The opening of Psalm 22 should sound familiar to you as Jesus uttered these words from the cross. Yet, David wrote these words 1000 years before the Word became flesh and could bear our sins on the tree. Not only are the details in this psalm so vivid that they place us there at Calvary, but Jesus quoting its opening question and God telling us directly in John 19:24 shows us that David indeed wrote about his descendant dying on the cross for us. Continue reading “Why Have You Forsaken Me?”
Not Remain Your Own?
Detractors have often described the Lord’s church as governed by socialist … or even communist principles. They’ll point to verses like Acts 4:32 as proof, “… no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” In heaven, we are ruled by a benevolent monarchy with the King of Kings on the throne, but on earth do our possession really belong to the church and its leaders, forcing us to give, decide how to distribute them all?
I. Acts 5:1-14. Wanting to look good to their brothers and sisters in Christ, Ananias and Sapphira “lied” to God and pretended to give the full amount for property they sold while keeping back part for themselves. Peter expresses that when it was unsold, it was their own, and when it was sold, it was at their disposal. This tells us that the church was not forcing Christians to give, but that it was an internal decision each made to be a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9).
II. 2 Peter 1:3-8. Restored to His image because of Christ’s work in the gospel, Christians should desire to be like Jesus and to walk like Him in every way. God gives us the opportunity to participate in His divine nature and escape the corruption of the world by continually adding virtues to ourselves. Being generous and honest (2 Corinthians 8) in our giving, like the Macedonians in character, will help us not to be ineffective and unfruitful in His kingdom.
III. Matthew 5:13-16. Because God made an example of Ananias and Sapphira, fear of God gripped the church and the a harvest of souls occurred. It’s so easy today to live as a version of the world (1 John 2:15) while deceiving your fellow Christians, but we can not become salt without flavor! Instead, we must be light on a hill for all to see, so glory and thanksgiving will go to our God.
Is your thanks-living resulting in thanksgiving?
Let Me Love You More
Let me love you more —
My Lord who loved before,
Who loved until the end
And dared to call me friend.
Make my love be pure,
Your pain my daily cure,
Where self need not appear,
To seek you ever near.
Lord, you show the way,
So I can only pray
To know your saving grace
And see your glorious face.
And the Lord Added
Any bride beginning a new marriage would have trouble if she only spent 1-3 hours with her husband, spoke to him only when she needed something, made excuses to not study him, and never wanted to spend time with his family. Yet, that’s often how we treat our relationship with our Bridegroom, Christ (Acts 2:42-47).
I. Ephesians 5:21-24. Our work in our relationship with Christ is to devote ourselves to Him. One of the words used to describe how we are to work in 1 Corinthians 15:58 is ‘steadfast,’ which is the way that the KJV translates how early Christians approached their new relationship with their Bridegroom. Other translations use ‘devoted,’ which Paul and James say is to wholeheartedly submit to our Husband (James 4:7-10).
II. Ephesians 5:25-27. There’s mutual benefit when both work in a relationship. Jesus sanctifies His bride, the church, so that it can glorify Him. He died for us to give us life, so we set our hearts and minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-4). When someone’s hobby, such as fishing or cars, is his life, it’s obvious. Christ is our life now, and so this ought to be obvious in what is important to us and how we live. This was obvious with the early Christians.
III. Ephesians 5:28-30. Faithfulness and steadfast love being the foundation of God’s character (Psalm 89:14), He never changes in our relationship with Him (2 Timothy 2:11-13). He equips us out of love with what we need, but our job is to grow in Him (Ephesians 4:15-16). In the ‘Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, we can see the dating phase that with our Bridegroom’s authority, we are to make disciples. The wedding occurs as they are baptized and the Lord adds them to His bride, the church.
Then, the marriage begins as we work to keep them as disciples with Jesus’ help. Any relationship takes much work to maintain. How are you growing in yours?
Where He Leads, I’ll Follow
In A Christmas Story set in post-WWII America, Ralphie swears while helping his dad change a flat tire but doesn’t want to let his parents know that he had heard that word from his father when his dad daily battled their ancient furnace. Fathers can be a bad example or a good one to their kids; they are certainly always influencing and leading. Our heavenly Father’s example is always good, and He always leads us in good ways. Are you following where He leads?
I. Matthew 8:18-22. As Jesus urges His disciples to go across the Sea of Galilee when the Capernaum crowd begins to press in upon Him, a scribe asks to follow. Jesus tells him of the hard life that will befall those who obey the gospel (Ephesians 2:1-6) and don’t make this world their home (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). But it is a life full of sweet promises as the title song tells us:
Sweet are the promises, Kind is the word, Dearer far than any message man ever heard; Pure was the mind of Christ, Sinless I see; He the great example is, and pattern for me.
