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As a general rule, I don’t like to get my hands dirty but that doesn’t mean I avoid getting them dirty.

For example, I love chicken wings and ribs but I hate having the buffalo and barbecue sauce all over my hands; does that stop me from eating wings and ribs – no way! There are also times when I need to work on my lawnmower or SUV but I hate getting my hands filthy from the work. In those times, there is the additional apprehension of not being fully sure as to HOW to fix what’s broken and sometimes that uneasiness will cause me to stall for a little while but because I need to get them fixed, eventually, I jump in, get my hands dirty and give it my best shot.

The reason I mention a few of my quirks to you is not to give you a better understanding of who I am but of who we are; you see, sometimes we as Christians attempt to avoid getting our hands dirty when it comes to reaching the world around us for Jesus.

In a recent Barna research survey on the subject, polls indicated that because of peer pressure, Millennials in general believe that it is wrong to share their faith with those who believe something else. Be that as it may, it has been my experience that MOST believers – Elders, Boomers, Millennials and Gen X-ers are reluctant to share their faith no matter how important they believe sharing it is. Based on that observation, let me ask you what Paul asked his Roman audience in [Romans 10 :14-15]:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!””

The fact IS that every believer has been sent on mission to seek and save that which IS lost. Jesus said in [John 20:21]:

“Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

On the day of His resurrection, as the sun was going down and He appeared to His disciples (see John 20:19-23), their part in the ongoing redemptive mission of His Father was the only thing on the Lord’s mind.

The men were afraid when they saw Him so He declared peace to them and showed them the wounds that made perfect peace with God possible – wounds which the living Lord bore to prove His power over death. Those wounds, and His words, coupled with the great joy of His followers at the Lord’s appearing would make the formerly fearful followers of Christ some of the most courageous witnesses for the Lord that the world has ever known.

In the New Testament, on at least four occasions Jesus or someone speaking about Him made a do as I did statement to believers: In [John 13:34] the Lord Jesus told us to love others in the same way that He has loved us. In (John 13:15) after washing the apostles feet, the Lord instructed believers beginning with those disciples, to serve others as He has served us. In (Colossians 3:13) we are instructed to forgive others as the Lord Jesus Christ as forgiven us (Jesus said as much in Matthew 6:14-15); and in (John 20:21) as we just read above, Jesus sends His followers both in that day and in our own, in the same way and for the same purpose as He was sent by God.

In what ways are the ways that God sent His Son similar to the way His Son is sending us?

Donald McLeod suggested some similarities in his book titled, A Faith to Live By: Understanding Christian Doctrine; there he wrote:

“[Jesus] did not, as incarnate, live a life of detachment – He lived a life of involvement. He lived where he could see human sin, hear human swearing (cursing) and blasphemy, see human diseases and observe human mortality, poverty and squalor. His mission was fully incarnational (and intentional) because He taught men by coming alongside them, becoming one of them and sharing in their environment and their problems.”

Jesus was NOT afraid to get His hands dirty. His mission was to become like us, to live among us and to be involved with us ultimately dying for us so that those who would believe could find forgiveness from and be reconciled to God and so that those who believed on His name would live forever in the presence of God.

To be sent by Him as He Himself was sent is to be as involved in the lives of those around us as He was and is in ours.

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Priceless?

Is your Bible all to you that God wants it to be?

This thought provoking question comes from one of my favorite bible teachers – Warren Wiersbe and I ask it at a time when the Bible seems to be more and more devalued especially by those who claim both to believe that it contains the very words of God and who also claim to live by those words.

So let me ask and answer the question which some of you may be thinking – “What DOES God want our Bibles to be to us?”

Well, first of all, I don’t think that He wants it so much to be a rule book by which we judge ourselves and others as much as He wants it to be like an instruction manual for living life His way. The longest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119 emphasizes the instructional purpose of God’s word in (v 9) where the psalmist asks and answers his own rhetorical question: “How can a young man (person) keep his way pure? By keeping (his way) according to Your word (NASB95).” In other words, God gives us His word to be learned and lived so that we might overcome temptation; remember in this same Psalm, the writer declared in (v.11) “Your word I have hidden in my heart,That I might not sin against You. (NKJV)” So, one purpose of the word is to instruct us.

Secondly, the Lord wants us to value His word like a great treasure but not as a treasure which we horde, hide or store up in our hearts for our own benefit alone but as a treasure to also be given away. The Apostle Paul wrote in (Romans 10:13) that ” “For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved;” but how was that faith born in them? The Apostle tells us in (v.17) of (Romans 10) “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” But the key to this is in (v.14-15) where Paul wrote:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,Who bring glad tidings of good things!””

Paul taught that the only way others will share in the treasure we have found in the Lord Jesus Christ and His word is if we share it with them.

