August 31, 2018

^"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."   Genesis 2:2-3

^"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."  Genesis 2:15

Maybe it is just me, but doesn't it seem a little strange that we would honor the Labor Movement in America by taking a day off of work?

In advance of the Labor Day week-end, I want to share some Biblical perspectives on work. Like every relevant thing that happens in your life, the Bible has quite a bit to say about work. For instance, our verses referenced above shows where work came from - GOD! God created work!

The very first time you see God in the Bible guess what He is doing - WORKING! If you don't think that creating the universe was work then explain why God set aside a day to rest from His work. Sure, God is different fom you, but the reason people generally rest is because they need a break from working.

Maybe you don't feel like your job is divine, but the concept of work is! Notice that not only did work originate with God, but when He placed Adam in Eden one of the first things He did was set him up with a job! He was to tend to the plants and animals that God had placed in Paradise. Talk about a dream job and a perfect work environment - move over Apple headquarters!

Work is worth celebrating! Maybe it would be more appropiately celebrated by actually working, but work is God's idea for His creatures! Work has God's seal of approval!

So, you may want to re-examine your attitude toward work in view of the fact that it is God's idea and His invention. And further, I had a college professor who proffered the idea that if you want to know what heaven will be like, look at Eden since it was the original paradise! There could be some validity in that view. It would be easier to make the case that it's true than to argue it isn't. Therefore, you can figure that there will be a job awaiting you in Heaven. Dying doesn't get you out work but it will certainly get you a better Boss!

Celebrate God's gift of work!

August 30, 2018

"Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ" II Peter 1:1

Not only does Peter identify himself as a "servant of Jesus Christ" - which IS significant - but notice that he signs in using two names, "Simon Peter".

In the Jewish culture names were significant. Unlike today when children are often named after a sports celebrity or entertainment star, in those days the name was given according to some prominent characteristic of the child.

You may remember that when he dropped his nets and left his boats to begin following Jesus he was known by the name "Simon". The name "Simon" means "shifting sand". If you know very much about Peter you will understand why that name was appropriate.

When he identifies himself by his given name he is acknowledging the way he was when he began to follow Jesus. He was weak and inconsistent in his new found faith. One moment he would get it right and the next moment he would be fall flat on his face.

Maybe you can relate to that. I sure can!

But Simon received a name change. Here is how it happened:

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." Matthew 16:15-18

When Peter began to understand Who Jesus really was, it began a dramatic change in his life and Jesus recognizing that change marked it in a pretty big way - He changed Simon's name to "Peter". "Peter" means "rock". So you could say, his name changed from "Sandy" to "Rocky". As you recall that a name reflects the character or nature of a person you see what a significant change that was!

Let me mention a couple of significant insights about Jesus in this story. First, Jesus sees your potential long before you do! Peter was far from being a rock when Jesus changed his name to "Rock". Second, Jesus patiently empowers you until you become the "rock" He knows you can be! Jesus believed in Peter when Peter doubted himself. Even when Peter betrayed Jesus, Jesus never doubted Peter. And sure enough, Peter become not only a rock but he became a foundation upon which the Church was built! Once he got his eye on the prize, everything changed!

It may seem like a small or even insignificant that the Great Apostle opens his second letter with the moniker "Simon Peter". But since the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit, EVERYTHING is significant and the significance of using both names was to glorify God by recognizing His transformational power!

Like Peter, you may be a believer in transition. You may be changing from shifting sand to a rock. I want to encourage you to keep your eye on the prize. I want to remind you that God believes in your potential even more than you do and He promised you an new name:

^"I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  Revelation 3:11-13

Hang tough, Rocky! Keep your eye on the Prize!

The Key To Fighting Right

“If a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand” Mark 3:25

You hear it at every wedding and you see it in the Bible and it sounds so wonderful – this thing about “two becoming one”.

How does that happen? It defies any mathematical formula known to man!

Obviously it is talking about unity.

You may think, “Well, if she would just agree with me all the time then we could get along!”

She might think the same thing. One thing is for sure, you can’t agree with one another all the time so how do you achieve unity when two people don’t always see things the same? How do you get it right when only one of you can be right?

To achieve unity and oneness in a marriage you have to learn to fight right and disagree agreeably.

Some of my best friends in ministry are guys that I have had heated disagreements with but because we both love God and we both loved the ministry and we loved each other, we fought through the issue in a godly way and learned to know and love each other even more.

That is what God wants for marriage. And your best chance at learning to fight right is to first learn what is right and fight for that. But how do I know what is right for my marriage? Ask God.

The key to fighting right is to learn what God says is right for your marriage and fight for that. That means that if my idea or my desire does not line up with what God’s Word says is best for my marriage then I give that up for the good of the relationship.

