Today we have a new author to introduce, Brianna Ngarambe. She writes at Joy-Full, only she likes lower case letters, so joy-full. Clicking the link in the title which comes next will take you to where this first appeared.
Sometimes a situation has to die for it to be raised again.
In the life of every believer, there was a time where you realized that God is and has been your only hope of restoration and abundant life. You died to yourself, and became alive in Christ.
No one who hopes in You will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.
Psalm 25:3 NLT
We as believers had faith enough for God to cleanse us from unrighteousness and forgive us of our sins, past, present, and future. God doesn’t want to save you just to save you, He wants you to partake in His love, in His blessings, and also in His suffering as well, with an understanding that it is all doing a good work within us.
But remember– any faithlessness will not allow you to see His hand in the midst of your mourning.
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT
Do you want to miss the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end? If your answer is no, which I pray it is, then understand this:
Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”
John 11:40 NLT
Don’t just believe that God can do it. Believe that He would do it for you. He is Our Heavenly Father, and He wouldn’t withhold anything good from us (Psalm 84:11). It is time to move from believing to seeing. From believing in His Glory to seeing His glory. To believing in the scope of God’s work, to seeing prayer points fulfilled before your eyes.
When a situation looks dead, when it looks hopeless, my friend, this is the perfect time to look up to where your help comes from (Psalm 121). Our God has resurrecting power. He actually rose with all power (Matthew 28:18)! And it is by this power that He will come through for you at the perfect time.
To you, God may seem late. To Mary and Martha, they just couldn’t understand why Jesus took so long.
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
John 11:4 NLT
There are certain situations where the delay is not from God, which is where we fight in the Spirit against every enemy of progress with the full armor of God!! (Eph. 6). But let me tell you, when God delays, it is never a denial. It is not a setback, but an opportunity for your faith to grow and for everyone to see God’s glory and promises come to pass over your life.
Prayer: Lord, I thank You that all power is in Your hands. You have the power to resurrect every dead situation back to life. I pray that You give me an understanding of this season that I’m in. Thank You for directing my steps, and I pray for divine alignment for the purposes and plans that You have for me, that will give me a hope and a future. I pray for those even around me who may be going through difficult seasons, walk with them to their victory in Jesus Mighty Name I pray Amen.
By the same author: The story about a Lyft driver at the beginning of this devotional will bring you much encouragement. Read When God Interrupts You.
This is our third time highlighting the writing of Nathan Nass who writes at Upside-Down Savior. Nathan is a Lutheran Pastor in Oklahoma. Clicking the title which follows will take you to where this first appeared where you may also scroll down to watch it on video.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:15-24 NIV)
[edited: References to the day on which this was presented being Mother’s Day]
Over the past three months—since the beginning of Lent—we’ve been hearing about how Jesus suffered for us and how Jesus died for us and how Jesus rose from the dead for us. He gave up everything for us. To forgive our sins and give us eternal life and proclaim to every single one of us that we are loved. That we are forgiven. That we are saved. You too! There’s one person who’s done even more for you than your mom: Jesus.
So how can we show our love for Jesus? … Here’s what Jesus says: “If you love me, keep my commands.” Sound familiar? Just like with mom, if you love Jesus, do what he says. Love obeys. Jesus says that three times in our lesson: “If you love me, keep my commands.” “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.” “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” Clearly, Jesus thinks this is a really big deal. What can we do to show our love for Jesus? Do what he says! Love obeys.
We really need to hear this. Our society has taken the word “love” and twisted it beyond recognition—especially when it comes to love for God. According to what we hear today, love means that I get to do whatever I want. Isn’t that the case? “I can love whomever I want and love whatever I want and God better love it. Love means I can do whatever I want!” How would that work with your mother? “Mom, I love you so much that today I’m going to do whatever I want to do and you’d better like it.” Isn’t that what we say to God? “God, I love you, so I’m going to live however I want and you better like it. Okay?” What on earth? What planet are we from?
This is such a temptation for us as Christians. To say we love Jesus and to be content with our sin at the same time. “I can believe in Jesus and love my money. Who doesn’t?” “I can believe in Jesus and be a jerk to some people. They deserve it!” “I can believe in Jesus and express my sexuality the way I want to. It’s natural.” “Since I love Jesus, it’s okay that I sin, because Jesus forgives me. It’s all good, right?” “No, it isn’t,” Jesus says. “That’s not love!” “If you love me, keep my commands.”The good works you do don’t make you a Christian. We get to heaven by faith in Jesus. But the good works you do are the proof that you’re a Christian. Love is an action.
“But Pastor,” people say, “it’s complicated. I know what Jesus says. I just can’t do that right now. It would be too hard. You don’t understand. It’s complicated!” There are lots of things in life that are complicated. Love for Jesus is not one of those things. He makes it simple. If we love Jesus, we will obey what he commands. If Jesus is first, we will put him first. Jesus doesn’t ask us for excuses for why we’ve decided to put something else above him in our lives. He makes a very simple request as our loving Savior, “If you love me, keep my commands.”
So what are Jesus’ commands? The Bible has lots of commands. Maybe that’s why God gives us a summary: The Ten Commandments. Remember those? God wants you to remember the Ten Commandments. Why? “If you love me, keep my commands.” The first three commandments are about our relationship with God. That comes first. Remember them? “You shall have no other gods.” We love God more than everything else. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” Don’t let “oh my God” slip out of your mouth. “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” Make time for God and his word. Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”
The other seven commandments are about our relationships with other people. “Honor your father and mother.”Not just on Mother’s Day! “You shall not murder.”Love people. Protect life. “You shall not commit adultery.”Sex is God’s gift for a married husband and wife. Protect marriage. “You shall not steal.”“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Tell the truth, even when it hurts. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” “You shall not covet your neighbor’s spouse, workers, animals, or anything that belongs to your neighbor”(Exodus 20). Be content with what God has given you. Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”
What if we don’t? What if we refuse? What if we choose one or two of those commandments and say, “This one isn’t a big deal to me. I don’t like it. I’m not going to follow it.” Well, it’s not complicated. Jesus tells us. “Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” If I refuse to follow God’s commands, what does that mean? I don’t love Jesus. If I don’t love Jesus, where will I end up? Apart from Jesus forever in hell. Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”
I don’t know about you, but when I hear all of this, there’s a word that comes to mind: “Help!” “Jesus, if I am going to keep your commands—any of your commands—help!” Jesus knows. Jesus knows how sinful we are. Jesus knows that on our own we are incapable of keeping his commands. So notice what Jesus immediately promises: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.” There’s help—the biggest help imaginable: Jesus has put the Holy Spirit in you. That’s not a small thing! You have God inside you. Everywhere you go, in every decision you make, God is there with you.
