Knox Ladies Seminar - Devotional

Go Boldly

10/12/2018

Romans 8:1, Hebrews 4:16 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We have been forgiven by the One Who created all things, the One who is the Redeemer, Savior, and Lord. No matter what we have done, what poor choices we made or the rebellion we pursued, God has chosen to forgive us. We cannot sin beyond His ability to forgive. As long as we truly and honestly repent, He is faithful and just to forgive.

Sometimes I wonder why He will forgive when I do the same dumb thing repeatedly. But He simply wants us to learn from our mistakes and move on. We tend to hold on to our past sins and hold them up as a banner, never seeking forgiveness or accepting it when we do seek it. We don’t believe that God is big enough or willing enough to forgive. We hold onto our guilt and refuse to forgive ourselves. Do we feel greater or wiser than our Savior? Do we think we know something He doesn’t?

Psalms tells us that His ways are higher than our ways and that He knows our thoughts before we do. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and nothing is hidden from Him. Even with all our weaknesses and failures, His love for us is limitless. He loved us and paid for our sins while we were yet sinners. He paid the price on the cross for us.

Our enemy, the devil, stands before Him condemning and accusing us. He tells Jesus, “Somebody has got to pay for their crimes.”

Jesus replies with a smile, “Been there, done that.”
Satan did his best to destroy our Redeemer but he was outsmarted by our God and King. He knows his time is short and his defeat is guaranteed so he is doing all he can to alienate us from God. One of his greatest weapons against us is the burden of unnecessary guilt that we carry. If he can make us concentrate on the past, we can't concentrate on the mission the Lord has set for us to accomplish.

Therefore, let us come boldly before the throne and confess. He will forgive. He will accept us and He will welcome us with open arms. Just like the father of the prodigal son, He will run to us and dress us in the pure white robe of His bride. He loves us.

September 24th, 2018

9/24/2018

Isaiah 61:1b
He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted.

We all have our broken places. We all have areas of
pain that are buried deep so that we don't think about
what hurts. Fractures in our hearts, spirits and bodies
build walls that are hard to get around or over. The Lord
has everything we need to heal those places. He has
been bruised for our iniquities and by His strips, we are
healed.

He knows the pain and hurt and loneliness we feel for
He has been there also. He hurts when we hurt and He
grieves with us when life hands us losses that are more
than we think we can handle.

Some issues may not be healed in our lifetime, but we
can learn and grow and be a witness to others of the
Lord's great mercy and plan for us. Others will be
watching the way we deal with everyday problems.
Whether the problem is short term or long term, how
we deal with the problems speaks in a loud voice to those
around us.

He has not given us an easy path. His disciples and
prophets all lived a life of sacrifice and most died as
martyrs for Him. They believed in the promise of His Word.

He will not forsake us when we continue to live for Him
despite the challenges that we face. We may be afflicted
with financial disaster or life threatening disease or relational
destruction in our lives. But the Lord has already lived
through and dealt with these issues.

He had no home during His ministry. His disciple denied Him and another betrayed him. He has borne our afflictions and will grieve with us but He will also stand with us through it all.

We must be open to allowing Him to help us heal our own
broken places, despite the pain. Then we can help heal the
broken places of the ones He sends to us.

Confidence in Christ Jesus

9/15/2018

2 Cor 3:4-6 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The letter of the law was given to show Israel that they could not keep the law, they needed an intercessor to stand for them. The law required constant sacrifices to attempt to atone for their sins. It seemed that there were never enough to pay the cost of their sins. The cost of sin is death. They needed a perfect sacrifice to cover the total cost of their sins. Jesus, the Son of God, stepped up and paid the full cost with His life.

The Spirit gives life not through following a long list of rules, He gives life through belief in Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen. He, Jesus, paid the price we could never pay. Our belief in Christ gives us the qualification to share what Jesus did for us.

We do have the competence to tell the world of the free gift we were given. We have all the tools of the trade to share the freedom of following the way of the Lord. We have the competence in Him to be ministers of the new covenant—the covenant of grace instead of rules and regulations.

We do not lack the competence. We lack the confidence in our ability to effectively share the good news with our friends, and family. We lack the confidence in our ability to stand up to the world that scoffs at the message of Christ’s salvation. We fear what others will think or say about us. We fear how our jobs will be affected.

When we learn to lean on the Holy Spirit to give us the confidence and grace to share the hope that we have for eternal life, we can relax and trust the Spirit to give us the words to say. When we learn to rest in Christ, we become a pleasing aroma to God. (2 Cor 2:15).

