Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
11 In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust]; How can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to your mountain; 2 For look, the wicked are bending the bow; They take aim with their arrow on the string To shoot [by stealth] in darkness at the upright in heart. 3 “If the foundations [of a godly society] are destroyed, What can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of men. 5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And His soul hates the [malevolent] one who loves violence. 6 Upon the wicked (godless) He will rain coals of fire; Fire and [a]brimstone and a dreadful scorching wind will be the portion of their cup [of doom]. 7 For the Lord is [absolutely] righteous, He loves righteousness (virtue, morality, justice); The upright shall see His face.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
What does it mean to ‘rend the heart,’ and not just the clothing?
Much more than simply giving a whole array of apologies for bad behaviour.
David the Psalmist is urging the people to remember God’s covenant promises.
It’s easy to make outward shows of penitence without reaching inward to the heart.
David calls for the same depth of repentance which Jesus calls for.
To that end, as we once again prepare ourselves for tomorrow, Ash Wednesday for me to reminds each of us that Lent is so very much more than simply a time apologize for our “weaknesses” so just to ‘get my life back on track,’ as it were.
Lent is a time of focusing what ought to be our habit of seeing the heart anyway.
Above all, Lent reminds us of the character of God, which we all too easily lose sight of when we stray from those habits of the heart: forgiving and gracious, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
But, once we commit ourselves to the works of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, once we send our hearts into engaging with the sword of God’s Word,
It is promised by the Lord that changes and transformations will take place.
When those changes and transformations start and God is getting under our skins, into our souls, there is no stopping God from achieving His desired ends.
It is only a matter of choosing our desired response – run to self or run to God.
Build our own Castles, taking safe refuge in our own self defense mechanisms, or as the Prophet Isaiah predicted would one day have to happen to humanity;
Isaiah 2:2-5Amplified Bible
2 Now it will come to pass that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be [firmly] established as the [a]highest of the mountains, And will be exalted above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go out from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations, And will mediate [disputes] for many peoples; And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up the sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.
5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
In our hearts an in our souls …
The Mountain of the Lord is firmly established as the Highest Mountain.
When the people say … come, let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord,
To the House of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us His ways …
That we may walk in His paths…”
Then the Revival of our Hearts and our Souls may truly have their re-birth.
O’ House of Jacob …
O’ Body of Christ …
O’ Child of God …
COME …
Choose This Day Where You Should Run For Refuge
11 In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust]; How can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to your mountain; [Psalm 11:1]
When it comes to degrees and measures of crises in our life, it is not a matter of whether they will come but when and then just how hardcore they will be.
When they do arrive in whatever capacity and catastrophe, our response will be to flee to a safe refuge— a safe haven somewhere or something or someone we implicitly trust will keep us safe and protect us from all the pounding storms.
So the question then will not be whether we will flee but where we will flee to.
Some of us will take the advice of David’s friends in Psalm 11.
These advisors urged him to “flee like a bird to your mountain.”
Difficulty had come for David, seemingly in the form of threats to his life, with wicked people preparing to aim their arrows at him (Psalm 11:2).
The counsel he received was essentially to head for the hills, to get away, to go somewhere that removed him from adversity as fast as he could if not faster.
David did not heed this advice.
But what about you?
But what about me?
While you and I likely will never face armed foes threatening you with violence, and for those whose lives intersected with combat zones, crisis will come to you someday, in one form or another, in some measure and some degree or another.
It could be social pressure, peer pressure, to compromise biblical convictions, an unwanted diagnosis, or intense relational or financial or an personal strife.
Where will you flee?
Where will I flee?
Will we too head for the hills, finding some form of escapism, be it an effort at numbing yourself with endless media consumption or abusing a substance, or throwing yourself into hyperdrive, frenetic activity in another part of your life?
Or will you and I be able to say with David, “In the LORD I take refuge”?
David had seen God deliver him from bears, lions, and a Philistine giant.
The Lord had more than sufficiently proven Himself to be a trustworthy refuge, and David remembered those moments and took that to heart, relying on God.
David knew the Lord was a mighty refuge; that had been borne out again and again in his life – his trust in God was grounded and rooted deep in experience, making it sturdy enough to withstand life’s darkness and the Evil One’s darts.
Have your eyes been opened to God’s trustworthiness?
Have you trusted Him in response?
If you are a Christian, remember that your new life began by taking refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Once, you were facing the wrath of an eternal God, with no hope to be found.
The only hope you had was to cast yourself on God’s mercy and embrace the salvation offered in Christ, and so you fled to Him and found eternal refuge.
God desires for you and me to seek refuge in Him not only at the beginning of the journey but until Christ returns or calls us home, and not only for eternal salvation but in the measures and degrees of storms of this concourse of life.
Trouble will come—and when it does, you can either head for the hills or you can lift up your eyes beyond the hills and to the Lord “who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2), facing the crisis with 100% confidence and, yes, even joy.
100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Father.
100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Son.