We maybe don’t think enough about the Holy Spirit. I’ve had two people just in the past two weeks talk with me about the joy of understanding the Holy Spirit’s work. The Holy Spirit empowers our spiritual lives from beginning to end. Some Christians today say, “God gets things started, and then it’s up to you to keep it going.” Other Christians today say, “You need to take the first step, you need to invite God in, and then God will take over from there.” Which is right? Neither! It’s all God from beginning to end. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings us to faith. “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit”(1 Corinthians 12:3). And the Holy Spirit is also the One who keeps us in the faith. And the Holy Spirit is the One who empowers us to follow God’s commands. Our life with God is all God and his grace from beginning to end.
The Bible tells us what the Holy Spirit uses to do his work in us: The Gospel in God’s Word and the Sacraments. We call those the “Means of Grace”—the ways that God gives us his grace. Through the sacrament of Baptism, you were born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:6). The Holy Spirit forgave all your sins and gave you new life. But he doesn’t stop there. Through the sacrament of Holy Communion, you receive again and again the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And every time you hear God’s Word, the Holy Spirit is working his strength and his power in your heart. None of our life of faith is on our own. None of it relies on our own strength or power. The Father “will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.”It is a wonderful blessing to have the gift of the Holy Spirit!
But it’s not just the Holy Spirit. Did you hear what else Jesus promises? “My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”It’s not just the Spirit who is inside you. Who else has made their home with you? The Father and the Son. The whole Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—make their home in you. What an amazing thought! You are the house of God. Sometimes people think that God lives at church. That’s not true! Where does God live? In you. You are not alone. Maybe your mother is gone. Maybe your father is gone. But you are not alone. You are not an orphan. God lives in you. God empowers you.
Do you see how this works? “It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose”(Philippians 2:13). If we do anything good, who does it? God! Jesus doesn’t say, “If you love me, I will love you.” “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Jesus doesn’t say, “If you forgive, I will forgive you.” No. We forgive, “just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Jesus doesn’t say, “If you live the right way, you will live in heaven.” He says, “Because I live, you also will live.” Jesus loves you. Jesus forgives you. Jesus lives for you. So we forgive because he forgave. We live because he lived for us. We love because he loved us.
How? How do we show love for Jesus? “If you love me, keep my commands.” Whichever commands of Jesus you’ve been rejecting, confess them. Don’t get comfortable in your sins. Take those sins to Jesus’ cross. See how he died to forgive you. Then look to the Holy Spirit in the Word and the Sacraments to give you strength to live for Jesus. The Spirit is that voice that calms your anger before you explode. The Spirit is the voice that says “No” to that sin even when the rest of you says yes. The Spirit is the hand that picks up the Bible. The Spirit is in you.
In our FaithBuilders class this past week, someone asked an excellent question: “This faith thing sounds really simple, and yet it seems impossible. Which is it?” Do you know the answer? It’s “yes!” It’s both! There is nothing complicated about being a Christian. Believe in Jesus and show your love for him by keeping his commands. It’s simple! Yet, who can do that? No one. Except by the Holy Spirit. May Jesus give us his Spirit through the Word and the Sacraments so that we show our love for him in our lives. How? “If you love me, keep my commands.”Love obeys.
On the occasions that I repeat an article here, I am increasingly trying to resist the temptation to simply push a button (so to speak) and have the copy pasted under a fresh date. This one from January, 2015 was worth appearing a second time, but I thought it deserved an introduction that made two things clear.
The first thing is to make certain that while the passage is eschatological in nature — and a key passage on the end times at that — it isn’t that aspect of the passage that I’m focused on.
The second thing is to remind people that the phrasing of the KJV text is not always as true to the original manuscripts as we would demand today. As a result, certain passages get stuck in our minds, and someone has said that entire denominations have sprung up around verses where the translation doesn’t really work for the way we communicate in the 21st century, let alone reflect how the audience would understand it when first written. This devotional, and the excerpt from Matthew Henry which it contains is based on such a KJV reading, but again, I felt it makes a point about scripture in general, and about Jesus, that is worth repeating…
CEB John 14:1 “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me.2 My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you?3 When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too.4 You know the way to the place I’m going.”
5 Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.7 If you have really known me, you will also know the Father. From now on you know him and have seen him.
John’s quotation from Jesus in John 14: 1-6 begins with four statements, the fourth seeming a bit uncharacteristic:
Don’t be afraid
Trust Me
God’s house contains many ‘mansions’
I would have told you if anything were different
In many translations this last comment is more accurately bundled into the phrase which followed or even appears as a unified question, “If that were not true, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you?”
Of course, there is a lot of mystery about what awaits beyond this life about which Jesus has not told us. But this passage is seen as the clearest promise of the second coming. The NIV Application commentary states:
The KJV “mansions” (for Gk. monai, “rooms”) was a seventeenth-century expression for modest dwellings; thus, 14:2 should not build a picture for us of heavenly palatial residences. This is not Jesus’ point. God’s “house” refers not to the church but to the heavenly dwelling where he lives (cf. Heb. 12:22; Rev. 21:9–22:5), and a mone is a place of residence there with him. This word is related to the common Johannine verb meno, to remain or abide. To “remain” with Jesus is the highest virtue in John’s Gospel (15:4–10), and he is promising
Matthew Henry sees the “I would have told you” as a direct comment to The Twelve:
If you had deceived yourselves, when you quit your livelihoods, and ventured your lives for me, in prospect of a happiness future and unseen, I would soon have undeceived you.” The assurance is built, [1.] Upon the veracity of his word. It is implied, “If there were not such a happiness, valuable and attainable, I would not have told you that there was.” [2.] Upon the sincerity of his affection to them. As he is true, and would not impose upon them himself, so he is kind, and would not suffer them to be imposed upon. If either there were no such mansions, or none designed for them, who had left all to follow him, he would have given them timely notice of the mistake, that they might have made an honourable retreat to the world again, and have made the best they could of it. Note, Christ’s good-will to us is a great encouragement to our hope in him. He loves us too well, and means us too well, to disappoint the expectations of his own raising, or to leave those to be of all men most miserable who have been of him most observant.
It’s interesting that this would seem to affirm their confidence in him and his teachings and ministry, but next he is going to quiz them as to where he is going. The IVP NT Commentary notes:
After speaking of himself as the agent of their future access to the presence of God, he throws out a statement that steers them toward the next stage of his revelation: You know the way to the place where I am going (v. 4). This could be taken as a question: “Do you know the way to the place where I am going?” Whether or not he is asking a question, Jesus seems to be alluding to his earlier teaching about being the gate through whom the sheep “will come in and go out, and find pasture” (10:9; cf. Talbert 1992:204). If he is alluding to this, the disciples miss it. Indeed, all of Jesus’ teaching in these chapters is mystifying to the disciples (cf. 16:25). But he is walking them through it so the Spirit will be able to unpack it for them later (14:26). This statement (or question) triggers the next question by a disciple, which leads Jesus to further develop the thoughts he has already expressed in very condensed fashion.
