The Promise Given on Ascension Day

Acts 1:4-9

And while they were gathered together,a He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. (Berean Study Bible)

Today we have a writer appearing here for the first time. Shakeel Nurmahi. is an Anglican priest serving as Assistant Curate in the Oakham Team Ministry and also the host and producer for the Naujavan Podcast. His self-titled blog is subtitled Thoughts and Reflections from Ministry. Click the link which follows and read this where it first appeared.

Ascension Day: Waiting for the Holy Spirit

Today is Ascension Day. After we go through the lows and sadness of Good Friday we come to the elation of Easter Sunday. We then have this period of forty days when Jesus is alive and appears again and again to multiple people – speaking with them, teaching them, eating with them. At the end of this forty day period, Jesus blesses his disciples and he then ascends into the clouds and into heaven, just like in a fairy tale story. It’s like when the hero and the heroine defeat the bad guy and then sail away off into the sunset. Everything works out in the end. Happily ever after.

It sounds idyllic. Doesn’t it? We always love it in the story when the prince and princess can fall in love, get married and will then have their happily ever after. Like the story ends there. But there is something about this that doesn’t seem right. It can’t just all be ‘boom, save the day, married, happily ever after, and that’s the end.’ Are you telling me that the prince and princess went their whole honeymoon without a single fight…? Yeah right. There is more to the story.

You are probably thinking, Shakeel, what are you on about? What I want us to all to agree on is that happily ever after doesn’t cut it. There is more to the story. In the same way, there is more to the story of God after Jesus’ ascension. It some ways it’s the perfect ending. After Jesus dies, he comes back to life and ascends to heaven to return to sitting at the right hand of God the Father. It is the happily ever after. But there is more for the rest of the characters. Life carries on, and more importantly, the story of God and his people carries on.

Jesus tells his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait to be baptised with the Holy Spirit. Jesus says to them, ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’^[1]

Jesus tells his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit of God that after Jesus left came upon the first Christians at Pentecost and on all Christians ever since. It is the Spirit of God that now dwells in us as a result of what Jesus did on Easter Sunday.

Prior to Jesus, apart from a few prophets, God’s Spirit existed separately from the people in the temple. God’s Spirit dwelt in the Holy of Holies, this centre of the temple hidden away by a curtain from the people. It was this threshold that felt out of reach. It’s like how many people in church feel unable to go up to the high altar in a church. Some of you might feel that about approaching the high altar. Well, take that feeling and times it by a hundred. That is how distant the Spirit and presence of God felt from people. Yes, it was always there, but it was always distant and out of reach.

But that is no more. Jesus came to live among us as Emmanuel, God with us. Not God over there, sort of near us, but God with us. God in our hearts, God in our lives. And as Jesus returns to heaven, he says that this presence you have had of God being intimately close is going to continue. I am going to send the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, to come and dwell in your hearts. Now get that straight for a second. The Spirit of God, which was always distant from the people, was now and forever going to be in the very people of God. God’s Spirit was no longer going to be distant from us, but it was going to be closer than the air we breathe. For all the followers of Jesus, for all the disciples of Jesus, God was now going to be living inside of you.

The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples is incredible, but strictly speaking, that doesn’t happen on Ascension Day, but Pentecost, ten days later. On Ascension Day, the disciples are given the promise of the coming Holy Spirit and are told to wait for it. Obviously, today we have had that subsequent Pentecost happen and we are living as God’s Spirit-filled people. But I want us to consider what Ascension Day teaches us about the coming of the Holy Spirit.

First, on Ascension Day, Jesus told his disciples to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Wait for the Holy Spirit. Not just wait, as in watch the clock tick by, but wait as in wait with excitement and anticipation for God’s Spirit to come into your lives. This is the Ascension Day call to the first disciples, and it continues to us now. Are we waiting for the coming of God’s Holy Spirit with excitement and anticipation? To clarify, as Christians, we already have God’s Holy Spirit in us.

But my question is, are you excited about what the Holy Spirit is going to do in your life? Are you excited to hear God’s Spirit speak to you, to lead and guide you in life; to give you deeper faith and understanding of God? Are you trusting God’s Holy Spirit to fill you with the courage and words to share the good news of Jesus with those around you? This is what it looks like for us to wait expectantly for the coming of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Second, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will give us power. The Holy Spirit gives you power today. And it’s not reserved for those who you might deem ‘special’ or ‘holy’ but it’s for every Christian. But hold on, I don’t feel the Spidy-senses tingling or I can’t fly or run super-fast, or move stuff with my mind (telekinesis). So, what is this power and what is it for?

Jesus says to them, ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’^[2] Jesus gives us the power to be his witnesses. A witness is someone who shares their story of what they have seen and heard. We are called to share our lives of faith, to share who God is and what God has done in our lives. I know this can feel scary, and it is easy to feel overwhelmed with fear about sharing your faith. It can be scary. What will people think? Will they treat me differently? But to our fears God gives us the power of his Holy Spirit to give us the courage and boldness to share our faith, and the right words to say.

Have you ever had a time when you shared your faith with someone else? And when you shared your faith, you didn’t know what to do or what to say, yet somehow you found the right words to say? That is the power of the Holy Spirit leading and guiding you, helping you share your story of faith. It’s great because when we feel unable to talk about God, God’s Spirit in us is able to talk about God, and the Holy Spirit will share our faith and give us the right words to say.

This is great in so many ways because it takes the pressure off us, because it’s not about us, but about God speaking through us. It helps me a lot when I am preaching. When I am writing my sermon, I often feel that I don’t know what to say. But then I say to God, ‘God, I trust that your Holy Spirit is with me and will guide what I will say. The Holy Spirit will help me say the right things today.’

I often come away from a sermon thinking, ‘oh that wasn’t very good today,’ but then someone comes up to me afterwards and tells me that God spoke to them with what I said. Well, it definitely wasn’t because I had anything clever or profound to say. It must be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was speaking and working through me. I share about my faith and witness to God not in my own strength, but in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. And God will speak through you whether you think he can or can’t. Our job is not to have the right things to say, but to simply let God speak through us.

Third, Ascension Day reminds us that Jesus calls us to share our faith with the whole world. Jesus wants everyone to know about him. He wants everyone to know that God loves them and that Jesus died and rose again so that God could live in our hearts. It is the great gift of life, the reason we were created: for God to dwell with us and in us. It’s the greatest story in all of history and we are called to share it with everyone we can.

Ascension Day calls us to wait expectantly for God to speak through us. It calls us to trust that God will give us power to share our story of faith with everyone whom we meet. It reminds us that we don’t do it in our own strength but by the strength of the Holy Spirit working in us and helping us. We don’t need to worry about our own abilities, skills or talents, because God helps us do everything that he calls us to do. So, this Ascension Day, let us wait expectantly for the move and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives for the great witness of Jesus Christ.

God will speak through you whether you think he can or can’t. Our job is not to have the right things to say, but to simply let God speak through us.

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^[1] Acts 1:8 [NRSV].
^[2] Acts 1:8 [NRSV].

When the Word of the Lord was Rare

…Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.   I Samuel 3:1b NLT

…And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.  I Samuel 3:1b KJV

It was like the cable carrying messages from God had been cut. The wires had been severed. The obvious question we want to ask is, Why were visions infrequent and messages rare?

Note: This should not be conflated with the inter-Testamental period which takes place before Jesus breaks into our world. But it does represent a similar “calm before the storm.” In the verse above, something is indeed about to happen.

Perhaps this period was necessary to set the stage for the calling of Samuel in this same chapter.

