Hope for Later Life Through Moses

If you share with me the sorrow that your life has not counted for Christ and His Kingdom as it should have, and you are in the last half or last third of your life, I invite you to gain HOPE through the life of Moses.

Here's how:

• Moses spent the first 40 years of his life in Pharoah's palace. He was trained there in the ways and thinking of Egypt. However, it is obvious that God's hand was on him.
• Moses spent the second 40 years of his life in the desert tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro. There faithfulness and the character of a shepherd was worked deeply into his character.
• Moses was called to serve God by going back to Egypt in the third and FINAL 40 years of his life. During this long and trying time Moses was described as being "faithful in all God's house" Hebrews 3:2. He was "faithful as a servant in all God's house" (3:5).

So...I have adopted Moses as my solely human example of faithfulness and impact for God in later life. He was not without failure. I won't be either. But the final and overarching description of his life was "faithful." And isn't that what we want to hear Jesus say to us someday? "Well done, good and faithful servant." I want to live for those words.

I pray most mornings that God would make me like Moses, faithful in all God's house in the last 1/3 of my life (if the Lord lets me live!).

However, I never want to forget that there is One greater than Moses in my life, and He is faithful as a Son of God over God's House, of which I am a part. His faithfulness in watching and empowering and praying for me will enable me to finish like a faithful Moses (Hebrews 3:6).

My friends, let us cry to God to make us like Moses...and Jesus.

Biblical Thoughts on Elections, Leaders, and Believers

Praise God that His word has much to say about the place of leaders and how God’s people should respond to leaders. Below are a few thoughts based on Scripture for us to consider on this side of November 4th:

--All authority is from God: Romans 13:1f
No one rules except the Sovereign, Almighty God puts them there. He sets up rulers and He takes them down. Therefore, our attitude towards them is in reality our attitude towards God.

--God’s purposes for the world, His people, and YOU cannot be defeated by even the worst of rulers. God will accomplish His plan through good rulers and in spite of evil rulers, but His purposes are NEVER accomplished PRIMARILY BECAUSE of rulers. To put our trust in good rulers or to sink into despair because of evil rulers are both expressions of unbelief in the absolute goodness and sovereignty of God. The gospel will go forth. The Great Commission will be accomplished (Matthew 16:18; 28:18-20).

--Regardless of who is elected, from presidents to judges to city councils, the foundation of the true believer in Christ remains UNCHANGED. “The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven” (Psalm 11:4). God still reigns above the Electoral College and the news coverage, the “winners” and the “losers.” Shifts of earthly power do not cause the slightest ripple in the Power Above.

--No matter whom our leaders are, our calling in Christ is the same. We are to seek to glorify Him in all things while we pursue holiness, seek the lost, and build up the church.

With this in mind, remember…


…God has made His will clear regarding how we are to respond to our rulers: godly or ungodly:

--We are to PRAY for them. See I Timothy 2:1-4. This is not just a “mention” that my heart is not behind. The NT instructs us to pray strong prayers of intercession AND crying out and thanksgiving for all men, including and even highlighting “kings and all who are in high positions” (v.2). We are to pray that our rulers will rule in a way that allows us to pursue godliness and evangelism (v.2-4). Who knows how God, who directs the hearts of rulers (Proverbs 21:1), will work in the heart of our rulers as we pray earnestly for them. Who knows how God might use a MINORITY of good rulers in an unusually mighty way because of our faithful prayers. Remember, it is “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

--We are to SUBMIT to them and OBEY them, as unto the Lord. See Titus 3:1-2. From speed limits to parking regulations to taxes, from copyright laws to DNR regulations to library fines, we are to joyfully and carefully obey. In this joyful and careful obedience there is a powerful witness for the gospel.

--We are to HONOR and RESPECT our rulers. This includes NEVER speaking evil of them (Titus 3:2). Speaking as if we know our ruler’s motives for decisions and actions is to act the part of God, who alone knows men’s hearts. This does NOT mean that we should approve or agree with decisions or reasoning that is unbiblical. We can disagree and even show the error of decisions without slandering. I am amazed at the tenacity and perseverance of those who run for public office. They are often brilliant, gifted in speech, and have very deep convictions. These are all things that can and should be commended, even if they are vehicles for values that are unbiblical.

Remember, the WRATH of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God (James 1:20). Not the wrath of rulers, not the wrath of CHRISTIANS.

Let us cry to God that He would give us hearts of love and compassion that will sincerely support ALL our leaders in prayer, obedience, and respect WHILE we seek to glorify God, win the lost, and build up the church.

AND…keep praying for and working towards and voting for the election of godly individuals on all levels of society.

Spiritual Children, Spiritual Parents

In Titus 1:4, the Apostle Paul addresses Titus as "my true child in a common faith." Apparently Titus had come to faith under the influence of Paul's ministry and as he grew became a trusted co-worker. But there was a lasting relationship established between them of spiritual father and spiritual son.

Whose spiritual child are you? Who led you to faith in Christ as one of God's elect (Titus 1:1)? It may have been a Billy Graham or a pastor or a parent or a co-worker. Whoever it was, why not take a moment as you read this and THANK God for His mercy in bringing that person with the gospel into your life. I thank the Lord for a pastor's preaching and a scarey gospel tract and night time discussions about spiritual things with my older sister over 35 years ago.

Do you now have a spiritual father or mother in your life? That is, is there someone who cares for you spiritually with the care of a loving parent? If so, THANK God for that person, as well. Perhaps it is the same one who led you to Christ. Perhaps it is a new person God has brought into your life. I thank God for a pastor who lives over an hour from me who prays for me regularly and makes time every couple of months to meet for a couple of hours and be a spiritual mentor and father to me. If you DO NOT have someone in your life like this, why not begin to ASK the Lord for such a person?

Do YOU have spiritual children? Are there folks you have been used by God to bring to faith in Christ? Perhaps it is your very own physical children. Perhaps it was some campers when you were a counselor one summer years ago. Perhaps it was your spouse. If you DO NOT have spiritual children, or it you have one or more and really desire God to use you again, why not begin to PRAY for them? ASK the Lord to bring you to the folks around you who have been prepared by God to receive the gospel. Perhaps you'll need to love them and do some relationship building for some time before they will really hear the gospel. WHAT can we do to be used as spiritual parents?

• PRAY for God to use you in the lives of those around you. PRAY for Him to bring new folks into your life. PRAY for your family members who are not converted. PRAY for Him to give you gospel words that fit the folks you are with.
• SHARE this glorious gospel. No one will be converted by your testimony unless it contains the gospel of Christ. God's law, their failure to meet it, deadly consequences, gracious provision by a loving God in His perfect and dying Son, repentance and faith in this One...share THAT gospel and watch the Holy Spirit do His work.
• INVITE folks to church to sit under the Word of God and to be loved on by your fellow body members.
• Be HOSPITABLE to the lost in your own home. Love them up close...REALLY love them.
• Give them something to READ...a gospel tract, a good book like Ultimate Questions by John Blanchard.

Are YOU a spiritual parent? Are there spiritual children God has given you that you could also be helping to grow in godliness? See Titus 1:1: Paul was a servant of God for the elect's "knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness." The truth of God leads ALWAYS to godliness, or at least IT SHOULD! It will if those who have trusted Christ have a MODEL of godliness and someone who TEACHES them how it works out in real life and real relationships. Perhaps there are folks who came to Christ under the influence of someone else but have no one coming up close to be a spiritual parent to them. Could God be calling YOU to come alongside them? What a blessing and boon that would be to their growth.

Oh friends, let us pray for, work for, look for, share with, and come alongside those who might indeed become our own spiritual children by God's mercy and the Spirit's work. And let us cry to God to give US spiritual fathers and mothers for our own growth in godliness.

Are You A Doulos?

The NT Greek word for SERVANT, sometimes also translated SLAVE, is doulos (doo-los). In Titus 1:1 the Apostle Paul uses two primary words to identify himself. One of them is doulos, "Paul, a servant of God..." In Paul's day the doulos was the bottom rung on the social ladder. The doulos was totally given to fulfill the will of another. He was often a household slave.

