Author: merittmusings

I've been in ministry in the Christian Churches/ Churches of Christ for 20+ years. Finished my doctorate in Biblical Studies in 2015. Serve today as a Hospital Chaplain.

A Lonely Voice

www.bible.com/1713/isa.40.3-5.csb

How many join you in your calling? Our pastor this morning asked if we had invited many to church. He said this season was an ideal season to call them in, because everyone feels spiritual around the holidays, especially Christmas. He’s not wrong. People do become more sensitive to family issues and holiday traditions around Christmas, because every family has something, many of whom involve going to church. So yes, this is a good time to remind others that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

That said, it can be very lonely being the voice that invites. We have become very sensitive to religious freedom and identity, even the lack of it. Christian itself is consider a hateful religion, especially in the West. So to invite someone to your church can sometime be akin to inviting someone to join the KKK. Ouch!

Is that true in Eastern Kentucky where I abide? Not really. Around here people know church as the place you go to because Mama went and Granny went. And they were holy. Around here church is for the old, and for those who have sown their wild oats and need to get right with God. So they wait until they are nearly dead. I wish I was kidding.

I’ve been a Christian since I was 12. I don’t understand someone waiting until they are old to give themselves to Jesus. I’ve also lived with a sense of duty and guilt; duty because there are things expected of me and guilt because I haven’t done them. There is far more temptation for the Christian who has grown up in it, than one who has lived their whole life apart from it and knows how bad life can be without Jesus. A lifelong Christian is tempted to find the line, while the old convert knows where the line is and vows never cross it again.

Yes, I’m in the former category. I’ve probably given more than one person reason to reject Christianity based on the way I’ve presented it. But I also hope that some few have found Jesus because if something I said or did. I won’t know until I get there. Until then, it can feel pretty lonely on the journey. May I encourage you by saying you are not alone? Not only is Jesus with you, but every other believer is with you, including me. We are not alone, and we are stronger together. Your voice is not the only voice in this wilderness announcing Jesus is coming. God is using each voice to shepherd the lost to Himself.

May God bless you today.

The Battle of Good and Evil

www.bible.com/1713/rom.12.21.csb

Which is stronger? Good or Evil? Are they opposed to each other, or just certain points of view? Depends on who you ask. When the Nazis were overrunning Europe, did they think they were committing evil? When Americans were breaking treaties with Indians and taking their land, did they think they were committing evil? When the Catholics hunted down heretics because they didn’t believe in the authority of the Pope, did they think they were committing evil? It depends on who you ask.

Good and evil take different sides and different forms. Only discernment will help you here, and more importantly, the knowledge of Him who is good. You can’t know what evil is unless you know what good is. You cannot say something is wrong without knowing what is right. And you cannot know right without knowing God, who put His own holiness and justice in us so that we would know right from wrong.

We know from this verse that good is stronger than evil. How? Because we are commanded to overcome evil with good. We could not do that if it wasn’t possible. God is good. God is all-powerful, this God’s goodness reigns supreme. Evil cannot overcome good, but it can overcome us. Which is why this passage also serves as a warning.

Christian it is possible that evil can overcome you if you allow it access. Close off every avenue to sin to possess you, because sin is crouching at the door, waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Every temptation to doubt, to dally, or to despise God’s word is an opportunity for evil. Take every thought captive to the throne of Jesus. Don’t let evil win. Overcome evil with good.

God bless you this weekend as we prepare for worship!

Save Much Today?

www.bible.com/1713/jhn.3.17.csb

Folks venturing out early this morning are either heading back to work or looking to save some money. If you are in the latter category, have you saved much today?

A few people would rise early to save 10%, and a few more for 30% off. But who would get up for 100% off? And what would you do to get that discount on big ticket items, like a new car or a house on the beach? What would you value so much that you would spare no effort to receive if it was given to you at no charge?

And so we move into the realm of our text today. The single most valuable asset that God possesses is His Son. And yet He considered Him a fair exchange for all humankind. God gave His Son, paying the highest price, to save all people. What He offers, at no cost to you, is the most valuable commodity He can offer. He offers you salvation from the consequences of your sins, which would otherwise result in your destruction. What would you do to obtain this fantastic gift?

Would you rose early in the wee hours of the morning just do spend some time with Him? Would you give up precious sleep just to be near Him? What effort would you expend in exchange for the free gift of Hos salvation?

Something to think about on this Black Friday. God bless you today!

Happy Thanksgiving! Or at least as best you can manage…

www.bible.com/1713/1ch.16.34.csb

I hope you get to spend yours with family and friends today that love and care about you. Living with family isn’t always easy. Sometimes for the sake of family we won’t let ourselves out too much. Family has a way though of getting under our skin and rooting out old anxieties and issues. That’s why family get-togethers are both welcome and shunned. It’s tough being who you are since you left your home of origin. Sometimes there are bad memories of who you were, or who they were.

