Who Was Jesus Looking For?

"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease among the people."  Matthew 4:23

As Jesus began His ministry, He walked the dusty shores of Galilee, calling fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James and John. He healed a leper who dared approach Him. He welcomed a paralytic who was lowered through a hole in the roof to see Him!

He even invited Matthew, a despised tax collector, to be His disciple. These were not random encounters -- they were intentional invitations, not to important scholars and leaders, but to the ordinary people, some who were often rejected and forgotten. Invisible.

How about you? Ever feel alone and alienated from "the important group"?

No one expected you to sit with the "cool kids" at lunch? That nobody ever saved you a seat for you? That you were never a part of the "in" group? Always "outside"?

Does it seem that Jesus usually chose those kinds of people to build His kingdom?

It does seem that way to me...and I am forever grateful.

When Jesus noticed people, when He called them, it seems He was not deterred by their weakness. Actually, it appears He was drawn to it! He doesn't wait for us to be strong and confident. He steps into our pain, heals and restores and then sends us out with a purpose. In a world where status determines influence, Jesus flipped the model. The broken became His messengers!

Jesus' actions remind us that ministry doesn't begin with perfection - it begins with surrender! We bring our imperfections to Him and He greets us with healing and restoration. If He can use fishermen, tax collectors, lepers and paralytics, He can use us, too!

He still walks into the lives of the outcasts and invisible and ordinary people today. He does it through us! Ask Him to open your eyes and show you someone who needs to see Him! And then show that person Jesus!

I Hardly Recognize the World

Father,

I hardly recognize this world anymore. I see so many heartless and hopeless people.

Everything seems so broken.

Was it always like this and I just didn't notice? Were there always
so many hurting people?

I must not have been paying enough attention...forgive me...please give me the gift and challenge of seeing people as You see them - people who need to know Your unconditional never-giving-up always-available love.

Please show me today how I can help be a part of the 
solution to the problems in this broken world.

Please let love and restoration start and blossom in my heart today.

Amen

Can I still say "God, I love you! "?

Sometimes things are just "Not OK".

                 And sometimes things are truly dreadful.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:19-20: "Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

He repeats this theme often in his letters to the early churches. 

And Jesus gave thanks, even when on His way to Gethsemane.

Praise God and thank Him for everything! we are told.

Job had more bad news than any of us could ever imagine. But, he says, "Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him" (Job 13:15).

Daniel's friends, when facing the fiery furnace, assured King Nebuchadnezzar, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up" (Daniel 3:17-18).

Even if He does not.....we will still worship Him only...

Habakkuk expressed it this way in his praise song: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Even though....yet I will....

There's a story about  Arthur Blessitt that I love to recall.

Remember him? He is the Christian preacher who has carried a large heavy cross around the world --  literally,  he has taken the cross to every country and Guinness Book of World Records awards him with making the longest walk ever! 

Well, once he was in northern Israel at the beginning of the rainy season. It was cold. He was exhausted. There was no place to put his cross and he had no shelter or food or dry clothes. Finally he found an empty park bench at a bus stop. He lay down. Then it began to rain harder.

He looked at the rain and commanded, "Stop in the name of Jesus!"

What happened? A large flash of lightning and crashing thunder. The rain poured harder than ever!

And Arthur just looked up a the sky and proclaimed, "God, I love you!"

Sounds like Job and Daniel's friends, and Habakkuk.......

                    but does it sound like me?

PS Arthur Blessitt died about 6 months ago, January, 2025).

Feeling Outcast? Invisible?

 "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people."

                                                              Matthew 4:23

As Jesus began His ministry, He didn't start by going to schools and choosing scholars or to fine government buildings and asking for important dignitaries. 

Instead, He walked the dusty shores of Galilee, calling for fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James and John. He healed a leper who dared to approach Him. He welcomed a paralytic who was lowered through a hole in the roof so he could see Jesus. He even invited Matthew, a despised tax collector, to be His disciple.

These weren't just random encounters -- they were intentional invitations to the rejected and forgotten, to the invisible laborers supporting their families in Galilee.

It appears Jesus chose ordinary people to build His kingdom. People who were not well-known and not applauded by the people around them.

Ever feel like you didn't belong to the "important group"? Like you were so ordinary no one even noticed you? That you were practically invisible? No one expected you to have lunch with the "cool kids" at their table? No one saved you a seat. You just sort of "blended in."