Third, the Lord wants us to recognize the power in His word for daily living. Look again at the words of the Apostle Paul, in (Romans 1:16) he wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Paul declared the gospel to everyone he could because he KNEW that the word was powerful, “more powerful than a two edged sword” he said, and able to get to the heart of matters and people (see Heb. 4:12). The word dynamite is a derivative of the Greek word used in (v.16) for power implying that God’s word can break down spiritual strongholds and lead captive men and women to freedom in Jesus.

Finally and above all, God wants us to value the Bible as a letter from His heart to ours ~ a letter of love and grace to people who have lived out of sync and in rebellion against Him. He wants us to feast on His word, believe in His word, live by His word, stand on His word, grow in His word and He wants us to obey His word.

As I conclude, it may be that you agree with everything I have written here and that the Lord has written in His word but before you nod your head at them and go on about your day, seriously ask yourself:

“IS my bible REALLY ALL to me that God wants it to be?”

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Isolated

John Donne once wrote,

“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent; a part of the main...” (Meditation XVII/ Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions)

The phrase above has been taken to mean that none of us does well outside of community and that isolation hinders our ability as individuals to thrive. It is true that most people desire to belong and to connect with other people ~ we do long for community. It is often when things are not right with us that we pull back and unplug from people and community and it is often said of such people in those moments that more than ever they NEED to be plugged in.

Can I say that sometimes the only way to hear the “still, small voice of God” is in isolation?

Can I say that sometimes those living around us, life in general and the storms of life in particular can actually deafen us to what God wants us to know or to hear from Him in that moment?

In the case of the prophet Elijah, as he was fleeing from the anger of Jezebel (1 Kings 19) it was the despair and discouragement that his efforts to purify his people from their pagan worship of the Baals was ineffective which drove him deeper into the wilderness of depression:

“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”” (1 Kings 19:4)

God sent angels to strengthen the prophet who journeyed for 40 days further into isolation and it was in that place that he poured out his heart before the Lord. His complaint was “I am alone in the work and I have failed.” (1 Kings 19:9-10)

It was also there that Lord met the discouraged prophet:

“Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”” (1 Kings 19:11–13)

In isolation, the prophet learned that God speaks in great and small ways, that Elijah was, in fact NOT alone and that God was still with him (see v. 14-18).

In isolation, without the distractions of life in community (even though we are surrounded by people who cant seem to see us), sometimes – not all the time, but sometimes, God can get through to us in ways not otherwise possible.

As I write, this is where I am today – in isolation.

I’m in church but I feel invisible. Thinking that it was something about me that was causing the people around me at work to avoid me, I switched to another location where no one knows me and STILL I’m being avoided. On top of all of this, I recently left (at the Lord’s leading) the church I had pastored for the last 17 years and frankly thought I’d be serving until my death – journeying with every decision further into my own wilderness. It was just a few days ago however, while in prayer that the Lord made it clear to me that these things were not coincidental but deliberate on His part – God wants to work on me right now and He knows that other than the vent He has allowed by way of this website, He would not have my undivided attention if He allowed things to continue as they were.

Does He have your undivided attention?

God called King David “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). The all knowing God, the One who KNEW that David would fail Him greatly still saw the son of Jesse as a man who would pursue, obey, and submit to His will. But David had to go through a period of isolation as well; his isolation and the cry of his heart in that season is pictured in Psalm 51:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.” (Psalm 51:10–13)

Sometimes, we do without until we seek what matters.

As I wrap it up, consider what the Lord Jesus said in (Matthew 6:33):

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

The other things which would come after you and I put first things first vary. In the passage from which the above verse comes, the Lord was referring to food and clothing; but I’d like to suggest that once we seek “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” things like peace, joy, hope, contentment, usefulness to God and fruitfulness in His service will also be added to us who have read the words of (Psalm 37:4) many times:

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

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Fasting God’s Way

“Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? (Isaiah 58:5)

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?

“Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’”. (Isaiah 58:6-9)

As those of you who are given to do so enter into this season of “Lent” may you consider that the Lord’s word given to the prophet in the verses above pertained to a lifestyle of obedience and serving others rather than a season of service, concern, compassion and pursuit of godliness.

May the words of the Lord given through the prophet Zechariah give us all pause as we consider our lives before Him:

“When you fasted…did you really fast for Me—for Me?” (Zechariah 7:5)

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Overflow

Someone once said,

“When your bucket gets bumped, what’s in you will spill out of you.”

That’s a good reminder for those of us who like to react before we think but it’s actually more of a litmus test than anything else. The point isn’t to try harder to do better if, when your bucket (your life) gets bumped you recognize that what consistently spills out of you (out of your mouth and from your heart) in those moments is harmful, hurtful and or negative; the point is to realize that based on those consistent reactions your heart might not contain the right thing.

