Category: Uncategorized

Shrewd but Innocent

www.bible.com/1713/mat.10.16.csb

One of my friends is fond of referring to himself and anyone in law enforcement and military as “sheepdogs.” They are the ones who are vigilant among the sheep to watch out for the wolves. Some refer to this as “cop instincts” and anyone who has been in law enforcement knows what I’m talking about. Funny how Jesus predicted this centuries ago.

It seems what Jesus is warning against here is naïveté. Don’t be gullible. The gullible believe everything they hear and are not cautious. This seems odd since Christians are to believe in the Lord’s protection and walk even where “angels fear to tread.”

But the apostle John hints at this kind of caution when he tells us to “test the spirits” in 1 John. Test the teaching. Test the situation. I would add “remember the Gibeonites.” They fooled Joshua into taking them in (instead of being destroyed) by putting on old clothes and taking moldy bread, claiming they came from a far country, instead of being neighbors. They feared Israel and her God and were afraid for their lives. Israel was fooled because, and the text says this explicitly, they did not inquire of God.

I’ve taken in several times. I should have known better, but I was young once, and believed the stories before I had more experience. Jesus warns us that people will try to take you in their deception, people will try to manipulate in the name of Christian charity. We must have cop instincts when it comes to those who “need something” from us or want to teach us something new. Always test the spirits, the intentions, the doctrines they want to tell against the finished doctrine of Christ, the Scripture.

God bless you today

Unmistakable

Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your radiance.
Isaiah 60:3 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/isa.60.3.HCSB

Can you tell who God is? Would you be ab!e to point Him out in a crowd? Does He stand out from among the other gods? The God’s of the nations fail them, and yet continually ask for appeasement. Sacrifice to us, they say, and we will give you blessings. But God doesn’t ask to be appeased. God has already paid the price for sin. What He asks for is your heart, your faith, and your devotion . With the other gods, all they wanted was a sheep or an ox, or even occasionally a young virgin. But doesn’t want something you give Him. He doesn’t want your money. He wants your heart. and believe me when I say it is so much easier to give Him money.

For the brightness and light that attracts us to Him are the very things that intimidate us, His holiness for one. His purity for another. With God there is no winking at sin, no “That’s ok, everybody does it” mentality. God demands absolute purity from us. His light freelancer dark corner in our lives and sin will not be tolerated. But as moths we are drawn to this beauty in Him while at the same time our sins cause us revulsion. We are both drawn and desire to run away and hide. As Paul once remarked, “I wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?”

 But God, knowing our wretched condition, sent His Son to.l ive as one of us, to die a human death for each of us, to pay in blood the sacrifice necessary to save us from our sins. And He did. And so you can believe in Him and gain forgiveness. He extends freely His grace which covers our sins completely. So that instead of shrinking away from Him, we may with boldness enter the throne room of grace.This God is so much better than any other, because He doesn’t want your stuff. He wants you.

Would today be the day you put down your guard, your cloak of shame and sin, and welcome the love and grace He has to share with you today? He doesn’t invite you tomorrow, or even yesterday. He invited you now, this moment, to embrace His free gift of grace through your belief in Jesus Christ, His Son. Won’t you come? 

Rock God

www.bible.com/1713/isa.26.4.csb

Our God is an everlasting rock. Hmmm. A rock? Really? Of all the things that Isaiah could have chosen, it was a rock. Ok. He is not saying God is a rock, but that God is like a rock, in it’s endurance and in it’s durability.

It might seem suitable to compare God to the sun, or to some other heavenly object. But those things are too far away. Like a rock, God can be easily found. You don’t have to look far to find a rock. This isn’t to say that God is common, just everywhere you look.

But what this text focuses on is the durability of rock. People carve stone because stone lasts. Marble can last generations if you take care of it, so that even sculpture from the Greeks and Romans can still be seen and appreciated. God is not a rock made with hands, but He too is everlasting. His visage cannot be marred with the passage of time. And that’s a good thing. The same God that your great parents prayed to is the same one you can have a relationship with today. And God is equally “I am” to both. Bend your mind around that one.

In essence, God’s presence is trusted and reliable. Ok? Now go read a good book. God bless you today.

It’s How We Walk


For we walk by faith, not by sight,
2 Corinthians 5:7 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/2co.5.7.HCSB

Fascinated with the phrase, “it’s how I roll”, I’ve wondered what that means. I’m pretty sure it means, “that’s my sense of style” or “that’s the kind of the person I am.” I feel that applies to our Christian wall as well. They didn’t “roll” back in James’ day, but they did they walk. If you didn’t ride a horse or a wagon, you walked. Jesus walked everywhere he went. James probably did too. 

James puts forth here that though we walk, we walk by faith and not by sight. He isn’t talking about closing your eyes when you walk here. That would be silly. He is talking about how we walk through life, making decisions day to day and the wisdom by which we make those decisions. We make those decisions based on eternal priorities. How will benefit or even hurt my witness for the kingdom? Will this help me grow as a Christian?