II. John 13:12-38. Another disciple coming to Jesus at the same time desires to follow Jesus as well but wants to wait until his father dies. Jesus tells him that following Jesus has urgency and priority in life. So much love did He have for the living that He doesn’t want us to die outside of Him. So, He led the way for us to love others by giving us the example of dying for them (1 John 3:16-18).
Sweet is the tender love Jesus hath shown, Sweeter far than any love that mortals have known; Kind to the erring one, Faithful is He; He the great example is, and pattern for me.
III. Matthew 11:25-30. Peter state emphatically that he will follow Jesus even to death but is told that he will soon deny Jesus three times. Actions speak louder than words, and Jesus’ led to the cross. So, we have a traveling companion in our following so we won’t grow weary. We can believe or trust or lean upon our Savior who leads the way (is the Way) to our eternal home (John 14:1-6).
List to His loving words, “Come unto Me!” Weary, heavy laden, there is sweet rest for thee; Trust in His promises, Faithful and sure; Lean upon the Savior and thy soul is secure.
There’s determination in the chorus: Where He leads I’ll follow, Follow all the way; Where He leads I’ll follow, Follow Jesus ev’ry day. You may sing, “Where He Leads, I’ll Follow,” but do you?
We do so many things wrong
Our Father who is in Heaven,
We know so little. Our hands are weak. Our eyes see only what is near. Come help us. Be present in our midst.
Thank you for another day to enjoy. We decide to live with your peace in our hearts. Help us to act today with kindness and contentment.
We decide to do your will. We want what you want. Help us to say only words that you approve. Give us strength to act like Jesus. Continue reading “We do so many things wrong”
Called to Freedom
Floating along with the current of culture, the church fell asleep in its complacency and compromise as the stream changed direction. Christians began to accept the world’s restrictions on our freedoms to worship and proclaim the gospel, and instead of awakening, we withdrew into the walls of our buildings.
I. 1 Corinthians 10:23-33. God, of course, puts limits on our freedoms. We must not sin. Rather, in obedience to His commands, we must choose to be helpful, build others up, seek the good of others and not ourselves, and glorify God in all that we say or do. Our humanistic culture we live in, though, seeks to externally regulate us and persecutes us if we do not submit to its dictates. Now, as Christians, we know we should submit to our governing authorities (Romans 13:1), but Jesus said we should not give to the culture what is God’s (Matthew 22:21). Our primary allegiance is not, then, to the current that has changed directions, but to where we are citizens (Philippians 3:20).
II. Romans 12:1-2. Sadly, many live lives conformed to the world rather than transformed by the gospel. Asleep while the current of culture sweeps them to their destruction (Matthew 7:13-14), they have accepted the walls the world has erected for us: the gospel is too outdated or can’t compete or is hate speech. Or perhaps the restrictions are personal: I’m too old or out-of-touch or have circumstances to overcome. When we use our freedoms for ourselves, we retreat within those walls by dwelling on the past, complaining, or just playing church. We know that all things are possible with God (Mark 10:27) and declare that if the church is not doing more, then it must be God’s will. But, God wants us using our freedoms for Him (John 14:12-14), and then He will do more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21).
III. Galatians 5:13-15. When we, through love, choose to use our freedom in Christ to serve others instead, we turn our focus outward rather than inward where we will destroy one another. The very nature of the church is to step outside of the walls where we have been driven by the culture to serve instead in deed and truth (1 John 3:16-18). Using Jesus as our example, we choose to serve in whatever station in life that God has placed us (Titus 2:1-8) and reaching outside the walls of the world and waging war against it with very different weapons (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
You may be using your freedom in Christ to fight, but what or whom are you fighting? Where is your focus? Inward for self or outward to serve?
They’ll Know We are Christians …
Loud is the world in its various forms and cluttered is our landscape with signs and advertising. It’s so hard to escape the bombardment–and still we fill our quiet time with TV in our homes and the radio in our cars. Yet God tells us, “In returning and rest (or repentance) you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength …” Isaiah 30:15. Must we compete with the world to reach out with the gospel? And how do we be IN the world without being OF the world? They hymn, “They’ll Know We are Christians” helps us to know:
I. Ephesians 4:1-6. They’ll know we are Christians by our warfare. As the first stanza goes:
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, And we pray that our unity may one day be restored
Unity in Christ is a big factor in being to wage war not as the world does but with divine power to demolish strongholds and take thoughts captive for Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). When Elijah was struggling after Jezebel threatened his life, God restored him with hot food and quiet rest, told him he was not alone, and reminded him that He was found not in the ways the world defined power but in “thin silence” (1 Kings 19:9-13).