Searching for hidden treasure.

9/9/2018

Prov 2:1-3 My son, if you accept My words and store up My commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Searching for God’s truth may seem like an exercise in futility if you are looking for the answers you want, not what the Lord wants you to see. We tend to desire what we want and not what is best for us. The Lord desires us to let Him enter into our time of study and devotions.

We are told to study to show ourselves approved but sometimes the Bible can be confusing and even seems outdated. We don’t understand the references and what was the norm for them is completely foreign for us. Yet within all of the struggles, I have found a time of complete comfort and reassurance. I have even found that a verse that I have read multiple times suddenly comes alive and fits the situation that I am in at the time.

The disciples frequently asked that Jesus’s teachings be clarified for even they didn’t understand what He was trying to convey to them. Jesus was patient in helping them to understand but occasionally even called them slow of wit and slow to understand. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus opened their minds so that they could understand.

Paul prayed for the believers in Phillipi. ‘Being confident of this, that He Who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6) And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ’....(v9,10).

The more we learn of the Lord and His Word, the easier it is to fall deeper in love with Him. We can begin to understand the way He does things and the more we commit to understanding Him, the more we learn to trust. Jesus desires only the best for us. He yearns for our time together. He even became a man to that we could physically see Him and touch Him and talk to Him. He loves us.

Consider the Lilies

9/2/2018

Luke 12:27, 28 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!

Over the summer as I have worked my flower and vegetable gardens, I have also watched the flowers of the fields. No one fertilized or watered or cultivated them, but they seemed to thrive. Especially the ones that cause my sinuses to go crazy! They had no one to weed them or protect them from the rabbits, etc. While I spent hours in my two gardens, weeding, watering, etc, I noted they flourished just as my weeds and flowers did.

God’s compassion and love for the lilies and forest animals is a beautiful picture of how He cares for us. He may not provide all of our wants but He will not allow us to go through times of need alone. He will provide for all of our needs according to His riches in glory.

He sees all that we endure. He sees all of our joys and sorrows. He sees the hidden hurts as well as the ones we share with others. He sees the relationships that we should avoid. He sees the plans that we should abandon. He sees the true motivation of our hearts when we secretly give to others. He also sees when we do things to be noticed by others.

Learning to trust in God’s provision has always been a challenge for me. I have seen Him provide things exactly when needed or someone shows up exactly when needed. Rarely ever are things or people provided ahead of time.

Corrie Ten Boom told of a story her father told her. Her father said that we receive a ticket to get on the train when the ticket is needed, not before. The Lord handles our needs the same way. I don’t receive the strength I need for a time of trial until the trial comes. He always provides a way through a time of testing or temptation. We just need to take hold of it. Learning to lean on His guidance is just as important as learning to trust in His provision. If you question His love, consider the lilies of the field.

Grace restores righteousness.

8/18/2018

Titus 3:4-7 But when the kindness and love of God our
Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Micah 7:7-9 But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.  Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against Him, I will bear the Lord's wrath, until He pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see His righteousness.

2Cor 5:21 God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

God sent His Son to restore us to communion with Him. He
gave His Son as a perfect sacrifice without blemish to take our place. His word tells us over and over that there is nothing we can offer that can pay the debt we owe. Adam, in his foolishness, gifted us with eternal death
because he chose to abdicate his role and responsibilities. God in His unlimited love paid the price for us.

We, in our infinite wisdom, try to pay the debt by giving tithes, joining a church, working on committees. We think we can bypass the need to confess our sins. We want to buy our way into heaven. We don't want to admit that we are not able, in our sinfulness, to pay the price.  We don't want anyone to take the credit for getting us to heaven. We, in
our arrogance, think we can do it all.

But when we, God's people, confess our sins, He our Lord and Savior, restores to us His righteousness. He welcomes us into the throne room and rejoices with us that we will spend eternity with Him. We will see the Son of God face to face. We will have no more tears. We will not see death or sorrow.

God, in His righteousness, bought for us eternal life. He poured out boundless grace so that we can becomes heirs of eternal life in Him. Now is the time to pour out for Him, boundless praise and worship. Now is the time to offer up to Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving for the grace we have been given. His grace restored to us His righteousness. Our
worship of Him is what He desires. We can not repay our debt but we can rejoice in His love and grace.

You want me to do what?

8/5/2018

Judges 6:15 "But Lord, Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

Judges 4:8 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."

Throughout the history of God's people, He has chosen those who were not 'mighty warriors' or great orators or self-assured. He chose those who were dependent on the strength and guidance of the Lord. He saw in them the ability to do the things for His kingdom that would fulfill prophesy or restore righteousness to His people.