The point is that they knew in part and saw only in part. But pieces of the puzzle were not doubt starting to come together. I like to think that in these moments they were also struck by an increase in his passion as he imparted these truths to them for what would be the final time.
The statement, “If it were not so…” really relates to the second, above, which we’ve rendered as “trust me” or better, “Do you trust me?”
I’ve mentioned many times that I have only two devotionals which I personally subscribe to, and one which I read online. One of the daily emails is titled “Breakfast of Champions” by Andy and Gina Elmes. To get these sent to you by email, go to Great Big Life and click on Breakfast of Champions. This one is from Gina.
Be imitators of faith
Hebrews 13:7, ESV Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
The Word of God is filled with examples of people whose lives are inspirational, and I believe that their accounts are included in the Bible so that we can observe the way they chose to live and emulate and imitate their good character traits and the way they related to God. Often, the Apostle Paul in his letters to the Churches, and Christ Himself, referred to imitating the examples of people of faith. Here are just a few references to this
Be imitators of me (1 Corinthians 4:16 – Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. NIV);
Follow my example and observe the pattern of behaviour you see in us(Philippians 3:17 – Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. NIV);
Be imitators of those of faith (Hebrews 6:12 – Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance. NLT);
Jesus said to ‘do the deeds of Abraham’(John 8:39 – “Our father is Abraham,” they replied. “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did.CSB).
Here are a few of my personal favourite Bible people who lived lives worth imitating. In particular, note how their obedience to God was a defining factor in how God thought about them and how He chose to use them for His great plans:
Joshua
In the Battle of Jericho God gave Joshua some truly unusual instructions that didn’t make sense to the natural mind of a warrior. Here, I learn that sometimes God asks things of us that we may not understand fully, but maybe God sees something we don’t and we need to trust Him.
Caleb
God actually spoke directly to Moses and said this of Caleb, “[Caleb] was of a different spirit because he follows me wholeheartedly”(Numbers 14:24). He turned the head of God through his obedience.
David
God chose David to replace Saul as King because of his exceptional obedience to Him. God said this to the prophet Samuel about David, “He is a man after my own heart, he’ll do all that I say”(Acts 13:22). We know David wasn’t a perfect man, but the overall inclination of his heart was to obey God.
Mary
Her life and plans were interrupted by the plans of God and because of her love and obedience toward Him, when His plan was presented to her about becoming pregnant with the Son of God, her reply was “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Jesus
Even though the Father’s plan for the salvation of humanity would cost Jesus everything, Jesus prayed this prayer and in doing so, revealed that He is our greatest example to imitate, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as You, not I, would have it.”
Today, let us use the God-given examples of people who lived lives that give us keys to living lives that are strong in God.
NIV – Gal. 6:1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Years ago, I was listening to a sermon by Kyle Idleman when my mind wandered just slightly — that’s not always a bad thing — and the phrase ‘Spiritual First Responder’ was suddenly uppermost, and I knew it was a descriptor I needed to explore. I hope you’ll take that phrase and file it away.
A first responder is someone who is primed to just ‘jump in’ in an emergency situation. Dictionary.com:
a person who is certified to provide medical care in emergencies before more highly trained medical personnel arrive on the scene
What’s the spiritual equivalent?
In the western world, we elevate the clergy class and we tend to think that the ministry is something to be carried out by the professionals. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes the best advice you can give someone is, “You need to speak to a pastor.” Especially when the need is spiritual, is due to spiritual causes, or has spiritual ramifications. Don’t miss the words in the definition “certified” and later “more highly trained.”
But there are also times when you need to be there until a full triage reveals exactly which type of specialized help is needed. Someone shouldn’t be opposite the desk of a counselor when what they really need is deliverance. That’s a specialty. But neither should they put through an intense spiritual exercise when what they really need is just someone trained to listen. Additionally, neither should someone be left waiting while the experts confer, or while someone is being summoned from a distance. A spiritual first responder is there, is on the scene, is lending assistance.
Go deeper — Matthew Henry writes about today’s text:
We are here taught to deal tenderly with those who are overtaken in a fault, Gal. 6:1. He puts a common case: If a man be overtaken in a fault, that is, be brought to sin by the surprise of temptation. It is one thing to overtake a fault by contrivance and deliberation, and a full resolution in sin, and another thing to be overtaken in a fault. The latter is the case here supposed, and herein the apostle shows that great tenderness should be used. Those who are spiritual, by whom is meant, not only the ministers (as if none but they were to be called spiritual persons), but other Christians too, especially those of the higher form in Christianity; these must restore such a one with the spirit of meekness.
The duty we are directed to—to restore such; we should labour, by faithful reproofs, and pertinent and seasonable councils, to bring them to repentance. The original word, katartizete, signifies to set in joint, as a dislocated bone; accordingly we should endeavour to set them in joint again, to bring them to themselves, by convincing them of their sin and error, persuading them to return to their duty, comforting them in a sense of pardoning mercy thereupon, and having thus recovered them, confirming our love to them.
The manner wherein this is to be done: With the spirit of meekness; not in wrath and passion, as those who triumph in a brother’s falls, but with meekness, as those who rather mourn for them. Many needful reproofs lose their efficacy by being given in wrath; but when they are managed with calmness and tenderness, and appear to proceed from sincere affection and concern for the welfare of those to whom they are given, they are likely to make a due impression.
A very good reason why this should be done with meekness: Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. We ought to deal very tenderly with those who are overtaken in sin, because we none of us know but it may some time or other be our own case. We also may be tempted, yea, and overcome by the temptation; and therefore, if we rightly consider ourselves, this will dispose us to do by others as we desire to be done by in such a case.
You’re encouraged to read more of Matthew Henry on vs. 2 and the rest of the first ten verses.
Responding to the needs of others is not something you want to run roughshod over; that’s why the text says, “restore them gently.” You also want to guard your motives and keep your own spiritual condition in check. While there are many other scriptures that deal with being a responder to the needs around us, I wanted to end this with the balance of this scripture:
NLT – Luke 6:41 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
A year we shared briefly some content from the website Great Bible Study. Today we decided to present a full devotional highlighting their ministry. Their articles are smaller than we usually run, but they are indexed by theme, and in selecting the two we have today, I noticed that they both ended with the same scripture verse, somewhat confirming our choice. Click each of the titles below to read these individually where they first appeared.