Matthew Henry writes:

The word of the Lord was precious in those days. Now and then a man of God was employed as a messenger upon an extraordinary occasion (as 1 Sam. 2:27), but there were no settled prophets, to whom the people might have recourse for counsel, nor from whom they might expect the discoveries of the divine will. And the rarity of prophecy made it the more precious in the account of all those that knew how to put a right value upon it. It was precious, for what there was (it seems) was private: There was no open vision, that is, there were none that were publicly known to have visions. Perhaps the impiety and impurity that prevailed in the tabernacle, and no doubt corrupted the whole nation, had provoked God, as a token of his displeasure, to withdraw the Spirit of prophecy, till the decree had gone forth for the raising up of a more faithful priest, and then, as an earnest of that, this faithful prophet was raised up.

A few verses later (7) more of this background comes clear:

Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. NLT

Well of course that was true, the text says that really nobody was having messages from the Lord.

We know where the story goes from there. Chapter 3 ends with these words:

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. (3:19-21 NIV)

Rick Morley writes:

What I find so very interesting here though is that God was calling upon Samuel before Samuel was a man of faith.

It is, of course, why Samuel didn’t know what was going on when God was calling to him in the night. But, isn’t it strange that God was calling upon him before Samuel knew God?

Isn’t it strange when there was in fact a faithful priest, and follower of God, right there?

I’ve marveled for quite sometime now that God calls the strangest people to do His work, and to spread His Word. He’ll call an old man like Abraham, and a young girl like Mary. He’ll call a man who killed a guy like Moses, or a someone who was complicit in the death of a Christian like Paul. He’ll call someone who is so morally compromised like David, and God will even call pagan-Zoroastrian-astrologers from the east by sending them a star.

And here, in First Samuel, God calls someone who is not yet a person of faith.

So often in the  modern church we can get preoccupied with qualifications, status, education, and rank. We’ll want to see a resume and a few letters after someone’s name before we issue a call—or we’ll deny someone a position because they aren’t technically “a member” or been through confirmation yet.

But, if the call of Samuel says anything—amidst all the calls of the Scriptures—it’s that God calls whomever God decides to call, and oftentimes God calls the most unlikely of people.

In fact that’s not even the exception to the rule, it seems to be the rule.

And, the gem that’s buried in this text is that Eli knows this. Eli could have sent the boy off to bed, chiding him for his lack of faith, or his immaturity.

I mean really, what kind of God would call someone like Samuel?

…Or David, or Moses, or Mary, or Paul, or Peter…

…or me?

May we, the People of God, be granted the wisdom of Eli, AND the willingness of Samuel, when we draw the “least-likely-candidate” straw.

And God comes calling in the night.

 

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Because the quotation from Rick Morley was older, I decided to see what he’s been up to lately. Instead of written devotional teachings, he posts one-minute animated videos. Check out his page at this link.

 

The Love We Desire; The Love We Can Share

Yesterday, our quest for new writers took me a most interesting blog, The Will to Wake Up written by Hannah Chung. I read several of her pieces and even listened to some songs by one of her favorite music artists. You’ll find articles indexed by category using the tabs at the top of each page. The title which follows contains a link to her site, and encourage you to send her some traffic and read it there instead of here.

How Do You Want to Be Loved?

When you understand how you want to be loved, you will no longer find yourself drawn to inauthentic relationships.

To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”

-Timothy Keller

We speak a lot about love in this world. In society, we are taught that self-love is most important. At church, we are taught that no one can love perfectly except God, but that true love takes sacrifice, a dying to our flesh. These ideas intermingle in our minds, but often feel unclear.

We are born with the desire to be loved. Why else would we be in community? Why else would we have friends or romantic partners and partake in ceremonies that celebrate undying love, like weddings?

There is something so beautiful and so incomprehensible about love. As humans, we want to explain what love is. We want to put borders around love. We like to say that love means acceptance or second chances or blind trust.

But we cannot explain love because God is love and God cannot be fully explained, at least to our humble minds. And God’s abilities are limitless.

However, it’s not wrong to explore what love means to you. Perhaps it can even help you grow in your understanding of God, too.

Even those who have never known or heard of God crave His unconditional love. This is the love spoken of in the quote by Timothy Keller. A love that knows, chooses, liberates, challenges, and ultimately betters us for the kingdom of God.

This love is so rare in the world. We cannot love perfectly, but we can still try. And when we fail, we can turn to the one who loves us perfectly and ask for His help.

When you understand how you want to be loved through a godly lens, you will no longer find yourself drawn to relationships that aren’t built on authentic love. You will recognize who in your life only “loves” you for what you do for them or who they think you are, even if you are someone completely different. You will no longer gravitate toward superficial love, but pursue deep, soulful love.

There might be times when there aren’t people in your life who can love you this way. Those times are lonely and painful, but they are also times when, if you allow yourself, you will experience God’s love in the deepest way possible. He will meet you in these moments. God is not afraid of the darkness because He is the light.

And these times of loneliness will not last forever.

But how do you know what kind of love God offers and what kind of love we should extend upon others?

Spend time with God and ask Him. Search His word. Study Jesus’ interactions in the New Testament. Listen to God’s promises in the Old Testament.

God promises to heal us (Isaiah 57:18), provide us hope (Romans 15:13), sanctify us (John 17:17), prepare a place for us believers in Heaven (John 14:3), and love us for all eternity, going so far as to sacrifice His own Son for a relationship with us (John 3:16).

The fruits of the Spirit are born out of the love God has for us, and He offers us these fruits when we choose to follow Him:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance [patience], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

-Galatians 5:22-23

Once we accept the love God has for us, we are equipped to love those around us. Imperfectly, yes, but through God’s grace and power, they may still experience God’s perfect love through us.

Now the question is, how are you being called to love others today?

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

-1 Corinthians 13:1-3

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Same author; same subject: Click this link to read Hannah’s preceding article about Unconditional Love.

The Better Way to Draw a Crowd

Previous generations didn’t have the word, “megachurch.” Of course they didn’t have “televangelist” either. There were indeed large churches, however and there were preachers (George Whitefield is a good example) who preached to thousands — in the outdoors, no less — without the benefit of sound equipment. But we tend to look back favorably on those days, believing it was a matter of substance over style.

Today, we have popular preachers whose television ministries have huge followings and whose close-up pictures are plastered on the front cover of their books. (No, not just that one; I’m thinking of about six.)

The general conclusion at which people arrive is that they are getting those followers because they are saying what people want to hear. On close examination, it’s true that many of the hooks of their sermons and books are positive motivational sayings that also work on posters and coffee mugs.

For those of us who are insiders, we immediately default to the phrase itching ears. This is drawn from 2 Timothy 4:3

For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. (NLT)

This true, probably more true now than ever, but the challenge for Christians today is that everyone who drives by a church with an overflowing parking lot is likely to jump to conclusions and declare that church liberal in their theology or empty of doctrines; or infer that people only go there for the music.

It’s true that Jesus warned his disciples they were not going to win a popularity contest. In Matthew 7: 13-14 he tells his disciples,

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (NIV)

and then immediately makes a statement about false teachers.

Jesus had his own fall from popularity when he began what I call the tough teachings and others call the “hard sayings.” A month ago I referred to “the ominously verse-referenced” John 6:66

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. (NIV)

Many of you grew up in churches where you were told you were part of “the chosen few” a reference to Matthew 22:14

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (ESV)

Jesus told his disciples that they would experience rejection in some places. In Matthew 10:14 he is saying,

If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.  (NLT)

In other words, there is, at least in Evangelicalism, a mindset that says that we are a tiny remnant, and by extrapolation is suspicious of large crowds.

But there are exceptions.

I think of an American pastor who since Christmas has been walking his church through some very challenging sermons; raising the bar when it comes to expectations for both compassionate service and lifestyle evangelism. But he’s not off in a corner doing this, it’s one of the top ten churches in the U.S.

I think of two Canadian pastors, from two very different eras, who have a giftedness when it comes to taking Bible passage “A” and showing people how it relates to Bible passage “B.” I’ve seen both of them preach before thousands of people. It was far from “itching ears;” you had to work hard just to keep up with the note-taking, which is challenging when you’re sitting there with your mouth open going, “Wow!”

