Wisdom from Above

Some days I just need a lot more wisdom. In many ways, even as old as I am, I don't make wise choices every time. (Of course, that probably doesn't apply to you, right? But you may learn something from reading along...) If you were to say where wisdom comes from, where would it be? From knowing a lot? From bad experiences leading you to not

Not for Wimps

In the Lord's Prayer, recorded in Luke 11, Jesus includes the request "and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us." That's a very bold statement. In one sense, Jesus is stating on behalf of all of his followers, down through the ages, that we will indeed forgive. In another sense, as we pray, it's our

(R-W)+(Pr+T)=P

Last night our weekly prayer group read together Philippians 4:4-7. I was especially struck by verses 6-7, which read "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as

"End-of-Labor" Day

We've just had another American tradition, the three-day holiday weekend to celebrate (from all appearances) beer, BBQ and boats, along with sunscreen and the end of summer. Actually, Labor Day was first proposed as a tribute to workers of all kinds for their contributions in building up

Even More than You Can Imagine

I'm sure I'm not the only one around who gets discouraged sometimes. It's a human trait that we allow to get to us, mostly when we don't get something we want in the time we want it. That's perfectly understandable, as long as we only look at what we can understand, or see, or do all by ourselves. But there's more

Would You Like Peace with That?

Prophecy is very popular these days. Looking at Amazon.com, I see about 1200 entries -- even bible studies for children (really?). I stay completely away from prediction of the 'end times' (we've been there for 2,000 years, see Acts 2:16-17)  or speculation on when Christ will return (we can't know, see Matt. 24: 36).  But one of my favorite topics, since childhood, is what's

The Woman Who Risked Everything

She crept into the dining room, hoping to be invisible, trying not to let anyone see her but the one she had come to see. Looking around, the young woman found the one she sought. It wasn't Simon the Pharisee, dressed in religious finery and obviously the host. Her tired eyes found the

Jesus and Bungee-Jumping

A friend of mine posted on Facebook this morning, "If you want to be anxious today, pretend you're in control" quoting Michael Reeves. Pretending, of course, we never were in control and we never will be -- but we'll be miserable if we try. This reminds me of one of the points underneath the scripture I read this morning, Luke 4:9-12.  In this small segment, the devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and tempts him to throw himself off, knowing that God must and will rescue him. Jesus responds rightly, "The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’" So what's behind this?  Is Jesus outlawing bungee-jumping,

Be Still and Know...Part 3

Been busy lately? I sure have! My days and weeks have been filled with people, meetings, phone calls, issues needing work and clarification and prayer. Sometimes though you just have to stop and get away from it all. Lately I've been contemplating and studying the importance of silence -- getting away, turning off the noise and giving myself a chance to hear God speak. The first two posts talked about some of the aspects and benefits of silence, moving from an understanding of Psalm 46:10. But wait! There's more! Especially when we are alone with God, we get to deal with two important messages: 

Take a Break...

Americans have a problem:  we are far too focused on accomplishment. We measure our worth by what we have done or made, not on

Plants and People Grow

It's planting season in our part of Colorado, but even if you start seeds indoors under lights, it's a slow process. If you've ever gardened with children, you've seen them put

SIlly Things We Think, #1: God Cannot Look on Evil

Have you ever heard someone say "God cannot look on evil" as a way to tell you that you are cut off from him because you have sinned?  Well, if that is true, it sets up a lot of problems and doesn't solve any. Here are a few of them:

--Jesus who was God, came into a world full of sin

And He's Coming Back, Too: Advent #2

Advent isn't just about Jesus' first coming. He said over and over in different ways that he is returning. What will that mean for humanity? For each one of us? For the "dead in Christ" and all our relatives who have died in the past? Here's a half-a-thumbnail sketch:

A New Childhood

God calls himself our Father, and he calls us his children. Jesus called little children to himself (Luke 18:15-17 for instance) to explain visually what it means to be God's kids (not just so he could explain humility -- he also took them in his arms and blessed them). The imagery that God accepts us "as his kids" should include our own memories of safety, love, warmth, comfort, care and security. That's how it should be.