100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Holy Spirit.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord God Almighty, shaper and ruler of all creatures, we pray for your great mercy, that you guide us towards you, for we cannot find our way.And guide us to your will, to the need of our soul, for we cannot do it ourselves. And make our mind steadfast in your will and aware of our soul’s need.Pray, Lord, to shield us against our foes, seen and unseen.Teach us to do your will, that we may inwardly love you before all things with a pure mind. For you alone are our maker and our redeemer, our help, our very best friend, comfort, our trust, our hope; praise and glory be to you now and forever.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
7 Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me; 9 but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 10 So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
A Thorn in the Flesh …
The apostle Paul was dedicated to God.
But Paul had a “thorn in the flesh”—possibly a persistently challenging and spiritually demanding circumstance or disease that bothered him quite a lot.
He called it “a messenger of Satan, to torment” him.
We don’t know exactly what it was, but somehow it made Paul physically or spiritually [or both] weaker than he wanted to be.
Thorns prick, scratch, and wound.
However, the point of Paul’s example is that because of his thorn in the flesh, God was able to work through him and his weaknesses ever more powerfully.
Although Paul had pleaded three times with the Lord to take his thorn away, the Lord only responded saying to Paul,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul notes that he was given his thorn “in order to keep . . . from becoming conceited.”
This means Paul knew if he did not have this thorn, he could have become self-reliant and proud of his ability to “power through anything by his own will.”
So Paul is teaching us that his thorn in the flesh was actually a good thing.
It was a sign of God’s grace to keep him focused on God, dependent on God, reliant on God and away from his becoming a proud “iron willed” follower.
And we can surely thank God for that.
This does not mean we should ask God to give us a thorn in the flesh.
We can trust that God knows what is best for us.
But if God does allow us to have a particular kind of suffering, we can also trust that he can use it to do good.
As Paul writes in another place,
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
How Is God’s Power Made Perfect in Weakness?
Although being a Christian doesn’t grant us the power to endure every physical difficulty, it does grant us ready access to the Holy Spirit who abides within us.
His Holy Spirit may not be a superpower, but it’s a genuine supernatural power.
It may not enable us to look like the Hulk when it comes to both spiritual and physical challenges, but Holy Spirit provides us with an otherworldly strength to live into our oncoming circumstances and to conquer the challenges of life.
This is the kind of strength that can only be manifested in our weaknesses.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul wrote, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
So what is this power, and how can we, as believers, come to access it during the up and coming Post-Pandemic Lenten season and strenuous challenges of life?
What Does ‘My Power Is Made Perfect in Weakness’ Mean?
We often try to come across as the I-can-do-it-all Christian—making perfect grades in school or raising well-behaved children while maintaining the ultra squeaky-clean Christian reputation in church.
If we come across a challenge that seems too much for us to handle, we often blame ourselves for not being “strong enough.”
As though we some how an in some way believe that God automatically expects us to do all the things with “ease” and never cave beneath the pressures of life.
But we were simply never created to bear this life through our own strength.
In fact, we don’t even have within ourselves the ability to bear its weight!
So why should we or do we, try so hard to look like Miss or Mr. Independent “Iron” Christian when, really, God frowns upon this type of approach to life?
It is impossible for us to conquer anything apart from God’s sufficient grace.
Writing this, I wonder if God purposely created our bodies to cave beneath pressure—so we could realize we can do nothing apart from Him (see John 15:5).
But rather than allowing this to make us frustrated, get all of our faults and all failures and failings all bunched up inside our heads, perhaps we should instead use these weaknesses to propel us closer to our Savior Jesus Christ, and drawing supernatural strength from the power of the Holy Spirit – to rely more on God?.
God intended us to rely on this Holy Spirit day-by-day, moment-by-moment.
This is why Jesus said this to His disciples before He was crucified:
“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.”[John 16:7]
John 16:7Amplified Bible
7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the [a]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].
It is for our benefit that Jesus left the “Advocate,” which is the Holy Spirit.
If we did not have the Spirit abiding within us, then we would not have access to this power.
We would struggle through life, relying only on our own mental an physical muscles to face life’s battles.
But we do have the Holy Spirit.
This means as we abide in Him, we can draw strength from Him rather than ourselves.
We can ask Him to give us what we need to overcome this life.
Confessing ourselves before Him: “No, me, myself, I, simply cannot do it all.”
That’s a good thing!
If we could, then we would never have the opportunity to allow God’s power—which is far stronger than any human strength—to be made apparent within us.
We would continue through life as Miss or Mrs. or Mr. Iron Clad Independent Christian, never having a need to depend on God alone and gain access to His grave-conquering power.
What Is the Context of 2 Corinthians 12:9?
In this chapter, Paul shares about a heavenly vision God gave him that gained him access to spiritual revelations.
He was not permitted to share these insights with anyone and did not want to receive the credit for them.
To keep him humble, he says that God intentionally allowed him to have a “thorn in the flesh” (see verse 7).
Paul goes on to discuss the pain of this suffering, as well as its eventual advantage, in verses 8-10:
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Obviously, the strength he refers to in the final verse is not human strength but a supernatural strength.