But we also need to remember walking by faith also means trusting God at His word. When God promised to protect you as you follow in His footsteps, you can feel confident in waking into places that are dangerous, but necessary for the kingdom. I walk into some patient rooms that seem pretty intimidating, with families surrounding a bed-ridden patient that look right out of Sons of Anarchy, but with cheerful expression and a bit of “help me God!” I engage them in conversation. Your calling may have different danger zones, but we walk by faith, in the confidence of God’s promises, and not by what our eyes can see.

 May God bless you in your walk today.

https://www.bible.com/72/jud.1.20.hcsb

Good morning all. Today we are reminded of the faith entrusted to us from the beginning, and our responsibility to keep it. Have you been given any better gift than this?
Sadly, I have seen many receive this amazing gift, only after a few months turn their back on it and forget they ever received it. Jesus once spoke of those who received seed, but the desires of this world choked it out. I am reminded that those who received such seed did have growth. I can’t deny the joy I witnessed on their faces, their anxiety quelled I the grace they received. But after a few short months, that joy was replaced by the problems in their lives that’s still plagued them. They hadn’t been able to receive that grace in the rest of their lives.
I would ask you today to remember those whose fiery faith has been quenched. Pray for those who initially were filled with fervor, it now are as hopeless as ever because they forgot their first love. Pray that their faith would be reignited, joy would return, and a their love would grow warm.
God bless you today for the joy you have received. May you love grow warmer today as well.

For All Humanity

www.bible.com/1713/ecc.12.13.csb

Curious what God wants from you? Here’s a start. Fear God. Keep His Commandments. There ya go. Have a good day!

Solomon as ever keeps things succinct and pithy. You may have a hundred questions for him. Which God? What commandments? How can I know for sure if God even exists? How did Solomon know? Is He right?

Micah says something similar in Micah 6:8 when he says says “o man, you know what the Lord requires of you: to love justice, to seek mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

When the Pharisees asked Jesus what the two most important commandments were, He responded in a similar fashion: love the Lord thy God with you heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself.

What does God want from you? Want from all of humanity? If we only had these three passages, we would have a good, decent society. He wants us to love Him and play well together. Isn’t that really what every parent wants? Funny. We could have figured this out if we thought about. Thankfully we have a Heavenly Father who doesn’t keep us in the dark. He freely tells us what we need to know. Maybe not everything we want to know, but what we need.

Have a great day for worship today!

Never Forget Where You Came From

www.bible.com/1713/rom.6.14.csb

Though Paul advises Timothy “to have nothing to do with endless genealogies”, it is important to know where you come from, as the first chapter of Matthew and the third chapter of Luke attest. Those genealogies are not endless, and begin and end with specific persons. Jesus knee what lineage his humanity came from. That was important as a the prophetic Son of God. Our lineages are a bit more muddled.

I can trace living memory back to my grandfather on my mother’s side. He and his wife were my grandparents. My father’s mother was alive long enough to remember her, even to see my first child before she passed. Of my mother’s parents, only my grandmother ever met my future wife. She did not survive to see the wedding. So, my living lineage was actually a bit short compared to others. I’ve learned a lot from working on family genealogy, had some good information to share with my living relatives, and feel like I have a good handle where I came from. I was surprised that my family was adventurous but hard workers. My family had a role in the settlement of the west and made their mark.

To know this is important, but doesn’t define who I am. My genes may put me in a particular bent, but it doesn’t define the course of my life. Neither do yours. For where every believer comes from is defined by grace. We are not under the law, neither from our genes nor from our culture. We are under grace, and that comes through faith. We put our faith in the most important genes of all, the Son of God.

Where have you come from? It’s important to remember. As Paul once wrote, remember some of you were not great. Remember your privilege in Christ was bought by His blood, not your effort. His cross, not your works. Grace, not obedience to law.

God bless you today!

Joy in the Morning

www.bible.com/1713/psa.30.5.csb

Have you found her yet? Her name is Joy and she is supposed to be somewhere around here. You haven’t? Well, keep looking. She’ll turn up.

If you’re not sure what I’m getting at, reread the verse for today. Joy will he found in the morning. But I don’t think that’s always true. If joy is to be found, it may in the temporary peace of just waking up before you remember your responsibilities of the day. It may be in the first hot cup before you get things started, or that hot shower than announces that you are getting ready. There little joys to be found in all these things, things that we do to get the day going. But one of my favorites is sitting down to work on this blog. Haven’t been able to the last couple days. Life happens. But it’s pleasure to be able to sit and talk to you this morning, especially as I’m sipping on a fresh cup of coffee.

Today’s verse I think plays off a truism, the second part of the verse, to establish the first. We cannot see God to know how long His anger lasts. We may be afraid He will be angry at us at all times, because so often sin. But this verse reminds us that His anger is short, just as we can’t weep forever. His favor on the other hand is for a lifetime. If you have been born again, that life began when you were saved. And that life is eternal. Woo-hoo!

You enjoy His favor because He worked very hard to sad you. He will not easily let you go. So rest in his grace today. May God bless you this morning as you find His joy.