Does it seem to you that these were the kind of people Jesus specifically wanted to use to build His kingdom? He sought these people out. It seems to me that that was who He was searching for. And I am forever grateful!

Each encounter shows us that Jesus isn't deterred by our weaknesses. He's drawn to them. He doesn't wait for us to be accomplished and confident -- He steps into our pain, heals and restores and then sends us forward with purpose and in His power.

In our world where status so often dictates influence, Jesus flipped the model. The broken and troubled became His messengers. (Actually, who better?)

Do you think your pain and past disqualifies you from serving Him? Maybe you should think again!

Ministry, to Jesus, does not begin with perfection -- it begins with surrender. When we bring our imperfections to Him, He greet us with healing and direction. If he could use lepers, paralytics, simple fishermen, and tax collectors - He can use us!

And remember, He still walks into the lives of outcasts today, only now, He does it through us! It is our body He is using for His ministry!

Look around you. Ask God to open your eyes - Who is invisible to the world? Who is weak and ordinary?  Search for them as Jesus did and then...show them Jesus!

God Is Our Refuge

 "The LORD is my rock, my fortress, my God is my Rock in whom I take refuge" (Psalm18).

A true story about a lumberman --

   A tender-hearted man who loved all God's creatures and had the job of cutting down trees and harvesting the lumber --

One day he began cutting down a tree. He saw a bird fly to the top of the tree with a sprig in her mouth. He worried because she was obviously building a nest. So he began pounding the side of the tree with the back of his axe. The tree trembled and the bird flew away. 

He was relieved until he saw her fly to the next tree. That was a tree he had to cut down, too. So he hammered it hard and she flew away with a sprig in her mouth! She flew to a third tree and he hammered at it till she flew away. This time she didn't fly to anther tree -- she flew to a great rock on a stoney cliff. She gently placed the sprig and flew away for another and began building her nest on the rock!

He was so relieved -- he stopped to pray,

thanking God for directing His special creature to the safety of the rock to build her nest!

Isn't that what God has done for us? He directs us to the stability of the Rock! On Christ the solid rock we stand... He is our fortress...our refuge!

We are always safe with Him!

Be Hatched or Go Bad - C S Lewis

We must be always changing, growing into what Christ intends us to be...

Christ never talked in vague terms. When He said, "Be perfect," He meant it. 

It is hard. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird; it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. 

We are like eggs at the present. And you cannot go on indefinitely just being an ordinary, decent egg. 

We must be hatched or go bad.

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

What is more than eternal? John MacArthur

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.*

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 
(John 3:15-17)


Explanation from John MacArthur:

*This is the first of ten references to "eternal life" in John's gospel. The same Greek word is translated eight times as "everlasting life."

The two expressions appear in the New Testament nearly 50 times.

Eternal life refers not only to eternal quantity but also to divine quality of life.

It means literally "life of the age to come" and refers therefore to resurrection and heavenly existence in perfect glory and holiness.

This life for believers in the Lord Jesus is experienced before heaven is reached.

This "eternal life" is in essence nothing less than participation in the eternal life of the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

It is the life of God in every believer, yet not fully manifest until the resurrection.


[Note: This explanation by John MacArthur helps me understand Christ's words more fully when He said, at the Upper Room just before He was arrested:

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

          -- John 17:1-3

And from 1 John, chapter 5:

     And this is the testimony: God has given us
     eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has
     the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of
     God does not have life...

     We know also that the Son of God has come and
     has given us understanding, so that we may know
     him who is true. And we are in him who is true--
     even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God
     and eternal life.


We are already in Him and so we are already participating in eternal life - it has already been given to us.]

Why All This Now? - C S Lewis

 

                                        Why All This Now?

Sometimes a Christian experiences life going along pretty well.

Then complications and troubles come along: illnesses, money problems, family crises, new kinds of temptations, etc. and he gets disappointed -- why all of this now? All at once?  he might ask. ...Just when things were going so good!

This is what C S Lewis says:

"Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving than he ever dreamed before.

It seems to us all unnecessary, but that is because we have not the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us. He wants to make us into 'Christians'-- that is, 'little Christs'!

Quoteworthy....Chesterton on Thankfulness

Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world around me;
And with  tomorrow begins another
Why am I allowed two?
    --G. K. Chesterton


[Why am I allowed 2?  3? 
a whole string a days ....?
a week? a month?...even years..?]


Days of grace... Why were we allowed any at all?
with color? (He could have given us a black and white world) and joyful music? with friends and family? (He could have sentenced us to solitary confinement because our sins are so contagious) ! 