And it is only through experiencing the weakness that he was he able to receive this power.
In other words, Paul recognized that it was not through an independent attitude that he could boast, but rather a complete dependency, reliance upon God.
It was this dependency and reliance on God that kept him humble as well.
It is also interesting to take a look at the meaning of the Greek words used in this passage.
The phrase “is sufficient” is arkei, which means to assist, benefit, and to be satisfied.
Christ’s grace benefits us in our weaknesses by allowing us to grow stronger—not in our might, but in His.
Thus, we are more equipped to face the challenges and sufferings of life.
The word “power” here isdynamis, which implies a force and miraculous power.
It is pretty miraculous when His strength becomes manifested in our weaknesses!
“Is perfected” is teleitai, which implies bringing to completion, to accomplish and fulfill.
When we receive His miraculous power to strengthen us, we don’t just receive a portion of it.
We can receive it to the full—and all for the singular purpose of accomplishing His perfect will.
Finally, the phrase “may rest” is episkēnōsē.
This is translated to mean to pitch a tent upon or to dwell and abide within.
How interesting is that?
So, If you like camping out under the stars …
So, if you like staying dry against the rains …
In a strong, dependable, reliable, long lasting, enduring, well staked tent,
Psalm 19Amplified Bible
The Works and the Word of God.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
19 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day after day pours forth speech, And night after night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars]; Their voice is not heard. 4 Yet their voice [in quiet evidence] has gone out through all the earth, Their words to the end of the world. In them and in the heavens He has made a tent for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. 6 The sun’s rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect (flawless), restoring and refreshing the soul; The statutes of the Lord are reliable and trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned [reminded, illuminated, and instructed]; In keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults. 13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous (deliberate, willful) sins; Let them not rule and have control over me. Then I will be blameless (complete), And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.
Let that love for camping become one more “JEHOVAH” sized reminder …
Christ’s power can literally descend upon us as we dwell and abide in Him.
This “tent” of Christ can remain our safe place of refuge.
It’s interesting to note, too, how the phrase “may rest” in this passage compares to the phrase “made His dwelling” in John 1:14:
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
The passage “made His dwelling” is translatedeskēnōsen, which means to dwell in a tent, to occupy or to reside.
So, Jesus came to earth so that He could dwell with us—and when He departed, He gave us the Holy Spirit so that He could continue to do the same.
He still dwells with us, and we can dwell in Him.
But we must crucify our desires to work and face this life apart from Christ.
After all, it is only as we abide and dwell in Him that we will display His full power within us, bearing “much fruit,” as mentioned in John 15.
What Does the Bible Have to Say about Weakness?
The word “weakness” in 2 Corinthians 12:9implies suffering, insults, and persecution.
These aren’t exactly physical limitations but rather limitations we face in our everyday lives, such as the temptation to sin, heartache, and distress.
It is evident throughout the Bible that God does not intend to remove these weaknesses from our life.
If He did, then we would never have the pleasure of witnessing His power overcome.
We would never have the privilege of allowing our weaknesses to find their rest and completion in His strength.
Sadly, the idea of depending on someone may look like a weakness itself to our society.
We love to come across as strong, independent, and self-reliant, needing nothing and no one.
It is true humans are strong and intelligent—but this type of “Iron and Steel” independent mentality is frowned upon in God’s eyes.
And our strength is nothing to boast about, because according to 1 Corinthians 1:25,“God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”
So if God’s weakness is even stronger than our greatest strength, then why shouldn’t we willingly want to receive His power?
One of the reasons why God allowed His Son to come to earth was so that He could understand our human condition.
Basically, He wanted to become familiar with our weaknesses.
Hebrews 4:15-16 makes this clear:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Jesus understands our sufferings.
Why, then, should we try to stubbornly fix our issues by ourselves when the One who has already conquered this world invites each and every single one of us to completely, utterly, and fully, rely on Him?
It is only when we relent in our own efforts and apply the above Scripture to our lives that we will then fully appreciate and abundantly receive the help we need.
God’s power being made evident in our weaknesses is also illustrated in stories throughout the Old Testament, such as David conquering Goliath, as well as in the following verses:
“He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength”Isaiah 40:29.
“So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” Zechariah 4:6.
Apostle Paul also spoke of God’s strength being made known in his weakness in Philippians 4:11-13:
“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
When I read these passages of scripture, enormous joy arises within me because I realize just exactly how empowered I am.
Whatever trials or temptations God allows into my life, I canovercome.
Not in my own strength, of course, but in God’s power being made perfect in my weakness.
Another reference to our fragility finding completion in God’s strength is in 2 Corinthians 4:7, where Paul wrote:
“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”
Perhaps this is why God often uses the weak of the world to demonstrate His greatest power and to “shame the wise” (see 1 Corinthians 1:27):
So that more of His glory can be on display.
When we overcome a weakness we would not be able to conquer on our own, then it is obvious, just like the above verse says, the great power came from God and not from ourselves.
And shouldn’t that remain our main goal as Christians?
To spread more of His glory rather than our own?