But fear not. The God of yesterday is the same as the God of today. If you need a moment to center yourself, find a quiet space, gather your thoughts, and meditate on the goodness of God. This day is about thankfulness. Even if your own family is a mess, we know God is not. Don’t retreat into your phone or whatever’s on TV. Retreat into God, for there is your only sure stronghold.

I hope and pray you won’t need it, but if so, may the peace of God be with you today. May His peace fill and infuse your gathering. Fear not. God is with you.

Credit where Credit is Due

www.bible.com/1713/psa.100.4.csb

Do you give God enough credit for the goings on in your life? Many years ago the movie Shenandoah put this into words. As Jimmy Stewart is gathered with his family around the table, he began his prayer for the blessing. His prayer, however, was more about his own work than God’s. ”Thank you for this food, though we are the ones who cultivated the ground, planted the seed, harvested the grain by the sweat of our brow,” and so on. By the end of his prayer, he was essentially telling God “Thanks for nothing.”

You may feel the same way today. You had to get up this morning, go to work, pay your bills, get your groceries, and prepare your own dinner. What did God do?

Working as I do with the sick and infirm, I learn a few things about thankfulness. Some people are in so much pain, they cannot work, let alone pay rent or buy food. Some have debilitating conditions where they ask God for a pain-free day. Some wish they could work, just to be normal again. I have discovered that I have much to be thankful for.

What Jimmy failed to acknowledge is that they were given strength of body every day, sunshine, good weather for their crops to grow, sufficient storage and ability to put up crops once they were harvested, the ability to sit with your family when the work was done. Some families can’t even speak to each other on the phone. While Jimmy could account for a he had done, he failed to thank God for all those things he could not control.

We ought to give credit where credit is due. And Thanksgiving is one day where we do exactly that. Are you thankful that you had a job to go to today? Thankful that you had money to pay bills? Are you thankful for the roof over to head, or shoes on your feet? A car that started today? There are so many ways in which life can go wrong, let us be thankful when it goes right.

Bless God today with your thankfulness!

Power in Weakness

www.bible.com/1713/2co.12.9.csb

This is one of my go to verses. If God doesn’t heal you of that illness or infirmity, what then? Where do you go when God doesn’t take the pain away? Most people reject God, saying they’ve prayed and prayed and God hasn’t answered their prayers, or they feel dejected because they didn’t have enough faith to move this particular mountain. Is that how it works? We just send a prayer off to God and He is expected to meet our need, just like that? Does God have any say in the matter?

If God doesn’t heal you, does that make Him an unloving God? Does make Him harsh or cruel? Can God only be glorified and praised only if He meets your need exactly when you need it?

Then imagine Paul’s consternation at not being healed of his infirmity. Though no one is sure what his “thorn in the flesh” was, some suspect it was an issue with his eyes, based on Galatians. Paul prayed to have this thorn removed. Paul’s faith goes without question. He had the ability to heal others of blindness. Why didn’t God heal his? Did God not care?

But God did care. And God have Him an answer, the same answer He gives to all of us. “My power is made perfect in weakness.” What does that mean? It means God takes the long view. He knows this world is not our home. We have a new and glorious eternal body that awaits us where there will no suffering, crying, or pain. The purpose of this life is to prepare our souls for the next, not to enjoy all the pleasures. His power is made perfectly evident in our weakness, for the more powerful message of unshakeable faith comes from the voice of the tested, not the untested. The more powerful comes from the testimony, not the untried.

God’s message and purpose is to save the lost. The lost are better won by one who has been tested and finds his faith unshaken. That God is glorified in the midst of such terrible weakness is powerful testimony, and will many to their knees in repentance. I have been at the bedside of hospice patients who will make you weep because of their unshakeable faith. That is power perfected in weakness. That is the unmistakable power of God.

So the next time God doesn’t heal like you expect, be prepared. God may have other purposes for your illness. He may be disciplining you, or he just may be preparing you for a powerful testimony.

God bless you today!

Love and Sacrifice

www.bible.com/1713/1jn.3.16.csb

In the many definitions of love, you rarely hear sacrifice. It is usually compassion for another, embracing and feeling close. But sacrifice is as natural as breathing when it comes to love. In the famous story, The Gift of the Magi, the young couple each sacrifices what is most precious to them to give good gifts to each other. It is a precious story in that it is a fitting parable for love. Love gives with little thought for itself. It is the new mother who gets up in the wee hours to care for a crying child. It is the father who sacrifices time with his family and those precious first moments so that he can provide for their needs in work. While love takes on many forms, one which we easily recognize is sacrifice.