Many times, people are trying to ‘get more faith’, thinking that if they just believe they will be healed, then it will happen. I have news for you, that is new age faith, NOT Christian faith!
Did you know that Christian faith is merely knowing the promises of God, the provisions of the work of Christ on the cross, and the Word of God, and then accepting and believing those provisions? Let me put it another way, Christian faith is merely knowing the will of God (which is found in His Word), and believing it. Fear comes when (a) we don’t know the will of God or (b) when we don’t really believe that it is true. This is why the Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17
If Jesus said that your healing was paid for on the cross, do you really believe that? Jesus asked Peter, “Why did you doubt me?” Why do you think He did that? Because Peter questioned the integrity of Jesus’ command to “Come!”
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Matthew 14:28-31
In other words, Jesus was saying, “Peter, didn’t you believe me?” This is why it is so important to know what God is saying to us (get in His Word!), and believe it. Fear questions, casts doubt upon, and calls God’s Word a liar! The Bible even tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please Him:
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
The key is to get yourself to the point where you know the Word of God, then simply believe what He says… THEN you will have real genuine faith… anything else is just false faith.
So many of us would like to think that we trust God, but how many of us really do when we face trying situations in our lives? I was talking with a friend of mine recently who was tempted to take revenge into his own hands against somebody who has done him much wrong. I told him to give place to wrath and let God repay them for what they’ve done. As the Bible tells us, we are to give place to wrath:
Romans 12:19, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
Do you know that even when we become bitter and allow ourselves to brew over what somebody has done to us… that we are not trusting God to judge rightly in the matter on our behalf?
There are countless everyday experiences just like this that reflect the trust that we have in God. The fact is… if God’s Word gives us an assurance and we continue to ponder the matter… we don’t really believe God in that area of our life!
James 2:23, “And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.”
It is time that we take God and His Word seriously and BELIEVE what He’s telling us! This sounds like a simple matter, and it is… but this one truth will separate a mature God-fearing and God-trusting believer from the rest of the church today. God is relying on you to believe what He tells you… for without faith it is impossible to please Him:
Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
We may think that we growth happens just by adding, so, for example, just add enough Bible knowledge and you will have a mature Christian. But is it as simple as that?
We can think of a child growing between grades one, two, three and so on. Just keep adding knowledge each year to what was learned last year and you have a growing child. Maybe so, but there is another kind of growth happening at the same time. That same child is growing taller, and heavier, and “brainier.” Growth is much more organic than simply adding knowledge as the child has an evolving body and mind. Likewise, when we speak of maturing in Christ, it is something more organic.
Maturing is not just about addition, it is also about loss. Our boys will never be knee high to a daisy again. I mourn that. But I also celebrate the men they have become. Actual growth requires alteration, even loss and the destruction of what once was. When a seed grows into a plant, the seed is destroyed.
We can think of heart growth. We can think of growing in the fruit of the Spirit, for example. Growing in love may require the destruction of hatred, apathy, or inactivity. Growing in generosity may require the destruction of selfishness. Growing in gentleness may require the destruction of tendencies toward violence. True growth requires vulnerability, a capacity to be altered, a willingness to change, to evolve. Change, evolution, not by chance, but intention, is part and parcel of growing in Christ.
Evolution is not just a process that happens in our hearts. Sometimes we need to change our minds. Growth in our Christian thinking is not always accomplished in adding new knowledge to old, but replacing old knowledge with new. Just as with heart growth, we can talk of an evolving faith which, in our current series, brings us to our next “cultural statement” from Open Table Communities:
A Culture that Celebrates an Evolving Faith
We nurture questions, doubts and uncertainty because of where they lead us. We celebrate the movement of learning, un-learning and re-learning that takes place in all of life and specifically a life of faith.
Questions, doubts, and uncertainties can be a great catalyst for change, for growth. A change of heart, of growing in love, for example, is made possible when we question if we are really all that loving. A change of mind can happen when we are uncertain about what we think. Indeed certainty can stunt our growth terribly.
A church which “gets Jesus” will nurture questions, doubts and uncertainties because they lead us to maturity in our faith. Learning, un-learning and re-learning is part and parcel of what we call discipleship. If we are not questioning, doubting, and allowing uncertainty, then we are not growing in our faith, we are merely taking on someone else’s.
When we have an evolving faith we are in good company. We see evidence of evolving faith in the Bible.
The disciples had an evolving faith. They did not know anything about Jesus when called by Jesus. Three years later and they were still quite in the dark. It took the resurrection of Jesus for them to really clue in. Their faith evolved.
Peter had an evolving faith. He likely believed what every other Jew believed before meeting Jesus. Then he came to believe Jesus was the Messiah. Then he came to believe that Jesus was risen, and more than the Messiah, the Lord. Then because of a vision from the Lord and a visit from some people he questioned his whole Jewish understanding of how things are. Peter’s faith evolved.
Paul had an evolving faith. He went from being certain that he was serving God by persecuting Christians, to serving Jesus. At some point he had to have a massive amount of doubt to overcome his huge amount of certainty. It is no accident that blindness was part of his story, as if he had to come to a point of admitting, “I’m not seeing clearly.” Once Paul made that huge shift in thinking he had it all figured out, right? Well no, he spent some time in the desert, likely thinking it all through, rethinking everything in light of the fact that Jesus is risen. But after that he had it all figured out, right? Well no, years later Paul said,
…we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT)
Paul had an evolving faith, and he knew there was yet room for growth, for further change in his thinking.
Looking at the entire scope of the Bible, God’s people as a whole have had an evolving faith. What was said about God and humanity in the earliest events recorded in the Bible are not nearly as filled out as what is said in the later events recorded in the Bible. Note the words of Jesus,
But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.
Matthew 13:16-17 (NLT)
Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many other heroes of the faith did not know what we now know. God has had great patience with humanity, revealing himself over time, and supremely through Jesus. Do we have patience with the humans around us, and with ourselves, when there is yet room for growth?
Do we celebrate an evolving faith? Do we allow people, and ourselves, the space to grow, to have an evolving faith?
Clarke Dixon is a pastor in Cobourg, Ontario and appears here most Thursdays. The sermon on which this is based here, and is also available for a limited time at this podcast.
This is our ninth time with Mark McIntire who writes at Attempts at Honesty. There were a couple of more recent devotionals, but this one challenged me to consider the things that I “do” or do not “do” in light of the relationship with Christ based on love and grace.
To read this where it first appeared, click the title below.
I have heard it said from a few pulpits (and I’ve said it myself) that the longest measurable distance known to man is the 18 inches between the head and the heart. The point being that what we think and what has been internalized can be vastly different.
This morning as I walked, I thought of an example.