I think of Nicodemus who we characterize as coming to Jesus in secret. I was always taught that was the reason for his nighttime visit in John 3. But lately I read that the rabbis set aside the early evening for further discussion. He was coming back for the Q. and A. part of the teaching. He wanted more. I find him to be representative of people in the crowd who were there for all the right reasons. (Compare his motivation to that of Felix in Acts 24:25-26.) The itching ears crowd don’t come back for the evening service, the Tuesday morning Bible study, or the midweek prayer meeting.

The website Knowing Jesus has come up with more than 30 good examples of Jesus being surrounded by crowds. True, the Bible tells us that some of them were simply there for the miracle spectacle or the free lunches, but I’m sure that many of them were drawn to Jesus for greater, higher reasons. After all, there’s gotta be a limit to how many hours people will listen to teaching in order to get a fish sandwich lunch.

I saw this years ago on Facebook.

The words at first appear deep, meaningful and mature, but indirectly it is lashing out against individuals or movements which are left unnamed. It’s implying that everyone who is drawing a big crowd is doing so at the expense of preaching the Word. I suspect these words land with people who are already on-side, so I don’t really get the point of posting things like this at all. Furthermore, the inference is that the sign of a successful ministry is suffering, hardship and opposition.

Like so many things in scripture, there is a balance to be found.

In Matthew 5:14 +16, we find Jesus saying

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden”
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.“ (NASB)

If all you experience is suffering, hardship and opposition, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing everything right, but rather, it could be you’re doing something seriously wrong.

Oswald Smith wrote the hymn which begins:

There is joy in serving Jesus
As I journey on my way
Joy that fills my heart with praises
Every hour and every day

I really hope that’s your experience as well.

So…Who should we be attracted to?

Who should be drawing crowds?

Computer technology has brought us the phrase “rich text.” It’s used to describe the variants in coding words like these by using italics, underlining, change of font, change of font size, highlighting, color text, bullet points, etc. (It’s worth considering, if you’re speaking in public, finding ways to make your verbal communication equally interesting.)

However, I like to think of “rich text” in the sense of rich in content and meaning, rich in insight, rich in application. Deep instead of shallow. Words that make us think.

Years ago, a book distributor want to distinguish between deep and shallow and posted a page online they called “books for thoughtful readers.” I would have hoped that included all readers, but I get where they’re coming from. They were books with substance.

Those are the type of books I want to read, and those are the type of people I want to listen to in person.

And those are the type of situations I feel are well deserving of drawing crowds.

Itching ears or hungry hearts?

Believers and Bragging Rights

^{Genesis 11:1 NIV} Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

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^{2 Corinthians 12: 7b NLT} … So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

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^{Micah 6:8 CEB} He has told you, human one, what is good and
what the Lord requires from you:
to … walk humbly with your God.

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^{Proverbs 3:34 GNT} He has no use for conceited people, but shows favor to those who are humble.

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^{1 Corinthians 1:31 The Voice} As the Scripture says: “If someone wants to boast, he should boast in the Lord.”

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think… Romans 12: 3a NASB

In the first two passages above we see God altering the circumstances in order to keep people — collectively in the first passage, an individual in the second passage — from become prideful or boastful.

Introverts might not get this, but as an extrovert, I can say that in my life there is very much a tendency towards arrogance.

In the movie Network the female lead is asked, “What’s it like to be the person in the room who always has the right answers?”

Smugly, she replies, “It’s awful, absolutely awful.”

Psalm 20:7 is a verse that some of you learned in the KJV and other translations as “Some trust in chariots and some in horses…” Having a gut feeling about this verse I checked and sure enough, these alternatives to trust exist:

• Some nations boast of armies and of weaponry, but our boast is in the Lord our God. (TLB)
• Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. (NASB)
• Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. (NRSV)
• Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of Yahweh our God. (HCSB)

What are our modern equivalents? We don’t have chariots and horses, but many of us have nice cars which we spend our Saturday mornings polishing and caring for. What else?

• education; including academic certificates, degrees, etc.
• knowledge; both specialized and general
• intuitive abilities; logic, reason, quick wit, tech savvy
• friends; the size of our friends list on social media as a possible example, which is related to…
• influence; many think themselves to be, in ways small or large influencers of others
• status; standing in the community, perhaps our name is in the local newspaper or mentioned on TV
• connectedness; the ‘degrees of separation’ we have with movers and shakers in politics or entertainment
• spouse; we take credit for what is really a gift from God to us; or boast about the wrong attributes (i.e. having a ‘hot’ wife)
• possessions; our house, car, cabin the woods, consumer electronics, etc.
• passions; the hobbies and interests we are always talking about

Thinking about these things and speaking of them sometimes boosts our adrenaline, brings a smile to our faces, or causes us to speak with greater volume and passion. We’re energized thinking about these things, and we can become arrogant.

The last category above is a good lead to these two questions:

1. What’s the first thing you think about when you get up in the morning?
2. What do you talk about when it’s your opportunity to control the conversation?

God had to wipe out the Tower of Babel. He didn’t wipe out Saul/Paul however, but introduced a condition — and Bible scholars vary as to what exactly it was — to keep him humble. Laura Story, in the popular Christian song Blessings asks:

What if your blessings come through rain drops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?

We very rarely thank God for Babel-type changes in plans, or Paul-type ongoing conditions, but they do prevent us from being less of a person than we might be; from being a person that others may not find particularly attractive; and from presenting ourselves in a way that people see us, but don’t see Christ living in and through us.

^{James 4:10 NLT} Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

Too Late to Say Thank You? Maybe It’s Not.

A different meaning for “gifts in kind”

In North America, we usually use the phrase “gifts in kind” to refer to donations people make to charities and non-profits of things other than cash. Someone will donate a valuable sterling silver cutlery set, or an oil painting by a renown artist.

We usually think of such gifts as originating with people who are wealthy — after all, they owned these beautiful pieces in the first place — but it can also be done by people who are too poor to make a monetary gift, but find themselves in possession of something that can be assigned a value and then sold by the organization they wish to support.

Today, I want to consider a situation where the gift was somewhat “in kind” — and I’m borrowing the term here for a different purpose — is being made because it has become impossible to give to the original intended recipient. In other words, person “A” is no longer around to bless, but in their honor, I am giving to person “B.”

^{2 Samuel 9:1} David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

² Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

“At your service,” he replied.

³ The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”

Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan…”

As the chapter continues, David pours out his generosity to Mephibosheth. The book Men of the Bible by Ann Spangler and Robert Wogelmuth tells us:

…David lavished Mephibosheth with more than he ever could have dreamed: land, servants, and access to the king’s table. Mephibosheth had not deserved the misfortune that had marked his life. But neither did he earn the good fortune that suddenly befell him. Mephibosheth must have been overwhelmed by it all.

There is more to the story to be sure, but I want to return again to verse one:

¹ David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

I’m wondering if there’s anyone reading this who can think of someone who has passed from this life, and there perhaps a wish that you could have done something, or done more to bless that person?

Before we continue, it’s important to note that David and Jonathan had a covenant relationship. Matthew Henry notes:

It is good sometimes to bethink ourselves whether there be any promises or engagements that we have neglected to make good; better do it late than never. The compendium which Paul gives us of the life of David is this (Acts 13:36), that he served his generation according to the will of God, that is, he was a man that made it his business to do good; witness this instance, where we may observe,

1. That he sought an opportunity to do good.
2. Those he inquired after were the remains of the house of Saul…
3. The kindness he promised to show them he calls the kindness of God…

At this point, it’s easy to let yourself off the hook and say, “I did not have a covenant relationship with anyone like that.