But the only way we can gain this strength is to give up our independent tendencies and learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit within us.
Ephesians 3:16 says, “I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.”
I believe God is searching for Christians who can admit their weaknesses and shortcomings, because only in doing that will His purposes be accomplished.
This is why Jesus left behind the Holy Spirit, after all.
So as we dwell in Him, we could be empowered to embrace the uncomfortable, including sufferings and persecution.
All for the sake of extending His Kingdom.
This means that the weaker we are, the more His power can be displayed within us and through us.
Apostle Paul was right—we now have every right to boast in our weaknesses!
This Lenten Season, Let’s choose to Go ‘camping’ with God, Son, Holy Spirit.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Heavenly Father, thank You that Your grace is sufficient for all my needs. Help me to recognise and rejoice in the knowledge that Your power is made perfect in my own weakness. Help me to boast all the more gladly in my inabilities so that Your great ability may be manifest in my life. By thy Holy Spirit, May everything I do be to Your praise and glory, my Lord and my God. Creating and eternal God, whose grace is sufficient for us and whose power is made perfect in weakness, in our weakness and insufficiency, we offer our lives and the gifts of our living for the work of your mustard seed kingdom; in our Lord, King and Savior Jesus’ name. AMEN.
129 Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul keeps them. 130 The unfolding of Your [glorious] words give light; Their unfolding gives understanding to the simple (childlike). 131 I opened my mouth and panted [with anticipation], Because I longed for Your commandments. 132 Turn to me and be gracious to me and show me favor, As is Your way to those who love Your name. 133 Establish my footsteps in [the way of] Your word; Do not let any human weakness have power over me [causing me to be separated from You]. 134 Redeem me from the oppression of man; That I may keep Your precepts. 135 Make Your face shine [with pleasure] upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes. 136 My eyes weep streams of water Because people do not keep Your law.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria, In Excelsis Deo, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Blessings From God’s Word …
Make your face shine with pleasure on your servant and teach me your decrees.
— Psalm 119:135
The words of the Psalmist from verse 135“Make your face shine on your servant” echoes the great blessing found in the High Aaronic prayer Numbers 6:24-26.
There God explains how to give his people a blessing, saying:
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
Here God conveys to his people that He has turned His face upon them, sees them and promises to be gracious to them, to love and vigilantly protect them.
In our reading from the Psalms for today, the psalmist sees the light of God’s Word, and his passion for God grows, leading to a greater thirst for God’s Word.
As he reads and meditates, ponders and absorbs, the writer’s understanding of God’s love, mercy, and compassion deepens and his longing for God increases.
The intensity of his passion for God leads him even to pant for God’s Word!
Another important thing to note here is that the psalmist calls himself God’s servant.
Connecting God’s blessing with service, the psalmist reminds us that blessings do not stop when they land on our doorstep.
God blesses us—his servants—so that we can serve and be a blessing to the people around us.
Go ahead and ask God for his blessing, because God wants to bless you.
He also wants us to be keenly attentive to his Word, to praise Him, to pray and to worship Him and to learn His statutes, to revive, actively serve in his world.
Teach Me Your Statutes, O God …
God’s word is a treasure filled with fine riches that teach us about the God who created us and how to live in a way that pleases Him.
Often, we can disconnect God’s word from our lives and make reading His word a mere intellectual pursuit or religious practice.
Psalm 119 is a beautiful prayer that asks God to deeply connect the psalmist’s life with the word of God.
One of the most oft repeated phrases the psalmist passionately prays is for God to teach him to live by his statutes, which appears Psalm 119 at least ten times:
“Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!” Psalm 119:12
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Psalm 119:18
“When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes!”Psalm 119:26
“Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.” Psalm119:33
“The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes!”Psalm 119:64
“You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.” Psalm 119:68
“Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.” Psalm 119:73
“Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.” Psalm 119:124
“I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!” Psalm 119:25
“Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.” Psalm 119:135
“Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!“ Psalm 119:169
We could, would, should be all be the wiser to make these verses (and the whole psalm) an essential element of our daily prayer life, our heart cry to our Savior.
Ah, the Sweetest Mystery of Life …
Ecclesiastes 8:16-9:6Amplified Bible
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the activities [of mankind] that take place upon the earth—how some men seem to sleep neither day nor night— 17 and I saw all the work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though man may labor in seeking, he will not discover; and [more than that], though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, he will not be able to find it out.
Men Are in the Hand of God
9 For I have taken all this to heart, exploring and examining it all, how the righteous (those in right standing with God) and the wise and their deeds are in the hands of God. No man knows whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.
2 It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers sacrifices and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as he who swears an oath is, so is he who is afraid to swear an oath. 3 This evil is in all that is done under the sun, that one fate comes to all. Also, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they go to the dead. 4 [There is no exemption,] but whoever is joined with all the living, has hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they no longer have a reward [here], for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Indeed their love, their hatred and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share [in this age] in anything that is done under the sun.
The Searcher’s claim is quite clear: life is too complicated, too vast, too filled with conflicting elements for any one of us to figure out all the answers.