There is nothing lowly about being a doulos of GOD. It means, as it did for Paul, to be totally given up to the will, the wishes, the commands of God. No longer Paul's will...but God's will. However, we need to remember that Paul's slavery to God was WILLING. This willingness to submit to the will of another when all of life was about PAUL was the result of the gospel in his life. Here are some of the things Paul wrote in his letters about what it meant to be a doulos of God (and what it will mean for US):

• Galatians 1:10: being God's servant or Christ's servant means we live to PLEASE GOD not man. As we serve our heart's eye is on God...will HE be pleased with what I am about to do, say, think...?
• Philippians 2:7: being God's servant means to IMITATE JESUS. Jesus was the supreme doulos...the one who descended from the worship of angels to be made in the form of servant. No one could humble himself further than Jesus. I must remember that the next time I think that some service is BELOW me.
• Romans 9:19: being God's servant means that I WILLINGLY make myself a servant of OTHERS. The true test of being God's doulos is how I serve those around me, not how passionately I worship or pray or how much I devour the Word alone. And the ultimate service of others is becoming like them in every way I can to WIN them to Christ.
• Colossians 4:12: Paul uses Epaphras to give the Colossian church a picture of a real servant: he WORKS HARD and STRUGGLES for the growth of others in Christ. The doulos of God will often be found working hard in prayer and supplication and intercession for the discouraged brother and the wandering sister and the bitter fellow saint and for the new believer who is a natural target for Satan.
• 2Timothy 2:24f: God's servant is: gentle, not quarrelsome, kind to everyone, and patient.

To Paul, being God's servant meant all of these things and more. Being His servant will mean the same things for us. How's your "doulos-ity"? How do you measure up?

Why are we servants of God?

• Christ died and rose that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him: 2Corinthians 5:15
• We have been bought with a price, the blood of Christ. We are NOT our own: 1Corinthians 6:20

Are YOU a servant of God?

Encouragement for Notorious Sinners

Jesus was crucified on the center cross between two criminals. These criminals, as condemned as they were, as hopeless as their situation was, as gasping as they were for breath to live another moment, nevertheless found the air and voice to join in the chorus of mockers throwing up verbal abuse against the Lord (Mark 15:32).

But ONE of those thieves stopped his blasphemy, rebuking his fellow thief for his wicked insanity. "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:40-41).

His next words were words of perfect sanity. The repenting thief realized that indeed Jesus MUST be who He claimed to be and who he was accused of being on the placard above His head, the King of Israel, the Messiah, the Savior. So he turned his attention to Jesus and said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42).

WAIT A MINUTE! Does this hardened criminal think he can get out of the judgment due him from God with a last minute "on the cross" conversion? Can a heart change that quickly? Are a few supposedly sincere words going to undo the eternal consequences of a life of wicked rebellion?

Jesus answers the thief and us: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" v.43.

Jesus, Himself dying in utter agony, hears the man, knows his heart, and forgives him...instantly, completely, forever. This kind of forgiveness does not compute in human ways of figuring forgiveness. The man who moments before was blaspheming in now savingly repenting and believing in Jesus. The man on the fast track to Hell is now a few hours from Heaven (Paradise is apparently Heaven...look at its other NT uses).

Friends, this is absolutely sovereign grace. What Jesus was in the midst of accomplishing as He hung there next to this man was counted as accomplished for the man before Jesus had even finished His redemptive suffering. Both Jesus' finished work and this complete gracious forgiveness were certain. FREE GRACE.

The thief:

• Had no time to do any "good works"
• Didn't pray the perfect biblical prayer

And yet:

• He was counted righteous in the Christ he trusted
• Instantly
• Completely
• Forever

And if Jesus could forgive that "just a moment before blaspheming criminal" he can forgive YOU and your family member and your obnoxious neighbor and the guy or gal at work that is on the fast track to Hell IF you or they too, SIMPLY LOOK TO JESUS IN FAITH as the SAVIOR of WICKED SINNERS.

We are great sinners. He is a greater Savior.

Biblical Thoughts for Threatening Times

Biblical Thoughts for Threatening Times

Remember who your God is
-Sovereign over all things. Psalm 135:6; 1Timothy 6:15. He is sovereign over all things in all places at all times in all ways and always for GOOD.
-Owns all things. Psalm 50:10; Philippians 4:19. Therefore His heavenly storehouse always has plenty.
-Loves His children enough to give His Son for them and therefore will withhold nothing else they need. Romans 8:32. He gave the Son for you. The rest is the small stuff. The greater guarantees the lesser.
-Provides for His children in lean and dry times. 1Kings 17:8-16; 18:4; Psalm 37:25. Neither drought nor stock market failure dries up God’s resources nor His caring provision for His own.

Remember what Christ has done
-You are God’s possession forever through the work of Christ. 1Peter 3:18; Ephesians 1:13-14. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. NOTHING. Romans 8:38-39.
-All power and wisdom needed for life and godliness is in Him. 2Peter 1:1-4. The great question in threatening times is: “Will we have what we need?” What DO we really need? What we really need is CHRIST and what CHRIST PROVIDES. We have Christ. Therefore we will have all we need.

Remember who you are
-God’s child. 1John 3:1. Not a distant relative waiting against the dining room wall for crumbs from the Master’s table. He HAS prepared a banqueting table for you in presence of whatever enemy that may come. Psalm 23:5.
-Christ’s disciple. Luke 9:23-25. You are not on vacation. You are fighting a war. You are not commander-in-chief. Jesus is. Take up your cross and follow Him…daily. This is REAL living.
-One indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, whose fruit is the character needed for threatening times (Galatians 5:22-23) and whose armor is all the protection and weaponry needed for the fight of faith (Ephesians 6:10-18). The Father will give His Spirit’s help just for the asking (Luke 11:13).

Test yourself to see whether you are in the faith
-Have you trusted in Christ as absolute Lord or as provider of the good life? One is saving faith and the other isn’t (2Corinthians 13:5; John 6:26-27; Romans 10:9-10). Salvation is ALL of God’s undeserved GRACE (Ephesians 2:8-9) but this salvation FROM sin is FOR good works (Ephesians 2:10).

Understand God’s Purposes in threatening times:
-His Glory. He shows His glorious character as He provides for His children in perilous times. Psalm 50:15. He WANTS to deliver us. Threatening times give us something more visible to be delivered from.
-Your holiness. God would use tough times to make us like His Son. Romans 5:3-5; 8:28-29. Therefore we should rejoice not in the pain but in the PURPOSE of the pressure or threat.
-The Great Commission. What looks like a blow to God’s worldwide plan for the salvation of the nations is really a turbo charge forward as the church lives more sacrificial and streamlined lives (Acts!) This attracts unbelievers who are desperately in search for hope. 1Peter 3:15. Lack of Money will NEVER stop Jesus from building His Church.
-The purifying and strengthening of the Church. When the church is forced to cry to God day and night, it becomes more the church against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. Acts 1:14; 4:24; 12:5.

Remain faithful
-In the Word and prayer. All we need is in the inspired Word of God (2Timothy 3:15-17). You need to hear from God? It’s in there. All we need is also available through Bible-instructed, Jesus-trusting prayer (Matthew 7:7; John 14:13-14; 1John 5:14). If you have not been faithful, now’s the time to start. Then keep on.
-At your work. Don’t allow fear or worry to distract you from what God has given your hands to do. Philippians 4:6-7.
-To your family and church. Love and serve your physical and spiritual families. This is what the life of a disciple is about. This is following in the path of our great Servant-Redeemer (Mark 10:45). Don’t allow the threat of financial upheaval to turn you inward to a life of self-absorption. DO NOT give up fellowshipping together (Hebrews 10:24-25).
-In evangelism to the lost around you. There will be folks around you in whom God is working and therefore who are beginning to question all they’ve lived for. The gospel is good news for threatening times because it is for sinners who will turn “…to God from idols to trust the living and true God” (1Thessalonians 1:9). Be clear on the gospel and pray for lips to speak it with love, clarity, and boldness.

Be prepared
-To suffer, if the Lord so wills. The early Christians were schooled from conversion that suffering WOULD be a part of their discipleship to Christ (Acts 14:22). The “feel good” and “have plenty” theologies of the TV preachers and paperback writers is not the sturdy, soldier-like mindset of New Testament Christians (2Timothy 1:3-7). In the way of suffering is a fellowship with Christ that is deep (Philippians 3:10).
-Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness (1Timothy 4:7-8). Put yourself in training for godliness if you have not already. God’s Gym, not Gold’s Gym, is what is needed here. Ask the Lord what He would have you do to deepen the soldier heart within you.
-Reduce/eliminate debt. Travel as financially light as possible. Live by a budget. Cut back on non-essentials. Make a plan for paying off debt that is wise and aggressive.
-Let your generosity overflow. We should aim to imitate the believers in Macedonia in 2Corinthians 8:1-5, “…In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means…and beyond their means.” Seek to give MORE, not less, to God’s Kingdom work. If possible under God, don’t cut your mission’s giving. Be ready to give to help those suffering around you.

Long all the more for Christ’s appearing but don’t think that it’s necessarily tomorrow. There are always prophets announcing “the end” with every successive crisis. Christ will return when Christ returns. How shall we be prepared? Be holy (Hebrews 12:14). Be faithful (Matthew 25:14-30). He will be looking for faithful servants when He returns, not frantic, fear-crazed folks holed up in their homes.