And that's not even looking at eternity in heaven with Him? all with God's eternal bounty?

It's all about gratitude....He loves gratitude...It's really not hard to please God! (See Colossians 3:15-17 and Romans 1:21-23)

[Someone should write a song about His amazing grace!]

The Joy of the Lord - Where does it come from?

                 A favorite verse - The Joy of the Lord is my Strength!

It's from Nehemiah,  chapter 8. It's a popular verse - and the context in which we find it is even more remarkable.

Here's the rest of the story....

The Hebrews who had returned to Jerusalem from  their Babylonian (and then Persian) captivity in the 6th century BC, began to rebuild their temple which lay in ruins. They started with the altar, but were distracted by other building projects and were challenged by local enemies.  

Ezra, a priest and a "scribe skilled in the law," heard of the problems being faced by his kinsmen and desired to see the matters corrected and the temple finished.

He set out with a large caravan of more returning exiles and arrived in Jerusalem to start the work again.The people were eager to obey God and resume His worship.
They asked Ezra to bring out his copy of the Law of Moses and read it to them. They built a high wooden platform for him to stand on while he read. 

"All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people sood up. Ezra praised the LORD, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, 'Amen! Amen!' 

Then they bowed down and worshipped the LORD...the Levites instructed the people in the Law while they were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so the people could understand what was being read.

Then Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites said to them all, 'This day is holy to the LORD our God. Do not mourn or weep' for all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Nehemiah said, 'Go and enjoy choice good and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. They went away to eat and drink and celebrate with great joy, because now they understood the words that had been made known to them.'"

They had joy because they understood God's Word! Understanding God's Word give us joy and makes us strong!

Stop and read Nehemiah 8...and see how His Word does this for us!

 

Let's Get Over It - God Has!

 

                                    Let's Just Get Over It!

Most of us carry around a load of guilt. It is heavy and keeps us from running joyfully in our daily service for our Lord and Savior. It is a grievous burden.

So why do we call Him "Savior"? Didn't He die on that cross to 'save' us from sin and its guilt?

YES! Remember 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Has He ever lied to you? Me either! Psalm 103:12 reminds us that He has removed our sins from us "as far as the east is from the west" -  further than can even be measured.

Isaiah 38:11 says He has put our sins "behind His back" -- where He can't even see them anymore.

Other verses tell us He doesn't even remember our sins - they are all forgiven and He doesn't even keep a list of our wrong-doing!

Satan wants us to forget that. He encourages us to live in the past and dwell on our past guilt. Maybe we should should just tell him where to go - literally!

Let's get over the guilt thing - God has!

Friends Forever

Recently one of my "Forever Friends," Margaret W, called my attention to a devotional thought by Joni Eareckson Tada. It's from her Diamonds in the Dust for March 9. She begins with this verse:

From one man He made every nation of men, that they should
inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them
and the exact places they should live. Acts 17:26

Then she says: "Did you catch that? It's no mistake you are living in this century, this decade, and this very year. It's no accident that you are residing in your town, living on the street you live, and with the neighbors you see every day. And is your circle of friends just coincidence? No way. God has determined it.

"Just think. You could have easily been born in another time, another place....
You would be growing up with a whole new set of childhood friends and neighbors.

"Of the billions of possibilities, of all the millions of people with whom you could have been best friends, God determined the exact time and place where you should live. When you consider this amazing fact, your friendships take on a new and profound significance. God has a special reason, a unique design in each friendship. He chose to surround your life with these certain and treasured dear ones for good reasons.

"As Christians, these are the people with whom you will live for eternity, enjoying an even greater dimension of friendship. Because God has placed you together on earth at this time and in this place, you and your friends have a chance to get a head start on God's eternal plan.

Father, I stand in awe at Your wisdom and ways. You could have
placed me anywhere on earth, but You determined that I should live
here and now. Teach me what this means. Show me Your special
design for my friends and family. And thank You that each person
You put in my life is precious in Your sight." Amen.

She's right -- all my friendships take on a more profound significance when I remember that God places all of us right here, right now, to fulfill some undisclosed part of His grand design for all of His creation.

God is good...and His love endures forever!

About Being Thankful

 

                                    About Being Thankful

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your heart. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him"(Colossians 3:15-17).

....."be thankful"..."sing to God with gratitude..."give thanks to God...seems like a theme here...

in whatever we do...word or deed...give thanks to God....

