New on Old – Extend Some Grace!
Father, thus far this week has been full but most definitely a blessing. Work and then a meeting at church Monday evening, then on Tuesday, work with a trip out of town in the middle of routes followed by a time of fellowship and interaction with fellow pastors. And today, work and then errands to pick up some necessities. Tiring but all good. Thank You, Father, for the plentiful gifts of Your hand.
Luke 5:33-39 (<<click to read the passage)
Patching holes in clothes and darning holes in socks, at least in our culture, is pretty much a thing of the past. Holey jeans are a popular fashion statement for both guys and gals – I see them being worn regularly on my bus. And who keeps old socks? We just by new ones and throw away the old!
Some do like creating new looks by patching old things and end up with interesting looking creations. But most just don’t want to bother with it.
But what about people? When people come to Jesus for salvation, 2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) tells us,
Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
Most assuredly our moral and spiritual conditions become new but for most of us the new that comes is in an “old” body with “old” habits. And it can be very difficult to rid ourselves of those things.
I know that some people miraculously find themselves free of old vices. But many had to pray and depend on the Lord to help them overcome those clinging old habits.
I think some people of the church expect people to be relatively “perfect” when they give their lives to Christ and disparagingly call them out on the habits of which they struggle to rid themselves. One area of struggle that some have to deal with is profanity. If you have always been around profanity and vulgar language has been a part of your vocabulary for as long as you can remember, it very possibly will be hard to quit. It may only come to an end with much prayer and determination and even then, smack your thumb with a hammer, and out it comes!
Someone addicted to pornography could have similar struggles. Our society is so replete with sexual imagery and innuendo, it would be a great challenge to keep our hearts and minds pure on any given day. Only by leaning on and depending upon Jesus can we ever have any hope it putting it behind us.
We must remember the Apostle Paul’s words to the Roman church,
As it is written and forever remains written,
“There is none righteous [none that meets God’s standard], not even one.
“There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God.
“All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good, no, not one.” Romans 3:10-12 (AMP)
Not a single one of us is perfect and God understands. He forgives our failings, over and over again. Grace and mercy are extended to us freely without question. Should we do any less for our brothers and sisters in Christ?
Jan 29th, 2020, Wed, 8:00 pm
What Do You See?
Father, I am glad that You are with me. I am sitting on my bus waiting…and it is just You and me. It is quiet. Bless our time together. Amen.
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So, looking at my picture what do you see? A road? Trees? Snow? A yellow road sign in the distance? Do you see the image of a warrior? I see him every day I drive my bus. Look a little closer. He reminds me of a Native American warrior, standing proud. He is facing the right. His profile is strong. There are two feathers hanging from the back of his head – only a chieftain, a warrior or a brave was allowed to wear feathers. It was an honor to do so and reflected a brave act on their behalf.
How many times is something right before our eyes and we can’t see it? Where I live there are a lot of hunters. A running joke is a guy who can spot a deer in the woods from a fair piece off with nothing but brown leaves on the ground and barren trees all around but can’t find a bottle of ketchup in plain sight on the inside of the refrigerator door!
How often does our loving Father set before us something that will enrich our lives but for whatever reason we can’t see the ketchup for the mayo! Our God is not a distant God. As one belief system would have us believe, He did not just create the world, as one would make a watch, and leave it to run on its own accord until one day it just stops running.’
No, our God – the God of all creation! – is very much a part of our world – His creation! And we are a very important part of that creation – His crowning achievement! He loves us and His greatest desire is for us to interact with Him in the most intimate of relationships. He understands us more than we understand ourselves and He wants us to know Him more and more, as well.
He is an active part of our lives…though often we do not see Him at work. He is right there in front of us! Directing, guiding, pointing out, trying to get our attention, pulling all the stops out in an attempt to open our eyes to what is before us.
Maybe it is someone who needs a listening ear or someone who desperately needs someone to lean upon or someone who just needs to be accepted no matter where life finds them.
Maybe it is something beautiful amidst the chaos and destruction that life often leaves in its wake -and He has placed it there to give us hope!
Maybe it is the simple fact that we are important to Him, no matter how much the world makes us feel small and insignificant – their vote doesn’t count!
God is at work all around us, we just need to look…and our eyes will be opened!
Jan 28th, 2020, Tues, 10:41 am
I Do It!
Father, I would ask that You would help me to grasp the value of every single day. They are so fleeting – January is almost over! May I fill each day with what is valuable for eternity and not just the here and now. Amen.
Luke 5:30-32 (<<click to read the passage)
I’ve talked about being judgmental before in my writing. And I have come to the conclusion that we too often claim foul when we strive to hold our fellow believers in check to what Jesus calls us to do. I strongly believe that Scripture is pretty clear that we are to be held accountable by one another.
In reading through today’s passage, I caught a line that I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten before. When Jesus says, “I have come to call not those who think they are righteous…” the word think is what catches my attention. As is made very clear in much of the New Testament, the only righteousness the Pharisees and teachers of the Law could truly lay claim to was self-righteousness. Jesus still does not call those of us who think we are righteous.
A lot of our struggle is that many have the mindset that they really don’t need anybody else. They can handle it. At least in American culture, it is what we are told from a very early age. How many times have I seen a toddler determined to push the cart in a store! They can barely reach the handle but over and over they proclaim, “I do it!”
It is a part of our psyche and it is so much a part of us that it overflows into every other part of our lives – including the spiritual.
“God, I got this!” Or in more familiar lingo, “I do it!”