Though we stay up all night and day, trying to think through and understand the complicated events that bring to pass the circumstances of our lives, we will never fully understand.
The Bible attaches no stigma to trying to understand life.
Rather, the pursuit of knowledge is everywhere encouraged in Scripture.
We must never adopt the attitude of anti-intellectualism that characterizes some segments of Christianity today.
We are to reason and think about what God is doing and what life gives us.
But we must always remember that no matter how much we try to think about life, mysteries will still remain.
We do not have enough data, nor do we have enough ability to see life in its totality to answer all the questions.
We must be content with some degree of mystery.
Though the wisest man of the ancient world wrote these words, he admits that humans cannot know all the answers.
He even says that diligence in labor will not unravel life’s mysteries: Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning.
We will still be left collectively knitting our brows, collectively scratching our heads, and asking the eternally unanswerable question: “Why, Me, Lord”?
Even when people claim to know the answers behind what happens to us, they are really only deceiving themselves.
Many people are unwilling to accept the truth of the precepts of Scripture until they can “come to fully, completely, utterly,” understand everything in it.
But if you and I are waiting for that, you will never make it -“failure to thrive” .
Although this book Ecclesiastes was written almost 2,500 years ago, it is still true, even in our age of advanced knowledge, no one can find all the answers.
We must diligently search out the statutes of God – through prayer and study.
When you and I think about our own life, about how many of the things that have happened to us have been determined by events over which we had zero control—events that had to fall together in a certain pattern before they could ever come to pass [by God’s Plan]—you, I, can see how true these words are.
No one can find out all the answers.
The sweetest mystery to life is that the destiny of our lives may all hung upon a simple decision to go or not to go to a church on a particular Sunday because we had some sort of “issue, grievance, grudge etcetera,” against the church itself.
Learning something about God’s precepts for our “Christian living” may just be revealed on that day during the course of praise, worship, reading of scripture.
We have to continuously place ourselves directly in the path of the Word of God.
We have to continuously stay passionate about letting God work in us and also through us by means of the unmatched power of His transformative Word.
How can we understand that strange merging of simplicity and complexity?
The Searcher of Ecclesiastes continuously and constantly argues that life is too complicated without the Word of God, for us ever to answer all the questions.
We will inevitably run out of brain power when, all by ourselves, we keep trying to be “a Sermon in Shoes Christian” finding our answers to the mystery of life.
Is understanding everything in Scripture necessary before accepting it as truth?
A Puzzle and a Song …
Romans 11:30-12:3Amplified Bible
30 Just as you once were disobedient and failed to listen to God, but have now obtained mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient so that they too may one day receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all [Jew and Gentile alike].
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him that it would be paid back to him? 36 For from Him [all things originate] and through Him [all things live and exist] and to Him are all things [directed]. To Him be glory and honor forever! Amen.
Dedicated Service
12 [a]Therefore I urge you, [b]brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be [c]transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].
3 For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service].
I love puzzles but it bothers me and it frustrates me to no end the challenge of sitting still long enough and putting together any 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle.
Like my wife, some people will go online, just to do the most complex Sudoku.
She has developed a system whereby she just systematically “breezes through.”
That is not me, either …
I like Sudoku … but I cannot just “breeze through” them like she does.
I watch her, admire her ability to “order and sort out” all of the numbers.
I just need take my time and pray I finish without too many mistakes.
Too many mistakes … I just shut the game down as quickly as possible.
Revealing that sometimes our puzzles can end up puzzling us.
That’s how it was for the apostle Paul.
Paul wrestled with a very personal problem.
By God’s grace he had come to know Jesus as his Savior.
As he went about doing his missionary work, many Gentiles came to faith in Jesus as Lord.
But many of his own Jewish people rejected Jesus.
It was mind boggling to him.
Were they not God’s special people chosen to share God’s love with the world?
Nevertheless, Paul was so confident of God’s great mercy he broke into song.
Paul confesses that we can never fully grasp God’s eternal plan.
Our efforts to understand God, define him, or reduce him to our level will ultimately fail.
God owes us no explanation; nor is he accountable to us—for he is God.
There is something we can do—in fact, two things.
First, Paul implies that we should keep praising God because all glory belongs to him forever.
Then Paul goes on to say that the only reasonable response to all this is to offer ourselves in complete service to God and to be completely available for his use.
Are we doing that?
By Praise and Worship, by Prayer and Meditation and Study of God’s Word,
Are we looking to God for answers to even the most uncomplicated of puzzles?
“Reviving” the “Lost Art” of “Knowing God better than we Know Ourselves?”
Do you desire to continually learn and be taught God’s word and statues?
Does your heart yearn to be taught the path of God and to fix the gaze of your heart and your soul upon Him?
How say Ye to this …?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray, ….
