June 6, 2013

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." Ephesians 5:26-33

I want to invoke some editorial privilege this morning and wish my lovely wife a Happy Anniversary! We will be embarking on our silver anniversary year today. Like all good marriages, we are each better people for having been together. We have been good for each other.

Barbara has been good for me because of the way she has served me and sacrificed for me. She has given up much to allow me to pursue the calling of God. Sacrifice and service are what commitment looks like. Honestly, women do that better than men. That is why Paul wrote to the husbands in Ephesus urging them to commit to their wives. In this verse, the Apostle Paul reminds us of the key to a good marriage, but He links it with a curious comparison. A man's love for his wife is compared to Christ's love for the Church. Interesting, eh? What is the common denominator here? How can love for a person be compared to love for a community of people?

The thing that makes love work is commitment. Love involves a complete commitment to someone else. That commitment is often expressed in sacrifice. Christ proved His love for the Church by sacrificing His live to redeem it. What did that sacrifice involve? Sacrifice means that I put your needs ahead of mine. Sacrifice means I commit my life to serving your needs. Which is precisely what Christ did on the cross. No wonder commitment has fallen out of fashion with 21st Century culture.

When Paul wrote to the husbands in the Ephesian Church he challenged them to commit to two levels of love. He said love your wife more than you love your parents and to love your wife as you love yourself. Of course, from an emotional perspective the love you have for your parents is different from the love you feel for your spouse. But emotions are not the topic here. Paul is talking about actions because marriage is more about what you do than what you feel. When you commit to marriage you commit to serving the needs of your spouse above the needs of your parents. And you commit to serving the needs of your spouse ahead of your own.

Another way of looking at commitment is this: commitment is eliminating plan B. Plan B comes from your human nature, your default setting, wants to serve your own needs first. Or, human nature wants to bail out on a relationship when commitment demands too much. As long as you have a Plan B you are not committed.

I am blessed to be married to a wonderful woman who long ago took Plan B out of play. So have I. That has allowed us to focus fully on serving one another and together serving God. It has led us to invest in each other rather than indulging ourselves. That is how we have each become better people. Serving Christ has helped us to better serve each other. Sacrificing to serve Him and serve others has bonded us to Him and to each other. Learning to serve Him has helped us learn to serve each other.

But, while the commitment that got us to this point is laudable, the commitments we make today are the ones that matter. Will we continue to serve? Will we continue to sacrifice? Will we continue to eliminate Plan B? I like our chances! But commitment happens one decision at a time.

June 5, 2013

^“Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:7-15

Like the sheep in Psalm 23 you should be one satisified sheep! I have spent the better part of this week reminding you of how good your Shepherd is! So, if there is still anxiety or discontent stirring in your soul it could be that you are not following Him as well as you should!

May I share a true story to further illustrate the blessings and benefits of following this Shepherd Who is a personal shepherd and a powerful shepherd and a promising shepherd?

Here it is:

In 1972, a shepherd had brought his sheep into a walled-off, enclosed area for the night, and he had just gone to sleep when he heard a commotion. He quickly rushed over to where the sound was coming from and to his horror he discovered that a wolf was in the process of dragging off one of his sheep through a hole in the wall. He was mauling this sheep and blood was flying.

 

The shepherd quickly began hitting the wolf, and the wolf turned on him and began attacking him. He bit him over and over while the shepherd was striking him with his staff, and finally with one final blow of his staff, he killed the wolf as he himself collapsed into a bloody heap.

 

He managed to crawl over to the half-dead sheep, and began to bandage its wounds.

 

He gave it some water, and then took it in his own bloody arms, and shepherd and sheep went to sleep together. The next morning the shepherd was found dead, his body literally draped over the sheep to comfort it and keep it warm. The following day the headline in the Jerusalem paper said, “Sheep Alive, Covered in Shepherd’s Blood.”

That is the testimony of every sheep and lamb who is under the care of the Good Shepherd. Why would you not follow Him closely? Why would you not completely trust a Shepherd like that?

Any other shepherd is a hireling who comes to steal, abuse, or kill the sheep. There is no comparison between the Good Shepherd and any other. There is really no comparison between sheep under the care of the Good Shepherd and those who are not. You can tell the difference by looking! There is a noticeable difference!

As the storm clouds gather and the threats increase and the world becomes significantly more dangerous, you cannot afford to be led or cared for by anyone other than the Good Shepherd because no matter how perilous the times that lay ahead - IF THE LORD IS YOUR SHEPHERD, YOUR FUTURE IS YOUR FRIEND!

Hallelujah!

