Double-edged Sword
Father, as I set my mind on time with You, I have wrapped up preparation for a wedding ceremony that will take place in just a few short days. It will be a joyous time and even now I pray for this young couple that Your hand would be upon them in a mighty way, guiding, directing, protecting and sustaining. Amen.
Luke 4:1-13 (<<click to read the passage)
Quite often God brings multiple things to mind when I read through a particular passage. I have addressed two from this record of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. God led me in writing both posts but even when I sat down to write the first one, I felt that I needed to write this one.
Every time Jesus was tempted in this passage, how did He respond? He quoted Scripture! In Paul’s epistle (letter) to the Ephesians, he spoke of followers of Jesus putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). Most pieces are defensive in nature – a helmet, breastplate, shield, etc. But he also admonishes us to “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” v.17 (NLT) and that, my friends, is not a defensive piece of armor but an offensive one! We protect ourselves with the other pieces but with God’s Word, we fight!
Read this passage from Hebrews 4:12 (AMP),
For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Just processing that first line is amazing! When we open our Bibles, we tend to see ink on paper. But it is, oh, so much more than that! The words before us are God’s words! And we do not serve a dead God or an absent God or a disinterested God! We serve a God who is very much alive and active in every aspect of our lives! The only reason He may not be is that we have held Him at arm’s length. We must welcome Him to be active in our lives – that is an aspect of the free will that we are granted by our Creator.
So like God Himself, His words are very much “living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective].” It is like nothing else! In our finiteness, we do not have the ability to replicate the effect.
How many times do we read through a passage and we get the same thing out of it? But then we read it once more and – KAPOW! – something new, something fresh, something impacting comes out of it! It is alive! And coming into contact with it forever changes us!
The writer of Hebrews compares it to being “sharper than any two-edged sword”. I find it interesting that in the notes of the Amplified Bible it says that, “In addition to “sword,” the word in Greek was used…for the knife (scalpel) used by a surgeon.”
The word of God slices to the core of the issue in our lives and again when we come in contact with it, it forever changes us. And it just popped into my head but I would say that we are changed on a spiritually molecular level. The very core of who we are is changed!
Lord Jesus, may we devour Your word. May it fill us, heart, soul, and mind. May we pursue it changing us on a spiritually molecular level! Amen.
Dec 9th, 2019, Mon, 7:18 pm
Resist, Don’t Give In
Even without being in retail, December is running full steam ahead! With my pastoral responsibilities and other things being on my plate, Father, I would ask for a portion of Your strength and wisdom to address each thing with the utmost importance they deserve. Amen.
Luke 4:1-13 (<<click to read the passage)
When I sat down Thursday and wrote “Wide and Deep”, my intent was to address Jesus’ temptation after He was led into the wilderness. We may ask, “Why in the world would Jesus need to be tempted?” And that is definitely a fair question.
Hebrews 4:15 gives a fair answer.
For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. (AMP)
Secondly, Jesus had to undo Adam’s work. My Life Application Study Bible states,
Adam though created perfect, gave in to temptation and passed sin on to the whole human race. Jesus, by contrast, resisted Satan. His victory offers salvation to all of Adam’s decedents.
Romans 5:12, 14-19 explains (it is a lengthy passage but so important that we understand what Jesus – Christ – did for us),
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all sinned… Yet death ruled [over mankind] from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who had not sinned as Adam did. Adam is a type of Him (Christ) who was to come [but in reverse—Adam brought destruction, Christ brought salvation].
But the free gift [of God] is not like the trespass [because the gift of grace overwhelms the fall of man]. For if many died by one man’s trespass [Adam’s sin], much more [abundantly] did God’s grace and the gift [that comes] by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to [benefit] the many. Nor is the gift [of grace] like that which came through the one who sinned. For on the one hand the judgment [following the sin] resulted from one trespass and brought condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift resulted from many trespasses and brought justification [the release from sin’s penalty for those who believe]. For if by the trespass of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one (Adam), much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in [eternal] life through the One, Jesus Christ.
So then as through one trespass [Adam’s sin] there resulted condemnation for all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.* For just as through one man’s disobedience [his failure to hear, his carelessness] the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of the one Man the many will be made righteous and acceptable to God and brought into right standing with Him. (AMP)
*Salvation is available to all people who respond and place their personal trust in Christ.
Lord Jesus, we are most grateful for Your undoing what we in no way could undo. Only because of Your actions are we able to once again have that wall of separation torn down that stands between us. May we diligently seek to not re-erect what You have taken down. Amen.
Dec 8th, 2019, Sun, 7:50 pm
Wide and Deep
Father, tonight I just need to fall back into your embrace. Hold me close. Nothing is wrong. I am just weary and need to feel your heartbeat in my ear as I am held against Your chest. I am weak…You are strong. May my strength be renewed in my time with You. Amen.
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A few years back, over a five-year period, I purposed to immerse myself in Scripture. I read through the Old Testament one full time through and then about halfway through again. I was able to read through the New Testament three times in the same time period.
This was in the middle of my time at Kohl’s, so I had about a forty-minute drive each way. I purchased the Bible on CD and faithfully listened in my truck. So as not to be fiddling with changing a CD while driving. I strove to listen to each disc two times through. All together I listened to the Old Testament ten times and the New Testament eleven times in that same five-year period.
I want to stress that this is not a “look at what I did” moment. I felt it was important, as one who placed great importance on the Word of God, to know the Word of God. This approach benefited me greatly in that it gave me a wonderful big-picture perspective. There are so many Old Testament references in the New Testament and going through it all the way I did enable me to see a lot of that. Also, I was amazed at how many hymns were brought to mind going through Scripture, as well. Much of hymnody is great theology, too!