But for some of us, childhood

Lay those Burdens Down!

I read today yet another story of a person finally finding freedom from his past. As a child, he was victimized by more powerful people, abused in terrible ways. He carried the secret for decades, feeling shame for what had been done to him, feeling

Eternity Is Now

Dallas Willard, in one of his books, says "Eternity is now in process."  Wow, that is encouraging! How do we eternity this way?  Well, we've discussed here that the Kingdom of God is already here, and will fill the whole earth at the return of Christ. In the same way, eternity is

Understanding the Kingdom of God

This week, instead of writing my own post, I'm going to direct you to one written by my friend and boss, Joseph Tkach.  He gives us some good words and a good analogy about the kingdom, based on modern technology: a rocket.  See if you agree:  http://update.gci.org/2014/02/understanding-the-kingdom/. 

How to Get Empty, or Full

This weekend I preached from Mark 16:1-8, about the empty tomb, and the state of mind of the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, women who were so "shocked ...trembling ...bewildered...frightened" that they couldn't tell anyone, at first, what they had seen.  I compared that to how unstoppable all the disciples of Jesus were, after they had seen the risen Lord and were absolutely sure of his resurrection and filled with the Holy Spirit.  The early church was unstoppable because the people were full of their Savior, and empty of anything else.  Then I challenged everyone to ask God to help them surrender whatever was making them feel empty, or not letting them be emptied of their burdens.  But how do you surrender all that?  Here are a few tools.

1.  Confess it to someone else and ask him or her to pray with you.  James 5:16 tells us "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."  Sin and doubt only have power over you if you keep them secret.  When a loving brother or sister in Christ is praying with you, and encouraging you in times of weakness, the power of the old habit will be broken.  (Simply asking someone to "pray for me" isn't going to get very far, though, because that's still not admitting that you're not perfect, is it?  You'll probably have to get pretty specific.) 

2.  Ask God for clarity on why this doubt, sin, worry, unforgiveness -- or whatever -- has persisted.  (Your prayer partner may be of help here.)  Sometimes we find a false validation of our existence by holding on to anger at someone who has hurt us in the past.  Sometimes we don't want to let go of control because we don't see how much God has provided for us, so we don't trust him to continue to work out the problems in our lives (you know, those problems you can't resolve anyway...).  Clarity helps us let go.   

3.  Forgive other people, and yourself.  Sometimes I "kick myself around the block" because of something I said or did forty years ago -- and God forgave it, in Christ, long ago!  I can't go back and make it right, and I now have a loving relationship with the other person, so what's the point?  And God has forgiven the other person, so as Paul writes, "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others" (Col. 3:13). Forgiving is a daily, sometimes a moment-by-moment choice, to release the other person to God, who alone can heal and help them; and it frees us to live in God's love. 

4.  Accept God's forgiveness and peace.  This is a form of surrender too.  It includes all the above, plus a deliberate decision to believe that what God has said and done for us is absolutely true, which means all our ideas to the contrary are false.  It can help to keep a list of scriptures that remind you who you truly are in Christ, such as John 1:12, 2 Cor 5:17-19, Eph. 2:10, Eph. 4:24, Col. 1:22, Col. 3:3, 1 Thess. 1:4, 1 Pet. 2:9-10, 1 John 5:18 etc. 

If you're struggling with doubt, fear or any other sin, try using these tools -- with all your might -- for 30 days and see what difference God's power makes.   And let me know how it goes.  I'll be praying for you!