We are Just Like Them

In Mark's account of Jesus' "trial" before Pilate (15:1-20) and what follows we can see three definite groups who took part in the betrayal, conviction, and brutal treatment our Savior suffered. Each displays the raw, savage, insane wickedness of the human heart in a different way. WE ARE JUST LIKE THEM.

Someone has put the "scale" of wickedness-to-love like this:

• To return EVIL for GOOD is DEVIL Like
• To return EVIL for EVIL is MAN Like.
• To return GOOD for GOOD is MAN Like.
• To return GOOD for EVIL is GOD Like.

Note the DEVIL LIKE evil of each group below. See yourself (before or apart from the new life the Savior gives) in each.

Group One: The Chief Priests. They rejected Christ because He EXPOSED them as the religious hypocrites they were (Mt 23). When they confronted Christ He called for change...HEART change. He shined the heavenly light of holiness into their temple-coated darkness. It was unacceptable in His presence to remain the same. So...They chose to KILL HIM rather than REPENT.

It is our hearts, as well, to choose to reject and do away with Christ rather than repent and follow Him.

Group Two: Pilate. He gave Jesus over to death to SAVE HIS NECK. Pilate was already on shaky ground in terms of the Jews in Jerusalem. He could not afford a riot or his position would be taken away along with all the privileges that Rome granted. He knew Christ was not guilty of death in a Roman court. But when the cry to "Crucify" came and the cry to release Barabbas instead of Jesus rose to a frightening pitch, he gave Jesus over to be flogged and taken to the cross. At the heart level, Pilate loved Pilate, not truth or justice or the true God...or Jesus.

In our unredeemed hearts, as well, we love us and not Jesus. We'll give Him up to save our necks.

Group Three: The Romans Soldiers. They imposed the most crass and wicked mockery of Jesus as FAKE ROYALTY. They raised their hands and spit against Him in a soldier's game of cat and mouse. They dared in the blind insanity of their hearts to raise their hands against the King of Heaven. Blind, wicked insanity. They opened his flesh to the bone with their cat-o-nine-tails and beat his head and face beyond recognition (Isaiah 52:14).

We, as well, before INFINITE MERCY transformed us, raised our fists and hearts and did violence to the King of Heaven. We mocked His divine royalty with every choice we made to be lord of our own lives. We set ourselves up to be his antagonists. And there was no trembling.

Do you see yourself in these three groups? If not, try Romans 3:9-20 or Jeremiah 17:9 or Isaiah 53:6. When we see our sin more as God sees our sin we can see our SAVIOR more as He is and we can glory in our great forgiveness and we can be set free to LOVE HIM with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. A light view of my sin leads to a heart that loves with no might.

Jesus WILLINGLY Went to the Cross

10 ways the Gospel of Mark makes plain the truth that Jesus went to the cross INTENTIONALLY and WILLINGLY:

• 3 times in this gospel Jesus tells his disciples in no uncertain terms that he is heading to Jerusalem to die: 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34. No surprise, just knowing certainty.
• His ministry moves through many locations ultimately heading for Jerusalem during Passover, when he will die. 10:33
• He presents Himself publicly and clearly as the Messiah during His Triumphal Entry. Whereas Jesus normally stayed out of the public and avoided crowds seeking to tag Him as Messiah, he PURPOSEFULLY does this at the front end of His last week, KNOWING it will hasten his steps a few days later to the cross. 11:1-10
• He KNOWS Judas will be his betrayer and allows him to proceed with his treacherous work. 14:17-21
• He fully submits to the Father's will to die just before He is arrested in the Garden. 14:32-42
• He allows the chief priests and temple guards to arrest Him and carry Him off to the high priest for the mock trials that will decide his death sentence. He COULD HAVE called more than 12 legions (72,000) of angels to His side for rescue, Matthew 26:53 (note: one angel killed 185,00 soldiers in 2Kings 19:35!). But He called for no help except the Father to strengthen His soul.
• Jesus makes it clear that what is happening is in fulfillment of Scripture (14:49) and therefore He intends to let it happen.
• Jesus refuses to appeal to Pilate for release. 15:1-15
• He allows the utter injustice of the cries to "crucify him!" to continue with no defense. He knows this will lead first to scourging, the dreaded flogging with cat-nine tails where his flesh would be laid open, perhaps to the bone. Some prisoners died at this point, never proceeding to their cross. 15:15:13-15
• He submits to the mockery and cruelty of the Romans soldiers who clothe him as a fake King and beat Him with His pretend septer. 15:16-20.

These 10 reasons and MORE make it clear that our SAVIOR went to the cross NOT as a victim, but as one fully in control and fully aware of what is happening and what He is doing. He goes to the cross for the Father and for US. What INTENTIONAL, WILLING LOVE!

Why did Jesus Willingly Go to the Cross?

Jesus went willingly to the cross for JOY. "Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY that was set before Him endured the cross..." Hebrews 12:2.

What JOY drew Jesus to the Cross?

• The JOY of PLEASING His Father. "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again" John 10:17. It was the joy of the Son to fulfill the Father's eternal plan of redemption. It was Jesus' joy to do so WILLINGLY, that is, He passionately WANTED to go to the cross for His Father's pleasure and love. Have you ever known love so deep and constant that it gave joy in the doing of difficult and demanding tasks?
• The JOY of RETURNING to HIS GLORY. "And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed" John 17:5. In His earthly life as also man, Jesus' preexistent glory was veiled. There were no fiery cherubim flying overhead repeating the 3-fold "Holy!" (see John 12:41). He appeared as your average Jewish male with no distinguishing outward marks of greatness. But after the cross, Jesus would be restored to the Father's right hand in heaven-shaking glory as His majestic deity once again took away the breath of angels.
• The JOY of REDEEMING GOD-REJECTING SINNERS. "...When His soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring ; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall and be satisfied..." Isaiah 53:10-11. The joy of hearing His Father declare rebel sinners "not guilty" drew Jesus to the cross. The joy of seeing self-absorbed Satan-followers become worshipers of His Father drew Jesus to the cross. The joy of setting captives to drunkennes, adultery, gluttony, gossip, and sloth FREE drew Jesus to the cross. The joy of a CHURCH to act as His body on the earth for the forwarding of the gospel drew Jesus to the cross. And the joy of one day wiping away every tear from the eyes of His persecuted, hated, and tempted saints drew Jesus to the cross.

Jesus went to the cross WILLINGLY for the Father, for the restoration of His own glory, and for YOU and ME. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Abiding - Part 2

In order to ABIDE in Christ there are several basic truths that we must understand and be sure of. Here are perhaps the TWO most important:

1. Jesus is the VINE. "I am the true vine" (John 15:1). Israel was pictured in the Old Testament as the vine of God's planting (e.g. Jeremiah 2:21), but the nation became a wild vine and deserted the LORD and never produced the fruit she was chosen and equipped for. Jesus, however, is the true vine, He is the TRUE ISRAEL, the Son of God who pleased the LORD and produced fruit in all He did.

As the VINE, Jesus is the SOURCE OF LIFE for His branches, His people. Life for us as His people, His disciples, comes ONLY from Him. If we want to please God, to bear fruit for Him, to live life with His strength and wisdom, that fruit and life and strength can ONLY come from Jesus. HE is the VINE. FROM Him comes all we need.

2. We are the BRANCHES. "I am the vine, you are the branches" (John 15:5). Branches live and grow and produce fruit ONLY as they DRAW LIFE from the vine. Knowing that we are the branches teaches us that our posture is always to be one of DEPENDENCE or RECEIVING. We NEVER have the source of spiritual life and fruit in ourselves. We look away to the VINE for life. And we must make our goal each day to stay connected to Jesus, our Source. This is why the Scriptures tell us that we live by "faith."

These two truths may seem so simple and obvious that they do not need to be emphasized. However, our problems are usually the result of moving away from the BASICS. How often have you depended on yourself or your friends or family or money or smarts instead of Jesus? How often have you only looked to Jesus in desperation AFTER exhausting yourself in looking everywhere else?

A fruitful life is simple: He is the Vine, We are the Branches. He gives, We receive.

Abiding - Part 1

In John 15 Jesus shares an allegory with His disciples which is perhaps the most glorious picture in Scripture of what it means to have an intimate relationship with Him.

The key word expressing this relationship is "ABIDE" or "REMAIN" (vv.4,5,6,7, etc).

To picture this to His disciples, Jesus uses the allegory of a grape vine and its branches and fruit. The vine supplies life to the branches so that fruit can be produced. This "connection" of branch to vine is a picture of the relationship a believer is to have with Jesus.