Why do we worship God? C S Lewis

It's God's Will That We Worship Him      

To worship and to glorify God is to declare and demonstrate the greatness of His character.
 
After we have received the gospel of Jesus, what spurs us into worship?

We worship God in obedience to Him and because we want to.

We worship Him because we enjoy Him!


C S Lewis describes this:

     All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise...

     The world rings with praise -- lovers praising each other, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game...

     I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.

              From Reflections on the Psalms,
                  by C S Lewis


All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise....

Praise is the natural result of enjoyment.

I can't think of anything I enjoy in life that I don't joyfully praise unreservedly - a song, a bird sighting, a book, a spiritual experience - praise for things we enjoy pour out of our hearts continually, spontaneously.....

To not praise something I enjoy is to bind me in joyless chains.

It is not possible to enjoy something without expressing grateful praise.

Isn't this the heart of following Jesus: enjoying God as our Father, through Jesus Christ the Son and our Savior?

And to enjoy is to praise!

Praise not merely expresses our joy, it completes it!


When this becomes reality to us, our lives are forever changed.

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy Name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy Name

I Gotta Be Me - Why? (C S Lewis)

                                   "I Gotta Be Me" - Why?

Remember that song, "I Gotta Be Me"?

Here's what C S Lewis says about that idea: "The more we get what we call 'ourselves' out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become.

There is so much of Him that millions and millions of "little Christs", all different, will still be too few to express Him fully.

He made them all. He invented -- as an author invents characters in a novel -- all the different men we were intended to be.

In that sense our real selves are all waiting for us in Him.

It is no good trying to 'be myself' without Him...It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His personality that I first begin to have a real personality of my own."

Someone else observed that we are all like beautiful stained glass windows hidden in a dark basement. Without Christ there is no light to glow on us and shine our beauty. When the light of Jesus come upon us, we all become masterpieces of glorious beauty. Before that we are just ordinary gloomy glass basement windows!

Our Position Right Now!

Nothing in my hands I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling.....

From Rock of Ages, by Augustus Toplady

We come to Jesus empty-handed. We have nothing to offer.

Though claiming no merit of our own, we just cling to His blood and righteousness.

And we are justified.

We have been put right with God. We, who were enemies of God, become His friends and His family.

We pass from a state of God's condemnation to a state of pardon and forgiveness.

We become clothed in Christ's perfect righteousness.

In our standing before God we will never be more righteous, even before God in heaven, than we were the day we first trusted in Christ, or as we are right now.

We now have perfect righteousness. We need no more. We will never be more righteous than we are right now.

That is our position before God.

He now sees us as righteous as Christ Himself.

Amazing, isn't it?

That should encourage and inspire us to strive to be more righteous in our character, so we will begin to have a character that corresponds to our position. 

That will be completed when we are finally before God Himself.  But for now, we just work toward it.

Also, it should remind us that our Christian family is made of people like us - people whose position is also as having the perfect righteousness of Christ - so those brothers and sisters in Christ are holy objects - sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, possessing His righteousness, just as we do.

We should see them that way - with love and compassion, not with a critical and hostile spirit.

Just as God looks at us.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast,

It is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,

It is not easily angered

It keeps no record of wrongs.

It does not delight in evil,

but rejoices in the truth.

It always protects, always trusts,

Always hopes, always preservers.

Love never fails.

--1 Corinthians 13

God is love.

God treated Christ the way we deserved, so that He can treat us the way Christ deserves.



Overwhelmed?

 

Good news from Psalm 65:3 --

   "When we were overwhelmed by sin, You forgave our transgressions."

What an incredible picture! We were overwhelmed -- He stepped in and fixed it all!

Ever feel overwhelmed by sin? By disappointment? By grief? By fear? 

He can fix it all.

And it's all because He loves us and extends His grace to us, His beloved children. And He is eager to do that for us!

His grace -- it's all about His grace!

So how should we then live? How should we extend to others the grace He has extended to us?

"Lord, because Your grace is undeserved, I should be humble.

Because it is given to me unconditionally, I should be thankful.

Because it is freely given to me, I should extend it generously to others in all circumstances.

Because it is given to me forever, I should be at peace.

And because it is from You I should live in holiness and reflect your beauty and Your glory.

Please help me, everyday, to be to others as You have been to me.

Amen"

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you and therefore He rises up  to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of  justice, blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18).

Looking to Jesus

 

                               Always Looking to Jesus

"Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who with the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2)

From Charles Spurgeon --

"It is always the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus. 

