No Greater Love
Artist Austin Zucchini-Fowler’s new mural – Denver, Colorado / (Denver Post article)
Father, I am so glad that I can come before You every day. It makes no difference when…or where. Regardless of my circumstances, You join me. I call on You throughout the day and You are with me. What comfort You bring…
Luke 9:23-25 (<<click to read the passage)
As I sat to write yesterday, there was a lot more on my heart and mind that what I got together for Wednesday’s post. So, as everything moved along last night, I quickly realized that part of it would have to wait until today.
Through different eras, there are challenges thrust upon us. The last global challenge for our very existence was World War II. I was reading a friend’s post earlier and it shared the story of an 80+ year-old-man. He said, “You know, I was a little boy during WWII. Those were scary days. We didn’t know if we were going to be speaking English, German or Japanese at the end of the war. There was no certainty, no guarantees…”
Millions of lives were lost in that global conflict. Many had no choice – where they lived, what their heritage was – those were the determining factors in whether the lived…or died. But others selflessly gave of themselves. Men and women from every corner of the world joined forces to combat the evil that threatened to overtake the world.
Today, another evil of a whole different sort has been ravaging us for weeks and, really, there is no certain end in the foreseeable future. And our enemy seemingly lurks around every corner, ready to pounce and decimate and destroy.
But once more, in our time of need, there are those who are selflessly giving of themselves. Men and women of every race and creed from every corner of our world are diligently working to combat the evil that is threatening to overtake us.
The notes from my study Bible* spoke to me. I felt that it pointed to those who every day are laying down their lives to save as many as they can, many of them are followers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And they sacrifice their safety and the safety of their families so that we might live.
If this present life is most important to you, you will do everything you can to protect it. You will not want to do anything that might endanger your safety, health, or comfort. By contrast, if following Jesus is most important, you may find yourself in unsafe, unhealthy, and uncomfortable places. You may risk death, but you will not fear it because you know that Jesus will raise you to eternal life. Nothing material can compensate for the loss of eternal life. Jesus’ disciples are not to use their lives on earth merely to please themselves; they should spend their lives serving God and others.
Lord Jesus, please place Your arms of love and care around those give of themselves in service to us. Yes, some may not know You, but, Lord, I would ask that you would embolden those, your children, to speak, to share. May the events in which we find ourselves draw our hearts to You. And whether we live or die our hope is in You, both now and for eternity. Amen.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ~ Jesus (John 15:13 NLT)
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Apr 15th, 2020, Wed, 7:23 pm
One Small Fish in the Vast Oceans of Humanity
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Father, tonight before I read and write I would ask for Your guiding hand as I try to maintain control over many aspects of my life. I am in a good place now and, because You have already been sustaining me, I am heading in the right direction. Thank You for the determination that You have placed in my heart!
Luke 9:23-25 (<<click to read the passage)
We are most definitely a society of opinions. And many are vocal about their own and equally vocal about those whose opinion differs from their own. I am going to share my opinion on something with whom some might not agree. But before writing me off, please hear me out.
First, read today’s passage. This is Jesus speaking,
“If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake, he is the one who will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God]. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], and loses or forfeits himself? (AMP)
I truly feel that those who are choosing to defy guidelines set by those in authority over us and are still coming together as a group of people together to worship are in the wrong. (Hold on, don’t ditch me yet!)
When I read the phrase, “he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests]”, that doesn’t sound like the goal of those who are coming together. They feel that they must respond like Peter and the apostles did when told they had to stop teaching about Jesus at the temple. They responded by saying, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” (Acts 5:29 NLT)
But we have been told no such thing. We have not been told to stop teaching about Jesus. All that we have been asked to refrain from is coming together in close proximity to each other.
I feel that the direction that I, and many other pastors, have chosen to go has opened so many other doors of opportunity to touch the world for Jesus! This past Sunday alone, I know of at least 58 different people that tuned in to what I had to share via the internet. It was viewed, at least in part, 200 times and stats tell that it passed in front of 644 people on their Facebook feed!