In John 8, we are provided with the beautiful story of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus, in response to her sin said, “neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
Jesus expressed his love for the woman with the words, “neither do I condemn you.” The whole point of the story is a demonstration of the love of Jesus.
Paul tells us in Romans 5:8, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(ESV)
The love of God is not dependent upon our behavior. It is not dependent on how well we follow His commands. It is not dependent upon espousing good theology. It is not dependent on anything that we do or say.
I have been a believer in Jesus for almost 60 years. But I now realize that for all of those 60 years, I have put Scripture, and what people say through a grid that is neither right, nor helpful.
Jesus expresses his love for sinners in the words, “neither do I condemn you.” But what I internalized growing up in the church is “go and sin no more.” To focus on the latter outside of the former is to develop some weird pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps spirituality that is contrary to the Gospel.
Jesus is not telling the woman, neither is he telling me, that more effort is needed, but that is the way I have responded to Jesus’ statement.
When someone has an unrealistic expectation of me that I am trying to fulfill, I hear “go and sin no more.”
When I read Scripture and it highlights my failure, I hear “go and sin no more.”
When someone unfairly criticizes me, I hear “go and sin no more.”
When someone fairly criticizes me, I hear “go and sin no more.”
The list goes on, but I realize that I have put everything through the grid of “go and sin no more.”
That is not the gospel that I believe. I fully understand that I am only saved by Grace. I fully understand that it is God’s love the prompted him to reveal Himself in Scripture. I fully understand that Jesus freely offers grace to all who believe in him and that grace is not earned or deserved.
But there is a broken piece of me that still seeks the illusion of perfection. There is a piece of me strives to be above criticism.
The biggest problem with this is that it shifts my focus to performance and away from relationship.
The two great commands* are all about relationship, not about doing. But the grid I’ve used to evaluate my life switches this around and makes it all about doing and I lose sight of the relationship.
Perhaps in a future post, I will explore some of the reasons why I got into this ditch, but for now, I share this for the benefit of those who have internalized the same message.
I now chose to view Scripture as a message of love and acceptance rather than an impetus to try harder. In the face of Jesus we see one who loves sinners like me. In the face of Jesus, we see the God who loves us more deeply than we can ever imagine.
Rather than try harder, I need to take a deep breath and bask in the love of God.
NIV.Matt.22.34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a]38 This is the first and greatest commandment.39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Today we’re back again with Devotions by Chris by Chris Hendrix and two shorter devotionals which he presented in the opposite order to the one which I decided we’re going to read them today. Click each of the title headers below to read these where they first appeared.
I was at a celebration of my aunt and uncle when a lady walked up to me. She said, “You don’t know me, but I know you. I grew up in your grandfather’s church.” She shared some stories with me about him, and then she said, “He gave that church a foundation of love.” That phrase resonated with me for many reasons. I couldn’t help but think of how you and I are the Church. It’s important that we build our faith and our lives on a foundation of God’s love. If we don’t do that, our lives can become full of meaningless rituals or a cold relationship with God. When that happens we must return to our first love.
In Luke 7:36-47, Jesus was dining at a Pharisee’s house. A lady who was a prostitute came in, bowed at Jesus’ feet, cried tears on His feet, then dried them with her hair and poured perfume on them. The Pharisee was stunned that Jesus allowed this to happen. Jesus told him a parable of two men who owed a debt to someone. One owed a little and the other a lot. The creditor forgave them both. Jesus then asked the Pharisee which person loved the creditor more. He replied that the one who was forgiven more. Jesus agreed. He then looked down at the lady and told the Pharisee that her many sins had been forgiven and this was a display of her love.
In Ephesians 3:19 Paul concluded a prayer by saying,
“And [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself]”(AMP).
You and I can’t just have a head knowledge of God. We must experience His love and forgiveness in our lives. When we do that, we will experience God’s presence and be filled with it. When we have the foundation of His love in our lives, we can make a greater impact on the people around us.
One of the things we lose context for in a modern society is the idea of being shepherded. We use the word sheep as a means to put someone down, yet the Bible constantly refers to us as sheep and God as the shepherd. There is great trust between the shepherd and the sheep. He makes sure the sheep are cared for, fed and protected. When one runs off, the shepherd goes after it. There is a unique relationship there that is incredible. It’s the same relationship God longs to have with us. He wants to watch over you, protect you and make sure you’re well fed, but you must submit to His shepherding in order to receive the benefits the Shepherd offers.
Here are some Bible verses on God as your shepherd.
1. There once was a shepherd with a hundred lambs, but one of his lambs wandered away and was lost. So the shepherd left the ninety-nine lambs out in the open field and searched in the wilderness for that one lost lamb. He didn’t stop until he finally found it. With exuberant joy, he raised it up, placed it on his shoulders, and carried it back with cheerful delight!
Luke 15:4-5 TPT
2. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep [the protector and provider].
John 10:2 AMP
3. I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,
John 10:14 NLT
4. The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want.
Psalms 23:1 AMP
5. You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls.
Five times, in the years 2015 to 2017, we featured the writing of John Myer at the blog Barenuckle Bible. I have no idea why that didn’t continue, but today we’re returning. Clicking the title which follows will take you there where you, along with us, can catch up on what we’ve missed.
Find and address the things that lie within, before something else does.
Like a lot of pre-teen boys back in the seventies, my brother and I got into lawn mowing to earn our summer candy and comics. It wasn’t long before our gigs felt onerous under a blazing Louisiana sun. We began trying to get done too fast, only giving the yard a cursory scan before starting the mower. That led to running over items hidden in the tall grass while the blades were turning—a stump, a hose head, a brick, a clump of paper that exploded out from under the mower all over the rest of the yard. Each of these yielded spectacularly unpleasant results.
And it all began with a rushed assumption that nothing needed to be picked up.
This is the mistake we Christians make on an almost daily basis. Nothing resistant, it seems, lies concealed within the thick religious ground cover that fills our hearts. And so skimping on internal development, we devalue the needs of our hidden regions while paying premium attention to behavioral, external issues others can see. The apostle Paul warned that this type of avoidance ends up in Christian shipwreck (c.f. 1 Tim. 1:19) and useless ministry (“vain discussion”—v. 6).
Concern for our inward condition needs to remain central to our walk.
“Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.” (1 Tim. 1:6-7).
According to Paul, some people swerve from the things of verse 5, which mentions a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith (see my last post). In doing so, these folks not only neglect their inner life, but deliberately avoid it.
Dealing with internal issues tends to be more abstract than simpler, workbook style self-improvement. We prefer the pragmatic strategies to Christian living rather than the rich, truth-based, faith-based relational approach. Jesus warned of this habit, indicting the religious folks of the day: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence” (Mt. 23:26).