But Satan's work is just the opposite; he is constantly trying to make us look at ourselves instead of Christ.

He insinuates, 'Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to hold on to the end; you do not have the joy of His children.'

All these thoughts are about self, and we will never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self. He tell us that we are indeed nothing, but that Christ is everything. We will never find happiness by looking to our prayers, our deeds, or our feelings. It is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to our souls

If we are to overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking to Jesus".

Keep your eyes simply on Him; let His sufferings, His death, His merits, His glory and His intercession always be fresh on your mind.

When you wake in the morning, look to Him; when you lie down at night, look to Him. Do not let your doubts and fears come between you and Jesus.

Follow after Him, and He will never fail you. Just keep looking to Jesus."

That First Morning

That Very First Morning!

It is a beautiful morning. I have filled the bird feeders and all our little flying creatures are chirping their "Thank you's."

Everything is vibrant and green. (I can almost see - and hear- the grass growing!)  Lots of rain and lots of sunshine really work divine magic!

Trying to imagine that first morning Adam and Eve had in Eden.
Were they astonished at the beauty? Did each new scene leave them breathless?  Did they hear God's footsteps as He approached them?  Was He there with them every moment? 

Here's a song we don't sing much any more. It was written by an English Christian, Eleanor Farjean, about 100 years ago:

     Morning has broken, like the first morning

Black bird has spoken, like the first bird

Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!

Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!

Sweet the rain new-fall, sunlit from heaven,

Like the first dew-fall on the first grass

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning!

Born of the one light Eden saw play

Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's re-creation of the new day!

YES!! Praise every morning! Praise with elation!

And remember, today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Already Perfect!

                                    Already Perfect!

"For by one sacrifice, He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).

This is becoming my favorite verse right now: Amazing truth to teach us all we need to know to navigate our lives in these chaotic times.

First, a reminder of what happened at the cross. His sacrifice, to pay the debt of our sins, made us perfect in the eyes of God. Because God put our guilt on Christ, we are guilt-free!

It's called "The Great Exchange." He took our filthy sinful life with its garbage bag and exchanged it for a treasure chest full of His priceless righteousness. 'He has clothed us in garments of salvation and arrayed us in His robes of perfect righteousness' (Isaiah 61:10).

For now? More -- FOREVER!

So when God looks at us He sees His perfect Son!

It can't get better than that!

So our position is perfect in God's eyes.

Second, do we act perfectly? No, but with His Spirit in us we are being made holy.

'And we all, as we gaze on Jesus, are being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Spirit.' (2 Corinthians 3:18)

(As we used to say, 'Please be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet!)

Remember young King Josiah (2 Kings 23)? He inherited the throne at age 8. He had a crown, trumpets as he entered a room, everyone bowed and called him 'King'. He was the official King. But he had to grow into the position...he didn't actually function as King till he became an adult.

That's like us -- God has declared us perfect, in position,  because of what Christ did, but we have to grow a lot more to fill that position!

And that's why I love this verse so much! 

God is not finished with me yet!

Worship - Public and Private

 

                              Worship -- Public and Private

"The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out" (Leviticus 6:12-13).

Charles Spurgeon applies this to our private personal worship altar.

  He tells us that we should always 'Keep our altar of private prayer burning. This is the life of piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence and barometer of our faith.

  Let our own personal prayer closet sessions be regular, frequent and  undisturbed. Have you nothing to pray for? Let me suggest the church, its ministry, your own soul, your family, your neighbors, your country, the cause of God and Truth throughout the world.

  Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Are we lukewarm in our times of personal private devotion? Is the fire of our devotion burning dimly? We should be alarmed if that is the case. Pray, weeping, that the Holy Spirit revitalizes our hearts to burn with passion, blazing with love, that our altar fire will never be quenched, for it will not burn if the Lord does not keep it burning. If His unseen hand pours on the sacred oil, it will blaze higher and higher.

Let us use texts of scripture as fuel for our heart's fire; they are love coals. Let us attend to public sermons, but above all, let us be much with Jesus'

(The key fire fuel? Spending much time alone with Jesus, and don't forget the love coals!)

Only One Head Worthy of a Crown!

                        There's Only One Head Worthy of a Crown!

   Heaven has only one head worthy of a crown -- and it's not mine and it's not yours!

    In scripture, God mentions that He is giving His children crowns --  5 different crowns are mentioned. Special honors for us!