I pastor two small rural congregations. If I added both churches’ attendance on a good Sunday, I might have 40 people who come together for worship. We have struggled for years, to reach people. And now we are, and they don’t even have to step inside our buildings! But they are there! We are touching the world for Christ!
I wholeheartedly believe the passage of Scripture from Isaiah 55:10-11 that says,
“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
…and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
…producing seed for the farmer
…and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
…I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
…and it will prosper everywhere I send it. (NLT)
I am but one small fish in the vast oceans of humanity. And the stats I shared? Those are just for three days! Only God knows how many people His Word will reach, for we all know that what is put on the internet will be there for as long as the world wide web exists!
And let me ask one last question. How many people are those defiant churches touching for Jesus? How many regular Joes are they attracting to their gatherings? Yes, many are having people drive in from all over to gather in their buildings…but so what!
Jesus tells the story of a shepherd – representing Himself – that left the 99 sheep who were safely with Him to go and find the one sheep who had wandered away. Sounds to me like they are content to be amongst the 99 and, truth be told, the one really doesn’t matter.
Lord Jesus, may the scales drop from our eyes! May we see what You see – souls dying all around us because we don’t care enough to do what needs doing. May we swallow our pride and humbly follow Your lead. Amen.
Apr 14th, 2020, Tue, 7:49 pm
A Matter of Being Ready
Good afternoon, Father! Even with everything in turmoil in the world around me, You are my ROCK! My trust is in You!
Luke 9:21-22 (<<click to read the passage)
As we are now just past our celebration of Easter – Resurrection Sunday! – and I once more read through the two verses from yesterday’s post and the notes below, and I also have some other things that have been weighing on my mind, I feel that I need to say them.
As I mentioned yesterday, Jesus was not the Messiah that the Jewish nation had anticipated. He explained to his disciples that he would not now be the conquering Messiah because he first had to suffer, die, and rise again. And here is the line that grabbed me. But one day he would return in great glory to set up his eternal Kingdom. *
There are many points of significance in the words God has given us in His Holy Word, the Bible. They are inspirational and give us great, irreplaceable guidance – not a single word of man can do so! But the pinnacle event above them all was the resurrection of Jesus, our Lord and Savior! Everything before His resurrection leads up to that event and everything following that event is in response to it!
With that in mind, we should be diligent on carrying out His command as He left (temporality, mind you!) the disciples with mouths agape when he ascended to the heavens.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (AMP)
One other thing, Acts 1:6-8 also speaks of Jesus’ departure.
So when they had come together, they asked Him repeatedly, “Lord, are You at this time reestablishing the kingdom and restoring it to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.” (AMP)
For some time now, I have heard quite a bit of talk amongst believers that all that we have been experiencing in the past several years seem to be pointing to our Lord’s imminent return. Now unarguably, that is going to happen at some point. But did you catch that interaction in the first lines of the above passage?
…they asked Him repeatedly, “Lord, are You at this time reestablishing the kingdom and restoring it to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority. (emphasis mine)
Church! Quit fiddling around, putting effort and time into something Jesus, our Lord and Master, specifically addressed by saying “It is not for you to know”! Do the work He has called us to do. He said, “GO!” People’s eternal destinies hang in the balance! Nowhere did He say to waste time trying to figure out how it all ends!
I will tell you right now how it will end.
At just the right time, and only the Father knows when that will be, Jesus will most definitely return. We find in Matthew 24:42 (AMP) that Jesus said, “So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming.”
As my study Bible said, one day Jesus will return in great glory to set up his eternal Kingdom. It is not a matter of if Jesus is returning, it’s a matter of being ready when He does!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Apr 13th, 2020, Mon, 1:32 pm
A Leg Up
It was a different but wonderful day, Father. Thank you for giving me the ultimate reason to rejoice! I was lost but now I’m found! All praise to you!
Luke 9:21-22 (<<click to read the passage)
My son, Massey, is getting very close to completing the work needed for his doctorate in Aerospace Engineering. It has been (and still is!) a long arduous journey (most definitely for him and some for us, too!) As of yesterday, his first major paper to this end was accepted and at some point, it will be published in the ASME: Journal of Fluids Engineering.
