person on the planet!! WOW! WOW! The God we follow is huge. This is a God that can never be understood… he can never be pictured… he is beyond all human comprehension. In our feeble efforts we put him in a box out of a need for control. Out of a need for intellect… which can never be fully achieved. Do you honestly think that this God, who created all we see or know, will let anything stand in the way of his most prized creation? You!! We have an immense God who climbs into our lives. He feels our hurts. He laughs at our joys. He giggles at our feeble attempt to know him. At the same time he loves… he forgives… he understands and he chases. He chases after each of us desiring simply a relationship. He is a father that sees his children and wants nothing more than our love. Next time you look at the heavens… think about the vastness of God. Then remember he loves you more than you could ever imagine.
1 Corinthians 13 Romans 11:33-34 MSG;
Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.Is there anyone around who can explain God?Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?Anyone who has done him such a huge favorthat God has to ask his advice?Everything comes from him;Everything happens through him;Everything ends up in him.Always glory! Always praise!Yes. Yes. Yes.
I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.Don’t Put It OffEverything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.Glory to God in the church!Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!Glory down all the generations!Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
“I don’t think the way you think.The way you work isn’t the way I work.”God’s Decree.“For as the sky soars high above earth so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed.
God’s the one who rebuilds Jerusalem, who regathers Israel’s scattered exiles.He heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds. He counts the stars and assigns each a name.Our Lord is great, with limitless strength; we’ll never comprehend what he knows and does.God puts the fallen on their feet again and pushes the wicked into the ditch.
I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,your handmade sky-jewelry,Moon and stars mounted in their settings.Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,Why do you bother with us?Why take a second look our way?
So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
“What’s the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.
The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going. I’ve decided that there’s nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That’s it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It’s God’s gift.
He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”
I’m charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn’t give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don’t slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He’ll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He’s the only one death can’t touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He’s never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can’t take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.
February 7th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Life Giving Dance!
My wife, Lorna and I, love to dance. In fact, we have danced a lot over the past 37 years. We have danced for so long, we now move together as one. Thought is not on the dance, but simply on each other. So it should be, with our relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. As we spend time in contemplation… as we spend time in prayer… and time in stillness with God… we will get to a point of unending flow. We will come to understand, the energy and love of our father, and become as one with him. God intended for his children to participate in the dance that takes place between God, his Son and his Spirit. We were intended to move in a rhythmic flow between God and all creation. We will come to see Christ in everyone and everything. As that happens, the rules fall away one by one. The striving to please God, and the striving to earn his favor, become as natural as breathing. We no longer see the need to prove anything, to anyone, we simply dance in a life giving flow. A flow of love with the Trinity, that is mirrored in our human love here and now. I love the flow that my wife and I have. I truly believe it is of the Father.
Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!
Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
“If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be inyou!
January 31st, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
He is a liar!
He delights in chaos! He cheers as we dislike others. As we see differences in ourselves, he dances. He finds pleasure, as he watches us look at others with hatred, instead of seeing our Savior in them. He lives to divide… to cause fear… and to make us turn from one another over differences. He hates our hope, he hates our love, he hates our compassion and most of all, he hates the one we get that from. Satan has spent a lifetime driving humans to what we have become. He will continue to push… to influence… to lie, too so many people as they fight… as they fear… as they look everywhere else, but up. Want to defeat the evil one? Take to your knees in prayer. Love others regardless of nationality… race… religion… or lifestyle. Whether they are good or bad. Look to Jesus for all the answers and not to the world. Focus on our Fathers words… our Fathers wisdom… and lean not on your own. Those simple things will cause satan to run and hide. He is not welcome here. Drive him out of hearts with unending love for all, and worship to our Savior.
Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, “so you will live well and have a long life.”Fathers, don’t exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free.Masters, it’s the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them.
One final word of counsel, friends. Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. Give these people a wide berth. They have no intention of living for our Master Christ. They’re only in this for what they can get out of it, and aren’t above using pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents.
Enoch, the seventh after Adam, prophesied of them: “Look! The Master comes with thousands of holy angels to bring judgment against them all, convicting each person of every defiling act of shameless sacrilege, of every dirty word they have spewed of their pious filth.” These are the “grumpers,” the bellyachers, grabbing for the biggest piece of the pie, talking big, saying anything they think will get them ahead.But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: “In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts.” These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There’s nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!
I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.” I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?” I was not involved with any of your baptisms—except for Crispus and Gaius—and on getting this report, I’m sure glad I wasn’t. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. (Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanas’s family, but as far as I can recall, that’s it.)