The Lord Jesus declares to us from His word that “from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) and it is with that understanding that I say that the bumping of our bucket is a test and of we find it to contain the wrong thing when what’s in it comes splashing out in those moments – the Lord stands by ready to fill us with something better – and to fill us beyond our capacity to contain it all.

In John 7:37-39 Jesus said,

“ “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

With those words, Jesus declared that “living water” would flow from those who believe in Him. His plan however, isn’t simply and solely to allow challenging people and situations into your life so that this living water might spill over into those moments; no, what He really desires is that what He has placed into your life will constantly and consistently overflow from your heart, mouth and life and to that end, He NEVER stops filling your heart with His precious “living water.”

Of course that water serves a duel purpose, while it is meant to sustain you in your spiritual life it is also meant to flow from you to cause spiritual life to (in a sense) be birthed, nourished and encouraged in the lives of others.

If you’ll allow the illustration, the Lord’s plan in all of this kind of looks like a champagne fountain (only instead of glasses will continue to use buckets for containers):

One bucket is filled by the source and as it spills over, it’s contents spill into others, filling them to overflowing until all the buckets around the first are filled but the source and supply of the “living water” does not stop when every available container is filled – it keeps on coming.

Of course, the “living water” that the Lord Jesus was referring to in the temple that day was the Holy Spirit – He is the endless supply from God who gives and sustains life in all who trust in Jesus Christ. He is the one who gifts us to teach, encourage, uplift and comfort others and in that sense He spills over from us to them.

“Now,” as the Apostle Paul has said, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound (overflow) in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13, NKJV)

Others are desperate for relief, let His “living water” flow…

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Going Back to Eden

Christian music is full of biblical references which encourage, inspire and inform the worship of our awesome God. One theme, the theme of heaven and our part in it has inspired songs like “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me, “Home” by Chris Tomlin and the old favorite of Southern Gospel circles “This World is Not My Home;” it is that last title that I want us to think about more carefully today.

Jared Wilson in his book titled “The Story of Everything” offers a perspective on the lyric “this world is not my home” that few seem to have considered but which the Bible makes clear ~ this world actually is your home.

Hopefully those of you whose jaws just hit the floor will pick them back up and read on; the statement really rests on this question ~ where is heaven anyway?

You see, our music and our minds are full of faith in the fact that “we have a future in heaven for sure, there in those mansions sublime (Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled my Soul)” but isn’t heaven wherever God is – like home is where the heart is?

I understand the lyric of the hymn to mean that the world system or mentality, it’s way of doing and thinking and it’s morality is not where Christians abide ~ that we are in the world (as in , on the planet) but not of the world (as in agreeable to the ways of worldliness). But what if the planet called earth, the terra-firma, the globe ~ what if this world really IS to be our home? What if the grand plan of our Lord is to take us all back to the place that in the beginning He called good and perfect; what if the New Heaven and New Earth of (Revelation 21) is the reconstitution of Eden?

By sin Adam in the garden of Eden and subsequently mankind as a whole fell short of God”s glory (Rom. 3:23) and the glory of creation likewise faded. The creation of God which He called “good” as He completed it was cursed along with sinful Adam and Eve because of their choice to rebel against God. Do you remember what the Lord said to Adam in [Gen. 3:17] – “cursed is the ground” because of you and from that point on creation has groaned and its glory suffered decay – that is what Paul wrote in [Romans 8:18-22]:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

Creation in a sense fell from glory when we did or perhaps better put – the glory of the Lord departed from both man and creation when man chose to disobey God and ever since, creation at least has groaned for the Lord and His Glory to return.

God created not only to showcase His power and display His glory – He created a place where He in His glory might fellowship with those He created. In Genesis we have the glorious beginning and the tumultuous fall and, in the end, in Revelation we have the conclusion – [Rev. 21:3-5]:

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.””

God does not remake a person into something different when they come to Him in faith – He takes the old us and gives us new life (2 Cor. 5:17). He did not give us a different shape, hair color, age or anything else but he did give us a new nature by which we may offer Him praise and glory – imperfectly now but one day when our body catches up with our nature (1 Cor. 15:53) – perfectly; likewise the earth which now groans will be restored to the glory when at first the Lord created it and He will dwell among us.

Yes, most likely, every believer reading this blog will go to that nebulous place which Paul called “the third heaven” in (2 Corinthians 12:2) to begin with ~ whether at the time of our deaths or at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) but only until God’s will – that which Jesus prayed about in (Matthew 6:10) on earth is done. Then, as pastor David Jeremiah once said, “what’s up there will come down here.”

Eventually, the Eden which God created in perfection will be reconstituted and re-inhabited by those sons and daughters of Adam and Eve whom the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed by His blood.