Mary, Jesus mother, accepted her assignment knowing the cost. Esther resisted but was willing to risk her life to save her people. Many others have reluctantly stood for the Lord.

Ananias was instructed by God to go to Paul and heal him. Paul had been sent by the high priests to arrest and imprison the ones that worshipped Jesus. Ananias knew all about Paul and questioned the Lord. (Acts 9:15) Ananias is told to 'go'. He was obedient and he brought Paul to the disciples in Damascus where he began his true ministry to the Gentiles.

While, in this day and age, we, in America are not usually asked to give our lives for an assignment of the Lord, He knows that when we are given a calling to do a certain job or project, we will be given all the tools and knowledge needed. Sometimes that knowledge is given 'on the way' but He is faithful to guide us.

Whether we are taking on a leadership role, working silently behind the scenes, or being second in command, God provides all our needs according to His wisdom. No matter where we are planted, He honors our obedience and willingness. We just need to remember that He is in charge of making job assignments and has long ago done a skills assessment of His people. He knows our weaknesses and
strengths. He knows we do better when we acknowledge our failures and rely on Him to turn our weaknesses into our greatest strengths. When we remember where our gifts come from and give Him all the  glory, He will honor us with the crown of life and eternal rejoicing in His presence.

You go nowhere by accident!

7/30/2018

A friend gave me this poem one day on a particularly challenging day.
I sometimes forget that God can use us to serve Him where ever we are.

You go nowhere by accident!

Remember, you go nowhere by accident.

Where ever you go, God is sending you.

Where ever you are, God has put you there.

He has a purpose in your being there.

Jesus Christ Who lives inside of you has

Something He wants to do through you right where you are.

Believe this and go in the grace and peace

Of the Lord Jesus Christ to love and serve

God and your fellow man now and forever more. Amen

God put Paul in prison with Roman guards around him 24/7. He converted many of them to believe in Jesus as Savior. These same guards took the message of grace and peace to the other Roman soldiers. These same soldiers took the Good News to the whole Roman Empire.

Being in prison is not at the top of anyone's favorite place to go but being there brought Chuck Colson into God's kingdom. His influence brought about several ministries
serving the needs of people in prison as well as their families.

God puts people in the right place at the right time to bring about His plan. Esther, Ruth, Moses, etc, were all used in times of fear and trials to bring about the perfect plan of salvation to God's people. Without Joseph's transport to Egypt, his family would have starved.

When you are in a place of tribulation, ask God for His plan. He doesn't always tell us what He has planned but you will always be used to glorify Him. We don't have to know what God has planned. We just need to be available and mostly willing to serve Him. Jonah wasn't all that willing but still brought salvation to Nineveh and the Assyrian nation. His love for all people can be extended to the world through us.

Recipe for eternal life.

7/22/2018

John 17:2,3 For You have 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 know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ, Whom You have sent.

Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, He preached that the kingdom of God is not a physical kingdom. It is a spiritual kingdom that thrives within us as we study and learn of Him. Jesus repeatedly reminded His disciples that He is the bread of life, the living water, the rock of salvation. The whole of our belief system rests not on what we do, it rests on what He has already done.

Psalms encourages us to study to show ourselves approved. We are also reminded that if we know the truth, the truth will set us free. Jesus is the truth. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is revealed from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. John tells us that Jesus did it all. John 1:1-3 tells us that He created the universe and all that it contains. Later in the chapter, John says that Jesus is the light. He came into the world but the world did not recognize Him.

I have always been amazed that those that studied prophesy did not know Who He was. They couldn’t understand how He fit into their preconceived idea of Who He should be. The uneducated, the poor, those who were hungry for forgiveness and healing recognized Him and chose to follow Him, sometimes at the cost of their lives. They were not so blinded by things as were those who were ‘in the know’.

Many sat at His feet and learned of Him. They heard the words of life. They heard the guiding wisdom in parables they understood. We are not as lucky in that we don’t understand a lot of the references because our culture is so different. But we have something they did not have. We have God’s Word in written form that we can pick up at any time. We can search for answers without fear of being arrested or imprisoned. We can still sit at His feet if we take the time to get to know the One Who has given us eternal life. It is simply a matter of being open to spending time in His presence.

A light shining in the darkness

7/18/2018

The song of praise to the Lord from Zechariah for his son, John the Baptist.