But is there someone to whom you could say,

• Your father was a major influence in my life
• Your mother helped me through a difficult time
• Your brother was like a brother to me
• Your aunt and uncle were very generous to me at a critical time
• Your sister’s encouragement was always both needed and appreciated

and then, in recognition of that

• invite them over for dinner or out to a restaurant?
• give them a gift, perhaps even a Bible or Christian book?
• make a charitable donation in their name or in memory of their loved one?
• write out the story of how their relative blessed you and print it out for them as a keepsake?
• failing all else, just simply tell them how much their family means to you?

Verse seven is our model. In light of the deep relationship between David and Jonathan:

⁷ “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

Take a pause here to ask yourself: Is there a Mephibosheth in your life?

Godliness the Way the Old Self Would Try to do It

Once again we’re back with Elsie Montgomery who has been writing at Practical Faith, since 2006, and is one of most often-sourced writers here. Click the link in the title which appears next to read this where it appeared first.

Burdens from God — Or Me Worrying?

Over the past few weeks I’m realizing the difference between spiritually-motivated Christian living and that which is from the old nature trying to be godly. Oswald Chambers says, “Every element of self-reliance must be slain by the power of God. Complete weakness and dependence will always be the occasion for the Spirit of God to manifest His power.”

What comes in to counter that power from God? The world says I’m to have self-confidence. I’m to be sure of myself and trust my abilities and judgment, moving forward in everything with an assurance that I can do it without any problem. God says:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

If I don’t conform to the ideas of the world about confidence and instead discern the will of God, what can be expected? Here are some things:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3)

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. (1 Corinthians 12:4–6)

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7–10)

So much for the wisdom of the world. And the above verses also apply to my so-called confidence in my old nature with its sinful ways of thinking. Jesus adds this just to make sure I’m not putting my confidence in me:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

What about the lies of Satan? I once did a Bible study through much of the NT where I read the truth God says, then pondered the lies that counter it. For instance, ‘God says this…’, ‘but the enemy says this…‘

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (John 15:9–10)

God does not love you the way you want to be loved. He sent his son to be scorned and die; is that love? You don’t need to accept that because if you do, you are going to wind up like Jesus and suffer.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

God wants you healthy, wealthy and wise. Work hard to make money. Let your lack of contentment drive you. That lack is just more evidence that God does not love you or want the best for you. He is busy with other things and not  even with you because he does not care about you.

There are many ways to illustrate the lies, but only one way of exposing them; read the Word of God and believe it, keeping sin and doubt confessed and trusting the truth of God. Be spiritual disciplined but not trusting me — only Him. He is the Savior; I am not.

PRAY: Jesus, this day I am bombarded with things I could worry about. Family members who are suffering, Christians who are tangled up in worldly and fleshy thinking, unsaved neighbors without interest in you, and more responsibilities that I can handle. Abiding in You seems difficult. Fruit-bearing? Where is it? Yet the weakness I feel indicates there is power lurking. Enable me to keep trusting You, no matter what the world or my flesh nags me about, and enable me to sort lies from truth so I can live in Your power and not worry about anything.

A “Man of God” is not Always Professional Clergy

This is our third time with Darrell Koop, Lead Pastor of Upwards Church (which is also the name of their blog) with two locations in Texas. Like so many others we’ve heard of lately, Darrell has also embarked on a study of the Minor Prophets, and we’re jumping in near the beginning if you wish to follow the blog series as it progresses. Being a priest meant being a Levite, but there weren’t restrictions for having a prophetic gift. Think about that in terms of your own ministry. To read this article where it first appeared — with maps and charts — click the link in the title which appears next.

Amos Overview

When we hear, “He’s a man of God,” we think of some famous evangelist, a “Reverend,” a missionary, or the campus minister—professionals, Christian workers, those who preach and teach the Word as a vocation.

Surely Amos was a man of God, a person whose life was devoted to serving the Lord and whose lifestyle reflected this devotion—but he was a layperson. Herding sheep and tending sycamore-fig trees in the Judean countryside, Amos was not the son of a prophet; he was not the son of a priest. As a humble shepherd, he could have stayed in Tekoa, doing his job, providing for his family, and worshiping his God. But God gave Amos a vision of the future (1:1) and told him to take his message to Israel, the northern kingdom (7:15). Amos obeyed and thus proved he was a man of God.

Amos (“burden bearer”) was a herdsman and a cultivator of sycamore trees (Amos 1:1; 7:14) when the Lord called him to be a prophet. He lived in the village of Tekoa, about eleven miles from Jerusalem, during the reigns of Uzziah in Judah (790-740 B.c.) and Jeroboam II in the Northern Kingdom of Israel (793-753). Amos was a “layman,” a humble farmer and shepherd who was not an official member of the Jewish religious or political establishment.

At this time, both Judah and Israel were enjoying prosperity and security. Luxury abounded (3:10-15; 5:1-6), and “religion” was popular. Israel flocked to the royal chapel at Bethel (4:4-5), and Judah celebrated the feasts enthusiastically (5:21-22), but the sins of both nations were eroding the religious and moral fiber of the people. Making money was more important than worshiping God (8:5); the rich exploited the poor, the judicial system was corrupt, and injustice flourished (5:11-15, 24; 8:4-6).

Amos presents God as the ruler of this world and declares that all nations are responsible to Him. The measure of a nation’s responsibility is the light which a nation has. The final test for any nation (or individual) is found in Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” They knew of God’s covenants or agreements and chose to be unfaithful. In a day of prosperity, Amos pronounced punishment. The judgment of God awaited nations which were living in luxury and loving immorality.

Amos’s message has impacted God’s people throughout the centuries, and it needs to be heard today by individuals and nations. Though divided from their southern brothers and sisters in Judah, the northern Israelites were still God’s people. But they were living beneath a pious veneer of religion, worshiping idols and oppressing the poor. Amos, a fiery, fearless, and honest shepherd from the south, confronted them with their sin and warned them of the impending judgment.

The book of Amos opens with this humble shepherd watching his sheep. God then gave him a vision of what was about to happen to the nation of Israel. God condemned all the nations who had sinned against him and harmed his people. Beginning with Damascus (Syria), he moved quickly through Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. All were condemned, and we can almost hear the Israelites shouting, “Amen!” And then, even Judah, Amos’s homeland, was included in God’s scathing denunciation (2:4, 5). How Amos’s listeners must have enjoyed hearing those words! Suddenly, however, Amos turned to the people of Israel and pronounced God’s judgment on them. The next four chapters enumerate and describe their sins. It is no wonder that Amaziah the priest intervened and tried to stop the preaching (7:10-13). Fearlessly, Amos continued to relate the visions of future judgment that God gave to him (chapters 8-9). After all the chapters on judgment, the book concludes with a message of hope. Eventually God will restore his people and make them great again (9:8-15).

As you read Amos’s book, put yourself in the place of those Israelites and listen to God’s message. Have you grown complacent? Have other concerns taken God’s place in your life? Do you ignore those in need or oppress the poor? Picture yourself as Amos, faithfully doing what God calls you to do. You, too, can be God’s person. Listen for his clear call and do what he says, wherever it leads.

Vital Statistics

Purpose:  To pronounce God’s judgment upon Israel, the northern kingdom, for its complacency, idolatry, and oppression of the poor.

Author: Amos

Original Audience: The people of Israel (the northern kingdom)

Date Written: During the reigns of Jeroboam II of Israel and Uzziah of Judah (approximately 760-750 B.C.)

Setting: The wealthy people of Israel were enjoying peace and prosperity. They were quite complacent and were oppressing the poor, even selling them into slavery. Soon, however, Israel would be conquered by Assyria, and the rich would themselves become slaves.

Key Verse:  “Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living” (5:24).

Special Features:  Amos uses striking metaphors from his shepherding and farming experience—a loaded wagon (2:13), a roaring lion (3:8), a mutilated sheep (3:12), fat cows (4:1), and a basket of ripe fruit (8:1, 2).