June 4, 2013

“SURELY – goodness and mercy will follow me…..” Psalm 23:6

"Promises are like babies: easy to make, hard to deliver." ~Author Unknown

"It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath." ~Aeschylus

"Promises are like crying babies in a theater, they should be carried out at once." ~ Norman Vincent Peale

The future is your friend when you have a personal shepherd Who has an intimate concern and care for you! And, the future is your friend when you have a powerful shepherd who has seven-fold ability to protect and provide for you. But there is still another reason to trust this shepherd - His promises!

But the promises made are only as good as the previous promises that have been kept. How can you be sure you can trust the promises of this Shepherd? Has He proven reliable?

He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.

 

Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.

Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest.

Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King.

Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.

Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.

Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.

Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.

Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.

Yes! This Shepherd IS trustworthy! He not only keeps His word HE IS THE WORD!

What He promises:

God’s presence -- "I will never leave thee" (Heb. 13:5)

God’s protection -- "I am thy shield" (Gen. 15:1)

God’s power -- "I will strengthen thee" (Isa. 41:10)

God’s provision -- "I will help thee" (Isa. 41:10)

God’s leading -- "And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them" (John 10:4)

God’s purposes -- "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jer. 20:11)

God’s rest -- "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28)

 

God’s cleansing -- "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9)

God’s goodness -- "No good thing will He withhold from them that work uprightly" (Psalm 84:11)

God’s faithfulness -- "The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake" (1 Sam. 12:22)

God’s guidance -- "The meek will He guide" (Psalm 25:9)

God’s wise plan -- "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28)

With the troubling and uncertain future you face how can you have hope?

You can be sure your future is your friend because your Shepherd is personal and He is powerful AND you can trust His promises!

The things that are coming in the next few months and years will be trouble on a scale you have never seen before. It will be frightening. It will be painful. You will be tempted to panic. That is why I want to remind you of your Shepherd and that if you fully trust Him, you will need not fear the future for He will make your future your friend!

June 3, 2013

"The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." Psalm 23

Even though things are getting very scary around the world and the US ecomony is tetering on the brink of collapse, the future is your friend if the Lord is your Shepherd. I showed you that is true because He is a personal Shepherd. He knows you intimately and loves you unconditionally.

Not only is He a personal shepherd, He is a powerful shepherd! When you think of a powerful superhero you think of a Batman, or a Spiderman or a Superman, you don't think of a shepherd. But you should! Jesus as the Shepherd is not just powerful, He is seven-fold powerful! What do I mean by that?

Our Father has many, many names in the Hebrew bible (some say as many as 144!), each describing a different aspect of His greatness and power — from Adonai (The Lord; mentioned 360 times) to Yahveh (“I am that I am”; mentioned 6,800 times). Jehovah is an Anglicized translation of Yahveh. In Psalm 23 we see seven of the names of God that show us that our Shepherd might just BE a superhero!

1. “The Lord is my Shepherd”

"Jehovah Rohi" (The Lord is my Shepherd and my Guide) – “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will GUIDE you into all truth” John 16:13.

2. “I shall not want”

"Jehovah Jireh" (The Lord is my Provider, so I do not want) - "He supplies all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19

3. “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters”

"Jehovah Shalom" (The Lord is my Peace — my calm in the midst of a storm) – “Now may the God of PEACE Himself sanctify you completely” 1 Thess. 5:23.

4. “He restores my soul”

"Jehovah Rapha" (He is my Healer) – “And by His stripes we are healed” 1 Peter 2:24 (and Isaiah 53:5)

5. “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”

"Jehovah Tsidkenu" (The Lord is my Righteousness; in Him I have right standing with God) “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God in Him” 1 Corinthians 5:21.

6. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me”

"Jehovah Shammah" (“The Lord is There”; He is our Ever-Present God) - “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” Hebrews 13:5.

7. “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”

"Jehovah Nissi" (“The Lord is my Banner,” my standard, He covers me) – “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a STANDARD against him” Isaiah 59:19.

“You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Amen!

The future is your friend when this God is your Shepherd! He is powerful times seven! There is nothing that can come against you that will be more powerful than Him! When this Good Shepherd is for you, who can be against you!

Sure sounds like a superhero to me!

June 2, 2013

^"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,  but fools despise wisdom and instruction."  Proverbs 1:7

 

You are prone toward doing foolish unwise things from time to time. So am I?

 

Just to reassure you we are not alone in out foolishness, consider:

 

A psychology student in New York rented out her spare room to a carpenter in order to nag him constantly and study his reactions. After weeks of needling, he snapped and beat her repeatedly with an ax leaving her mentally retarded.