Now I am not just putting this out there because we are SO proud of him… (OK to some degree I am!) but it is applicable to today’s passage.
Believe it or not, I actually helped him with his paper but, please, don’t be impressed. Since high school, I have been his proofer, if you will. Most of his paper was way over my head – lots of formulas and a ton of math stuff, equations and the like. (It does have cool pictures!) But my job was to read it through and check for grammatical issues. I found a few things but overall, it was very well written.
Even though Karen and I have accompanied him on his journey, and I have read through a boiling down of all of his work, I really only have a remedial understanding of what it’s all about And that is where the disciples have a leg up on me.
They had journeyed with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry. They had seen the miracles, they had heard Him teach, they had experienced it all. And now, with Peter’s confession of Him being the Messiah, they knew who He was…at least who they thought He was. In reality, they only knew what they knew, which was not a whole lot.
Messianic prophecy was full of hope and expectancy but truly it was full of a lot of speculation. Even scholars – those teachers of the Law who knew the Law frontwards and backward – even they could only conjure up educated guesses. Commonly held concepts portrayed the Messiah as a conquering king…and Jesus was most assuredly that. But…there was so much more to who the Messiah was and what he would do. And that is where the disciples, and all of Israel for that matter, had absolutely no clue.
In Luke’s Gospel, this is the first time Jesus will share with them the truth of who the Messiah is and what He must accomplish. But, like my understanding of much of Massey’s doctoral work, it basically flew right over their heads. What he shared with them was unfathomable. They couldn’t even begin to wrap their finite minds around it. But eventually, and this is where they have a leg up on me in regard to Massey’s work, they will grasp, to some degree, what it was all about, at least enough to fall at Jesus’ feet and give Him the eternal praise and glory, of which He is so deserving.
But, on this side of eternity, can any of us totally understand the whys and hows of the sacrifice Jesus made for all humanity? No, we can’t…but that is all the more reason to give ourselves over to Him, serving Him and loving Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). And that is my goal until He calls me home! Amen.
Apr 12th, 2020, EASTER SUNDAY, 6:27 pm
Square in the Eye
Father, I ask that You calm my mind and my spirit. I am struggling with components for Sunday’s service. I know You have the answer and trust You to guide me. Amen.
Luke 9:18-20 (<<click to read the passage)
As I read through these couple of verses, a saying, about the Church, came to mind and when I Googled it, I discovered the saying in a different context, but it was still very powerful.
On January 5th, 1967 the newly elected governor of California gave his inaugural address. Actor-turned-politician Ronald Reagan stated, “Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation…”
I have heard it said that the Church is never more than one generation away for extinction. Now while I do not believe that will ever happen – for the Church is the body of Christ and it is eternal! – it is still unnerving to see the Church’s ebb and flow over time.
The second sentence in that quote is very applicable to the body of Christ, as well. [The Church] is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation
Jesus pressed his disciples, when they finally had a moment alone together, who they thought He was. He asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
And without the slightest hesitation, Peter replied, “The Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) of God!”
All of us who believe Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed of God have had to come to that point where we own that belief for ourselves. Our parents might have pointed us in the right direction…but that belief was not ours by inheritance.
And as the old song goes, It’s Not an Easy Road. Following Jesus is the most fulfilling, most satisfying, most comforting thing we could ever do with our lives but is far from easy…it must be fought for and defended constantly.
And I’m not even hinting at taking a stand for our faith against forces from without… I truly believe, if we are honest with ourselves, that the fight is most fierce against the forces from within.
The devil and his followers have so warped and distorted this world and have done everything they can to twist the Truth to fit their degenerate mindsets. And we…and every generation that follows…are in the thick of it.
Is it not a challenge to keep ourselves pure as we sludge through the depravity all about us? I tell you from experience…it is not possible! Only as we allow ourselves to be enfolded into Jesus and His power, His love, His strength, can we have hope to be victorious
So, the question remains. Jesus looks us square in the eye and asks, “Who do you say I am?”
Apr 9th, 2020, Thurs, 9:23 pm