I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone. Stay away from mindless, pointless quarreling over genealogies and fine print in the law code. That gets you nowhere. Warn a quarrelsome person once or twice, but then be done with him. It’s obvious that such a person is out of line, rebellious against God. By persisting in divisiveness he cuts himself off.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
January 24th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Slave Market!
As I read the account of a slave market my tears flowed in abundance. Men and women were forced to stand on a block of wood… naked… as buyers examined. As buyers threw insults. As they yelled out prices they would pay. In my mind I could see it… I could feel the pain… the humiliation. I then pictured myself on that block. Naked and afraid and wondering “why me”? I pictured myself full of sin… full of selfishness and ashamed of who I was. I could hear the small amounts that satan and his demons would pay for me. One who worships God but falls so short. One who loves God but is so full of sin… so full of selfishness. Then I heard his voice! Above the noise. Above the insults. Above the humiliation. Jesus… standing at the back of the crowd yelling “I will buy him”. Don’t care what he has done, who he is or what he looks like. I want him. Name your price and it is yours. I love him that much. He then walked up to where I was standing. With outstretched hands and love in his voice said “let’s go home”. Slavery was and still is a horrific thing that in the name of Jesus we need to eliminate. We are all slaves to sin. Thank goodness Jesus is willing to pay the price for our freedom.
Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. I know you are Abraham’s descendants. But I also know that you are trying to kill me because my message hasn’t yet penetrated your thick skulls. I’m talking about things I have seen while keeping company with the Father, and you just go on doing what you have heard from your father.”
Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.
When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers. So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.
Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
January 17th, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
In A Matter Of Seconds!
Thursday was a day just like any other. Same routine. No appointments. A day to laugh and spend time with my work family. Lunch was relaxing. Then as I made my way back to my desk… in a matter of seconds… life took a dramatic turn. A young man that has a very special place in my heart was found unconscious in his apartment and then later went home to be with our Savior. No warning. No preparation. No time. Just one minute everything is good and the next tragedy. We are a people that are addicted to comfort. We are a people that are addicted to control. We work tirelessly to make sure we have everything in order. We spend day after day in search for peace, that we think is found in order and control. There is no control. There is no order. There is no peace to be found on this earth short of Jesus Christ. All the plans in the world… all the money in the world… and all the control is but an illusion. As a people we have to put our faith, our hope, our comfort in one place and one place only. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Anything other than that… is time wasted.
Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”
“But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God.They’re like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers—Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.
Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.
I can’t wait to hear what he’ll say.God’s about to pronounce his people well,The holy people he loves so much,so they’ll never again live like fools.See how close his salvation is to those who fear him?Our country is home base for Glory!
God is a safe place to hide,ready to help when we need him.We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,courageous in seastorm and earthquake,Before the rush and roar of oceans,the tremors that shift mountains.Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.Proverbs 16:9We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.
January 10th 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
To Be A Child!
She was like a picture out of a magazine. A little girl all dressed up… sitting with mom and dad enjoying dinner. As we admired her from afar and then as we were leaving she displayed an unbridled love to us. Her smile was contagious and the eagerness with which she shown love was heartwarming to say the least. Then it hit me!! When Jesus said we should be as children this is what he was meaning. Children, unless taught otherwise, have an infinite abundance of love and hope. They do not worry about who you are or what you look like, they see love… they see hope. Children will display the love of our Savior without hesitation, until which time they observe in us, the opposite. As they absorb all levels of the world around them they learn to be intimidated and scared of others… by watching us. They lose that level of Gods love that they remember from having been in his presence. When our Savior said “be as children” he was telling us to love unconditionally. To hope without end. To see everyone as a product of God. Made in his image and holding his DNA in their souls. And mostly, he was telling us not to forget the love that was given to us, by him, when we were created.
At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?”For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”
Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
January 3rd, 2021
Happy Jesus Day!
Living In The Flow!
At an early age I could hear the music. I could see it everywhere. I could feel it in my soul and hear it in my head. As a gift from God I learned to play the guitar without lesson. Music is not about notes on a page or theory in books. You have to feel the music in your very soul and display it in your heart. Since the age of thirteen I have used the musical talent he gave me to his glory. As time has passed and I have walked in communion with our God… I have come to learn the same of him. God… and his Son… and his Spirit… is not something that is simply words on a page. He is not found in the church you attend or the ministry you are a part of. You have to feel him in your heart. You have to experience him in the deepest part of your soul. He has to become, not just knowledge to you, but you have to become as one with him, to experience his flow. I have heard it said that you know you’re a writer… if all you can think about it writing. You know you’re a musician… if all you can think about is music. When you get to a point when all you can think of is Jesus. When he is a part, of every minute, in every day, then you will know you are his child. Only then will you experience his peace!
You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.
But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.” Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never “become one.” There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for “becoming one” with another. Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.