Lord, often we are as puzzled as the Psalmist, the Teacher and the Apostle Paul about the host of ways you deal with us. Even so, may we stand in awe of your amazing grace and respond to you with songs of praise and acts of service.Lord, cause us to continually grow in our understanding and learning of your statutes, making us wise and obedient to you. Cause us to fear your name and pursue an obedient and joyful life as Bible-saturated people who look to you for wisdom, grace, and life.Teach us your statutes and may our lives be characterized by joyful obedience to your word and by demonstrating constant dependence on you.And may you fill us ever more increasingly with your Holy Spirit, who alone, can truly teach us all your statutes.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
14 “Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 And [to the place] where I am going, you know the way.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “[a]I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Amen.
An experienced traveler knows the value of making hotel reservations.
They spend some time working on their itinerary – the quality of the hotel they will be staying in, the quality of the food from local restaurants, entertainment venues which will help them pass their time while they are away from family.
The very thought of a comfortable room, a comfortable bed, the possibility of a good meal waiting for us at your destination just makes one feel more relaxed.
If we have to be away from our families, we might as well know the best ways we will be able to relax, get our share of work and rest, enjoy that time away.
The trip goes ever more smoothly when you have those advanced reservations.
In our reading for today from John’s Narrative, Rabbi Jesus speaks of hospitable lodging at the end of a long trip.
To comfort his disciples then, He tells us, his followers now , not to be worried during our journey on the road to eternity, on the road to our heavenly abode.
We have to trust in the Father.
In his heavenly abode there are many rooms.
And the Son prepares a special place for us.
The best medicine for a heavenly travelers heart is to utterly trust in God.
As we study this passage, we discover two important facts.
The reservation confirmation for this heavenly lodging is going to be very simple.
BELIEVE IN GOD …
BELIEVE ALSO IN HIS SON, JESUS …
BELIEVE It’s forever safe for us in the hands of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Have you trusted him fully?
But, I can imagine that such a complete level of trust should have come from Rabbi Jesus’ disciples in that Upper Room after they have been told their Rabbi was going away – was going to be arrested, humiliated, brutalized, and killed.
I can also probably safely guess that if we were the ones in that Upper Room, our hearts too would be greatly disquieted and visibly shocked, out of sorts.
Setting aside the indescribable shock of learning your Messiah is about to be [voluntarily] walking down the roadway into his own grave, from which there is no return, is the lingering question for them of exactly what comes afterwards.
A Place, A heavenly place, A heavenly Abode …. A Mansion with many rooms.
Prepared by Jesus Himself … who will return for us one day … take us “home.”
What About this “Heavenly Mansion, Heavenly Home?”
“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…Come further up, come further in!” ― C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle
Everyone wants to know about heaven and everyone wants to go there.
Except, who has actually been there and will testify, paint that masterpiece everyone will automatically point to and believe is the true and actual place?
Recent polls suggest that nearly 80% of all Americans believe there is a place called heaven.
I find that statistic encouraging because it tells me that even in this skeptical age there is something deep inside the human heart that cries out,
“There has got to be something more, something better.”
Something more than the pain and suffering of this life.
Something more than 70 or 80 years on planet earth. Something more than being born, living, suffering an dying, and then being buried in the ground.
Sometimes we talk about a “God-shaped vacuum” inside the human heart.
I believe there is also a “heaven-shaped vacuum,” a sense that we were made for something more than this life.
Ecclesiastes 3:11-13Amplified Bible
God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man
11 He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.
12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long as they live; 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and see and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
God Himself, despite our own self-opinions, has made everything and everyone beautiful and appropriate in their own time, their own unique, individual place.
God has also planted eternity, a sense of divine purpose into our human hearts.
And then gifted us with an insatiable desire we always refer to as “curiosity.”
Considering this notion of “curiosity” and the always and forever lingering question “what comes next for us when Jehovah Ra’ah the shepherd comes?”
It is reasonable to say and then to believe that …
“We were definitely made to live forever somewhere.”
In a very real sense we were made for heaven.
There is another fascinating statistic I should mention.
Not only do most Americans believe in heaven, most people expect to go there when they die.
If you took a microphone to the streets of where ever you live and asked, “Do you think you will go to heaven when you die?”
the vast majority of people would answer, “I hope so,” or “I think so,” or perhaps “I think I’ve got a good chance.
Not very many people would say they aren’t going to heaven.
Perhaps one modest point is in order.
Whenever you talk about living forever somewhere, it would help to know for sure where you are going.
After all, if you’re wrong about heaven, you’re going to be wrong for a long, long time.
With that background, I now consider some what I believe are some of the most frequently asked questions about heaven.
But before I jump in, I should make one preliminary point.
The only things we can know for certain about heaven are the things revealed in the Bible.
Everything else is just speculation and hearsay.
The Bible tells us everything we need to know and I believe it also tells us everything we can know for certain about heaven.
Where is Heaven?
There are three things I can try to tell you in answer to this question.
John 14:1-3Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus Comforts His Followers
14 Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am.
1. The most important fact is that heaven is a real place.
Twice in three verses Jesus calls heaven a place.
He means that heaven (“my Father’s house”) is a real place, as real as New York, London or Chicago.
The place called heaven is just as real as the place you call home.
It’s a very real place which is why the Bible sometimes compares heaven to a mansion with many rooms (John 14:1-3) and sometimes to an enormous city teeming with people (Revelation 21).