The teaching of behavioral legalism is, to some of us, tempting. It offers short term results, bypassing the slow and steady work of grace. That is why some people choose to try harder rather than to cry out, “wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24).
Even natural efforts that seem successful are never marked by the divine hand. Truly, a person can attain praiseworthy standing in the religious community by the sweat of his brow. But meanwhile, his heart can remain mixed with many motives, his conscience only as good as his sinful self-justification, and his faith little more than an object for public show. Yet he has kept the “rules,” sometimes above and beyond his peers.
Although there are important practical uses for the principle of law giving and law keeping (we will see them in next week’s post), in the end, law does not grant the boon its practitioners think it will. It might restrain people from doing certain things through shame and threat of punishment, but it does little to change the human heart. The things that lie hidden, lie hidden still.
Avoidance of inner life issues frequently proves destructive. Then why do we do it? For one thing, it is easier to allow mixture in the heart than to face it. It is easier to bribe our conscience than to exercise ourselves unto having a good one. It is easier to follow rules than to interact with God in authentic ways.
Regardless though, in principle a situation allowed by God always ends up exposing these concealed things. As King James might say, “Behold, the mower cometh.”
And it can get ugly. Once while mowing a back pasture, we hit a nest of baby rabbits. The bloody mess that resulted traumatized my young mind.
Okay, maybe some of these experiences will happen no matter what. How often are we aware of everything lurking in the tall grass of our heart? I’ve certainly been caught by surprise many times, shocked at what a momentary crisis seemed to flush out of me. These things were humiliating because I had worked so hard to do and be the opposite. In undetected ways, my moral energy had become my god.
Now if those things can happen by “accident,” how about the objects we intentionally swerve around? And what blessings might occur if we decided to face them in a non-compromising way, probing hidden regions more carefully? What if we made our heart, conscience, and faith more germane to our consideration of the Christian life?
Now there’s a thought.
But these things take time to cultivate. Maybe years. Maybe all your life. However, the changes that are made will prove genuine. Grace, the redemptive work of God, builds spiritual experiences and truth into a human being, turning a person into what God requires.
One year ago we introduced you to the writing of Dr. Ron Braley, who is the pastor of NorthView Christian Church in Tyler, Texas, and writes at Equipping Believers and is Pastor and Director of the organization Finding Discipleship. To read today’s devotional where it first appeared, click the headline which follows.
There’s also a bonus item today about cross references in Bibles.
We are to be perfect as God is perfect! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard things like, “Ron! There’s no way I can be perfect—right?” almost as a badge of honor . . . or excuse. But what does the word mean? What should it mean, especially in our context as broken humans trying to figure out what God desires so we can follow suit?
Like many other words or concepts in the Bible, such as predestination, foreknowledge, love, or sin, perfection is often misunderstood or misapplied. Our minimal English modern dictionary tends to represent perfection as flawlessness (thank you, Merriam-Webster!). However, the original language and context teach us that biblical perfection is completeness. Remember the Jerry McGuire movie? In it, Tom Cruise utters the infamous phrase, “You complete me!” The concept is the perfection God desires and is what the ancient language teaches us.
We see this use in the Old Testament texts such as 1Chronicals 29:19: “and give to my son Solomon a “perfect” heart to keep Your commandments . . .” Alright: let’s start you on your journey to be Koine (biblical) Greek scholars. The original New Testament word is teleios, which means to be complete, full, whole. In 1Corinthians 13:10, we see that perfection completes the incomplete: “but when the perfect comes, the incomplete will be done away.” The unfinished things of today, even in our worship or knowledge, will be completed when God moves creation to the perfection (completion in Him) it once enjoyed.
An example of the unifying property of perfection can be seen in Colossians 3:14: “Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Anyway, my point is that perfection is meant to be completion in a relationship with God through Christ, not flawlessness. Trying to be flawless is futile, especially today with so much immorality ruling the day (and night). Here are a few biblical references by Jesus, Paul, and Jesus’ half-brother James that support the point that God seeks partners who ‘complete Him’ and whom He completes in a relationship:
Jesus (Matthew 5:48): “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Paul (Colossians 4:12): “Epaphras . . . sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.”
James (1:4): “And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
So, be perfect because God desires it! “But, Ron! How on earth can we be perfect—I mean, complete—with God??” Excellent question! The following article will explore character traits that can keep our fellowship with God perfect in “Perfect Characteristics.”
Bonus Item from Paul:
I wrote this in connection with some other work I do, but I thought we’d run this for people who want to know more about cross references in Bibles.
A word about Reference Bibles
You’ve looked at an older double-column Bible and seen that third column running down the centre and asked yourself, ‘Why are all these verses listed here?’
They may have been chosen because the lead you to a parallel account of the narrative you are reading. They might provide background information on a key individual or place mentioned in the verse. They might relate to a practice or the doctrinal foundation for a statement or Biblical principle in the verse. Of there may be a key word in the verse and the reference is taking you to another place where that word is used (which may take you to yet another.)
Traditionally, these notations were included in a third (centre) column. But as demand increased for large print and giant print Bibles, it was found to save more space if an end-of-verse system was used, with the cross references usually set in smaller type. Some Bibles incorporate a bottom-of-page system but this can sometimes get confusing because of footnotes.
Footnotes are usually included to show that there was another English language direction the translators could have taken (or that different manuscripts for that verse offer what is called a textual variant.) These footnotes are part of that translation’s core text, and must appear in all editions of that translations, regardless of publisher, and regardless if it’s a plain-text, reference Bible, devotional Bible or study Bible.Some translations use them more than others. But they can easily be confused if cross references are also placed at the bottom of the page.
Not every cross reference look-up is productive. We’ve had times where we turned to the second verse, double-checked the reference, and asked ourselves, ‘What are we doing here?’ That’s okay. The reference was included for a reason, and sometimes it only dawns on us later what it was!
So the original header, which didn’t fit, was going to be:
The Value You Place on Worship is Reflected in Your Attitude When You’re Prevented From Doing So
Long enough title?
I originally wrote some of what follows in 2017. I gave three examples of things I thought might prevent people from participating fully in corporate worship, never dreaming that a few years later, a global pandemic would cause churches to lock their doors.
There were, I believe, people who truly mourned the loss of gathering with God’s family, coming together under the teaching of God’s word, engaging in sung worship with everything from just-voices to bands and choirs, joining others in giving to support God’s work locally and around the world, sharing needs and prayer requests, and certainly not least, partaking of the bread and wine around the Lord’s table.
But there were others who might have viewed this as a minor inconvenience. Or worse, a few weeks off.