Several things that NEVER work and should be out of bounds in a fight:

1) Never drag up things from the past

2) Never resort to name calling

3) Never raise your voice

4) Never withhold sex as a weapon

You and your spouse should set down and establish rules for how to fight right. Use the Bible as your rule book.

What will you do today to help you fight right? 

Will you fight through your disagreements and fight your way to a better marriage?

August 28, 2018

"Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Genesis 3:13

One of the first popular game shows in America was called "Truth or Consequences". It premiered on the radio in 1940 and continued on TV until the late '80's. That is a long run!

Any show that can make the transition from radio to TV has to be intriguing!

"Truth or Consequences" was the show that first made Bob Barker famous and led to his long career as host of "The Price Is Right".

One more bit of trivia about the show before I attempt to make a point. Truth or Consequences, New Mexico derived its name from the game show. Original host, the great Ralph Edwards, once promised on the air that he would host a show from any town that would take the name of the show as the moniker for their city. Hot Springs, New Mexico took him up on the dare. They changed their name and he did the show!

Perhaps the reason for the show's popularity was its simplicity. A contestant was given trivia question to answer and if they could not answer the question they would be assigned a stunt to do. Most questions were so obscure that they could not be answered and the consequences would be endured. After awhile contestants began missing on purpose just to do the stunts.

What does this have to do with us?

Adam and Eve erred from the truth and we are suffering the consequences. Boy, are we!

The plight of the human race has become like a non-stop game of truth and consequences. Except it stopped being funny long ago and the consequences are eternal.

Due to the deliberate rebellious decision by Adam and Eve, our judgment has become permanently flawed. We have trouble recognizing the truth and it is easy for us to believe a lie. And worse, it is not just lies that we believe, it is THE LIE. What is THE LIE? It is the thought that we can be like God. It is pride in its worst form. It is Independence run amok. It is a perverse fantasy of being able to sin without any consequences.

Here's the good news! Jesus, Who IS the Truth also took our consequences! Believe that! Receive that! Exchange your fantasy for a faith-based relationship with Jesus. Confess your sinfulness, repent of your pride, and humble yourself to the Truth!

It is no game. Let Him show you what He can do!

August 27, 2018

"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:8

What a crazy way to save the world! Crazy amazing that is!

It looked hopelessly impossible. Here is a Holy God separated from His beloved creatures by their sins. They would always be sinful and He would always be holy. Man could no more change his nature than God could His!

God longed for fellowship with man. Man needed fellowship with God. Man had tried to become like God - that didn't work too well! In fact, that is what created the problem! So, what was to be done?

If the guilty cannot become innocent, could the innocent become guilty? And if He could, would He? And if He would, why would He?

Jesus answered that question. He stepped up to resolve the dilemma. And Paul writes about here in Philippians 2. It is an idea only God could conceive and only Christ could execute. Perhaps Paul is the only one who could explain it.

Man couldn't reach up to God so God "morphed" down to man and Jesus was the result. Through the mystery of the "hypostasis" God was poured into man and a Savior was born! The perfect solution to a perplexing problem - a Being born Who was 100% God and 100% man. Just what God needed! The only hope for men!

How ironic that man became spiritually lost in the attempt to become God and the solution was found in God becoming a man! Mankind fell in his attempt to be God. Man was redeemed by One who surrendered His Godly privilege and humbly put on flesh. The One Who is life, the One Who breathed life into the nostrils of Adam, came in the flesh to suffer and to obediently lay down His life.

God did what He did because only He could do it! He did it in a way that only He could imagine. And He did for a reason that only He can comprehend.

So what are we to do with this amazing news? How are we to respond to this incredible offer? Why did He make sure Paul explained this spiritual truth in such detail? What does He expect or require of us?

He asks us to respond in kind - to humble ourselves as He did. To receive His righteousness we must confess our sinfulness. We must receive His holiness and repent of our selfishness.

Christ became like us to provide a way for us to become like Him! What we longed for and lost, He gave up to gain!

August 26, 2018

"In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:3-8

A preacher was once preaching about Heaven and he was good! Passionately and eloquently he elaborated on the golden streets and the pearly gates and the angelic choir and the crystal sea and the river of life and the throne of God and the eternal bliss! He was on a roll and he had the congregation in a frenzy. (Of course, if you can't get people excited about Heaven you're not much of a preacher).

At the conclusion of this stem-winder he asked for a show of hands for everyone who wanted to go to Heaven. Well, every hand in the place shot high in the air - except for one. The preacher was momentarily thrown by this but figured the man must not have heard the question. So he repeated in louder and engendered the same response - all hands except this one fellow.