The reality IS that this world WILL BE our forever home ~ heaven will be on earth because the Lord God will be there dwelling among His people [Revelation 22:1-5]:

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”

One day, it will be on earth exactly as the Lord intended it in the beginning…all glory, honor and praise be to His name!

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Too Much

The other day as I was scanning my Facebook page I came across a well used Christian expression: “God never gives you MORE than you can handle.” This time, I thought about it – and I asked myself what I’m now asking you, is that really a true statement?

First, I considered it from the perspective of experience. In the weight-room, on the track or in the gym does a person get stronger without adding weight to the bar; does he or she build endurance without going the extra lap or mile – does an athlete really develop strength, endurance or stamina without challenging themselves to go further? Do you suppose faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is developed differently?

The answer is an obvious – “no.”

I also considered this expression from the pages of scripture. When Israel quickly exited from Egypt in what the Bible titles the Exodus and was pursued by Pharaoh and his army into what seemed to be a dead end (see Exodus 14) might that have been a situation deemed to be MORE than they could handle by those going through it? When the youngest son of Jesse, a stinky little shepherd boy compared to his nobler brothers faced a giant of a man named Goliath on a battlefield not one other soldier great or small of Israel’s army dared to step out on (see 1 Samuel 17) – might he have though that the giant was MORE than he could handle? When a father came to Jesus’ disciples begging and pleading for them to help his son who was possessed by a demonic spirit (see Luke 9:37-40) – might it have been because deep down they thought that the situation was MORE than they could handle?

The reality is that God allowed those situations named above for the same reason He allows the impossible into your life and mine – He allows the overwhelming into our lives, the MORE than we can handle so that you, me and those around us would know that NOTHING is impossible for Him! He told Moses in [Exodus 14: 17-18]:

“And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Likewise, young David shouted as he charged towards Goliath with nothing but a sling and a stone [1 Samuel 17:46-47]:

“This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

In one of the parallel accounts of the father who brought his demon possessed son to Jesus and His disciples, we see how God allows the impossible into our lives to strengthen our faith in Him [Mark 9:23-24]:

“Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

James the half-brother of the Lord Jesus wrote: [James 1:2-3] “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience;” he knew that God adds weight to the bar so to speak to grow us in our faith. The Apostle Paul knew it too, see what he wrote of it in [Romans 5:3-4] “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” 

But wait, I have often heard this expression as it supposedly relates to [1 Cor. 10:13] which reads:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Listen, God never adds the weight of sin to our bar, He wants to relieve that burden rather than increase it – sin is too much for you and me, we cannot over come it BUT Jesus HAS overcome it bearing it all on the cross. As we grow in faith and relationship with Him temptation may come our way, God even allowing it to come – to demonstrate to us and to others His great power living in us!

God may allow suffering, persecution and all sorts of adversity into your life but my friend, count it all joy – He is about to show you something about Himself and yourself because of Him that you would have seen in no other way.

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Let Them Fly!

The wise writer of the proverbs – King Solomon once wrote,

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Some people, illustrating those wise words might have chosen a picture of a vine or bonsai tree – a plant which can be molded and shaped as the one cultivating it wishes. In actuality, to use such an image might be a more accurate interpretation of Solomon’s words. If parents begin early to mold and make – to train up their children, it would be reasonable to expect that later in life the way those children had been trained would have become second nature to them.

So, why did I chose an archer, an arrow and a target?

I use it because this advice is given to people about people and the environment in which we raise our children will work against our every effort to train them up – the best we can do is point them in the right direction and let them fly.

Throughout the proverbs (which was not the official training manual of the kings offspring but a collection of the things he did teach), Solomon pointed his sons toward wisdom and away from foolishness; he led his sons to get understanding – to fear the Lord, to obey His instructions and to honor Him; this is the target toward which the king aimed his children. In aiming them toward a target, Solomon was also aiming them AWAY from some things: he was aiming them away from immorality, away from wickedness and away from ungodliness.

Whatever might be said of the fact that some of the kings words to his sons did not line up with his ways before the Lord (see 1 Kings 11:1-13), he did POINT his sons in the right direction and then when they were grown, let them fly.

Things act upon the trajectory of our arrows. Outside influences, like the wind steer our children – peer pressure, independence (especially the kind of independence which accompanies college life), the crosswinds of alternative views – all of these buffet our children once we let them fly and if we’re being honest, they don’t always hit the target toward which they were aimed.

Solomon’s son Rehoboam didn’t. We read in [2 Chronicles 12:1]:

“Now it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him.”

The fact is that [Proverbs 22:6] is not a guarantee that if you point them in the right direction your children will always hit the target toward which they have been aimed – Solomon’s words are an observation, an encouragement and an exhortation full of good advice but they are not a command or a guarantee.

The ONLY guarantee that one might come away with from those words is the guarantee that an arrow will never hit a target it wasn’t aimed at.

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