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Let Us Do Good

The fire on a lit match casts no shadow.  If Christians are light, then why do we often rely exclusively on worldly means–signs, advertising, an attractive facility–to compete with the darkness to get noticed?  Jesus and the 1st century disciples didn’t have billboards or business cards.  And, while some of this is useful (Luke 16:8) for us, the greatest periods of growth in the Lord’s church came about by preaching truth and doing good (Galatians 6:7-10).

I. Acts 10:36-38.  Jesus reaped what He sowed.  While on this earth, He viewed every interaction as an opportunity to advance the gospel, so much so that He was known for going around and doing good.  Even when He spoke, He wasted no effort to show the world that God was among them (John 7:40-46).  So, our every word and deed ought to show the world Jesus (Colossians 3:17) to increase His kingdom.

II. Matthew 25:37-40.  Preaching truth and doing good is light in a world of darkness, and so different than any of the worldly efforts we could employ to get noticed.  And, because it is hard, we may grow weary.  Jesus promises to be with us (Matthew 28:18-20), so we are never alone.  If we persevere as a church and in our personal ministries to shine our light on a stand for all to see, we will be rewarded.

III. Ephesians 4:15-16.  So, we must view every interaction we have out in the world and with each other as an opportunity to show Jesus by preaching truth and doing good.  Rather than seeing the church as a refuge–God is instead (2 Samuel 22:2-3)–to escape the world, we must see it as a base to regroup (Acts 13:1-3) so we can serve.  Only by shining light can we compete with the darkness to overcome it and grow.

We must pray that God will give us opportunities to preach truth and do good and that we will see them.  Then we can serve as a church and develop personal ministries in every interaction and situation.

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What is Truth?

Truth is to be sought after above all other things in this world (Proverbs 23:23), yet in a world that denies the existence of truth, we who insist on proclaiming it are hated (Amos 5:10).  Pilate was a product of the world that believed that whatever power or advantage a person could gather for himself was the only truth, relative as it may be, that existed.  Yet, Jesus declared to him that His purpose in coming into the world was to bear witness to absolute truth (John 18:33-40).  This is the purpose of His followers today.

I.  Acts 5:27-40.  Believing Jesus a liar, Pilate asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Word of this itinerant preacher from Galilee must have surely reached Pilate before his own people turned him over to be condemned.  He sure didn’t look the part, but if he was “the King of the Jews,” why were his own people, who hated the occupiers, so willing to involve Rome?  He must have done something else?  In the same way today the world tries to either shut truth-tellers up or get us to dilute our message.

II.  John 15:18-25.  Thinking Jesus a lunatic, Pilate asked, “So you are a king?”  If not lying, Jesus must be crazy, yet he was speaking not like one condemned but factually about his spiritual kingdom.  He has no fear in the face of the worldly power I wield buts speaks to me as a head of state, like he’s the one in control, not me.  I can see that he’s done nothing deserving death, but it’s out of envy that they turned him in.  For the same reason, Jesus’ followers are hated today as we are citizens of His kingdom.

III.  Acts 17:16-21.  Considering Jesus to be LORD, Pilate asked, “What is truth?”  Why would someone willingly go through this, even die if truly a king?  Jesus answers by stating that it’s his purpose for coming into this world in order to bear witness to the truth.  In my position, I only ever hear what I want to hear from those around me or lies to spare prisoners’ lives.  But, here is one in power as well and innocent.  Because truth is relative in our world today, truth-tellers are considered narrow-minded and are cancelled (Acts 19:23-41).

Pilate gave in to the crowd to keep peace.  That’s what worldly power does.  But, he would put an inscription on the cross stating that Jesus was King of the Jews.  Meanwhile, God’s people are urged to love truth and peace (Zechariah 8:16-19).  Do you–even in the face of a world that is against you?

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Send Forth Your Truth and Light

Psalm 43.3-5 NIV (1984)

Send forth and guide me your truth and light
To your holy mountain where you dwell;
I then will worship in joyful delight,
With praise, O God, my heart will swell.

Why, my soul, be so downcast?
Why in your heart be so distraught?
Put hope in God, to faith hold fast;
Yet will I praise him for all he’s wrought.

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Convincing Lies

Lord, keep away convincing lies,
Let truth be guide and guard;
Let wisdom see their winsome guise,
Keep love from being marred.

Make speech and actions always true,
And kindness most sincere;
Your word must wash and clear the view,
And free the heart from fear.

O God of glory, shine your light,
To show reality;
Put all that’s false and wrong to flight,
From sophistry cleanse me.

Watch Forthright Press for the author’s new book of prayers and poem.