     From Max Lucado --

  "Yes, there will be a day when you will be crowned. Your Maker and Savior will praise you for what you have endured for His Kingdom and how you have persevered. He will bless you. And He will reward you with luxurious crowns! But He will have hardly finished before you fall on your face and lay your crown at His feet!

   How gracious of Him to give us crowns. If He didn't, what would we have to give Him?

   As joyfully as you receive it, (and from His nail-scared hand!) you will surrender it. As freely as He gave it, you will offer it.

   I can't wait to see you there. I want to see the look on your face when you see the look on His. One glance into the eyes of the King and you will know for certain that heaven has only one head worthy of a crown, and it's not yours and it's not mine!" 

     Charles Wesley wrote about it -- 

"Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven take our place. Till we cast our crowns before Him, lost in wonder, love, and praise!

            *****Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus!*****

The Eagle Has Landed - July 20

 

                                      The Heavens Declare - July 20

This is the day - July 20 - 1969 - The Eagle has landed!

When Apollo 11's Eagle Lunar module landed on the moon's Sea of Tranquility on this date in 1969, the space travelers took time to recover from their flight before stepping onto the moon's surface.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin had received permission to bring bread and wine so he could take Lord's Supper, or Communion.

After reading scripture, he tasted the first food even consumed on the moon. Later he wrote, "I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup."

Buzz Aldrin was proclaiming loudly to the whole world what it meant to "proclaim the Lord's death until He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Jesus had taught His disciples, "on the night He was betrayed," that His soon-to-be sacrificed body was compared to the bread, "broken for you," and the wine as the symbol "of the new covenant" that secured forgiveness and salvation through His blood shed on the cross.

Probably Buzz Aldrin's thoughts also went to Psalm 19:1 -- "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the works of His hand" -- as he gazed out upon the starry sky and the beautiful blue globe that was his earthly home.

Neil Armstrong and Mike Collins are gone now, but Buzz Aldrin is still living, in his nineties, and still "proclaiming The Lord's death" as we all wait for His  return!

A reminder, no matter where we are, we can still celebrate our faith and hope in that glad day that awaits us!... a true "giant leap" for the bride of Christ!...as Jesus calls us home!

"Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup 

you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes"(1 Corinthians 11:26).

He Makes and Will Make Room for US!

 

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2)

A popular and poignant verse.  ...because there was no room for them in the inn....no room for them....not just no room for the baby, but we usually only  think of that tiny, fragile life being laid in a manger, of all places!..because there was nothing else available.

But there was also no room for them...Christ's family. I am aware of it more this year than ever before. There is no room for Christ in our society, but also, there is no room for His family...for us....we are being crowded out, ignored, counted inconsequential, branded as unsophisticated and unlearned....counted inconsequential is perhaps the worse...not important enough to be considered...

That would really hurt if I didn't understand humankind and human history!

Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang,

Proclaiming Thy royal decree

But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth

And in great humility....

The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest

In the shade of the forest tree;

But Thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of  God...

In the deserts of Galilee...

When the heav'ns shall ring, and her choirs shall sing

At  Thy coming to victory,

Let Thy voice call me home, saying "Yes, there is room,

There is room at My side for thee."

WOW! Unbelievable! Incredible! Isn't that the best news you've ever heard?

heaven's arches rang when the angels sang...on that first Christmas morning... I wonder...how did the voices in the arches of heaven sound? Joyful? Confused? Amazed? Surprised?  Curious? Awe-full?

When did  the angels begin to grasp  the Father's intent...at the beginning? of everything? or not yet -- not until the end......?

Let Thy voice call me home, saying, "Yes there is room, there is room at My side for thee!"

My heart shall rejoice Lord Jesus, when You come and You call for me!

DOXOLOGY.....

The Problem for Agnostics...Tim Warner

Agnostics - What Kind of God Would You Want?



The question that ought to be asked by someone questioning God's existence is this: What kind of evidence would the God portrayed in the Bible give?

He is presented in Scripture as a God who desires a personal relationship with those whom He created in His own image.

Logically, we should expect the evidence to be the kind of evidence that engenders us to trust Him in a personal relationship. And trust is based on a consistent record -- faithfulness in keeping one's word.

When we look in Scripture we see a  long record of God's interaction with a select group of people [individually and collectively] -- the nation that sprang from the loins of Abraham through Sarah.

And that nation exists today.

It is not difficult to judge whether God's claims about that nation are true, whether Israel's history bears out God's making good on His promises and threats, and whether Israel's modern history is consistent with what God has said.