Luke 1:76-79 “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

When travelers in Israel would be caught on the road after dark, they were at high risk of thieves and, in our modern speech, getting mugged. There were no street lights to show the way and chase away shadows. They sometimes had no moonlight or stars to help. The roadways out of Jerusalem were in places very narrow with many caves and lots of places for thieves to hide. Waiting for the dawn to light the way could be a long scary experience.

Jesus was going to be that sun rising in a world filled with the darkness of sin. He would shine that light into the lives of the religious elite and the beggar in the streets and everyone in between. He would allow them to make their own choices whether to admit the sin in their lives or be offended and self-righteous. Jesus wept over Jerusalem when they rejected Him.

Jesus rejoices, however, over us throughout the ages when we choose Him and are willing to be humbled by His gift of salvation. He is asking us to be that light to the world. He is asking us to go before Him and offer to the people in our lives the Light of the world. God’s word tells us that the angels rejoice when one sinner is brought to salvation. We will be given the crown of glory when we come into His presence at the final judgment. Whether we offer our daily lives as a witness to the mercy and grace of Jesus or if we verbally witness, whether we financially and prayerfully give to others who are in the midst of the battle, God honors our efforts. He sees our heart and motives and is blessed by our submission. He is joyfully waiting to tell us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Being healed so we can help heal.

7/10/2018

Isaiah 61:1a The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord
is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, ..........

We all have our broken places. We all have areas of
pain that are buried deep so that we don't want to think
about what hurts. Fractures in our hearts, spirits and bodies
build walls that are hard to get around or over. The Lord
has everything we need to heal those places. He has
been bruised for our iniquities and by His strips, we are
healed.

He knows the pain and hurt and loneliness we feel for
He has been there also. He hurts when we hurt and He
grieves with us when life hands us losses that are more
than we think we can handle.

Some issues may not be healed in our lifetime, but we
can learn and grow and be a witness to others of the
Lord's great mercy and plan for us. Others will be
watching the way we deal with everyday problems.
Whether the problem is short term or long term, how
we deal with the problems speaks in a loud voice to those
around us.

He has not given us an easy path. His disciples and
prophets all lived a life of sacrifice and most died as
martyrs for Him. They believed in the promise of His Word.

He will not forsake us when we continue to live for Him
despite the challenges that we face. We may be afflicted
with financial disaster or life threatening disease or relational
destruction in our lives. But the Lord has already lived
through and dealt with these issues. He had no home
during His ministry. His disciple denied Him and another
betrayed him. He has borne our afflictions and will grieve
with us but He will also stand with us through it all.

He wants us to be open to allowing Him to help us heal our own broken places, despite the pain. Then we can help heal the broken places of the ones He sends to us.

Shaliah

7/1/2018

John 12:13, 17:18 Luke 9:1 …...."Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world". When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.

The Jewish priests and rabbis would have followers that wanted to learn more of the Torah and the laws and rules they were to live by. They would learn from the ones they followed as they spent time in their company. We would call them interns or apprentices. As they became more experienced and knowledgeable, they would have greater responsibilities. They could become scribes (responsible for copying the scriptures and transcribing the rulings of the Sanhedrin, etc.). They could become messengers for the Sanhedrin. (They would be the ones in the crowds with Jesus and reporting back to their leaders.) Some of the highly educated messengers would have been the ones that challenged and tried to trap Jesus.

The designation of disciple means 'learner or student'. Apostle is derived from the Greek which means 'sent one'. They would not have authority, they would only deliver messages. They would have to rely on someone else to enforce the messages as needed.

Jesus picked twelve ordinary men to be His 'sent ones' but He went beyond the regular apostles of the Jewish religion. He gave His apostles greater power and authority than the other apostles of the Jewish leadership. He gave them His power and authority to do the same miracles that He did. He even told them at one point that they would do greater things than what they saw Him do.

The name "Shaliah" means sent one but it also means that anyone who holds that title also holds the authority of the one who sent them. They would not carry their own message. They would only carry the message of the one that sent them.

When we accepted Jesus as our personal Savior, we became His Shaliah. We were given the power and authority that He gave the Twelve. He is sending us into all the world to deliver His message of grace and forgiveness. He is telling us to offer the world of darkness and pain a message of hope and healing. We are His Shaliah. We are to introduce Him to the world and the more we know of His message, the better we can share it with others.

June 25th, 2018

6/25/2018

Psalm 8:1, 19:1, 29:1,2 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hand. Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.

I have noticed many times the lack of true awe of the Lord when we are praising and worshiping Him. We sing the same songs. We sing the Gloria Patri. But do we really mean what we are saying? Do we really know the words we are speaking or are we simply singing by rote, saying routinely the Lord's prayer without really understanding what those words mean? Do we really mean it when we ask for His will to be done?