• This is a REAL connection. That is, the believer is really connected to Jesus. This is not just a concept, it is a spiritual reality, just as real as a physical branch is connected to and part of the vine.
• This is a VITAL connection. That is, life flows in this connection. The branch has no life of its own except that which comes from the vine. Abide and live. Stop abiding and die.
• This is a PERSONAL connection. The branch and vine represent real people: Jesus and believers; Jesus and you and me. This connecton involves RELATIONSHIP.
• This is a PURPOSEFUL connection. Branches are connected to a living relationship to the vine IN ORDER TO bear fruit. We are connected to Jesus for fruitbearing. This is why we will see that fruitbearing becomes evidence of who is and who is not a real branch.
• This is a CONSTANT connection. This is what "abide" or "remain" means: you stay there, you don't move around, you don't seek other connections in the place of this one. You seek to stay in the place where this relationship can draw life and bear fruit.

And Jesus makes "abiding" a COMMAND, "Abide in Me and I in you" v.4. That is, if we are a believer, a disciple, we are always to be abiding. If we are not abiding we are sinning. This abiding should always define our relationship with Jesus.

What does it mean to ABIDE in Jesus? I.E., HOW do we do it? Thankfully, Jesus tells us and we will look at this in coming blogs.

Wow! God Answers Prayer

What promises God gives for those who keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer (Matthew 7:7). If you are like me, you can pray, THINKING that you are trusting God to answer, but never really expecting to SEE an answer.

Recently we have been praying for China in conjunction with the Olympics in Beijing. We were even wearing the gray wrist bands circulated by Voice of the Martyrs with "Pray for China" engraved. But our whole thinking in our praying was, "Lord, do your work IN China, giving grace to your persecuted people to be bold and courageous in their witness to Christ."

After a few days of praying I received an email from a friend who knew of a young female entering the university in our town. She needed a place to stay for a couple of nights until registration and the dorms opened. As things worked out, we had her stay in our home and thoroughly enjoyed the time with her. We hope to continue to get to know her and have her in our home during the school year. We also had some times to begin sharing Christ with her. She seemed very receptive. The young lady was fresh in the US from mainland CHINA.

However, the "DUH!" for us came a couple of days after we had hosted her. My wife looked at her "Pray for China" wrist band and a light suddenly went on, "Oh, our guest was Chinese, and we've been praying for the gospel to go forth in China! He has brought China to us! Praise the Lord!"

Praise the Lord indeed! Another lesson in the foolishness of putting the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient prayer-answering God in a BOX. Perhaps we should begin to pray like this, "And Lord, answer this request in your own sovereign way and give me eyes to see when you do it."

The Importance of Calling to Mind

In the Book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah is pouring out the bitterness and pain of his heart to the LORD as he observes and experiences God's judgement on His people. In chapter 3 he says he is "filled with bitteness" and cowering "in the ashes". His soul is "bereft of peace" and he has "forgotten what happiness is." He has reached the end of his endurance and his hope has perished (vv.15-18).

Ever feel like that? You probably have NOT experienced the life and hope shattering devastation that Jeremiah endured, but you have probably been in bitter places, humbled by your own failure to the emotional ash heap. You no doubt know what it is to have sinned away God's peace and what it is to feel like your future is black with NO light at the end of the tunnel.

Jeremiah gives us in vv.21-24 the biblical solution to our personal times of darkness and despair:

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him."

"But this I call to mind..." When everything around me is dark; when my failures have thrown me into the ashes, when all that I cherished is being shaken...like Jeremiah I need to "call to mind" the CHARACTER and COVENANT of the LORD. My character will fail. His won't. There will be times when I will not keep my commitment to Christ. He will NEVER break His covenant and commitment to me.

Instead of sniffing in the putrid fumes of my failure, I must CHOOSE to turn my thoughts, my memory, my heart towards my Lord. I must drink in the purifying air of the CROSS. I must plug in the IV of His promises to me in Christ. When I call to mind His steadfast or unfailing love...I have hope. He WON'T stop loving me. I am His purchased possession. His mercy to me will be INFINITELY great tomorrow morning, none depleted by my foolish actions or thoughts or words.

In fact I must CHOOSE to call this to mind: this awesome LORD is "my portion"! That is, HE is what I have been given as a Christian. I have gotten HIM! He has given HIMSELF to me. My portion is not just blessings from God but the BLESSING GOD HIMSELF.

Next time you are wallowing in the mire of your own making, CALL these things to MIND. Call HIM to mind.

WHERE Does a Lavish Love Come From?

The lavish love of Mary shown for Jesus in anointing Him with a year's wages worth of precious ointment did not just show up that evening, six days before Jesus' crucifixion. It was NOT the result of a sudden emotional surge. She was not into impressing the gathered guests. WHERE did it come from?

• It came from a GRATEFUL heart. Mary had seen Jesus raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. She was in the home that evening of the anointing of one Simon, apparently a former leper, whom Jesus had healed. She had heard many stories of Jesus' amazing works throughout Israel as he sat in her home during His visits to Bethany. O, what Jesus had done for Lazarus and Simon and Mary and so many others! Gratitude flowed like a river at flood stage from her heart.
• It came from KNOWING Jesus. It was Mary who sat at Jesus' feet soaking up His unmatched teaching in Luke 10:38-42. She devoted herself to being His disciple in every way possible. His words had soaked into her soul and transformed her. She believed. And as her personal and experiential knowledge of Christ increased, so did her love. And on this night her love overflowed in a lavishness that saw no limit to its expression.

Friends, it is the will of God for this same kind of lavish love to flow from our hearts (Romans 12:1). It is this kind of love that gives irrefutable evidence that we are indeed Christ's transformed ones. It is this kind of love that makes obedience and sacrifice a joy, not an intolerable burden. It is this love that sees our greatest sacrifices as pitiful responses to His immense love and grace and character.

Does this kind of love flow towards the Savior from YOUR heart?

• Are you regularly amazed and overwhelmed at the grace of Christ to die as SIN for your sin?
• Are you growing in the KNOWLEDGE of Christ from the intake of His Word and from daily obedience to Him as Lord?
• Do you cry to Him for a greater, purer flow of love from your heart towards Him and others?

It is NO CLICHE to say, "To KNOW Him is to LOVE Him."

If you find your love for Jesus choked off...go to Him in desperate prayer, asking for His Spirit to break the dam of love in your heart. Go back to the Word with an eye looking for Jesus EVERYWHERE. Ponder deeply the biblical truths of His substitute sacrificial death for YOU.

A Beautiful Thing

In Mark 14:3-9 a woman (John tells us it is Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha) anoints Jesus with a precious ointment. This ointment was worth a year's wages (v.5)! Perhaps it was a family heirloom or security for old age. In just a few moments time it is all poured out on Jesus. Though those standing by call it a WASTE (v.4), Jesus calls it "a beautiful thing" (v.6).

Why was this anointing "beautiful"?

• Because it was LAVISH. It was VERY COSTLY (v.3). Mary gave the BEST that she had for Jesus. No leftovers, not the everyday stuff used for normal guests would suffice. Only the BEST she had. This kind of lavishness is beautiful.
• Because it was ALL POURED OUT on Jesus. Once the slender neck on this exquisite jar was broken to release its contents - ALL of its contents was poured on Jesus' head and feet. By this Mary showed the ultimate value that she placed on Jesus. There was no one else, nothing else in her life that was important enough to merit this once in a lifetime anointing - except Jesus.
• Because it DISREGARDED WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT if only it might pour its love on Jesus. Mary must have known she would face criticism for this unusual and lavish expression of love. The scolding came fast and furiously from those nearby, lead by Judas the disciple, betrayer, and thief. She wiped Jesus' feet with her hair - an amazingly HUMBLE act. I have read that a Jewish woman's hair was her glory. Mary humbles her glory, her pride, to wipe the FEET of her Lord.
• Because, as Jesus says in v.8, "she has anointed my body beforehand for burial." This act of lavish love was beautiful because it was sovereignly designed to prepare Jesus for His supreme act of sacrifice on the cross as the final and ultimate Lamb of God. While those around were planning his murder (vv.1-2), criticizing the one who loves Him (vv.3-9), and betraying Him (vv.10-11), Mary was "doing what she could" and spending her most precious possession to prepare Him for the cross.

How BEAUTIFUL is YOUR LOVE for Jesus?

• What has it cost you?
• Has it been lavish enough to draw criticism?

"O Lord, may our love for YOU, the BEAUTIFUL ONE, become more and more beautiful."

A Faith We Can Live By - Part 6

Faith works. That is the consistent teaching of Scripture. That is, though we are responsible to exercise faith in obedience to God's command (Acts 16:31), faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). And the salvation that comes by this graciously given faith that we exercise shows itself by our works.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" Ephesians 2:10.