This historical record is spread over four thousand years. It gives us a very good body of evidence to assess this God and decide whether He deserves our trust or whether He is the figment of a collective consciousness. Israel has survived all these centuries against incredible odds, just as God promised.

Yet she has suffered in exile also, just as He threatened.

She has never had, and will never have, peace and permanent possession of the land until she acknowledges her Messiah Jesus.

Forty years before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, Jesus warned,

"If you have known, even you, especially in your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in one every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:42-44).

Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled to the letter, when Titus and the Roman armies leveled Jerusalem and the Temple. And He predicted that "Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).

That has indeed been the state of Jerusalem ever since.

           ---From The Mystery of the Mazzaroth, by Tim Warner



The Bible presents convincing evidence that the God portrayed in its pages is faithful to His Word.

Quoteworthy - Godly answer from an ungodly scientist

Godly answer from an ungodly scientist...

This quote from Robert Jastrow, astronomer and physicist, founder and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and self-described agnostic. He died in 2008. But these words will live on for future generations:

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

He Spoke for Himself (US)

It is a story that is hard to believe - that the Omnipotent God, Creator and Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, would come to earth in the body of a human being, live a life of perfect righteousness and obedience, suffer a cruel death -- all to redeem His fallen and disobedient unworthy creatures and save them forever.

I know it's hard to believe.

That's why most people don't believe it.

To millions (billions?) of people it is the most outlandish claim possible.

"God would never do such a thing. Not a real God.
Maybe a make-believe God (on the other hand, who would make up such an outlandish story?) but not a real God," people say to me.

"My God is just too great to do such a thing," a friend told me.


I tried to explain -- that's exactly why He did it - because He is so great!


Wonder if you loved a woman, I asked my friend -- really loved her, wanted to be with her forever -- would you go yourself and tell her, or would you send her a message -- an email or text, or send a friend to tell her.

Of course not! You would go yourself.

God did that. He sent His prophets and His messages, but when it came time to really show His love, He came Himself!

God displays the greatness of His love, not by staying far from us, but by coming directly to us.

There's a great tale from the early Puritan days of America that reflects this.


We all learned it as children.


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recorded it in verse in
The Courtship of Miles Standish.


     Romantic love was important to the Puritans.

     Miles Standish, the military leader of the Plymouth colony, loved Priscilla Mullins.  He was not good with words and had difficulty expressing himself.

     His dear young friend, John Alden, was a thoughtful and clever writer.

     John was good with words and passionate, and so Miles asked him to go to Priscilla and make his case. To tell her that he loved her and wanted to marry  her.

     The problem was that John also loved Priscilla. But loyal to his dear friend, he went to Priscilla to deliver the love message.

     As he approached the little cabin where Priscilla sat spinning, he could hear her singing. He gathered flowers into a bouquet and listened for a few moments.

(Remember what she was singing? Longfellow tells us it was Psalm 100!)

     He went to the door and greeted her, shared some random conversation and then gave her his important message from Miles Standish, explaining that Captain Standish was very busy and wanted John to deliver his heart-felt desire for her.

     Her answer?

       "Has he not time for such things, as you call it,
     before he is married, would he be likely to
     find it, or make it, after the wedding?

       "That is the way with you men; you don't
     understand us, you cannot.

       "....When one is truly in love, one not only
     says it, but shows it....

       "...Why don't you speak for yourself, John Alden?"


So Priscilla Mullins married John Alden -


If Miles had come himself, Longfellow indicates, the tale would have had a different ending.


When John Alden came to visit Priscilla, he heard her singing Psalm 100 -- a real favorite of the Puritans.

Here are the words of another  hymn - one sung by the early Christians in Philippi -- recorded by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:6-11--

     (5) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

     Who, being in the very nature God,

     did not consider equality with God something

     to be grasped

     But made Himself nothing,

     Taking the very nature of a servant,

     Being made in human likeness

     And being found in appearance as a man,

     He humbled Himself and became obedient

     to death--even death on a cross!

     Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place

           And gave Him the name that is

     above every name

     That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

     in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

     and every tongue confess that

     Jesus Christ is Lord,

     To the glory of God the Father.

Because of His greatness and His all-consuming love, He came Himself! He didn't send angels or videos -

God spoke for Himself!

PS Wouldn't be great if we knew the tunes the early Christians used to sing their hymns?

Hopeful Explains His Hope - Pilgrim's Progress

From John Bunyan's classic Pilgrim's Progress: How Hopeful Gained His Hope.