2. The Bible also tells us that heaven is the dwelling place of God.
His throne is there, the angels are there, the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven.
Philippians 3:20 says very plainly that “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
That’s why Jesus told the thief on the Cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise”(Luke 23:43).
3. Third (and I find this fact fascinating), the Bible hints heaven is not as far away as we might think.
Because heaven is a real place, we will sometimes think it must be outside our present universe – which would mean billions and billions of light years away.
However, it’s very clear that the early Christians understood that they would pass immediately from this life into the presence of Christ in heaven.
How can that be possible if heaven is “beyond the farthest universal bounds?”
Hebrews 12:22-24Amplified Bible
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering], 23 and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], 24 and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].
Hebrews 12:22-24 tells us something amazing about what the gospel has done for us:
“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
The writer is here comparing Mt. Sinai with Mt. Zion.
Under the old covenant no one could come near God except under very strict conditions – and then only by one person – the High Aaronic High Priest .
That’s why the mountain shook with thunder and lightning.
Most of us have heard that heaven is a place where the streets are paved with gold, the gates are made of pearl, and the walls made of precious jewels.
Those images come from Revelation 21, which offers us the most extended picture of heaven in the entire Bible.
If you ask me if I believe those things are literally true, the answer is yes and no.
Yes, they are literally true but no, heaven won’t be anything like we imagine.
It will be infinitely greater.
When John writes about a street paved with gold, I do not doubt his words.
He simply reports what he saw in his vision.
Thus, I believe his words are literally true.
They are also meant to tell us that the things we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the roads in heaven.
Each of the stones and gems mentioned in the chapter represent something to the readers, have very well known and very specific spiritual qualities to them.
They are also meant to tell us that the things of this earth we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the roads in heaven.
You may also google each stone individually … Educate Yourself.
Jesus Has Our Eternal Travel Itinerary Already Prepared For Us
John 14:1-7 The Message
The Road
14 1-4 “Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”
5 Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”
6-7 Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”
Believe in God the Father …
Believe in God the Son …
Believe in God the Holy Spirit …
Believe in the Word of God for the Children of God …
Believe in the Life, Death, and Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Loving Father, thank You for Christ’s wonderful words of comfort, “Let not your heart be troubled…” Thank You that God the Son came to earth as the Son of Man to bring comfort to my heart, healing to my soul, and live in my spirit. Enable me, in the power of the Spirit, to hold fast to this wonderful truth in Your Word, and I pray that You endow me with the wisdom, the words, and the grace, to pour forth Your great comfort to others who are facing their own difficult trials. Our Father, what a total joy it is to know that Jesus has prepared a place for us in your presence! Help us to overcome our worries and to trust in you fully as we journey with you. Amen.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
4 After this I looked, and behold, [a]a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a [war] trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2 At once I was in [special communication with] the Spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne. 3 And He who sat there appeared like [the crystalline sparkle of] [b]a jasper stone and [the fiery redness of] a sardius stone, and encircling the throne there was a rainbow that looked like [the color of an] emerald.4 Twenty-four [other] thrones surrounded the throne; and seated on these thrones were [c]twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing, with crowns of gold on their heads.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Once John was charged to write the book of Revelation, when he met with the resurrected, glorified Lord Jesus in chapter 1, and having received Christ’s 7 letters to the 7 churches in chapters 2-3, he is given a vision of the throne room of God and commanded to, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”
Not only was John given important information for the Churches, but he was also commanded to ‘see’ and to ‘hear’ what was going to happen beyond the current Church age, “after these things.”
After acting as God’s heavenly, High Priest to the Church-age saints and interceding as heaven’s Mediator between God and man, John is shown how Christ will begin to take on His role of Judge, before returning to earth to claim His position as King of kings and Lord of lords.
“I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven,” John writes,“and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me.”
The angel who met John in the prologue was the same angel who accompanied him throughout the entire revelation of Jesus Christ – which the Father gave to His Son… to give to John through His angel.
The apostle John was about to receive a preview of the future, which began with a vision of heaven in chapter 4 and moved to the worship of the Lamb of God in chapter 5.
He saw One seated on the throne which had the appearance of crystal-clear jasper and a blood-red Sardis stone, and John recorded that there was a rainbow surrounding the throne that reminded him of a brilliant green emerald.
Twice he was summoned to, “come up here.”
The same voice which sounded like that of a trumpet in chapter 1, commanded him to join the heavenly host of angelic beings that surrounded the throne of God, by means of a door which was standing open in heaven.
And being, “in the spirit on the Lord’s day,” John was given an amazing insight into the future.. and greater revelation of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God and Lion of the tribe of Judah.
After Christ’s revelation to the Churches ended, John’s vison changed, and he was ushered into heaven – in spirit and in truth.
He discovered that the heavenly scene into which he had been brought, was preparing to unseal a special scroll which had been securely sealed by God Himself with seven seals.