We cannot be so determined to do it ourselves that we push the only Person who can help aside. Our pride is a great factor in us realizing that we can’t do it ourselves.
Enough with self-rationalization. “It wasn’t that big of a sin!” “It was just a little white lie!” “Yes, I saw that attractive person and thought about how exciting it would be to do this or that, but I didn’t do any of it!” “In my head, I’ve smacked them silly multiple times over, but I would never actually smack them!”
We have to acknowledge the guilt of our sins. Then we have to turn our backs on them – striving to never yield to them again! (That’s called repentance!)
And, it is utterly impossible for us to forgive our own sins – Jesus, and only Jesus, accomplished that formidable task for us!
Self-righteousness gets us nowhere but to a dead end…and an eternal dead end at that!
Without Jesus, we are sick and dying in our sins. Even if we think we are healthy, it is a lie we tell ourselves. Jesus’ answer to us,
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” vs.31-32 NLT
Lord, help us. Amen.
Jan 27th, 2020, Mon, 4:45 pm
Leave It All Behind
Thank You, Father, for Your hand upon my shoulder through this day. I am humbled that You use me to proclaim Your word to Your people. Use me throughout every day to proclaim Your word with my life. Amen.
Luke 5:27-29 (<<click to read the passage)
If you had a fairly lucrative job making pretty much as much money as you wanted to make and you worked for an organization that as long as they got their cut didn’t care how much you made, wouldn’t that be difficult to give up? More than likely you had worked hard and greased the right hands over several years to get yourself to that level, wouldn’t you have to think long and hard about just up and quitting? From more money than you could shake a stick at to possibly not even knowing where your next meal was coming from…willingly?
I don’t think too many would be eager to jump on that wagon…but that is just what Levi (also known as Matthew) did! One day he was doing his thing, filling Rome’s coffers and his own pockets, when Jesus walked up and said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].” (AMP)
And Luke’s Gospel doesn’t even show Levi having a moment’s hesitation, he simply “got up, left everything, and followed him.” In fact, Matthew’s own Gospel (9:9-13) and Mark’s (2:13-17), as well, both communicate the same reaction to Jesus’ call upon Levi’s (Matthew’s) life. No hesitation whatsoever.
You would think that it would have been a tough decision…right? But from what I’ve read and heard, there comes a point in one’s life where you’ve pretty much sought out every possible angle to find some modicum of happiness in your life and you finally come to the conclusion that it truly is unattainable. You might keep on plugging along hoping but deep down you realize that it is hopeless. What you thought would be so wonderful, has let you down in a mighty way.
It reminds me of a great king (Solomon, son of David) who had absolutely everything he could ever have wanted. And here are the words he wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:2-8 (NLT),
“Everything is meaningless…completely meaningless!”
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
The Amplified Bible words verse 2 by saying,
“All [that is done without God’s guidance] is vanity [futile, meaningless—a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes, merely chasing the wind].”
Solomon’s life did end up being meaningless in that, even though he knew better, he never turned to the One who alone could bring life meaning.
Levi, on the other hand, left behind the meaningless pursuit of wealth and power and joyfully followed the Giver of all life! He knew a good thing when he saw it and never turned back!
Let us follow Levi as he followed Jesus.
Jan 26th, 2020, Sun, 7:16 pm
Inspirations of a Crescent Moon
Father, a harried afternoon but all is good. Thank You for being at work in my life even when things don’t go according to plan.
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I see something fairly regularly that many do not (it was a rarity for me to see before driving a bus!) An early morning moon is breathtaking! It makes no difference what phase it is in. Full moons on a clear morning – wow! But for whatever reason, I am especially drawn to crescent moons – especially when they are lit enough that you can still see the form of the dark portion of the moon. That is what we had this past Tuesday morning – it was beautiful!
Of course, most of us know why only a portion of the moon is lit – the earth stands between it and the sun, obstructing the sun’s light.
Now the moon is just doing what the moon does. The same goes for the earth and the sun. They all follow the course set for them by their Creator.
So, if we follow the course our Creator sets for us, what should that look like? One thing is for sure, nothing should come between us and the Son – Jesus Christ. And it is to our detriment if we allow the world to stand between us.
But isn’t that the easiest route to go. I mean, there are very few who don’t…right? Hear the Word of the Lord as proclaimed by Jesus Himself in Matthew 7:13-14 (AMP),
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.
My challenge today is to be one of the few that does not let the world come between you and the Lord. What better way to bring others into a saving relationship with Him that to allow ourselves to give a full reflection of His light and love to the world before us!
Lord Jesus, may we seek a closeness with You that goes beyond our comprehension. Help us to give our lives over to You with nothing between us.
Jan 23rd, 2020, Thurs, 5:12 pm
Since entering the pastorate in the United Methodist Church I have come to really appreciate the hymn “Nothing Between” – it fits well here. I discovered this rendition on YouTube – Neville Peter does a wonderful job! If you don’t care to listen please just read the words – they are solid!
♪♫♪ Nothing Between / I Surrender All ♫♪♫
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
Naught of this world’s or my fondest dream;
I have renounced sin and all of its pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
All my habits of life, though harmless they seem;
Must not my heart from Him ever sever;
He is my all, there’s nothing between.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
Nothing between, not even my trials,
Though this old world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self denial,
Triumph at last, with nothing between.
I surrender all…
“Nothing Between” – Words & Music: Charles A. Tindley, 1905
“I Surrender All” – Words: Judson W. Van DeVenter, 1896
Music: Winfield S. Weeden, 1896