Therefore, in all of our talk about trusting in the God who gives life to the dead and believing in order that we might become what God has willed and promised and having a faith that squarely faces the facts and growing strong in our faith by giving glory to God...in ALL of this we must remember that faith is NOT a PASSIVE thing that we just wait to be given or that we think the Spirit will somehow exercise for us. Nor must we think that a passive believing is full or genuine faith. Faith WORKS!

• Faith WORKS by OBEDIENCE to the Word of God because it believes that God's Way is best.
• Faith WORKS by standing up to thoughts that have haunted and crippled my walk with Christ and telling them the truth as it is in Jesus.
• Faith WORKS by holding onto God's PROMISES in the dark because it is convinced that God is fully able to do what He has promised.
• Faith WORKS by stepping through walls of the fear of man to witness to family and friends when I may be rejected for doing so.
• Faith WORKS by choosing to do the next thing I ought to do when I feel like taking a nap.
• Faith WORKS by loving that unlovable guy at church who is a human porcupine.
• Faith WORKS by making commitments to hospitality when a quiet, uncleaned house would be so much more comfortable.
• Faith WORKS by getting up 15 minutes earlier tomorrow to spend a little time in the Word of God seeking the OBJECT of saving and sanctifying faith.
• Faith WORKS by receiving a rebuke from my spouse or friend that is hard to take and thanking them for it.
• Faith WORKS by fasting in order to pray for missions when food is my dearest friend.
• Faith WORKS by submitting to the leaders in my local church because God tells me to, and refusing to criticize them or second guess them but rather to encourage and pray for them.

All these and a million other ways are ways that FAITH WORKS. This working faith and ONLY this working faith is a faith that we can live by.

A Faith We Can Live By - Part 5

Romans 4:20 (ESV) says of the faith of Abraham, the great biblical example of our faith, that "he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God..."

Worship is essential to strong faith. Giving glory to God, i.e. acknowledging that He is able to do what He has promised (v.21) is necessary for our faith to remain and grow strong. Why is this?

• True worship focuses in the right direction: Godward. He is the object of faith and faith can only exist with HIM in our sight. Worship directs us away from ourselves.
• True worship REMINDS us of what God has done in the past, thus keeping in mind His faithfulness. His past faithfulness is the foundation for faith in His present promise-keeping.
• True worship breaks through the clouds of unbelief to the bright, shining greatness of God as it acknowledges who He is according to His Word.

So...when you are struggling with a shaky faith...it is time to WORSHIP. Just begin to give thanks to God for His character and praise Him for past faithfulness and the sureness of His present faithfulness. You will find that your shaky or failing faith will be renewed and strengthened by giving Him the glory that He rightfully deserves.

After all, unbelief ROBS God of the glory that is due His name.

A Faith We Can Live By - Part 4

Paul writes this of Abraham's faith: "He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb" (Romans 4:19).

The faith that Abraham was justified by and which we are justified and sanctified by is NOT AFRAID to FACE the FACTS of our situation. It is not frightened by the REALITY of what we see. Faith is not seeking to convince yourself that things are not as bad as they seem. Faith is not "positive thinking" in the face of negative circumstances. Faith looks DIRECTLY into the face of the humanly impossible and says, "God is able to do what he promised" v.21. It CAN look straight at what would normally discourage and depress because of the GREATER FACT that faith keeps a tight hold of: God is ABLE.

Things aren't as bad as they seem? No, they are probably WORSE! We see only the tip of most troublesome icebergs. There are a thousand more things that can go wrong than I ever see, no matter how complete a list I think I have made. Brother and sister: it not only can be worse, it IS worse...from a human resource point of view. But bad, worse, or even catastrophic, God is on His heavenly throne (Psalm 11:4). If He said He will do it, HE WILL.

In fact, God receives greater glory in His mighty deliverances when we have not labored to reduce the odds against us in our minds. Let the full reality of what is against you be considered. Then, as faith always does, Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

He is ABLE to do what He has promised.

A Faith we can LIVE by - Part 3

The faith of Abraham which we share as his "faith family" believes in the God who "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist" Romans 4:17. This faith also against failed human hope but in confidently expecting God-given hope TRUSTs God (v.18).

But there's more about this faith.

This faith by which we are justified and by which we are progressively sanctified (made into the likeness of the Lord Jesus' character) is necessary to BECOME what God has promised and willed for us.

"In hope he believed against hope, that HE SHOULD BECOME the father of many nations, as he had been told" (v.18).

What God has promised us in His Word can only BECOME a reality in our lives when we choose to BELIEVE Him. If I am stalled in the process of sanctification, at least one problem, and possibly the greatest problem, is UNBELIEF. God's work in us is always through the open door of faith. The great question is: Do I TRUST Him?

It is difficult to BELIEVE Him if:

• ...My focus is on myself. BECOMING faith can only exist and can only grow when my focus is on the ONLY legitimate OBJECT of faith: GOD. The moment I start looking at myself and my failures and my lousy track record: faith dies.
• ...I neglect God's WORD. Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). The WORTHY OBJECT of faith exalts Himself as supremely trustworthy and gives grippable handles for faith in His Word. Open the BOOK and feed your starving faith.
• ...I focus on my FAITH. If I allow myself to start evaluating my faith, any that did exist will die. "Am I believing STRONGly enough?" "Is my faith sincere?" NEVER focus on your faith...focus on the OBJECT of saving and sanctifying faith and watch your trust grow.

As I look to Jesus, the OBJECT of faith, God will work in me what He has willed and promised. I must BELIEVE in order to BECOME what God has promised.

One more thing: faith is a gift (Ephesians 2:8,9) of God. Ask for it. And then look to the GIVER. In the looking will come the answer.

A Faith We Can Live By - Part 2

The faith of Abraham through which he was justified by God and lived before God was a faith that trusted in the One who "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist" Romans 4:17. This is our faith as his children of faith. We, too, trust in a God who can create in us clean hearts and godly desires and sacrificial love and wisdom from above WHERE NONE EXISTS.

But there is MORE to this faith we live by. It is also a faith that believes "in hope against hope" v.18. There are two hopes here. The first hope has its source in GOD. The second hope has its source in human ability. Remember that BIBLICAL HOPE is "confident expectation." It is a confident expectation that God will do good to me and for me and in me all the days of my life and unto eternity. This hope rests in the unchangable character of God and the completed work of Christ and the expressed PROMISES of God in His Word.

Human hope, however, has its limits. Abraham's hope of a human heir (a son) through whom the promise of God would be fulfilled was beyond its limit when he was nearly 100 and his wife nearly 90. They were beyond child-bearing age. Human hope was nil.

But against all human hope Abraham still believed because he looked away from his old body and Sarah's old body and found hope in the PROMISE of God ("I will make of you a great nation..." Genesis 12) and the GOD of promise. He was "fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised" v.21. And so he had hope for a future that humanly COULD NOT be and in the present BELIEVED.

Is your faith failing because you are searching in frustration to find a source of HUMAN HOPE? Perhaps you are looking:

• To find love within your cold, self-absorbed heart, or
• To become successful in ministry by your efforts or slick strategies, or
• To overcome a habit that has successfully resisted years of prayer and discipline, or
• To find the determination to obey in an area where you've always put it off until next week, or
• For some reason, any reason, to believe that your life will be different next month or next year.

What do you need? You need to LOOK AWAY from yourself and your resources and your track record and your emotions and the evaluations of others and find HOPE in the PROMISES OF GOD and the GOD OF PROMISES.

With HIM there are the infinite resources of the Almighty, All-Knowing, Everywhere-present, Giving-His-Only-Son-Loving God. And when HE says:

• I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19), or
• I will give you an abundance of needed wisdom (James 1:5), or
• I will give you power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7), or
• I will give you My Spirit so that you can overcome sinful habits (Luke 11:13), or
• I will clear the way before you so that you can always know and do My will (Proverbs 3:6), or
• I will pursue you with unfailing love all the days of your life (Psalm 23:6)...

HE MEANS IT. Rise in the God-given HOPE expressed in His promises and TRUST HIM for RIGHT NOW.

I cannot trust God now if I don't believe that He has guaranteed a good future for me. He HAS promised that (Jeremiah 29:11)...so, in the strength of that HOPE, TRUST HIM today for every humanly impossible situation and problem.

A Faith we can LIVE by: Part 1

The faith that we are justified by we live by. In Romans 4 we are given a wonderful description of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all who believe.

FIRST of all, the faith we are justified by and subsequently LIVE by...

• BELIEVES in the God who "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist" v.18.