I have a number of pastor friends. I know that for some of them, a week off means, “I don’t have to preach this weekend.” But I’ve also heard the sentiment, “I don’t get to preach this weekend.” While I recognize that sermon preparation is arduous task, and also realize that we all have tough weeks, nonetheless the difference in attitudes is worth noting. Have you or people who know ever experienced
missing being able to give as you’d like because money is tight?
missing being able to serve as you’d like because the family is on vacation?
missing being able to preach, or sing, or teach because of illness?
The Psalmist wrote,
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” Psalm 122:1 NLT
For the Psalmist, being able to spend time in God’s house, was the high point of the week. Sadly, for many, the trip to God’s house is done out of a sense of obligation, not joy. This should not be the case.
In a verse many of you have sung, a reminder:
Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. – Psalm 100:2 NASB
If you see giving as an act of worship, you’ll immediately think of this verse:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.– 2 Corinthians 9:7 NIV
Under the new covenant that we might refer to as The New Testament, nobody is being compelled to give except out of a desire to offer back to God a portion of the blessings we have received.
But in Deuteronomy 28, we see the opposite situation where a number of curses are promised in the event of disobedience, and one of these is:
Because you didn’t serve the LORD your God with joy and a cheerful heart, even though you had an abundance of everything, you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. – Deuteronomy 28:47-48a HCSB
Notice that it isn’t about not singing (or not doing so energetically.) It isn’t about not giving, (or not giving enough.) It’s about underlying attitudes.
Do we worship God out of a sense that we have to, or are we thrilled that we get to?
Worship should be wholehearted. Notice the multiple iterations of the following verse:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” – Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27; see also Deuteronomy 30:6, 13:3, 10:12.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism reminds us of our chief goal. I’ve added emphasis:
Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
It is certainly our duty to do so, but this should be done with delight, with joy, with pleasure. It should flow out of us organically; not as something which seems forced.
Recently, someone expressed to me their concern (a healthy concern, I might add) that their spiritual life doesn’t have the vitality as it did at the start. Today, I found this quotation from mainstream author Carols Fuentes in his book This I Believe:
The most ardent romantic passion can languish and fall into habit or irritation with the passage of time. A couple begin to know each other because, first and foremost, they know so little of each other. Everything is surprise. When there are no surprises left, love can die.
Our worship of God should be formed in community, described in terms of relationship, and defined in terms of our love for God.
Worship never takes a week off, or even a day; nor wishes to.
In many of our churches today was Communion Sunday. In the church where I grew up, it was the 2nd Sunday of the month, but increasingly it’s the first Sunday. And if your church observes The Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis, all the better!
There is so much to commend Susan Barnes’ blog, who we feature here for the fifth time. It’s a mix of shorter devotionals, longer ones, and, even though she is a writer herself, a review of books by other authors.
Without trying to be analytical, another thing that struck me today was that many devotional writers end each piece with a short prayer, but here the prayer she leads us in is much longer compared to the balance of the article. Maybe it’s because I read and edit such things daily, but it gave me pause for thought. Could my thoughts be better expressed if, instead of teaching them to my readers, I simply guided us in a more extended time of thoughts offered to God instead? Or, if someone comes to me for help, instead of spending words on trying to fix the situation, I simply spent the time pouring out my heart to God on their behalf? [Okay, end of analytical section!]
Clicking the header below will take you to where this one first appeared.
One day the elders of Israel came to see Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. Amongst other things, the Lord gave this message to his people. “I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord, made them holy”(Ezekiel 20:12).
In the Old Testament God gave his people the Sabbath as a gift. It was meant to be a blessing—a whole day to do whatever was restful. God gave his people the Sabbath so they would know it wasn’t their work that made them holy, rather it was the Lord. Every week, on the Sabbath, God was reminding them salvation wasn’t achieved by their works. In the New Testament, the Pharisees complicated the Sabbath with a whole bunch of rules, and it became a burden, but this was never God’s intention. It was always meant to be a gift of rest.
Likewise, every time we gather for communion, we remember salvation isn’t by our work. Maybe that’s why God told us to share communion regularly because it reminds us salvation is a gift. It’s a gift of rest because we don’t work for our salvation. We partake often because we so quickly forget. We fall into the trap of the Pharisees and turn the gift of salvation into a burden or a way of catching up because we have been too busy.
The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
This “once for all” sacrifice means that Jesus’ one-time sacrifice of his life on the cross was sufficient to deal with all sin, past, present and future. It is an all-sufficient sacrifice. Once was enough because Jesus was the perfect sacrifice.
We are made holy because of the work Jesus did on the cross … not by our efforts.
Let’s pray …
Thank you Lord that you give us the gift of rest. Thank you that we don’t work for our salvation but rather we rest in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Thank you for the bread, a reminder of your body broken for us, the sacrifice for our sin. No matter how hard we work, we cannot repay the debt of our sin so you took it all upon yourself and gave us the gift of rest. May we truly enter into your rest and know we have peace with God.
Thank you for the cup, a reminder of your spilt blood, shed for us so we could live a life of rest, without having to strive to please you, since you are pleased when we accept your gift of rest.
Thank you, Lord.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
Bonus link:
Wondering what Susan might have written about a verse or short passage for which you know the reference? Click on this link, then scroll down and click the applicable passage.
Longtime regular Thursday devotional columnist Clarke Dixon has been granted a sabbatical by his church this summer. We look forward to his return in September.
There is a group of people that throughout history Christians have had great difficulty loving. We Christians have shunned them, demonized them, jailed them, and have even put them to death. In our day common notions of decency do not keep us from being on the attack, in books and over the internet, through social media, in blogs, podcasts, and in chat forums.
What is that one group? It is the group Jesus speaks about in John 13:34,35:
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:34-35 (NLT)
The group we Christians have the hardest time loving? Other Christians.
We have a long history of not treating Christians who think differently from us well. We have hated, feared, mistreated, maligned, and tried to destroy one another.
Loving one another is super-important!
Jesus gave the disciples a kind of “pep talk” at the Last Supper. Jesus had spent three years with his disciples and was now preparing them to be a Jesus following community without him, at least without him in the way they had become accustomed to. First thing out of the gate? Love each other!
Why is loving one another so important?
If we can’t love one another, then how can we expect people to take seriously our good news message of love? Jesus said love for each other would prove that the disciples really were his followers. It is interesting that though Jesus taught and modeled love for all people, including those on the fringes of society, and even including one’s enemies, it is love for one another that is evidence of being a Jesus follower.
A watching world will not be impressed by our lack of love for each other. We Christians can do all kinds of loving things in the world and for the world, but when we don’t love one another, our message that God’s love changes everything, is lost.
What does loving one another look like in our day?
There is the idea that if you love someone you will rescue them from their wrong thinking. Loving one another therefore means fixing other Christians, pointing out their errors.
There are two problems with this.
First, Christians are not cars that can simply be fixed. They are people, with history, experiences, and reasons why they think the way they do.