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Our Lives for Heavenly Homes

The world is awash in lies and deception.
Guide us in your truth, O Lord.
Greet us with your eternal love.
Faithful is your every promise.

Keep us from the father of lies.
Our humble hearts would hear your word.
Make us faithful servants of Christ,
Giving our lives for heavenly homes.

Father of lights, let peace settle
Upon our souls with gentle signs.
We sing your praise for full salvation,
For growing hope in cleansing blood.

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Speaking the Truth in Love

What chance does the gospel have to be heard in a world that has become so competitive with waves of noise, each more flashy and entertaining?  So many have closed their ears.  How can we be God’s megaphone, speaking the truth in love, and get them to listen?  Should we beat the world at its own game in order to be heard?

I. 1 Kings 19:1-18.  After Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, he becomes discouraged by Jezebel’s death threats and runs away.  After refreshing him, God shows Elijah His power not in the wind, earthquake, or fire but in the gentle whisper.  Then, God shows him that He works in our weaknesses.  It’s the same with the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).  God’s grace is as sufficient for us as it was Paul (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

II. Ephesians 4:11-16.  Jesus, our Head, supplies us with truth that equips us to attain to unity and maturity in Him.  This seems strange in the boisterous world that believes that truth is relative.  But, the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth, who speaks the truth in love.  That truth, His Word, is a living and active, double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12-13) that we wield as part of the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) as we wage war differently than the world (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

III. James 3:1-10.  So, in our weaknesses, Jesus’ body, the church, supplies the tongue.  What a difficulty this is with such an untamable appendage!  Yet, speaking the truth in love, we reach the lost with a low whisper and grow up in Him, working together to build ourselves up.  Much like an adolescent must choose healthy food for his various body parts to grow up correctly into his adult-sized head, so the church must commit to knowing and living out truth to grow up properly into Him.

It’s God’s power and work, but He entrusts His weak and fallible servants to speak His words of truth in love to lead the lost and strengthen the saved.

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Ten requests to God in prayer

  1. Blanket your people with peace, O Lord, that we may live in quiet submission and glad thanksgiving.
  2. Remove from us those earthly and material things upon which we rely, so that we might depend wholly upon your grace and power.
  3. Bring us low in humility, as Jesus himself humbled himself, in order to be useful to the Kingdom.
  4. Jolt us from our comfortable routines and throw us out into the world of need.
  5. Fix before our eyes the single task of proclaiming Christ to a condemned mankind.
  6. Stir up our zeal for the truth of the gospel that we might know the Scriptures and guard your word in our hearts.
  7. Steer us away from sin and produce in us the holiness that permits us to see your face.
  8. Pour out your Spirit into our hearts that we might produce that holy and righteous fruit of all good things.
  9. Swell the ranks of reapers in the field of salvation, so that those who are ready to hear might have a message to respond to.
  10. Expose the lies of the evil one, so that the God who does not lie might be seen as the Savior and Sovereign of all.
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Oasis of peace

Father in Heaven, with the new year advancing quickly, time rushing by, life speeding on, let me live in the oasis of your peace.

Help me to be before I do.

Sanctify our people. Purify our motives and actions. Redeem us each day in our straying thoughts and wandering feet.

Bring our friends and family members to the truth. Convert them to Christ, away from sin and deceit. Rescue them from their doom.

Lead us to fight against our self-love and narrow interest, against the evil within and the wicked who would drown the righteous with their wrongdoing. Continue reading “Oasis of peace”

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Jesus Came to Witness

Jesus came to witness to the truth,
He said to Governor Pilate’s agnostic face;
In human flesh, the mind of God he spoke,
As light of the world, he left his glorious place.

O Lord, we’ve no idea of such a jump
That brought him to earth — but what humility!
Because of him your word serves as our lamp,
And we have pardon for eternity.

Let shine his fullest glory, illumine our path,
May love of truth be dear for it’s his nature;
Divert from us, O God, your holy wrath —
Your will is our one reason for existence.

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The dreariness of the rain

Our Father in Heaven,

Show us in the dreariness of the rain
how life is given to the earth.
And show us in the bleakness of this world
how joy is rooted in our hope of Christ.

Remind us in the storms and quakes of this earth
that the ground is not so solid beneath us.
Remind us in the tragedies and hurts we experience
that this world holds nothing for us.

Tell us in the prevalence of fake news
that we can trust little of what we hear.
Tell us in the multiplication of false doctrines
that man cannot know your mind and will.

Reveal to us in our frustrated attempts to forgive ourselves
how peace is beyond our reach.
Reveal to us in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
that reconciliation is as close as his cleansing blood.