Faith is not looking into ourselves, taking stock of what gifts or determination or faith in ourselves we have, and then asking God to increase these things so that we can meet the demands of the day. Faith is rather looking AWAY from ourselves, knowing that IN ourselves we are EMPTY of all that is good and spiritual and strong and loving and wise and TRUSTING in the God who "calls into existence the things that do not exist." God doesn't need a slightly loving heart to work with. God doesn't need a somewhat strong mind to be able to increase its strength. God can CREATE a loving heart, a compassionate heart, a willing spirit, a disciplined will OUT OF NOTHING, just like He does when He saves us.

Our Father can CREATE from nothing in us passions like His. He can give wisdom to us when there is NONE in our minds to draw from.

He simply wants us to BELIEVE in Him to be this kind of God for us. And when He creates in us what was not there, He gets the glory.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God..." Psalm 51:10

Want a Revelation of God?

In 1 Samuel 3:21 we are told, "And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD."

This was at the beginning of the prophet Samuel's ministry, while he was still a young boy serving in the tabernacle under the compromising Eli. God spoke to him, apparently sometimes verbally. The Lord spoke to Samuel and then Samuel spoke to others on His behalf. People knew that God had raised up a prophet among them because Samuel's "words from the Lord" came true (v.19).

However, the point I want to call attention to is that the way the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel was by His "word." He spoke to him personally, directly, and in detail.

God STILL speaks to His servants, His children, personally, directly, and in detail. It is not primarily VERBAL words that He uses in our day (though we won't argue that this is impossible. Rather I will say that if God chooses to speak to someone verbally, it will be words that are in total agreement with the written Word, that add no new revelation, and that glorify Christ). God speaks to us in our day through His written Word. He REVEALS Himself to us in our day through His written Word.

Where do you learn that our God is the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Where do you find that our God "keeps covenant and steadfast love" (Deuteronomy 7:9)? Where else do you learn that God is a holy God who declares rebellious sinners "not guilty" through the sufficient substitutionary sacrifice of His Son? How can you know that God loves YOU and has a place prepared for you in His eternal presence? Where can you hear God tell you that His mission in this world is YOUR mission in this world and that it involves the search and rescue of Satan-held sinners into the Kingdom of Christ? Where can you find God's will for who you should marry? ALL, and ONLY ALL these revelations from God come via His written, finished, inerrant, sufficient WORD!

My point is that if you are really hungry for a deeper, fresh revelation of God from God...your need is not to find the next conference with "anointed prophets" or the latest spin-master's best-selling How-to book, or to fast your way into a "higher-life" experience...your need and my need is to go to the book, GOD'S BOOK, the Bible. Open it in faith, depending on God the Spirit who inspired its writing, and begin with hungry heart to read. In these never-changing words God's speaks, He REVEALS Himself. He WILL reveal Himself to you: personally, directly, and in detail.

Ask Him to: "Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Your law" Psalm 119:18.

"Lord, may we seek fresh revelations of You in the place where you have promised it...Your glorious Word."

How to Avoid Being a Plastic Saint

In Mark 12:38-40 Jesus warns his disciples to "beware" the scribes. They like to DRESS like religious leaders (long robes), they like the TITLES of religious leaders (greetings in the market place), and they like the POSITION of the religious elite (best seats in the synagogues and feasts). But under the robes and behind the titles and in spite of the position they were in bondage to GREED (devour widow's houses) and the IMPRESSIVE PRAYER SYNDROME (for a pretense make long prayers).

This deeply entrenched religious play-acting (HYPOCRISY) was COSTLY: "They will receive the greater condemnation" v.40. God hates those who play the part of PLASTIC SAINT and in the process teach others to do the same. One day they will hear His fearful, "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:23).

How can we AVOID becoming PLASTIC SAINTS?

• CHOOSE our MODELS wisely. Jesus is the real thing. "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many" Mark 10:45. When choosing who we will model our lives after as disciples, we must use the "JESUS RULER." He alone is the measurement of real spirituality. This is why the leaders of the church are to be tested by character qualities that measure up to Jesus (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1). Many run after the eloquent or the charismatic or the handsome when they should be looking not for gifts but the FRUIT of the Spirit, the Jesus Ruler measurement: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.
• Live for an AUDIENCE of ONE. The scribes and pharisees did what they did to be seen of men (Matthew 23:5). Who am I living to PLEASE? If it is others, the plastic is thickening. Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."
• LABOR hard to be WHO YOU ARE. Be honest and open before the Lord and before others, EVEN in church. Am I struggling? "Fine" is a plastic answer. Is temptation winning the battle over me? To be with my fellow church members and not to share my battle and to ask for specific prayer is plastic. Am I struggling with someone who has offended me? "That's ok" will pile up the plastic. Make it easy for others to be honest and vulnerable around you and one way to do that is by being that way with them...even if they don't know how to handle it. But in the honesty and vulnerability don't infect others with unbelief and a critical spirit or with gossip.

May the Lord of the saints who are perfect in their standing and IMPERFECT in their walk grant you and me to be the real thing, knowing that we are accepted in the Beloved One now and forever.

The Giving that Pleases Jesus

It was Tuesday before the crucifixion. Jesus is in the Temple. He has been responding to the Scribal challenges in a way that has left them devastated. He has just warned His disciples to beware of or avoid the Scribes due to their hypocrisy. They try to look the part of authentic religious leaders with their long lily-white robes and their show-stopping prayers, but Jesus says they "devour widows houses" and "for a pretense make long prayers" (Mark 12:40). Jesus wants His disciples to be the REAL thing, not to follow in the Scribe's waxy steps.

At this point Mark writes that Jesus sat down in the Court of the Women where the offering boxes were (Mark 12:41). This is where the daily "giving show" took place. 13 inverted trumpet shaped offering receptacles lined the wall (?), each marked for the particular type of offering to be collected there (6 of them were marked for "freewill" offerings).

Mark tells us that Jesus saw "many rich people put in large sums" (v.41). These were the stars of the "giving show." You can just hear the dozens of denarius coins clank into the trumpets. Wow! do these guys LOVE God! Look at how much they give. However, we tend to be easily impressed when it comes to giving. Many clanks = much love, right? Wrong.

Jesus wasn't impressed. He didn't CONDEMN the rich givers. They were rich, they SHOULD give large sums. The giver, however, that caught Jesus' eye was a poor widow. Apparently widows could be spotted by their clothing just like the rich. This widow probably made her way to the trumpets under the radar of everyone present...but Jesus. Her offering? A totally UNIMPRESSIVE 2 lepta (2 small copper coins). Their worth? No one seems to know for sure...perhaps a few cents in modern equivalence. They were small and they were thin and someone has written that this amount was the SMALLEST legal offering accepted.

With this in mind, the comment of Jesus to His disciples is mind-boggling. "This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box" v.43. Wait a minute! We HEARD the clanking of the rich offerings. We couldn't even hear the slightest tinkle of this old ladies coins.

Jesus then tells them why this poor widow's offering was more than all the clanking coins of the rich. "For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in everything she had, all she had to live on" (v.44).

This is why the widow's giving caught Jesus' eye. She gave it all. She had nothing left. She had 2 coins...could have kept one for herself...that's still an eye-popping 50% offering! But no...in they BOTH went. She had nothing left to trust in but God Himself. When she prayed later on, "Lord, give me my daily bread today" SHE MEANT IT!

The rich? They had plenty left over to trust in and lean on and feel confident over. If you have a million denarii and give 200, you still have 999,980 left! That's alot of daily bread!

Do you give like the rich or the widow?

• It's not how much you begin with but how much you have left.
• It's not the amount given but whether there is SACRIFICE involved.
• It's not giving by FEAR: fear that if I give too much I may not have enough left to cover unforseen emergencies.
• It's giving by LOVE: for Him who gave everything He had on the cross for ME.
• It's giving by FAITH: faith that my Father in Heaven really means to supply my daily bread regardless of how much is left in the checking account.

God makes great use out of small sacrifices. This widow's two small copper coins were immortalized in this gospel as an encouragement for all the disciples of Jesus to be sacrificial givers, like the widow, like Jesus...leaving it all in the offering box, leaving it all on the cross...

What are YOU leaving?

He Had it All and Lost it All, Part 1

The rich young man of Mark 10:17-22 is the subject of one of the saddest stories in the Bible. Just think of what this fellow had going FOR him:

• He was EARNEST: he RAN up to Jesus in his zeal for eternal life, v.17
• He was RESPECTFUL: he knelt before Jesus in humble respect, v.17. Remember that at this time the religious leaders HATED Jesus and wanted to kill him.
• He led an EXEMPLARY MORAL LIFE (outwardly): "all these (commands) I have kept from my youth" v.20

There are many like him today, who are serious about things religious, who greatly respect Jesus, and who are outwardly excellent moral examples.