The preacher was curious now so he called this guy out, "Sir, I see you are the only one who doesn't want to go Heaven. Can you tell this congregation why that is?"

"Well, preacher," the man responded, "I definitely want to go to Heaven! But it sounded like you were trying to get a group together to go today and I can wait for later!"

That is what I have found about Heaven - everyone wants to go, they just don't want to go today! You can add me to that number!

It is like the Indian scout that came back to General Custer on that fateful day. He reported to the General, "I have 'em bad news and I have 'em some good news."

"Give me the bad news first," Instructed Custer.

"As far as I can see to east there are Indians. As far as I can see to the north there are Indians. I look to the west and all I can see is an Indian war party. When I looked to the south - nothing but Indian braves!"

"Wow, that IS bad news," moaned the General.

"What's the good news?"

"You won't have to go back through Nebraska!"

Heaven has some real good news and a little bit of bad news.

The good news is that it will be an amazingly beautiful place of peace and joy and fulfillment. There will be no more pain and suffering. There will be no sin or evil. We will get to see God and we will get to see Jesus and we can fellowship with all the great saints of the ages. We will get to be with loved ones and there will be no more good-byes. And that is just a short list!

The bad news is we have to go through death to get there.

But when Nicodemus came to Jesus to find out about Heaven Jesus didn't talk to him of death, He taught him about birth. A second birth. A spiritual rebirth that has to happen in order to be prepared for Heaven.

God's Kingdom is a spiritual Kingdom. Flesh and blood cannot enter it. Especially sinful flesh and blood.

You and I are born into this world as sinful fallen creatures by virtue of our human nature which was corrupted by Adam. So, we come into this world spiritually separated from God, Who is holy. Jesus is telling Nicodemus that the reason he can't understand these spiritual truths Jesus is teaching is because his spirit is dead and unresponsive to God. God is a Spirit.

That is why sin is wrong. Sin doesn't threaten God or lessen God. Sin saddens God because it keeps us separated from Him and He desires fellowship.

Being "born again" requires a decision to turn away from our sinful desires and turn to Christ. When you turn to Christ and trust Him to be your Savior the Spirit of God enters your spirit and brings it to life. Your spirit lives because it is connected to the One Who is the source of Life.

"Born of water" refers to your physical birth. But "born of the spirit" means a spiritual rebirth is required to bring you into His Kingdom. Once you are "born again" you can live in relationship with God and He can begin the process of transforming your heart and your mind into the image of Christ.

Don't die unless you have been born - again!

August 25, 2018

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." John 3:1-2

As a man, I hate to ask for directions. I am not exactly sure why that is. A little research threw a little light on the query. Here is one person's theory:

"It is important to understand that men are NEVER "lost." To him, that implies a helplessness that he will never willingly experience. He simply hasn't gotten there yet and he has complete faith in his ability to do so.

Also, a man's unwillingness to stop and ask for directions is consistent with his survival instincts and actually not stubborn at all. First, the act of stopping the car, and rolling down the window, makes him (and you) more vulnerable than he is willing to be just to get some place faster.

Second, from a man's point-of-view, the moment he asks a gas station attendant, or someone on the street, for directions, he has put his life and yours in the hands of a stranger! Men, wisely, only put their lives in the hands of people who have proven themselves trustworthy. The way he sees it, you are both better off searching for your location yourselves than being at the mercy of the judgment of someone he doesn't know and trust." Alison Armstrong

That sounds good to me!

Mind you it is one thing to be unsure of your location in your SUV on a country road somewhere and quite another to be totally clueless about your eternal destination. You can recover from being temporarily lost but when you are lost for eternity - IT IS OVER!

I give Nicodemus a great deal of credit. He was a proud man and a very religious man. His entire life had been devoted to studying the Law and the Prophets. This man was a knowledgeable in all 632 Levitical regulations and all their applications. All the people he hung out with were just like him in terms of knowledge and expertise. But Nicodemus was different in a very important and admirable way. He knew he was lost and wasn't afraid to asking for directions.

He knew enough about religious to recognize that religion is not enough! He understood that it is not WHAT you know but it is WHO you know.

Let me ask you, "If you were to die tonight do you know for sure you would go directly to Heaven to be with God eternally?"

I am not asking you, "Are you religious?" Nicodemus was religious but he also recognized he was spiritually lost - eternally lost! He had an urgency to do something about that. You should have an urgency about that as well!

As you read this and as you, like Nicodemus, honestly recognize that you are unsure about your eternal destination will you face it with the same sense of urgency he did? And will you do what he did? Will you look to Jesus for the directions to get to Heaven? Will you humble yourself to accept His Way? That would be wise since He IS "the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him."