Outline 

1. Announcement of judgment (1:1-2:16)

2. Reasons for judgment (3:1-6:14)

3. Visions of judgment (7:1-9:15)

Amos speaks with brutal frankness in denouncing sin. He collided with the false religious leaders of his day and was not intimidated by priest or king. He continued to speak his message boldly. God requires truth and goodness, justice and righteousness, from all people and nations today as well. Many of the conditions in Israel during Amos’s time are evident in today’s society. We need Amos’s courage to ignore danger and stand against sin.

Knowing God By His Names

A year ago we introduced you to Brianna Ngarambe who writes at Joy-Full, in lower case letters, so joy-full. We also have a bonus article for you. Clicking the links in the titles which comes next will take you to where these devotionals first appeared in 2023.

Names of God

But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’

Then what should I tell them?”

God replied to Moses, “I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.

This is my eternal name,
my name to remember for all generations.

Exodus 3:13-14 NLT

I am who I am. How can one have a revelation of this name of God? We have translations for Jehovah Jireh or Jehovah Nissi, but I am who I am stands alone. This encounter with God must have been a light bulb moment for Moses, because he now gets to understand God in a deeper level, by knowing His name.

Knowing the names of God helps us to remember who we serve, who we are praying to, and how the Lord wants to show up in our lives.

I encourage you, as I will, to look up verses on the Name of God that you need this moment or in this season.

There was a season where Abba Father (Romans 8:15) was what I kept calling God. Another season where Defender (Exodus 15:2-3) was the name I consistently used in prayer.

Ask the Lord to reveal to you what name you need to call on today. God is the I am, meaning He is everything to us- simply because He exists.

• Jehovah Shalom: The Lord is our Peace
• Jehovah Mekadesh: The Lord who Sanctifies
• Jehovah Jireh: The Lord provides
• Jehovah Nissi: The Lord our Banner
• El Shaddai: God Almighty
• El Roi: The God who sees
• El Gibbor: the Mighty God
• El Elyon: God Most High
• Lion of the Tribe of Judah
• Strong Tower, Refuge
• Wonderful Counselor
• Defender & Way Maker
• Mighty Warrior & Prince of Peace
• Holy One of Israel
• Lord of Heaven’s Armies (Hosts)
• Emmanuel
• Christ Our King
• Savior

And so much more…

We have full access to this Great King. We can speak every name with confidence that He will show up in that way for us. His lovingkindness, tender mercies and grace have given us the opportunity to come before Him in Jesus’ name and receive all that we’ve asked in accordance to His will.

There’s a song that says “I cannot begin to describe how great You are.” Simply calling on the name of the Lord is one way to be reminded of His greatness and His majesty.

These names of God are also attached to stories in the bible that give us hope. The same God who was El Roi to Hagar, also sees us in our times of distress. The same El Shaddai, God Almighty, who showed up to Abram promising something only our mighty God can do, can still do the same for us today. Cry unto Him! Call out His names! And Be encouraged.

Commune

commune (/kəˈmyo͞on/):

To share one’s intimate thoughts or feelings with (someone), especially on a spiritual level.

I’ve just come from one of the most beautiful times in the presence of God. I feel like I’m floating, but more than my feelings, I know I met Jesus. This encounter didn’t happen at a worship set, it wasn’t at a huge conference with thousands of people seeking God, it wasn’t even during church.. it was during a regular prayer meeting.

Prayer is an often overlooked and underutilized privilege in the church today. Our pews are full during service, but during prayer meetings, we are lucky to get even half of the church to show up.

However, prayer is something that God expects of us.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6 NIV

Notice how it doesn’t say if you pray, but it says when you pray. This is an expectation from God because His Word also tells us that…

Men ought always to pray and not to faint.

Luke 18:1

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When Jesus died, the veil was torn in two, symbolizing our ability to go directly to God by way of the name of Jesus.

Meditate on this: Our great Mediator, Jesus Christ has made it possible to enter the Holy of Holies, a privilege only afforded to the High Priests in the Old Covenant once per year. I believe having this understanding can shift our outlook on prayer. Not only seeing it as an obligation, but an invitation. God is literally inviting us into His presence. He longs to meet us in the secret place, we just have to be willing to show up, be attentive, and stay.

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During prayer meeting, the pastor told us to make our own altar. No, not a physical one like in the Old Testament, but a spiritual one. Have space in your home where you will diligently seek the Lord. May you have a yearning to seek the Lord and His goodness in that place of prayer. Through your communion with God, let your sacrifices be a broken and contrite spirit, or one of praise. Pray that His fire would meet those sacrifices for it to be a sweet incense as it rises to the Lord.

HYMN: SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER
Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father’s throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter’s snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Gathering Together: Place, Time, and People

This begins a new series of Friday posts…

Doing Church 1 – Gather (Hebrews 10:23-25)

by Ruth Wilkinson

Why does it make sense for us to ‘go to church?’ Why is it a logical human thing to do?

Whether you are a Christian, or not yet; whether you feel like maybe you used to be but you’re not so sure anymore; whether you believe that humanity evolved from primordial forms or that humanity was shaped intentionally in the image of God by God… I think we can agree on a few things: that humans are people of time, humans are people of place, and humans are people of people.

First, we are people of time. It has been joked that time is God’s way of keeping everything from happening at once, but it doesn’t always work. We live in time as one of the dimensions through which we move. Time, from a human perspective, should be simple. It should be logical. It should move mostly at the same perceived pace in the same direction. But sometimes, as humans, we make sense best of time not as an eternity stretching out from point A to point B and beyond, but when we address it in cycles and in rhythms.

We build rhythms into our music: 1234, 1234, 1234. We breathe rhythms every day with the sunrise and the sunset, and every year with winter, spring, summer, autumn. We are bound by rhythms in our bodies: waking, working, sleeping—hungering and eating and hungering again.

And we are blessed by rhythms in our spirits.

This has always been true of humanity. After Noah’s flood had receded and people were back on dry ground, beginning to live their lives again, God made a promise. He created a covenant with humanity and part of that covenant was:

As long as the earth endures,[cycles of] seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease. (Genesis 8:22)

That rhythm of time is part of God’s promise to us.

Even further back to the garden of Eden:

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished. (Genesis 2: 3)

Later in God’s story with His people Israel, when Moses shared the ten commandments, that foundational law, God said to His people:

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. (Exodus 20:8-10)

In the New Testament, Jesus taught about Sabbath:

Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for the human, not a person for the Sabbath…”  (Mark 2:27)

This rhythm of days is made for us, and we for it. The rhythm of days is God’s gift to us. One day out of seven to rest. And not just to put our feet up, not just to procrastinate until Monday; this day of rest is time to remind ourselves of where we came from. Time to focus on God. Time to invest in our faith and our relationship with Him so that when we take up our work again, we do so having God’s presence fresh in our minds.

Very early in the church after the New Testament writings had been completed, another document was written, containing guidelines and instructions for churches:

Every Lord’s day (every Sunday), gather yourselves together. Break bread, give thanksgiving after having confessed so that your thanks-giving may be pure.  (Didache, Chapter 14)

This is in our DNA: taking one day in seven to focus on God, and to rest. Sabbath rhythm is a chance for us to pause. To come together. To remember. To share. To confess. To forgive to be forgiven… Until next time.

When we sit in church, we sit still in time—with no fast forward, no pausing the preacher in mid-sentence so you can go to the fridge.

We sit still in this space where there are no ads. No politics. There is simply the Church, focusing on the One who gave us life together.

We are made for the rhythm of Sabbath rest and for Sabbath worship, so that when we begin again we begin well.

We go to church because we are people of time.

Second, we go to church because we are people of place.

Humans have always had sacred spaces set apart for encountering what we cannot see or touch, but that we know is there. In the prehistory and ancient worlds, those sacred spaces were hill tops and temples. You knew it was a temple, because when you went in, you found there the image of a god.