 

In 1992, Frank Perkins of Los Angeles made an attempt on the world flagpole-sitting record. Suffering from the flu he came down eight hours short of the 400 day record, his sponsor had gone bust, his girlfriend had left him and his phone and electricity had been cut off.

 

Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn. Suddenly the pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death.

 
 

A man in Taormina, Italy was hospitalized after swallowing 46 teaspoons, 2 cigarette lighters, and a pair of salad tongs.

 

The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits.

 

Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with "return to sender" stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.

 

John Ortberg says that there’s a simple reason that God put Proverbs in the Bible – it’s because we’re stupid! Let’s face it; we all do dumb stuff, don’t we? This book can help us become wiser in many ways.

 

Proverbs is a concentrated graduate course in the art of living. It’s not enough simply to be educated and have knowledge, as important as education is. We also need wisdom, which is the ability to use the knowledge that we have. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “wise” is used to describe people who are adept at working with their hands. Those who have wisdom have the ability to face life honestly and to live it so that God’s purposes are fulfilled in their lives. Wisdom is not theoretical but practical. A wise person does not just say wise words, he or she is skillful at living life to its fullest. Here are some of the life skills presented in Proverbs: Training for parents, purity principles, money management, relationship building, the power of words, the honor of humility, the dangers of strong drink, decision-making, the importance of hard work, peace-making principles and how to care for the poor.

 

Proverbs is a survival guide for people like us in times like these.

 

The Proverbs are good to know! Very good! But what you really must know is the God Who inspired them and His wisdom is reflect in them! The only way you can know Him is through a personal faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

 

If you have not trusted Him as your Savior - you REALLY need to wise up!

 

 

 

June 1, 2013

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

If you want to know the Lord you must fear Him. The first thing your need to know about the Lord is that He should be feared.

The word used for "fear" can mean anything from shear terror to a reverential respect for Who He is and what He can do. In fact, fear is evidence that you really do know His holiness and power.

Sheer terror is the result of knowing you will have to face Him at the Judgment without being prepared. That is a good reason to fear! You don't want to fall into the hands of an angry God.

Fearing God in this way should drive you to humbly confess your sin and repent of them. That leads to a reverential fear of God, like a Father rather than an Angry Judge.

Those who fear God keep His commandments:

"Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" Deuteronomy 5:29

Those who fear God serve Him:

"Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name." Deuteronomy 10:20

"But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you." I Samuel 12:24

"Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling." Psalm 2:11

Those who fear God are blessed:

"Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!"  Psalm 128:1

"Praise the LORD. Blessed are those who fear the LORD, who find great delight in his commands." Psalm 122:1

"The fear of the LORD [tendeth] to life: and [he that hath it] shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." Proverbs 19:23

Those who fear God hate sin:

"The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."  Proverbs 8:13

"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." Proverbs 3:7

As evidenced in these verses the fear of God primarily in two ways, the fear of how God can hurt you or the fear that you will hurt God. How do you fear God?

There are a lot of things to know! We live in a world that is in perpetual information overload. Knowledge is a good thing! It has been said that "Knowledge is power". But our text makes it clear the first and best thing to know is the fear of God!





 

 

 

 

 

 

May 31, 2013

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

 

Doesn't it seem like our culture tends to over value knowledge and under value wisdom? In fact, I think we often equate knowledge with intelligence as though just learning something makes you wiser.

 

Solomon wrote in the Proverbs that knowledge begins with knowing God and wisdom results in knowing how to apply the knowledge to daily living. Applying your knowledge of God in daily spiritual discipline is the essence of faith.

 

The first thing wisdom knows is that God is the Creator of the universe. We saw from Hebrews 11:1-3 that Creation and God as Creator is knowledge that led the Patriarchs to faith. It should inspire faith within you! The appropriate response to the knowledge of God as Creation should be hoping in Him!

 

But not only must you fear Him as the Creator but know that He is also the Controller of everything as well!

 

Again, we turn to Hebrews 11 to make the case!

 

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Hebrews 11:6-7

 

Noah is honored for his faith because he agreed to do something that had never been done before. Never had it rained before and he likely wasn't sure what rain was but God told him so he believed without seeing! That is faith, isn't it?! And who knows if he had seen a boat before since he was a farmer who lived inland. Since he probably hadn't seen one he most likely hadn't built one. He agreed to do it because of his knowledge that God is sovereignly in control of His universe! His fear of God was stronger than his fear of the unknown.

 

Noah's knowledge of God plus his obedience to God's sovereign plan turned his knowledge into wisdom! It turned his fear into faith!

 

Is there an area of disobedience in your life? If so, it is evidence that you don't have a proper fear of God. Either you fear man more than you fear God or you don't have faith that God is truly in control of the unknown.