The Whole Story, Briefly

The last several weeks, during the Advent and Christmas seasons, I've tried to show from scripture who God is and how he has chosen to relate to us humans.  To begin 2012, I'm writing the same things in summary, with a few supporting scriptures (you can click on the reference to read the scripture online, or look it up yourself):

1.  It was God's purpose from the first, as part of creation itself, to adopt humanity into a relationship of closeness and love (Eph. 1:3-6).  His plan is to be with us forever in a life of never-ending joy (Rev. 21:1-4).  Why?  Because God is love (1 John 4:8) and so he loves us now (John 17:23) as he has from the first.

2.  God's plan for humanity included, from the beginning, a way to bring us imperfect humans into his embrace. (Gen. 3:15, Isa. 7:14, Isa. 9:6-7, Isa. 11, Isa. 53, etc). The nation of Israel set up a 'vocabulary of salvation' with sacrifices, a priesthood, and so forth, to prepare us for the Messiah.

3.  The eternal Son of God was born into human flesh as Jesus (Matthew 1, Luke 1, Luke 2, John 1:1-18, John 4:21-26, etc).  His purpose was to fulfill the Father's plan, (John 4:31-34, John 5:35-40) and he was successful (John 17:1-8, John 19:30).  He brought everything to God in a relationship of peace (Col. 1:19-20) including you and me!  The work of Jesus Christ, in his life and on the cross and in his resurrection, has already removed all sin.  There is no longer anything standing between you and God! 

4.  The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, has the task of inviting us into the loving embrace of the Father (John 16:8-15) and he continues to draw people to believe (Acts 16:13-15).

So where does that leave you, dear reader?  To believe and accept what is already true about you, according to the word of God, and respond to him in that belief.  Our lives now, yours and mine, are about giving glory to the God who has loved us this much (Eph 2:10) and living a life of love (Eph. 5:2) as our response to him.  And if you haven't yet believed that, isn't the start of a new year a good time to begin?

Understanding God: Pictures from the Old Testament: Joshua

Last time we looked at a little of the life of Moses who led Israel out of Egypt.  Now we move on to Joshua, who was Moses' assistant for so many years.  Joshua's job was to lead the group out of their wanderings in the wilderness for so many years, into the Land of Promise.  He had already seen the land once, as one of the twelve spies (Numbers 13:16) sent to look the place over, and along with Caleb was one of the only ones to have faith that God would help them conquer the land.

Joshua was a man of faith, a strong leader and had a large part in setting up the nation of Israel in their now-historical home.  But in Joshua chapter 1, God felt it necessary to tell him that, just like Moses, God would be with Joshua all his life.  "No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you." (verse 5).  Three times (verses 6, 7 and 9) God says "Be strong and courageous" and finishes with "the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

There are a lot of famous exploits in this book of history, including crossing the Jordan river in its spring floods stage (chapter 3) the fall of Jericho (chapter 6) and the long day (chapter 10).  All that served to help establish Israel in the land, so that many years later, Messiah would be born in the land and complete the true salvation of all people.  Moses led Israel out of Egypt, but Joshua (Yeshua in Hebrew) led them into peace.  The Son of God born as a human, whom we Westerners know as Jesus has the same name in Hebrew; it's just the change to English that makes his name sound different.  Joshua was born in captivity in Egypt, and walked into freedom in the Land of Promise, just as Jesus was born into human flesh and sinful nature, yet without sin, and leads us now into eternal life. 

The historical book of Joshua ends in chapter 24 with the scene where Joshua gathers the Israelite leaders, rehearses their history, and reminds them that they are now in a land of plenty with cities and orchards and vineyards they didn't create themselves (verse 13); a picture of salvation given us as a free gift of God's grace in Jesus Christ.  Then Joshua finishes with these ringing words in verse 15: "Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."

Jesus, of course, is the only one to ever "serve the Lord" perfectly.  And by his perfect life, his death on the cross that was in our place, and his resurrection to eternal life, he has led us into the true "land of promise" with God, forever (see Colossians 1:13-14, Ephesians 1).  Let's live every day in that glorious truth!