While traveling toward the Celestial City, Christian asks Hopeful how he came to be on the road headed for the heavenly destination....


Christian: And could you, at any time, easily throw off the feeling of guilt?

Hopeful: No, indeed, for when I tried to do that, sin seemed to take a stronger hold on me. Still, when I considered going back to my old sins, that brought on additional distress, for my mind had been changed, and the idea was repulsive.

Christian: And what did you do then?

Hopeful: I tried to mend my ways....I thought that was the only way to find peace...I quit my sins -- what I considered to be sins --  but also my sinful company and I took up good works, such as praying regularly, reading the Bible, going to church, giving to charity, speaking the truth. These things and many others I was careful to observe.

Christian: How did it happen then that your troubles came back, since you were living a moral life?

Hopeful: Several things caused me to doubt and to feel that all was not well.

For instance such sayings as these: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5); "All our righteousness is as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6); "Being justified by faith we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1); "Except a man be born again he shall not see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

From these plain emphatic statements I would reason like this: If it is not by works of righteousness or works of the law
that a man is justified and saved, then I am not saved.

If I had real faith, I would be justified and have peace in my heart. Therefore, it must be that I am not born of God. And if I am not born of God, I can never see the kingdom of God.

Another thing that troubled me after my reformation was when I examined closely my best deeds, I could see evil mixed with the good --  wrong motives, selfishness, and pride.

So I was forced to conclude that in spite of all my efforts and good opinions of myself, I was still committing enough sin to send me to Hell, even if my former life had been faultless.

Christian: And what did you do?

Hopeful: Do? I did not know what to do. I went to Faithful with my problem (he and I were close friends).

He told me that unless I could obtain the righteousness of a man who was perfect and who had never sinned, neither my own righteousness nor all the righteousness of the world could save me.

Christian: And did you believe he was telling you the truth?

Hopeful: Yes, After I saw my own corruption and the sin that clung to my best performance, I had to admit he was right.

Christian:  Did you believe such a man could be found? And did you ask him who this man was and where he could be found?

Hopeful:  Yes, and he told me that the man was Jesus Christ, who was now seated at the right hand of God, and he said that I must be justified by Him by trusting in Him and what He did for me when He died upon the cross.

I asked him how that man's righteousness could be effectual in justifying another before God.

And he told me that He died not for Himself, but for me, to atone for my sins, to pay off all my debt to God, and that God had accepted what He did for me, and that when I believed in Him and what He did, His righteousness world be imputed to me.

Christian: What did you think of that?

Hopeful: I believed that Jesus was righteous and that He died for the sins of the world; yet I doubted that He would impute His righteousness to one so sinful as myself, and I imagined that He would condemn such before God -- and rightly so.

Christian: And what did Faithful say?

Hopeful: He said, "Why not go to Him and see?" And I said that would presumptuous. He said, "No, for you are invited to come!" 

He gave me a book of the very words of Jesus, encouraging me to come.

I asked him what I must do when I came to Christ.

He said I must plead with all my heart and soul to the Father to reveal Him to me.

He said, "You will find Him at the mercy seat, where He sits all year long, granting pardons and forgiveness to them that come.

You simply say (and mean it with all your heart): "God be merciful to me a sinner. I acknowledge and confess my sinfulness and all my sins. Help me to know and believe in Jesus Christ, for I see that without His righteousness and mercy, and unless I believe in that righteousness and accept His offered mercy, I shall be lost forever.

"Lord, I have heard that you are a merciful God, and that You have ordained your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of the world, and that You are willing to bestow His goodness and mercy upon a poor lost sinner like me -- and I am a wretched, helpless sinner indeed.

"Lord, now take my sins and give me Your righteousness. Magnify Your grace in the salvation of my soul.

In Jesus' name. Amen."

Christian: What particular effect did this have on your spirit and life?

Hopeful: My heart overflowed with joy and peace, also with love for Jesus Christ -- His words, His ways, and His people.

He let me see that all the world, notwithstanding all the righteousness in it, is in a state of condemnation and that God the Father, though He is absolutely just, can justly justify the ungodly sinner who believes.

I was now extremely ashamed of my past life and perfectly amazed at my profound ignorance, for I had never before seem the unsurpassed beauty of the love of God revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I now felt that if I had a thousand lives to give, I would gladly give them all in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ and for His sake.

~~~~~

And that's why we still call it "Amazing Grace'!