So it is with our Christian family. Today is a test of your love. Will you sacrifice your time, energy, even comfort to express your love for the brethren by going to church this morning? Jesus came and died for you. That was a tremendous and powerful sacrifice. Men and women died for your right to worship freely in this nation. No one is stopping you from going to a church of your choosing. It may involve some sacrifice, but many have been given for you. You can give this much.

Love is expressed through sacrifice. Our Lord showed us this. We can do this for each other. God bless you today.

Power in Harmony

https://www.bible.com/72/rom.15.5.hcsb

Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement allow you to live in harmony with one another, according to the command of Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with a united mind and voice.
(Rom 15:5-6)

Last Saturday, my daughter was taking part in a band combined with all the regional bands from their middle schools. I didn’t expect what I heard. Over the course of one day, my daughter has managed to learn how to play three new songs, songs she didn’t even know to start, and then learn how to play them with complete strangers. By the time of the concert, they had managed to learn how to play together and bring off a most impressive concert, despite their youth and inexperience. I credit this in part to the instructors who worked with them, but also the power of harmony, when everyone is working together to a common goal. In this case, everyone was working on the same music, if not the same page.

I think we Christians could take a page out of this book. We are all trying to save the world according to our own silos. Each of us think we have the right way and correct understanding of how the Bible works and how Jesus saves. The fact that there are hundreds if not thousands of churches (and yes, each have their own thing), would seem to give lie to that fact. Either only one of us is completely right, some of us are partially right or we’re all completely wrong.

Truthfully, I think we have much more in common than we think, and we probably ought to cooperate more than we do. If we all claim to be Christians, then surely there must be some real Christians among us. I believe each one must be firmly convinced in his own mind what he believes. But I also believe we tend to nitpick over non-essentials, like whether or not we use musical instruments in worship.

I believe the essentials are these: Jesus Christ is the Living Son of God, born of a virgin, crucified on a cross, risen from the dead and alive in Heaven at God’s right hand, but just as near to us. If this isn’t at the core of your faith, you are not a Christian. The resurrection alone as Paul said is the most important fact of our faith, and must be upheld.

The second is like the first: The Bible as written in its original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) is the final authority of God on this earth. It was written by the Holy Spirit through the hands of about 40 men (and maybe women) to its minimum extent of 66 books, the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New. All of the Church recognizes these books. It is true in all that it attests to and affirms. It is our final authority of faith, and cannot be interpreted to the opposite of what it clearly says. It was written to be understood, and written so that even common men (and women) could understand it. Anyone who denies the written Word of God or its authority is not a Christian because they deny the surest source of authority they have.

Beyond these two, we can talk about others, but I believe you need these two to start having a conversation. God bless you today!

 

Dear Friend

www.bible.com/1713/3jn.1.2.csb

What you may not see in this translation is John’s hope for Gaius is two-fold, both that he may prosper financially as well as physically, just as his soul prospers. To prosper is to be financially well-off, to be “successful” or be financially secure. Someone who prospers is doing well. It is similar to the Vulcan benediction, “live long and prosper.” It is good wishes on those we care about. But what John adds here is the prosperity of the soul your physical and financial prosperity ought to be tied to how well your soul is doing. To be rich and healthy yet miserable is what we call Depression in America. What would you give to be happy? What would you give to have peace?

So what John wishes upon his friend Gaius is not so unusual. As a leader in the early church, he notes that physical and financial prosperity are both dependent on your soul’s health. And keeping a soul healthy depends on its reliance on the Lord. As he says in vs. 3, “you are walking in the truth.”

Soul health demands truth-walking. A healthy soul takes regular strolls through the halls of God’s word, takes in the sights, meditates on them, and allows them to fill his soul. He then can take his insights with him wherever he goes. If you are not spending time with God, you aren’t working on your soul.

So like a good pastor, John reminds Gaius (who probably didn’t need the reminder so much as those who would read the letter after him) that a healthy soul is necessary for physical health and financial health. As Paul once wrote, “godliness with contentment is great gain.” A godly soul is content even with a little, and considers it wealth. Don’t imagine for a minute John is inventing a “get rich” scheme here. The point of this physical health and prosperity is not to get religion. Being obedient to religious rules isn’t the beginning of a healthy retirement. Being obedient to the Lord is.

Like Gaius, let us hold fast the confession of our faith unwavering. And allow God to bless us in health and wealth as He sees fit. Let us not serve the Lord to be wealthy. Let us serve Him to be well in our soul. Yes, there is a return for faithful service. It is this, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!”

God bless you today!