II. 1 John 1:5–2:6. They’ll know we are Christians by our walk. The second stanza continues:
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand, We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand, And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land
First, we must walk with God in the light because His very nature is light. Then, we find Jesus’ blood washing us clean as we walk in fellowship with others who are also walking in the light. This means walking in obedience to truly know God and walking as Jesus did as an imitation of Him. Only then are we in a position to teach the gospel as it comes from the same compassion for the lost that Jesus had (Matthew 9:35-38).
III. Luke 18:35-43. They’ll know we are Christians by our worship. The final stanza declares:
All praise to the Father, from whom all things come, And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son, And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one
After a blind beggar, who had faith to be made well, was healed by Jesus, he “followed him, glorifying God.” The passage concludes with the people who saw this giving praise to God as well. We must give praise continually to God (Psalm 99:1-9). When we live our lives as a living sacrifice, others see our spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1-2) and give God praise and glory too. This subtle advertising is the best billboard for the gospel.
The song concludes by telling us that it is by our love–even for those hardest to love–that the world will know that we are followers of Christ … just as Jesus told us (John 13:34-35, Matthew 5:43-48, 1 John 3:11-24):
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
Do they know that you’re a Christian?
In This IS Love
As more see the current trends in our culture, George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 have been selling well. What the Catholic apologist, Peter Kreeft, once said is quickly coming true: control language and you control thought; control thought and you control action; control action and you control the world. Sadly, many who profess to follow Christ are more influenced by the world than they are God.
I. Isaiah 5:18-23. Whether it is 1st Century paganism or 21st Century humanism, Christians have been persecuted for not following culture’s god, the state. Increasingly, those who stand for truth in a politically-correct world find themselves as labeled “intolerant” by the “tolerant” because their beliefs differ. The means of control and cancellation the state uses is language (James 3:1-12). Terms such as ‘love,’ ‘gender,’ ‘marriage,’ ‘life,’ and ‘equality’ are hijacked to punish the populace into conformity. The ramifications for Christian athletes, colleges, businesses, and churches are great.
II. Exodus 4:10-12. God reminds Moses that He made man’s mouth, and therefore controls the definitions of our language. All man can do is choose to follow his own will or God’s in regard to this (Hebrews 13:15). God alone defines love (1 John 4:7-12), gender (Genesis 1:27), marriage (Genesis 2:24), pre-born life (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13-16), and equality. Like the culture, He defines it as sameness in regards to sin (Romans 3:23) and the need for salvation (Galatians 3:26-28), but we are each different according to His sovereignty (Hebrews 2:4) and our abilities (Matthew 25:15).
III. Romans 1:16-32. The culture wants the church to remain complacent and compromised, but we know that the righteous live by faith. We must wake up to the sin that we have so readily accepted in our lives and know the wrath that is coming because of it. We must recognize how the bad company we’ve kept has corrupted our morals (1 Corinthians 15:33) and ask who has influenced us more–God or the culture? Nearing the time of his death, Joshua asked the Israelites to choose God or the cultures of the land they had refused to eliminate from their lives (Joshua 24:14-15).
This same choice is before us. What will you choose?
Sought Him with Their Whole Desire
After the moral decline of Solomon’s reign and Reheboam’s unwise decision that split God’s people, his grandson, Asa, made a courageous move to rid Judah of its idolatry and return them to God (2 Chronicles 14). What will God do for His people when a good leader gets those in his sphere of influence to seek Him with their whole desire?
I. 2 Chronicles 15:1-15. Asa was given an ‘if’ by God, but unlike Solomon (1 Kings 3:14), Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:38), and Reheboam (1 Kings 12:7), he rose to the challenge. He entered into a covenant with the people he led to seek God with their whole desire, and because they did, God gave them rest, peace, and possession of the land.
II. Hebrews 13:7-17. We are to examine our leaders and imitate their faith. This would include Jesus, who suffered–meaning that we may need to suffer as well. Knowing their difficult position, we should make their job easier by obeying them. Jesus seeks us (Luke 19:10). But, do we want to be found (Luke 15:4-5)? We must also seek God (Matthew 7:7-8), who promises that we will find Him. Yet, we all are leaders in our sphere of influence (Matthew 25:20-27). Let us love God fully (Luke 10:25-28), seeking Him with our whole desire.
III. Ephesians 6:10-13. To seek God with our whole desire and get others to do so as well, we must take a stand by donning the armor of God. At the time of captivity, God searched for someone who would stand in the breach but found none (Ezekiel 22:30). God needs good leaders like Asa who will help a whole generation find Him. The church is not a club that does some good in the world. It is the spiritual vehicle to lead us to eternity (Hebrews 12:22-29). It is where we seek Him with our whole desire here, to spend eternity with Him there.
Are you seeking Him with your whole desire?