However, there were several fatal flaws in this young man. Perhaps the first we notice is: He believed he could SAVE HIMSELF. Listen to his words to Jesus in v.17: "What must I DO to inherit eternal life?" What does this tells us about this young man?

• He saw his relationship to God and God's favor in terms of EARNING. He saw eternal life as a REWARD for his keeping of the commandments. He apparently believed that he COULD earn it if only he knew the missing commands or requirements.
• He had a totally OUTWARD view of the law. He seemed to have no understanding that God looks on the heart and not just external actions and words. In reality, the law had not yet accomplished its work in him, to show him his mouth-shutting sinfulness (Romans 3:19).

Many today also see eternal life as within the grasp of their religious deeds. They believe they can do what God requires to earn life. The only problem MIGHT be that they need to know ALL that God requires. To this young man Jesus was indeed a Teacher worthy of respect. But he seemed to see Jesus ONLY as the teacher who could inform him of the missing parts of God's will which he was to obey for life and not the ONE who could and would earn life FOR him.

This is deadly ignorance. How many are like him today. Jesus is the one who supplies the missing dos to their check list for eternal life. He is not the only Savior of lost men. Thinking he could DO enough himself to earn life blinded this rich young man to his need for Another to Do for him.

Have you come to the place where you are absolutely clear that there is NOTHING you can do in and of yourself to EARN eternal life? Have you tossed your list of DOS for LIFE and instead thrown yourself onto Christ the Savior for life? Have you seen that Jesus is the ONLY ONE who has done what it takes for eternal life? Have you reached out the empty, needy hands of your heart to take hold of Christ's perfect life, sufficient death on the cross, and victorious resurrection from the dead?

What must I DO to inherit eternal life? Stop trying to do, trust the One who has DONE.

Jesus, Children, and Kingdom Hearts

In Mark 10:13-16 we have the familiar gospel story of folks bringing their children for Jesus to bless. It was a common practice for a respected adult to lay their hands on a child's head and to pronounce a blessing over them. Jacob did this to the 2 sons of Joseph in Genesis 48:14. Having heard of the wonderful teaching of Jesus and the many works of power He had been doing around Israel, it is no wonder that caring parents wanted Jesus to lay His hands on their kids.

But the disciples did not like it one bit. Mark writes, "the disciples rebuked them" v.13. Why? It would seem that the disciples saw the persistent parents and their kids as bothers. Didn't these folks know how busy Jesus was? Did they have any idea what it was like to deal with crowds all the time? How would they like living in a human vise day in and day out? "Take your kids and go away. The Teacher can't be bothered." Besides, they were ONLY children.

I guess the disciples had already forgotten Jesus' earlier teaching about receiving children in His name (Mark 9:37) and how receiving a child in His name is receiving Him. How soon we ALL forget!

Jesus, on the other hand, did not like the disciple's attitude one bit. He was indignant, or "greatly grieved" v.14. Children were not a bother to Jesus. He had time and He had blessings for them. Jesus WANTED to take them in His arms and pronounce a blessing over them. And He DID. v.16

Jesus saw in these children kingdom-ready hearts, "to such belongs the kingdom of God" v.14. This does NOT mean, of course, that these children were sinless NOR that they were automatically members of His kingdom. They were descendants of Adam and sinful from birth (Romans 5:12ff). They were selfish and self-centered. However, it seems that Jesus is speaking about the characteristic of a child's heart that makes them aware of their weakness and need, that allows them to be trusting and to receive help simply and gratefully. This seems confirmed in His words in v.15: "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."

A child's heart is generally more humble and trusting and ready to receive help than those who are older. The older we get, the more the heart TENDS to become proud and untrusting. Therefore, we must be careful to teach and train our children in God's Word and God's ways from their earliest days. This teaching of spiritual truth will find receptive hearts in the young. Let's plow the fertile ground of their hearts with truth and plant it with spiritual seed (James 1:21).

But Jesus extends His teaching beyond children in v.15. He says "WHOEVER does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." Here He teaches that the attitude of heart of a child is necessary for one to enter the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God? In most general terms, the kingdom of God is the realm over which God rules. It is the hearts of those over whom God rules in Christ. Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He is the KING of that kingdom. To receive the kingdom is to receive the rule of the KING in your life...OVER your life. Jesus says that it takes the heart attitude of a child to enter the kingdom. This is because the rule of King Jesus over one's life is only received by a humble, trusting heart. It is the person who KNOWS their weakness, their need of help, and who is willing to trust the King who will enter the kingdom.

How child-like is YOUR heart? Are you aware of your need of King Jesus? Are you willing for Him to rule your life as supreme KING? Will you trust His promises of forgiveness and grace and peace and all that is necessary for life and godliness (2Peter 1:3)? If so...you either ARE or will be a citizen of the kingdom of God, a heart over which King Jesus rules in sovereign and loving power. If NOT...this King also uses His power to CHANGE the HEART of those who know their un-childlikeness and who CRY for a new heart, a humble, trusting heart.

Unfailing Love in Personal Prisons

Listen to David's praise to God in Psalm 31:21-22:

"Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. I had said in my alarm, "I am cut off from your sight." But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help."

One of the beautiful things about the Psalms is that we are seldom told exactly what situation David or the others Psalmists are writing from. We often do not know who the enemy was or what the "besieged city" was. This allows us to apply the Psalms in a most wide way, not just in terms of physical enemies, but spiritual and mental and emotional enemies, as well. Therefore a "besieged city" can be any situation in my life where I am held captive by the enemy of sin.

Here are several reasons I love these verses:

• The place of personal captivity, where sin has us in volitional or mental or emotional chains, tends to be the LAST place where we expect to experience God's steadfast love. Steadfast love is hesed...covenant love...unfailing love...God's kind of love. We often expect judgment from God when we find ourself trapped in sin. "Why did I get myself into this place AGAIN?" "What kind of fool am I?" "I should be stronger in faith than to allow Satan to tempt me into this pig pin once again!" But over and over and over again God comes and breaks chains in His steadfast, unfailing love. This does NOT mean, of course, that He APPROVES of our sin or thinks lightly of our sin. NO, not at all. His steadfast love can be FIERCE in its freeing operation! Steadfast love is not necessarily synonymous with soft and warm and gentle. Love is jealous and zealous when it is protecting or rescuing or reclaiming its own.
• Note that David blesses the Lord for His steadfast love WHEN he is in a besieged city. That is, NOT after David has freed himself. God is the rescuer. His love is always acting first. Grace moves to give the OPPOSITE of what is deserved. It does not wait until there is something that is deserving. It does not say, "Get yourself out and then MAYBE I'll give you my favor again." God knows there is no freedom that begins with us. No...in covenant love, the love that "carries on to completion the work it began until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6) God comes to us IN OUR BESIEGED CITY and wondrously shows His power on our behalf.
• Note also: the Lord shows His steadfast love to "me" i.e. "us." It is PERSONAL. God is not into demonstrating his freeing power for the demonstration of His glory ALONE (He DOES do that!). He does it also so that His wondrous love and power RESCUE HIS BELOVED - us! His love and His wondrous working are personal. He is the Father coming once again to the besieged child to free her. There is personal warmth in God's rescuing. There is customized wondrous working in His rescues of us. He rescues us omnisciently knowing what we need in the way of character development and rescues us in a way that does that character work.
• How often are you in a difficult place and feel like, and even think, "I am cut off from your [God's] sight"? v.22. I often find out just how WEAK my faith is when I can't see or feel God's presence or the signs that He is at work. How quickly I cry out "Lord, where are you?" WHERE is He?! He is where He ALWAYS is - where His besieged child is. He is where steadfast love always is: near the needy beloved one. Can I actually be cut off from the sight of the OMNISCIENT One? He sees all things at once at all times. No depth of prison or captivity or addiction or failure can cut us off from the sight of the One who sees through all things. If God can't see, then He can't act for us WHEN and AS we need Him to. But HE DOES see! And not only does He see, He sees all things as they actually are: my true needs, the true strength and strategies of my enemy, what I need to be freed, all factors that are involved, who is culpable in every way: OUR GOD of steadfast love sees all and His beloved ones CANNOT be cut off from His sight. Do you find yourself in a personal prison? God sees you, His beloved in Christ.
• How often when you are in a personal prison does it seem like your prayers are leaving your mouth and falling on the floor? God hasn't heard! God is unaware of my true situation. God DOESN'T CARE! Ah...but HE DOES! God hears the humble cry of His beloved beaten down one, His captives due to foolishness. When we have had enough and CRY to our Father, HE hears, and no amount of enemy interference or noise or failure to pray the perfect prayer or lack of pure motives can hinder His ears from hearing clearly our cry. He hears and He will answer. However, sometimes He says, "Keep on asking, Keep on seeking, Keep on knocking" Matthew 7:7.
• What CRY does He hear? "My pleas for mercy" and when I "cried to you for help" v.22. If you are in a personal prison and think there are no divine ears perked for your cry, think again. There is a Lord of steadfast love in heaven who is a Father of MERCY. He loves to not give us what we deserve because His Son took that wrath. And He loves to answer the cry for help because it delivers us and it glorifies Him (Psalm 50:15). So CRY!