God's word tells us that even the stones will cry out if we don't offer praise. Psalms tells us that that He has ordained praise from the lips of children and infants. He inhabits our praises. I sometimes wonder what kind of residence He is inhabiting. Do we offer Him mansions of praise or hovels? Our songs of praise are the habitation we offer Him. Our prayers are filled with the true feelings of our hearts.

God, the Father has offered us mansions in heaven. He has offered us streets of gold and seeing the Son face to face. We cannot begin to comprehend what He holds in store for us. We can, however, offer Him praise worthy of Who He is.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name". Set your spirit free to worship Him. Let your praises soar high into the heavens to sail on the winds like the wings of the eagle. If you are uncomfortable in public settings, the shower or the car during travel time suit the Lord just as well. He loves to hear your praise!

Trusting during trials

6/11/2018

Proverbs 3:5, Jer 29:11 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Over the last few months, I have been dealing with some personal challenges and frustrations. I have felt angry with the Lord and then wondered where He went. I have felt deserted and very lonely. I felt as if He has been far from me.

Yet when I am really honest with myself, I find that the truthful reason I am angry is because I didn't get my own way. Things didn't go the way I thought they should. I didn't see answers to prayer happening the way I wanted. While I should feel joy at seeing answers, I sulked because God didn't follow my plan.

It all came down to the fact that I was only trusting Him when things went my way. I wasn't putting my trust in the One that holds my eternity in His hands. Trust for me is a very difficult process. I have found it easier to not trust than to become vulnerable to others or even to the Lord. This is one of the things the Lord is working on in my life.

Learning to trust in the Lord with all your heart means to submit to His will. It means to believe what the scripture tells us. It means that when we feel led to step out of our comfort zone, we truly believe that we don't step out alone.
He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. The enemy will try to tell us that God doesn't love us because of the things that happen in our lives, but true faith means that we tell the enemy to take a long walk off a short pier. It means we trust the Lord even in the valley. It means that after the mountain top experience, when we face the journey back to the valley, we still trust His ways.

There will always be a valley after the mountain top. When we deal with that journey, we grow in trust and we grow stronger in faith. The one thing to remember in the journey is that God never moves. We do. He loves us enough to keep calling us back to fellowship with Him.

Prayer is a conversation, God listens, do you?

6/2/2018

Deuteronomy 4:9 But if from there you will seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

Psalms 46:10 Be still and know that I am God

Psalms 45:10 Listen O daughter, consider and give ear.
Be still before the Lord your God and listen for His voice. Let your petitions be known
then still your heart for His guidance. He knows your heart. Now is the time to learn His.

Psalms 103:7 He made His ways known to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.

Moses took the time to get to know the God of Israel, Who He is and why He did the things He did. Moses wanted to know Who he was following. He wanted an intimate relationship with the creator of the universe.

Until we become intimately familiar with our Savior, we will always spend too much time questioning and not enough time listening. We tend to search all the latest books, read this theologian or that one to find our way to a closer relation with Jesus.

Here is an old theory for getting up close and personal with our Lord and Savior. Read His love letters, all 66 of them. Search for His personality, His goals and His mission. Our goals will become so much clearer. He doesn't ask us to study under some great learned scholar, He asks us to sit at His feet and learn of Him.

I heard a dialogue one time. The actor said, "The stripes on my shoulder mean I don't have to explain. I just expect you to trust that I know what I am doing and obey my orders."
When I heard that, I lost track of the movie and started thinking about the stripes on the back of our Savior. He, too, expects us to trust His plan for us and follow Him. He gave us the outline for our future. Sometimes it isn't all that clear but we have to trust our Leader to lead us to victory.

What was Adam thinking

5/20/2018

Genesis 3:10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden
and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
Genesis 3:1-7

As many times as I have read the account of the fall of Adam and Eve, I have never realized how little Adam was involved in the events that took place.

Adam stood by while his wife was rewording what God had said despite his knowledge that what she said was wrong. He made no attempt to intervene while the serpent was deceiving Eve. He watched while Eve took the forbidden fruit and ate it. He went right along with Eve in doing what God had forbidden. He helped try to cover up their sin. He and Eve tried to hide from God the new knowledge they had acquired.

When we see others falling into sin and do nothing to stop the landslide of sin entering the life of those we love, we follow the example of Adam and don't get involved. We have all the knowledge of the consequences of sin and yet we don't want to 'interfere'.