Just like Eden’s garden, which is recognized pretty much universally by theologians and scholars as being a temple—a forerunner of the Temple in Jerusalem—which itself foreshadowed the eternal reality of all creation as a temple: a place occupied and ruled by the image-bearers (that’s us) of Yahweh God.

A sacred place is a place where I’m not in charge. It’s a place that I can’t change to suit my personality. That I can’t design and decorate with my preferences. Yes, I have encountered God on the beach and in my car and (no word of a lie) Value Village. God will meet us anywhere. But, Church, we are called out. We are called to make the effort to come and meet Him together in places we set apart for those encounters.

I love this story:

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed. So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvellous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?” When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:2-4)

I love this story: Moses’ first real encounter with Yahweh God, that kicked off so much of what happened next. Moses saw a shrub that was burning, but not being consumed by the fire. It sparked his curiosity and he came to see. As he came close to the burning bush, he heard God say to him, “Moses, take off your shoes. You are on holy ground.” This was a sacred space that God had carved out, in which He could meet with Moses. It may be that taking off your shoes in the presence of the King was just a culturally appropriate gesture of respect. But I can’t help noticing that the net effect of Moses taking off his shoes while he was standing on holy ground is that it brought him in direct contact with that holy ground. Nothing between him and God’s sacred space. And when he put his shoes back on, he would have carried some of that dust with him back into his work.

The Church has always met in sacred spaces. We go to church because we are people of place.

Third, we are people of people.

Let’s look again at a story we read a few weeks ago… the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

It was the very day of Jesus’ resurrection, and these folks had left Jerusalem, heading back towards their home. They were disciples of Jesus, and He was dead. They were confused. They didn’t know what was going on. They needed to go home.

Jesus met them on the road as they were heading away from Jerusalem. He met them on the road and He walked with them away from Jerusalem. But when they realized whose presence they had been in, when they realized the meaning of the things that He had been telling them, what did they do? They turned around and they went back to Jerusalem. I wonder if it’s not the case that Jesus chose to spend that day that way, going out of His way to walk down that road with those two people on that day, simply because they were the ones who had left. Everybody else was where they were supposed to be. Everybody else was, yeah, confused and scared and scratching their heads and wondering what on earth do we do next? But they were together. These two had gone off on their own and I would argue that, just as Jesus teaches in the parable of the good shepherd:

…if one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? (Matthew 18:12)

Jesus came looking for them so they would know that they needed to return.

We need each other. Going back again to the garden of Eden:

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the human to be alone. I will make a helper (partner, rescuer) suitable for him.”  (Genesis 2:18)

We need each other—encouraging, correcting, reconciling. We need each other—praying for healing, celebrating, grieving. We need each other—to help tell the difference between truth and deception. We need each other to remind us of Whose we are. Of who we are, and of where we are invited to go.

We go to church because we are people of time, because we are people of place and because we are people of His people.

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In Hebrews 10, we read the words:

Let us not neglect or abandon meeting together, as some have made, a habit of doing.

I’m glad the writer used the word ‘habit.’ A habit is something that is not the default, but is something that we either choose to do or that we have fallen into doing and that has stuck.

Breathing is not a habit. Smoking is a habit.

The author of Hebrews reminds us that gathering together is not a habit—it’s a part of who we are. We are God’s people, “called out from our homes into some public place” in the name of Christ.

The writer reminds us that staying away is a habit. It may be something that we choose to do. It may be something that is thrust upon us in times of necessity. But it is a habit—an aberration from our expected behaviour.

Staying away is a habit that we need to challenge in ourselves, making sure we know why we’re doing it, and being willing to admit it when those reasons aren’t good enough.

We need to regularly gather ourselves to where the Church is. If we know someone who is part of our church family is unable to gather, then those of us who have that mobility have the responsibility of gathering ourselves to the nursing home. To the hospital room.

To the place where the Church is.

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Ruth Wilkinson is Pastor of a CBOQ (Baptist) Church in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada and appears here most Fridays. Her sermon blog is Pastor Percipia. Click the title of this post for a link to the original article and a video sermon of which this is an excerpt. This series will continue two weeks from now.

 

Paul Finds Himself Re-applying for the Job He Has

Today we’re back for a second time with Mitch Todd who is the author of Weekly Devotion. Click the title which follows to read this where it first appeared. From there, look around at other articles.

Are You Qualified?

I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am untrained in speech, I certainly am not with respect to knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you.

2 Corinthians 11:5-6

That’s Paul, Mr. New Testament, getting testy.

He’s having to defend himself, because there were “false teachers” who threatened to steer the Corinth church astray. Even after all he’d done to start that church, here he was, still having to defend his qualifications for the job.

Remember, Paul was just…a guy. All the accolades came later. He had a lot of religious training growing up, and he had this first-hand experience of Jesus he talked about, but mostly, he was just this really passionate guy trying to spread the good news.

I’m wondering about you and your qualifications. How qualified are you to be a disciple? To use your faith to make an impact in the world. Maybe you’re gearing up to start a new church or a new Bible study. Maybe you’re inviting folks to your church or inviting in conflict by standing up for justice. Maybe you’re getting ready to do…something.

What gives you the right to wield some authority in these matters?

Actually, a problem I hear all the time is that people feel like they DON’T have the authority to represent the church. I’ve had decades of religious training and credentialing, and often feel the same way. There’s A LOT of stuff to know about Christianity. Who other than Paul could consider themselves qualified for that kind of work?

True, Paul was especially good at laying out basic Christian doctrines, a task few of us may be suited for, but how well we do playing Bible Trivia has little to do with us qualifying to be disciples.

The way I see it, qualifications for discipleship can be pretty simple:

• Have you had an experience of God’s unconditional love? You’re qualified to report it.
• Do you use your faith like a tool as you journey through life? You’re qualified to use it.
• Are you willing to embrace Christ’s love in your family, your work, your life? You’re qualified to share it.

The qualifications for discipleship are remarkably easy to meet. The challenge comes in embracing the authority God’s love gives you. There will always be doubters, and you may even doubt yourself, but as Mark Batterson famously said, ‘God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.’

Maybe people won’t read YOUR ancient letters and be inspired. (Or maybe they will!) However you choose to communicate good news to the world depends on your gifts, your environment, your passion, and the world’s needs.

Just don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re underqualified. That would mean steering away from God’s claim on your life.

And Paul…

would be appalled.

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I frequently encourage readers to click the links to read other articles by the writers we feature, but in this case, I just finished reading about ten by Mitch Todd. Some were a bit whimsical, but all of them made me think. If you’re looking for some reading that’s light and deep at the same time, click the link in the first paragraph above.

Giving Him Room in Our Hearts; Following Him with Our Lives

While sorting bookmarks in our “C201 Vault” I again was drawn to the writing of Josh Blakesley only to find out after deciding on these two articles that he had just appeared here in January. The blog is currently inactive, so while we can, I thought I would go ahead and share two more of his pieces. Click the links in the titles below to read these where they appeared first. (More about Josh appears at the end of each article in the original posts.)

Make Some Room

“The most sacred invitation that a person can extend to us is to invite us into their pain. But that means that we have to choose to knock on a door that we often prefer to pretend is not there.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9 When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

A word about a wine story

Probably you’ve seen this story before. It’s one of Jesus’ “7 miracles” in the Gospel of John. This one is the first, and it’s pretty fun and dramatic. Jesus of Nazareth, having a grand old time at the wedding reception, discovers that there is about to be a wine shortage [OH NOOOOOOO] so he figures out a way to turn water into wine.

Well, that’s the short version.
There are a lot of things within this story to unpack, I’m just going to hone in on one thing:

In order to fill jars with wine, some of the original liquid [water] had to be poured out. To make room for the wine. Oh, and not just any wine–the best, finest wine.