Brethren, you are not hopelessly and forever stuck in your besieged city. Rise above the thoughts that you are cut off from God. Press on to the mercy seat in heaven with your cries for help. Let David's experience be to you a source of hope for what yours can be. The Lord of steadfast love will act wondrously on your behalf.

The Atheist and the Editorial

Once a month I write an article for our newspaper in the Opinion Section as part of a Writer's Group. That article springboards off of a local or state or national event and then seeks to give a biblical viewpoint. The newspaper has an online site where the day's articles are put in cyber space. For every article there is a chat room set up for folks to give comments. The comments that are made on my articles are probably 95-98% negative. You find out real quickly that true believers don't spend too much time in comment chat rooms. I think that is wise. In those chat rooms you have nameless, faceless critics who may say nearly anything with impunity.

As well, occasionally someone will write a letter to the editor to give critique of an article like mine. Hey, it's a free country and folks OUGHT to be able to respond and disagree and take divergent stances and to express that in the media.

Today the head of the Minnesota Atheists had an opinion piece published that took issue with my latest article. He sought to show how the Bible actually glorifies and encourages such things as polygamy and child abuse and slavery and hating one's parents. In the end he made this statement, "A lifestyle based on God-belief collapses when no evidence for gods exists. A lifestyle based on atheism and humanism has a greater chance for success because it is reality-based."

How should one think of such responses? Here's my thoughts:

• I think this man has as much right to express what he believes as I do. The question of whether it is right and true is another matter. I must respect his right to take issue with what I believe.
• In giving opposing viewpoints, I do expect the evidence martialled to be accurate and fair. This was not the case. Perhaps the writer felt that it was. But the support for his view included the usual litany of verses from Israel's history that sought to prove the Bible condones murder and abuse. He even quoted Jesus' words about "hating father and mother" etc. in comparison to one's devotion to and love for Him. This was supposed to prove that Jesus taught his followers to hate their parents. Is that what Jesus was teaching?
• I do not feel compelled to respond to such critiques. I am not saying that I should never nor that others should not respond to them. I have in the past. My thought is that this man's evidence and reasoning were so weak and erroneous that any thoughtful person would dismiss it at once. The only individuals who might rally around his article, in my opinion, would be those who are looking for support for their already chosen anti-biblical stances. Could this article push someone over into atheism from theism? Anything is possible, I guess. But I DOUBT it.
• Another thought is: IF I felt compelled to respond or if I was in a face to face encounter with this gentleman, COULD I defend what I believe? The Scriptures are clear that I should "always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is within you..." 1 Peter 3:15. Challenges, even poor ones, should cause me, not to HIDE behind cliches or my own weak logic but to seek to know what I believe ever more clearly and to be forearmed with the very Word of God.
• When we respond or do our own critiques of the work of others, HOW should we do it? Peter follows in the passage quoted above with instructions on HOW we are to make our defense: "...Do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." v.16. Many a believer has "out-truthed" an opponent but lost the argument due to ungodly attitudes when responding. I must respond by SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE and treating ALL men as created in the image of God and carrying the dignifying marks of the Creator.
• I seek not to take PERSONALLY opposition, even vitriolic oppostion. We fight in a war for the souls of men and all men are EITHER on Christ's side or Satan's side. There are no spiritual-Swiss who remain neutral. Jesus said that if He was opposed, we will be also. John 15:18-21. If we will follow Christ, His critics will be ours. If we are opposed for His truth, we are sharing in His suffering. If we are opposed for being mean-spirited...well, we are called to repent and present a godly attitude the next time.
• We should make our core agruments the very Word of God itself. All my impressive logic (if I ever had any!) is without power to change one heart. But the Spirit of God will use the Word of God as a sharp-double edged sword to open hearts to the piercing gaze of God. The Word is like a hammer that crushes rock (Jeremiah 23:29), the rock of a heart of stone. Share the Word and be CONFIDENT that God will use it. I am called to reason and make sense and to offer arguments that man's wisdom cannot resist, but I must do so giving a priority place to Scripture. LEARN the Word!

May the Lord use us to share His truth in a world that has lost truth so that by His Spirit's work many may come out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Birthday Reflections

Today is my 54th birthday. Birthdays ought to be a time of reflection. We should think of the past and the future on this day. We should exult in the grace of God in whose hand is the exact pre-determined length of our days. We should cry out for more grace, MUCH more grace to continue growing in wisdom and love.

Here are a few of my reflections on this doorstep to year #55:

• When I was younger I never really expected to live to be 54. I have. Youth tends to be extraordinarily short-sighted. Older middle age has helped me to see a little more clearly and to have the corrective lenses of Scripture to realize that how long I live is not the real issue, but rather HOW WELL I live. Each additional year causes me to think more and more about what I will hear Christ say when I stand before His judgment seat someday. I want to hear His "Well done."
• Each additional year also causes me to say, "What is MOST important at this point in my life?" I have lived life to this point largely bouncing from one activity to the next, not really evaluating the enduring value of each activity but more the present pleasure of it. I have always zeroed in on the easy, the interesting, the creative activity. Now I am realizing that a life well-lived is about faithfulness to the most important things from God's vantage point: family, the church, my own soul's intimacy with Christ, the eternally lost, and the glory of God. I am seeking to look at my schedule more through such values these days.
• At this point in life, my mom is dead and my wife's dad is dead. My dad is in a state of much more frail health and my wife's mom is totally incapacitated physically. To see the decline of those you love, to see the inevitable effects of aging, causes me to think about the time when I will be "old." Never used to think about that before! Will my children need to make hard decisions about where I will live when I can't get around easily or when I am incontinent? Will I have the symptoms of dementia or full-fledged alzheimers in my later years? If so, will I become cranky and mean and aggressive? I sure don't want to end up as a heap of aging humanity in a wheel chair in the corner of an expensive care facility someday. But I might. If so, will I trust God? Will my personality honor God or will it cause folks to make excuses for my profane language and disagreeable nature? It makes me want to learn MORE and MORE and MORE to walk in the Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit, to know contentment in whatever condition I am in and to genuinely love others. If I grow in this, isn't there a good chance that my aging years will be more mellow and God-glorifying? God knows, but I want to take the high road into my later years.
• To this point I have lived 19,710 days. My heart has beat nearly 2 BILLION times! What do I have to show for the length of days of my life? To this point I would say MEDIOCRITY has been the rule of the day. I have known very little of striving for excellence. I have been motivated more by ease and comfort and others than I have by Christ. Someone has defined mediocrity as "the best of the worst and the worst of the best." That would be me. But in this I hope, I am still alive, Christ is STILL working in me, and I am doing some of my most diligent work and cross-motivated living ever! 54 or not, God is still at work in me. He has not rejected my mediocre self. He is committed to make me like His Son (Romans 8:29) and He will NOT do a mediocre job at that conforming work.
• I am committed to be more of a man of prayer than ever before in my life. I have been learning that God does His work on this earth through prayer. As long as I can at least think relatively clear, I can pray. I can lose my ability to see, hear, walk, talk, feed myself, etc. but I can still pray. I may not be able to preach when I am 75 or 80, but I do hope I'll be able to pray. If I can pray, my life will NOT be wasted nor fruitless. If I can pray I can affect the growth of the Kingdom of God on earth. I can do evangelism if I can still pray. I can lay up treasures in heaven if I can pray. I can have a gigantic impact on my local church if I can pray. I can glorify God if I can pray. Prayer is the great ministry of the elderly who grow old in the Lord. "Oh, Lord, teach me to pray!"
• As I look at so many of the elderly that I have known and do know I fear. I fear becoming like them when I am old. I fear living out my last days consumed by talk and worry about medical problems and doctors and treatments and bills. I fear a life that has become fruitless and boring and lonely. I want to grow old like the righteous spoken of in Psalm 92: "The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They STILL BEAR FRUIT IN OLD AGE, they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him." vv.12-15. The best way to make sure that I do not grow old with little to no living trust in Christ is to trust him today. My pursuit of Him TODAY is my best insurance against a future where He is a distant memory. It is His mercy that will keep me close, but I am charged to seek Him.

"So teach me to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12