God dealt harshly with Adam and Eve for their bad choices and with the serpent for leading them astray. The serpent offered the forbidden fruit, but Adam and Eve and you and I are guilty of choosing to take a bite of the temptation placed before us. Whether it is the wrong diet, overspending, stealing things from work, cheating on taxes, not paying for what we have purchased, we will pay in the long run.

I am very glad Christ chose to get involved and show us the right path. He chose to pay for our bad choices. He chose to spend His earthly life showing us a better way.

When we see others falling into bad choices, we must offer gently and lovingly a better way. If we choose to 'not get involved', we will also be judged harshly. If we choose to whisper to others of someone's poor choices, our sin of gossip only adds to the price we will pay.

Ask the Lord to open our eyes so we can see others
through His eyes. He can help us to love them into healing and restoration just as He loved us back into His kingdom when we fell from grace. Jesus is, was and will be our righteousness and our redeemer. He will lead us into confession, repentance and our redemption.

Down time

5/13/2018

Luke 5:16 but Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Often Jesus would walk away from the intense pressures of His earthly life. He would seek a place of quiet and peace to restore His energy and spiritual batteries. On an average day, He would be faced with the hostilities from the religious leaders. He would deal with followers that wanted fed or healed or forgiven. His chosen twelve gave Him constant frustration. He told them they were slow-witted, faithless and stubborn. No one offered Him rest or encouragement.

On the night before Jesus selected His twelve Apostles (Luke 6:12), He spent the night in prayer. He was communing with His Father and the Holy Spirit. He knew where His support system is. He knew to go to the Ones that had His best interests at heart. Jesus sought Them for encouragement. He already knew who would betray Him. He knew that Peter would deny Him and all of them would desert Him. But He also knew that these were the men that would take His Word to all the world.

Jesus had a habit that strengthened Him. We would be wise to follow His example. He would step away from the pressures of His ministry and get the regeneration that He so deeply needed. He did not see it as 'deserting' His ministry, instead, He required that time away. A 'down time' would prepare Him for the next time of pressures and aggression of the Pharisees.

During an average day, we are under pressure to go here, do this, get this done. We have a schedule that would slow down the best. When we are trying to nurture our children, we don't always do what is best for ourselves while we are doing so much for them. One of the things that service people are taught is that if you don't take care of yourself first, you won't be able to help others. Stewardesses will tell passengers to first put on an oxygen mask before helping others. If you pass out from oxygen deprivation, you can't save others.

Taking time away is a good way to reconnect with the Lord. Having a time apart to study His word and commune with Him gives us a time to refocus on the real priorities and set aside those things that distract us. The Lord desires that time apart with us. He wants us to thrive in His love. We can't do that if we don't step away and enjoy 'down time' with Him.

Come and See

5/6/2018

John 1:35-39a The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" "Come", He replied, "and you will see."

When I first came to Christ, I was reassured that I needed only confess my sinfulness and accept Jesus as my Savior. After a short time, I began to receive a lot of 'you should really do this' or 'you really shouldn't do this'. Lots of new rules and regulations were added to the requirements for salvation. I was assured Jesus's sacrifice was enough for redemption of my soul but 'real Christians' had a whole list of rules to live by.

The disciples of Jesus were not given that list. They were just invited to 'come and see'. His disciples followed Him day by day. They learned of His love and compassion and forgiveness. They learned Who He is and learned directly from His heart.

They didn't change instantly. They learned how to live by following His example. Some of the disciples went from self-centered to being Jesus centered. They went from demanding the places of importance to giving their lives for Him. They had a complete change of focus. It was not from a list of do's and don'ts, it was from a deep, heartfelt commitment to the Messiah.

Learning at the feet of Jesus is a lifetime commitment of learning Who He is. It is studying His word to find out how He thinks, how the depth of His love for us flows from Him through us to others. The more we learn of Him, the more we understand His plan for the world and us in particular.

Ps 103:7 tells us He showed His acts to Israel and His ways to Moses. Moses wanted to learn all about Who God is and why He does what He does. It is the difference between knowing the dates from history and learning the causes of the events. When we love someone, we want to know all about that person. That is what God wants us to feel about Him. He calls us the apple of His eye. He loves us.

Tongue-tied

4/29/2018

James 3:5,9-10 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

Ps 141:1-3 O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to You. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.

Many times, in dealing with others, we say things we wish we could take back. We would like to reach out and pull back the hurtful things that slip from our mouths. What has slipped out is usually what is hiding in our hearts.