Those water purification jars had to be emptied a bit to make room for the wine.

How about that for a human metaphor?
You and I are jars of clay, vessels, containers.
And in order to make room for the “good stuff” we will periodically need to empty out what’s already filling our vessels.

This is what Jesus of Nazareth offers us. Notice that it’s not an invitation to feel bad about the mistakes you’ve made or a judgmental statement about what you lack or how you fall short. No, this invitation is just to empty and make room. Empty yourself and make room. That’s all.

So how will make room for the good stuff to fill and restore you? There is great freedom in this, my friends. You don’t have to be what you were, you don’t have to define yourself by your past, and you get to welcome in something fresh that is meant to heal.

Your Following

“To follow Jesus means to follow Jesus into a society where justice rules, where love shapes everything. To follow Jesus means to take up his dream and work for it.”
— Scot McKnight

Where are you being called to follow?

The concept of “following” holds unique meaning in this era of social media. When you “follow” someone, it means you sign up to receive notifications or you at least agree to “see” when they post something on Facebook, Twitter, etc. And, as you probably know, who you follow and the content they post matter. Soon enough, you start to scroll. And you see different content–such content that is curated for you based on who you follow.

Following, before the internet and social media, was looked at quite differently. If you followed someone, it was because you would otherwise get lost and needed directions to your destination. So you walked behind or beside them, or followed them in your car or bike. You followed them to arrive safely and well.

Also, people followed teachers and spiritual leaders. They chose to follow them because they felt that what they said and taught resonated or helped them in some way, or inspired them. Thus, people might say: “I follow the teachings of…”

So when you think about Jesus of Nazareth and following, consider that for those Jesus encountered, they were invited to both follow physically and spiritually. They would actually walk with Jesus, travel with him, eat with him, live with him. They would follow by tangibly caring for the marginalized. They followed by healing. Likewise, they followed Jesus’ teachings and his call to justice and love work that began in the mind and heart and was lived out in actions.

So friends, at this moment, how are you being called to follow this love and justice? How are you following physically with your hands and feet, skills, and gifts? How are you following spiritually, with your mind, spirit, and attention?

Salt and Light: Our Witness of God’s Transformative Power

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (NLT)

Some time ago, I bookmarked a page in what is labeled in my computer as the “C201 vault.” The article is called A Warning Against Fleshly Behavior. I do recommend it. It’s longer than what we run here, and I didn’t want to break it up to excerpt from it, so I left it bookmarked as a reminder to return to the site some other time.

That time is today. The blog Shepherd Thoughts is primarily the work of Brian Cederquist who is a Baptist pastor in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (I know…Grand Rapids…you thought I was going to say Reformed!) He’s currently working his way through what I would call the signature sermon of Jesus in Matthew 5-7. Click the link which follows to read this where it was seen first, and then navigate from there to read other articles.

Understanding the Meaning of Being Salt and Light: A Biblical Perspective

Big Idea:

Being the salt and light of the earth ought to characterize the way we live our daily lives.

In the midst of our daily lives, the concept of being salt and light can seem abstract or distant. Yet, as we delve into the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16, we uncover profound truths that are not only relevant but essential for us as followers of Christ.

Contextualizing the Passage

Before we dissect the metaphorical meanings of salt and light, let’s grasp the context. The Sermon on the Mount, where these verses reside, encapsulates the essence of Jesus’ teachings, providing a blueprint for kingdom living. The beatitudes preceding this passage outline the characteristics of a transformed life, offering a glimpse into what it means to live as a citizen of God’s kingdom.

Salt: Preserving Influence in a Decaying World

Jesus likens his disciples to salt, a substance valued for its preserving properties in ancient times. Salt not only enhanced flavor but also prevented decay, serving as a metaphor for the transformative influence of believers in the world. Just as salt preserves food, we are called to preserve the moral fabric of society by living out the principles of God’s kingdom.

However, Jesus warns of a potential pitfall: salt losing its flavor. If we fail to live according to the values of the kingdom, we become ineffective, akin to flavorless salt fit only for disposal. This cautionary tale underscores the importance of authenticity and integrity in our Christian walk.

Illustrative Example: King Uzziah

The narrative of King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles serves as a poignant illustration of this principle. Uzziah’s initial success and prosperity were overshadowed by his pride and subsequent downfall when he transgressed against God. His story serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of straying from the path of righteousness.

Light: Illuminating the Darkness

Continuing the imagery, Jesus portrays his followers as the light of the world. Just as a city on a hill cannot be hidden, our lives should radiate the truth and righteousness of Christ, dispelling the darkness around us. Moreover, Jesus emphasizes the public nature of this illumination, urging us to let our light shine before others through our actions and deeds.

Avoiding the Basket: Overcoming Obstacles to Shine

Despite our calling to be salt and light, obstacles can hinder our effectiveness. Fear, disobedience, or complacency may obscure our light, preventing others from witnessing the transformative power of the gospel. Jesus challenges us to cast aside these hindrances and boldly shine our light for all to see.

Deeper Insights: Beyond Evangelism

While evangelism is undoubtedly crucial, being salt and light encompasses more than sharing the gospel verbally. Our roles as parents, spouses, employers, employees, and members of society provide opportunities to embody kingdom values and reflect Christ’s character in every sphere of life.

Furthermore, our actions must align with our words, and genuine love should underpin all our endeavors. Merely professing faith without demonstrating love renders our witness hollow and ineffectual.

Conclusion: Living Out the Blessedness

In essence, being salt and light entail living out the blessedness of kingdom citizenship in our daily lives. It involves embodying Christ’s teachings, preserving moral integrity, illuminating darkness, and demonstrating love in all we do. As we embrace this calling, may our lives become beacons of hope and transformation, drawing others to glorify our Heavenly Father.

Let us heed Jesus’ admonition and prayerfully consider how we can more faithfully fulfill our roles as salt and light in a world hungering for truth and righteousness.

As we close, let us commit ourselves to this noble task, seeking God’s guidance and empowerment to shine brightly for His glory.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, empower us to be faithful stewards of the calling to be salt and light in this world. May our lives reflect your truth and love, drawing others into relationship with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God Uses People Renowned for What They Weren’t

Today we’re back once again with Alabama teaching pastor and author Bruce Green who writes at A Taste of Grace. He’s currently working his way from the book of Judges and, like this one, into 1 & 2 Samuel. Clicking the header which follows will link you to his site where this first appeared.

The Strength of the Insignificant

The book of Judges prepares us for the monarchy. In 17:6 and again in 21:25 we hear, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Rather than there being a central human authority that united everyone and led them in the same direction, tribalism prevailed in Israel. We saw this during Deborah’s time when some of the tribes went to war against Jabin and the Canaanites while others didn’t (5:15-18).

The stories of Ruth and Hannah also prepare us for the monarchy, but in a different way. In the book of Ruth, we learn that David comes from the lineage of Ruth (she was his great grandmother – 4:18-22). But more to the point we learn what kind of person his great-grandmother was—although she was a Moabite, she made a grand commitment to Yahweh God (1:16-18).

This emphasis on character is continued in the story of Hannah. Hannah was the mother of Samuel who anointed the first two kings of Israel. The enlightened Jewish person wouldn’t have failed to make the connection. They would have understood the stories of Ruth and Hannah to be telling them that the great kings of the nation had their beginnings in these two humble women. Their humility led to the exaltation of David and Samuel. It’s not hard to see the same parallel between Elizabeth and Mary with John the Baptist and Jesus.

As we turn to Hannah, it’s clear from 1 Samuel 1 that Hannah had a lowly status. From the world’s point of view, she was insignificant. She was married to a man named Elkanah. But she was not the only one married to him. Elkanah was also married to a woman named Peninnah. It this less-than-ideal arrangement sounds strange and uncomfortable to you—it worked out even worse for Hannah.