Second, the Bible is not like the Haynes repair manual I have for my motorcycle, with step-by-step instructions and photographs to make everything as clear as possible. The Bible is brilliant, but convoluted. The Bible is sometimes hard to understand, and it is sometimes easy to misunderstand.
There is a better path forward than trying to fix one another.
Loving one another means having conversations with one another.
Conversation means talking with and to one another rafter than talking about one another. In our day there is so much talking about one another in books, on social media, podcasts, blogs, and perhaps worst of all, online comments.
Conversation means listening as well as speaking. Listening is an important part of love. We each have our blind spots that others may be able to speak to. We each believe things and hold to things that may cause harm if we are not aware. Blind spots are nasty that way.
Conversation means seeking truth together. Author Soong-Chan Rah has written an article about the difference between truth possessed and truth pursued. Truth possessed can be summed up as “I know the truth and everyone should listen to me.” Truth pursued can be summed up as “there is such a thing as truth and let’s work together on finding it.”
Loving one another means learning the skill of disagreeing with one another without dismissing or demonizing one another.
It means learning to disagree with others while honouring them for doing their best to honor God. Those who think differently than we do may never have been exposed to reasons to think otherwise. They might be doing the best they can. Maybe the blind spot is ours and we are the ones who need to rethink things. Humble people are listeners.
Loving one another means taking a posture of gentleness toward one another.
Gentleness might be the most neglected fruit of the Spirit in our day.
If everyone around the world learned gentleness, wars would cease, and wars would cease to begin. Imagine too, if people would be gentle with themselves. Therapists may find they have more free time.
We can not, of course, make that happen, but we can model gentleness in our own lives, in the life of our our own church family, and in our own family of churches.
You may think differently about many issues and theological ideas than I do. I will be gentle with you. Will you be gentle with me?
But isn’t diversity of thinking among Christians a problem? Don’t we need to get everyone on the same page?
I have heard it said that we have a diversity problem in our day in the convention of churches within which I serve. It has been said that our tent is too big as a Baptist Convention.
I don’t think we have a diversity problem. We have a diversity opportunity.
We have the opportunity to demonstrate to a polarized world, how to live in a polarized world. It is through loving one another. It is through conversation, speaking and listening, talking with and to rather than about, disagreeing without dismissing or demonizing, and through being gentle.
When we allow our differences to become reasons for erecting walls and starting wars we are reflecting the world’s ways, not the way of Jesus.
We Christians have had a hard time loving one another. Jesus said we must do it. So let’s do it.
One of the most frequently appearing writers here is Elsie Montgomery who writes at Practical Faith. For this year, she is following readings in a book called Daily Treasures from the Word of God by Leona and Nicolas Venditti, published in 2012. She says, “I will read what they have to say listening to what the Lord is saying to me, write my thoughts here, and pray for His enabling to apply them to my life.”
To read this where it first appeared, click the header which follows.
Experience and the Word of God tells me that answered prayer is not a simple matter. It rarely happens unless I keep my communion with Him clear through confessing known sins. It never happens when I pray selfishly or plainly outside of His will. Today’s reading offers another thought; God hears the prayers of those who deeply reverence Him . . .
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (Hebrews 5:7)
Bible dictionaries say that the words translated reverence mean “a feeling of profound respect” yet also a “certain element of awe, which may be interpreted in some instances as implying even fear.” The implication of such reverent fear or awe is, of course, obedience. Some scholars prefer to interpret these terms as ‘to obey.’ One dictionary says this word is properly understood as “caution” with religiously reverence or piety yet implying dread or fear. An English dictionary says reverence is profound respect and love and a reverent attitude toward God means honoring Him, expressing gratitude to Him, and obeying His commandments.
Another says common synonyms of reverence are adore, revere, venerate, and worship. While all these words mean “to honor and admire profoundly and respectfully,” reverence presupposes an intrinsic merit and sacredness in the one honored with a similar depth of feeling in the one honoring.
In other words, reverence is about my response but it is more about God. The idea of fear comes with the realization that I do not pull God’s strings. He IS in charge and every breath that I take is by His grace. Knowing His power and other qualities should produce in me total cessation of ‘doing my own thing’ and a deep desire to fit in with His plans. Jesus did that. He knew the Father could save Him from death and knew He heard His cries, yet said, “Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.” Prayer is not about getting my own way but yielding to God’s way, sometimes in holy fear. This is being like Jesus.
The New Testament also talks about patience being the mark of maturity or being like Jesus. He was always emotionally calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaint or irritation. It comes to us through trials and is also a huge part of reverence. Respecting God and not taking matters into my own hands requires patience and total faith. Hebrews 6:12 & 15 says it is “through faith and patience” that God’s people inherit God’s promises.
Maturity also involves discernment. This reading speaks of having my senses trained to rightly understand the visible realm of reality and the equally real realm of the unseen. God gives Scripture and the Holy Spirit so I can sense the unseen and not be swayed by the constant pull of the world and evil forces to pull me away from following Jesus and instead resorting to sinful self-effort.
Discernment also combats false doctrine and gives an accurate perception of what is really from God and what is not. Scripture warns believers about the devil appearing to be an angel of light. I need to discern fully the powers of darkness and realize how patience and discernment are both tied to spiritual maturity. Both have a strong relationship to effective prayer and to “holding fast to the hope set before us.” (Hebrews 6:18)
The marvel is that even if I pray incorrectly or fail to pray at all, Jesus still “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”(Hebrews 7:25) Jesus prays for me, protecting me from the evil one and from destruction. He is my Savior; I am not.
Another beautiful thought from this reading is the power of the gospel that begins a life of knowing God and growing in that patience that marks maturity and that ensures God’s ear to our prayers:
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:10–12)
The bottom line for all this is three-fold. Discernment is a gift that enables me to know the Christ of Scripture and not be distracted from Him as my source of all that is godly. Being like Him means reverence, not mere ‘joyful worship’ but the awe that is mixed with fear and obedience that considers His power and ownership of all that concerns me. If my prayers are to be heard and answered, then I must discern all that distracts me from Christ and know all He desires from me so I can yield all of my life to this amazing God of glory.
Mission Statement: Christianity 201 is a melting-pot of devotional and Bible study content from across the widest range of Christian blogs and websites. Two posts may follow on consecutive days by authors with very different doctrinal perspectives. C201 allows readers a ‘macro’ view of the many ministries and individual voices available online. Readers are encouraged to click through and enjoy each day’s reading at its original source. Scripture portions from various translations quoted at Christianity 201 are always in green to remind us that the Scriptures have life!
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A first responder is someone who is primed to just ‘jump in’ in an emergency situation. Dictionary.com:
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