In Psalms, David prays that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart be pleasing to the Lord. It is easier to control our thoughts than it is to control our words when emotions run high. We use less discretion and less self-control when we are angry. James tells us it is easier to tame the beasts of the field than to control the tongue. It is easier to change the direction of a large boat than to control the little tongue filled with evil and deadly poison.

We can, with God's help, change our conversation to what pleases the Lord. We can pour out blessings and encouragement instead of criticism. It isn't easy, but it is a great victory over the power of the enemy. Carefully choosing our words, slowing our response until we have better control of the words we say will bring honor to the Lord of our lips.

The Lord has told us to be angry but sin not. He said be slow to anger. Offering up soft words instead of harsh ones can change the direction of the conversation. Consider carefully what you want to say before you allow the words to cross the barrier of your lips. Remember that the Lord knows your thoughts before you do. We can't hide them from Him.

April 22nd, 2018

4/22/2018

Luke 5:4-5 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

Fishermen usually fish at night in the shallows because that is where the fish are gathered. They prefer the cooler water at night. They follow their food. What Jesus has just asked is completely against the normal way of life for them. What He is asking is for Simon to follow Him, not follow what makes sense.

We spend our lives doing what we are told makes most sense. Our churches pay advisors to tell them how to fill the pews. We look at what works for other churches and follow their lead. We keep fishing in the tried and true way and still our young leave in droves. Our senior Saints don't want to change. (We've never done it that way before!)

When we are willing to let down our nets according to what the Lord tells us, we may be amazed at what happens. We can change the focus from filling our pews to healing our present members. We can take the initiative and seek reconciliation among those who have been hurt by the church. We can stand in the gap for what has happened in the past, learn from it and move on.

The leadership of the church is where the movement can start. If the Lord is calling for repentance, that is where we must start. If He is calling for revival, it also must start from the top. When the leadership is willing to confess, repent and start over, they can set the church on fire with the Holy Spirit. It is an amazing thing to see the leadership excited about serving again.

That excitement will filter down to the members, spread to the families and on out from there. We forget the first love of serving the Lord. We get tangled up in the nets of everyday problems and lose the joy of the Lord. He is reminding us to let down our nets in a new way. He is asking us to fall in love with Him all over again. Where is he asking you to let down your nets?

Blessed by Understanding

4/16/2018

Matthew 13:16-17 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men long to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

In Nehemiah 8:8, the people were rejoicing because they had the Word read to them so that they could understand the law for the first time. They grieved for the way they had turned from God and had forsaken Him. Nehemiah told them to go out and rejoice and celebrate and share food and drink because now they knew the law and could follow it.

We are deeply blessed with the abundance of material available to help us to understand God's Word. We take for granted the thing other Christians desire so much. Many nations have laws against the possession of a Bible or even portions of one. Being martyred for owning them is not unusual in today's world.

An average Christian family may have several Bibles as well as multiple versions of it. A glance in a Christian bookstore will show several shelves containing every size, shape and color of Bibles available. Bibles for every age help provide us with information for each level of a Christian walk.

We can understand the parables of Jesus. We can study the prophesies of The Revelation. We can look at the Old Testament and see the footprints of Jesus throughout. We are truly blessed. The only book of the Bible to offer a blessing for studying it is Revelation.

Matthew tells us Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a hidden treasure or a pearl of great price. Gleaning the depths of God's love through His Word can be a lifetime of study and joy. He offers us insight into our weaknesses and strengths. He shows us His plan for our future. He tells us of His love and the extent He was willing to go to give us an eternity with Him. Rejoice that for now, we can still freely worship. The days are coming when that will no longer be allowed.

New Wine

4/8/2018

Luke 5:37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.

Leather skins were used widely in Biblical times for carrying liquids. Milk, water and especially wine were transported more safely because the skins would not break under rough treatment. Jars and glass were breakable and did not fare well on the road.

When wine is new, a fermentation process puts a lot of pressure on the container. The container must be able to accommodate the build-up of gasses within. A new wineskin is soft, pliable and will stretch much more easily. Old leather tends to be fragile and brittle. It does not allow for changes and a lot of pressure. It will break easily.

When we become new in Christ, we must become like new wine skins. We must become flexible, willing to change and mold-able. We become a new creation. Behold, all things become new. The old ways must pass away. We will need to become the vessel that the Lord has created us to be. We must be willing to give up on our stiff-necked ways and trust the Wine Maker to fill us as He sees fit.