The most likely scenario is that Hannah was Elkanah’s first wife and when she was unable to have children, he married Peninnah. And when she provided Elkanah with the children that Hannah could not, Hannah’s anguish would only have been intensified while Peninnah’s status would have been solidified.

And that leads to Peninnah’s relationship with Hannah. She appears to have despised her. Elkanah precipitated some of this by giving Hannah a double portion to sacrifice at the feast as a show of his love for her (v. 4-5). Peninnah retaliated by provoking Hannah (v. 6).  Human nature being what it is, I seriously doubt if this behavior occurred only at the time of the feast but perhaps there it was at its worst then. The family would probably be in closer quarters making the situation more volatile. This despising and provoking had gone on for years and the writer speaks of Hannah’s deep anguish, bitter tears, and inability to eat (v. 7,10).

Maybe we could sum it all up by just saying that Hannah was “not.”  She did not have children, she did not have her husband’s undivided love, she did not have Peninnah’s respect—she was not!  And her condition couldn’t be cured by Elkanah’s insensitive assurance that he should mean more to her than ten sons (v. 8)!

Paul will tell us in 1 Corinthians 1:28-29, that “God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.” In other words, Hannah was the perfect person for God to use to send someone (Samuel), who would anoint the first two kings of Israel.  Through this lowly, despised woman who was not, He brought the kings of Israel. He took someone who was insignificant in the eyes of the world and gave her great significance. You could say that God is in the business of making the insignificant significant.

But Paul’s point isn’t really about the kings of Israel—it’s about the kingdom of heaven. Entrance into it isn’t secured because of what we are in human terms, it is secured because of who Christ is and what He has done. What we are only gets in the way. Therefore, Paul says, God made all of that (our status), unimportant by the cross and His choosing of the lowly, despised, and not is meant to reinforce this. If we’re able, there’s a real strength to be found in insignificance.

That’s because the kingdom belongs to the poor in spirit, not those who by the world’s standards are rich in reputation. Our search for significance begins and ends in Jesus because through Him God makes the insignificant significant. The Corinthians were foolish to be putting stock in their worldly status and so are we.

We must decrease and He must increase.

God Intervened and Sent the Last Adam

Today we have another new writer to introduce. Terry Brown lives in Minnesota (which, climate-wise, is as far from Florida as you can be) and writes at Pondering His Holy Word and there you’ll find a few different pages with information about him.

We’ve said before that the message of Christianity is so simple a child can understand it, but so wonderfully intricate that we can never stop writing about it. This article contains a basic gospel message, but is written in a way to get you thinking. Click the title to read it where it first appeared.

The First Adam and the Last Adam

1 Romans 5:16-17

And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

In Genesis 3, we learn of the fall of man as the first man who was created in God’s image disobeyed God by eating of the tree of good and evil. God told Adam that he could eat of every tree in the garden, but he can not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the day he eats of it, he shall die (Genesis 2:16-17). Eve was deceived by the serpent and ate of the tree and offered Adam some of the fruit, and he ate of it. Yet they didn’t immediately die physically, but it was at that moment that they faced spiritual death. When they heard God walking in the cool of the day, they ran and hid themselves (Genesis 3:1-8). Ever since then, we, as humans, have been hiding from God’s presence and we were all cursed to all the way of the earth in death. However, God didn’t completely curse us to be without him. He promised that He would send the offspring of the woman to crush the head of the serpent. The Lord promised us a redeemer. Yet Adam and Eve died without seeing offspring who would crush the serpent’s head.

Yet, humanity expanded and multiplied as God commanded, but they did so much evil in his sight that he regretted ever creating man because man’s heart was continuously set on doing evil. As a judgment, God would blot out an entire generation by way of the flood. “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:1-8).

Because Noah was a righteous man, God preserved him and his family (his three sons and their wives). During the time that Noah built the ark, he preached righteousness to the people of the earth, but they did not listen. (2 Peter 2:5). This is evident in the fact that none of the people except Noah and his family were saved. After the flood, God promised that He would never flood the earth because of man again (Genesis 8:21). However, in this same statement, God said that the intention of man’s heart is set on evil from his youth. There has rebellion in man’s heart since the fall. Again, the man rebelled against God when they attempted to build a tower to heaven to make a name for themselves. As a judgment, God confused their languages and man scattered to the different parts of the world (v1-9).

Though the nations went their own ways, God didn’t forsake us but sought to bless the world through man. He set apart Abraham son of Terah to make a great nation. Even though Abraham was nearly 100 years old and Sarah could not have kids, Abraham believed that God would keep His promise. “Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” Yet, Abraham died without being a great nation.

It wasn’t until Moses delivered the people out of Egypt and Joshua would lead them into the land of Canaan. It was during the conquest that the prostitute Rahab helped the two spies escape from Jericho. She knew that it was the purpose of God to turn the land over to Israel as a judgment to Canaan. As a result, she made a covenant with the two spies for her life. Then, she married Salmon and had a child named Boaz. Then, Boaz married Ruth and fathered Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David, the King of Judah. (Matthew 1:5-6 and Ruth 4:18-21).

David’s faithfulness to God never wavered. He put all of his faith in God so that God made him prosper wherever he went. Even when the Prophet Nathan confronted David for committing adultery with Uriah’s wife Bathsheba, getting her pregnant, and getting Uriah killed to cover it up, David humbled himself and confessed his sins to God. Later, David wanted to make a house for God, but God said that He would make a house for David. He promised that the Messiah would come from David’s line and He would “Establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” and he said, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” (2 Samuel 7). Yet even then, David died and did not see the Messiah that would come to reign forever.

About a 1,000 years later, Joseph, a righteous man, obeyed the angel of God when he married Mary who was with child from the Holy Spirit and Joseph took Jesus as his son and raised him.

Jesus, a descendant of David by the flesh and the Son of God, by the Spirit lived a holy and blameless life (Hebrew 4:15). He kept the law in spirit and truth. Jesus, the second person of Trinity, emptied Himself of His glory and took the likeness of man and was tempted in every way as man, but He never sinned. He served the man and led him to the living water. He was obedient to the Father even unto death (Philippians 2:6-8). Even when the people, who he came to save, hated Him, He, at the right time, died for them so that those who believe in him would have an everlasting life (Romans 5:6-8). At the cross, Jesus crushed the head of the serpent. Even in life, He saw Satan fall from the sky like lightning (Luke 10:18).

In our natural life, we are born under the headship of the first Adam.  As a result, our first instinct is to flee from God when we hear of Him like our ancestor, Adam. In our natural life, we are not able to seek God; Our natural inclination is directed away from seeking God. Consequently, we cannot obtain righteousness by our own works because our own work’s purpose is to make a name for ourselves like the people of Babylon. In our physical birth, we are the sons of Adam. Without God’s intervention, we are headed straight to the judgment seat to face the righteous wrath of God.

Yet because God loved us, He intervened. He sent the Last Adam who was blameless and Holy before God. God, Himself, emptied Himself to become a man (Phil 2:6-8). Jesus, 100% God and 100% man paid, two natures in one person, became the Last Adam. The first Adam led to the death of man, but the Last Adam opened the door not only to life but to life abundantly. God loved us so much that He sought us. On our own, we can’t seek God, but He revealed Himself to us so that those who believe in the Person and works of Jesus will be credited as righteous like our spiritual father Abraham and justified before God (Romans 4).

When God looks at a believer, He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ because Jesus received the wrath of God and God’s wrath exhausted so there is no condemnation for those who believe (Romans 8:1). Through Jesus, we receive the free gift of being in right standing before God because of His grace. It was His unmerited favor that gave us abundant life. Our Lord, who became a life giving Spirit, gave the Spirit as a down payment to those who believe (Ephesians 1:14). This is the reason that God’s power is manifested in us so that we can point people to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.