As I said, that approach benefited me greatly but it had more of a wide impact if you will. I’ve changed how I do things now and honestly, I have not read or listened through very much in the last six years. But where before I focused on the wide, now I am concentrating on the deep.
I really feel like my wide method lead me to my heart’s desire to draw closer to Christ and to really buckle down in my commitment to Him. I stopped keeping records of what I read and listened to at the end of 2013. By December of 2014, I had begun to journal. I wrote an opening prayer to my Father and then after reading a short passage of Scripture, I would write what I felt He was saying to me through that passage. I usually then tried to have an extended time of prayer.
I picked up where I had been reading my Bible – at the beginning of 2nd Corinthians – and…just wrote. I poured out my heart to the One who knew me best. It was a wonderful time of getting to know my Father and I have not turned back!
The blog you are reading? It is what it is because of that period in my life. (I began posting my journaling in June of 2015.) Not much has changed. I am still growing. I am still learning. And I am still amazed at the wonderful Father that I serve and love.
All that I have just written really wasn’t where I had planned on going when I sat down this evening but the Lord has answered my prayer and renewed my strength. I have written what I feel brings glory to Him. May you be inspired to do the same. Amen.
Dec 5th, 2019, Thurs, 6:51 pm
Slip Sliding Away!
Father, sometimes I struggle with what to say to You. I know you don’t mind me repeating myself but I want it to be meaningful and fresh. As I pondered tonight this old children’s hymn came to mind. It is simple but expresses how I feel. (Click here if you’d like to hear the tune.)
Praise him, praise him, all ye little children,
God is love, God is love;
Praise him, praise him, all ye little children.
God is love, God is love.
Luke 4:1-13 (<<click to read the passage)
This morning was a bit eventful for me on my elementary route. I was probably only about 15 minutes from its end when I came up to a four-way stop where two county roads converge. We had enough snow last night after dark that you could hear the state snowplows out clearing the highway in front of our home but county roads usually don’t get treated in any way. A lot of places get packed down and become a layer of ice. So, when I came to that stop – and I was driving slowly anyway due to road conditions – I could feel the back of my bus start to slide to the right, as the front began sliding to the left. It was very much a slow-motion event in that it felt like it was sliding but I took a quick glance in the mirrors on the right side of my bus to verify what I felt. Fortunately, there were no vehicles coming towards me and the pickup truck behind me kept his distance.
Tapping my brake, I was able to stop before entering the intersection but I was most definitely not in my lane!
Temptation. That’s what Jesus finds himself in the middle of in this passage of Scripture. I’ll address the “whys” of that later but for now, I want to look at temptation and us.
There are certainly times where we blatantly seek to yield to temptation. We look for things that will lure us down temptation’s slippery slope but there are other times when we are just going our merry way and there it is! We are taking all the normal precautions. We are not trying to get ourselves into trouble but quickly find ourselves in the middle of it!
I truly consider God to be my co-pilot. Especially when I started driving school bus, I prayed regularly that He would guide my thoughts and actions. I prayed that what I felt was beyond me would be taken up by Him…and He answered those prayers in a marvelous way and continues to do so!
Though I may not have consciously asked for His help in my sliding this morning, He was most assuredly by my side all along the way. And He does the same for us when, by no fault of our own, we find ourselves in the middle of temptation. God will help us come to a stop before we slide into the intersection of disaster.
Lord Jesus, I am so grateful that You watch out for me, that regardless of the circumstances You are with me and are always ready to step in and steer me in the right direction. I pray that I will always be sensitive to Your leading and Your sensitivity to what may be detrimental to my spiritual walk. Amen.
Dec 4th, 2019, Wed, 6:15 pm
The Ulitmate Guide
Father, You are most definitely all-powerful, infinitely more than my finite mind can even begin to comprehend, but with all that might, You still chose me to be in a relationship with You. And it is not just an acquaintance type of relationship but it is a close, personal, intimate relationship. You know all my darkest secrets, my greatest weaknesses and in spite of my frailty and feebleness, You still love me and encourage me to draw close to Your side…to learn and grow to become more like You with every interaction. All praise to You!
Luke 4:1 (<<click to read the passage)
One of my favorite memories from my youth was when, on occasion, we would go to a national park and be led on a nature hike by a park ranger. They were such a wealth of information! They seemed to know the answer to every question.
One memory that I have retained was about what I learned to call a Touch-Me-Not flower. It is more commonly known as the Jewelweed. Wikipedia states that it’s “seed pods have five valves which coil back rapidly to eject the seeds in a process called explosive dehiscence. This reaction is where the name ‘touch-me-not’ comes from; in mature seed pods, dehiscence can easily be triggered with a light touch.”
If I had not been led out into the woods, I would never have had that fun experience. But someone with a much more broad exposure to knowledge than I, knew what to look for and where to find them.
There are many times in life where this interaction takes place, from childhood and even into senior adulthood, as well. Admittedly, not all of our journeys lead us to the joy of Touch-Me-Not beds. Many times, we can find ourselves in very difficult – sometimes insurmountable – circumstances. Wouldn’t it be great if we had someone with a much more broad exposure to knowledge than you or I?
Well, God has definitely taken care of that! Today’s passage speaks of Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit in the wilderness. One awesome thing about the Holy Spirit is that He is not just a fair-weather guide. He is with us through each and every situation that life can throw at us.
And He is not just a companion! He is lightyears ahead of park rangers in that He knows everything there is to know about everything! He is the ultimate life guide. And we can trust Him to never lead us astray. We may be tempted to veer from the path which He sets us upon but, as my opening prayer reflects, if we draw close to His side, we will learn and grow and become more like Him with every interaction.
Lord Jesus, may it be so! Amen!
Dec 3rd, 2019, Tues, 6:57 pm