In Christ, we will be stretched and challenged as our new wine begins to become mature. We will be given a new set of values that don't meet the world's values. The world tells us, "Me first, then maybe you." Hosea 6:6 tells us God desires "mercy not sacrifice". The Lord asks us to go into all our world to preach the gospel. He asks us to be willing to place our wants and sometimes needs on the back burner in order to help those around us. Whether physical or spiritual needs, the Lord has given us all we need to help others.

I have met Christians that know the Lord as their savior yet they don't have the great joy of knowing His compassion and peace. I know some who are so in love with the Lord they can't wait to give that joy to others. The Lord uses all of us in one way or another. We can choose to be a willing, mold-able vessel or a stiff old wine skin. The great Wine Maker loves us regardless.

The Great Sacrifice

4/4/2018

John 10:11, 17-18a, 28. I am the good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.... I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

When Jesus chose to lay down His life for the sheep, His sheep did not understand that it was necessary to fulfill the prophesies. It was necessary that the wages of sin be paid so that we could spend eternity with our Shepherd. He chose to pay the price for us because His love for us is so deep.

The Lord Jesus has many names. He is called the Bread of Life, the Living Water, the great I Am. But the name that blesses me so much is the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep. He calls us by name. He sees our every need and supplies them. We don't always get all of our wants but in Him we have all that we need.

His word tells us that He is the Light of the world. He knows our thoughts and failures. He knows our dreams. He knows where we can best serve Him. He tells us we are made in His image. He stands as an intercessor between us and our heavenly Father.

We are all familiar with John 3:16. But when was the last time you sat down and slowly read the words of that verse? We recite it by rote. We have a head knowledge of what it means. But the depth of the sacrifice that is represented here is such that we don't appreciate it nearly enough. It speaks of the love of the Father. It tells of the obedience of the Son. It describes the gift of eternal life and its cost.

Our Shepherd knows us. He loves us and was willing to stand for us in God's judgment. He took the strips and the death that we deserve and He did it willingly. He is worthy of all the honor and glory and worship that we can give. He is worthy of the deepest love we can give. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father. He loves us.

Stand Firm

3/26/2018

2 Chron 20:15b, 17a, Is 7:9b, Eph 6:13b,14, 12 For the battle is not yours, but God's. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. After you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place... For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

So many times in our everyday lives, we are encouraged to compromise to keep the peace. After all, a little compromise won't cause problems. Will it? We can only answer with the gospel of peace and truth that the Word of God has given us. Compromise in the lives of the Israelites cost them God's peace and sent them into slavery. It caused God to take the Shekinah glory from the temple of Jerusalem because His people chose to serve other gods.

When we are willing to stand firm in our faith, we will not be swayed by fads or the preferences of others. It may be one of the most difficult decisions we make but it does make a difference to the God we have chosen to serve. He has asked us to stand firm in the presence of great pressures. He has asked us to not be like the waves of the sea, blown and tossed by the winds.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
We are promised trials and temptations in this life. The Bible tells us not if but when we face trials in our lives. Those who stand firm will receive the crown of life. We will stand before the Eternal Judge and hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." He will invite us to share in our Master's happiness. We will stand in the temple of God and sing with the saints, "Holy, Holy, Holy." We will see the Shekinah glory that lights the New Jerusalem.

A Treasured Possession

3/11/2018

Malachi 3:16-18 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name.

"They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."

While serving in different groups and positions, I have felt frustrated when those who are serving their own agendas seem to be promoted and acknowledged. Others serve quietly in the background, working just as hard, but with a heart for serving the Lord. The quiet servants go about in their service with barely any appreciation.

Samuel told David's father, Jesse, that God looks on the heart, not the exterior. Jesse felt his older sons should have been chosen as king but Samuel was aware of God's plan to prosper Israel. He knew that God had it all in control despite the youth and inexperience of David. David's brothers served David in his armies and showed their true colors as the challenges of David's reign tested them.

God called David a man after God's own heart. David was loved by God despite all the weaknesses in him. We also are deeply loved by God. He calls those who serve Him His 'treasured possessions'. He has written their names in the book of remembrance. He has written their names in the palm of His hand. The God of creation has created an eternal city where they may live and serve and worship Him.

We were never promised that serving the Lord would be easy. We aren't promised to be honored and exalted in this lifetime. We are promised a crown of glory. We are promised to stand in the presence of the Messiah. We will see Him high and lifted up. We will see Him in the throne room and there will be no need for a sun because He is the Light of the world.

When we serve the Lord out of love and devotion, we are guaranteed a place in eternity, a place prepared for us by the One Who created and redeemed us. When we talk to each other about serving the Lord, we are called His treasured possession.