As the heavenly scene unfolded, John discovered that he was witnessing to the precursor of the prophesied judgement on earth – the Day of the Lord which he recorded in chapters 6-19 when the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
The sight that John saw during chapters 4-5, were the heavenly preparation for that future time of Great Tribulation, recorded in chapters 6-19, which is to fall on a Christ-rejecting sinful world and which will bring Israel to national repentance and punishment to the God-hating, Christ-rejecting, sinful world.
While John’s body remained on earth, his spirit was translated into heaven where he witnessed a vision of the angelic host that surround the throne of Almighty God – the Ancient of Days.
As he looked, John was introduced to four living creatures who worship God day and night and 24 elders who were clothed in white raiment with crowns of gold on their heads.
The vison of the throne-room of God, the worship of the Lamb Who was slain, and the presentation of a seven-sealed scroll, which no-one but Lamb could break, are all part-and-parcel of the heavenly vision John saw in chapters 4 and 5.
It was after he had received Christ’s revelation to the Church (chapters 1-3) but before the revelation of Christ to the world in His role as Judge (chapters 6-19) when the wrath of God is poured out upon the children of disobedience, that the aged apostle John looked,
“and behold, a door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said to him, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'”
In chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, the focus shifts to a new and powerful story of God’s ongoing mission.
This new section begins with John seeing “a door standing open in heaven.”
This picture surprises us because we know that an open door often extends an invitation to come in.
This is an enticing opportunity to believe because heaven is often considered a place of mysteries that we do not have access to.
For the most part, it is God’s secret—at least from our day-to-day living in this life.
But here Jesus opens heaven’s door.
And in a voice like a trumpet, he welcomes us, saying, “Come up here.”
The invitation promises to reveal “what must take place after this.”
But as John tells the story of walking through heaven’s open door, the future is not the first thing that catches his attention.
Instead, he sees “a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”
Heaven’s open door has us standing before the throne of all thrones, from which everything in heaven and on earth is loved and cared for.
Still today, the Holy Spirit opens heaven’s door wide so that we can visualize, believe, this scene and let its story encourage us to live by faith in Jesus today.
Considering Reasons to Believe in Heaven
Let us strive to remember that the one who reads, hears, and takes to heart this amazing revelation is blessed.
“Blessed is he that reads, and those that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand.”
Believing in Heaven …
“Heaven is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.” –Stephen Hawking
I’m afraid of the dark.
If we are talking about the endless kind of darkness which offers us no light anywhere, no hope ever, and nothing but nothingness, who among us would not panic at the thought of that?
I expect people like Mr. Hawking simply find the idea of Heaven too good to be true, and thus conclude that it must be a product of man’s delusional yearning for “pie in the sky by and by.”
And yet, there are solid reasons for reasonable people to believe in the concept of a Heavenly home after this earthly life.
Here are some that mean a lot to me.
By no means is this list exhaustive.
It’s simply my laymen’s thinking on the subject.
The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less. {Ecclesiastes 3:1-22}
When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then.
“I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).
“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).
If it were not so, I would have told you.
Jesus said that.
I believe Him.
I choose to believe.
1. Jesus Believed in Heaven
In fact, He claimed to be a native.
The Lord said to Nicodemus, “No one has been to Heaven except the One who came from there, even the Son of Man.” (John 3:13). No one knows a place like a native.
Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
So, wherever we go when we die, it’s a paradise.
True, He left us a thousand unanswered questions on the subject, but what He told us is pure gold.
For instance, when He returns, the dead in Christ accompany Him (I Thessalonians 4:14).
It appears that our eventual destination is somewhere different from the initial, intermediate place called “Paradise,” but we should have no trouble leaving the details to Him – after all, we can trust the One who died for us.
2. Scripture consistently teaches the existence of Heaven.
We must not let people get by with saying the Old Testament knew nothing of Heaven.
“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,”said David in everyone’s favorite psalm.
Or this one:“As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).
Job said,“My Redeemer liveth and at last shall stand upon the earth; yet even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another” (Job 19:25-27).
Neither must we cave to those who say the only way to understand such verses is to get inside the mind of the one who said those words originally, as if what they said is determinative and authoritative.
Peter said the prophets said more than they understood and even angels could not fathom some of these things. (I Peter 1:12).
3. I believe in Heaven because I believe in earth.
It’s so wonderful.
There is nothing else like it in the universe.
Suppose we lived in some distant world and all we knew was the planets we have seen–the barren, rocky planets that are molten in the day and frigid at night, those covered with acidic clouds or endless hurricanes–
and if someone told us about earth, with its steadiness, its atmosphere, its lovely scenery and its plant life and the richness of its minerals and a thousand other delights, we would find it hard to believe.
And yet here it is.
We are residents of this amazing planet.
We take the earth in stride because it’s all we know.
4. There has to be a heaven to even up the earthly hell God’s most faithful sometimes endure for Jesus’ sake.
Those of us who are “carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease,” to use Isaac Watts’ unforgettable image, have little idea of the price some have paid for their loyalty to Jesus Christ through the centuries.
Many live under oppressive regimes in our day, punished for doing nothing more than meeting in someone’s living room to worship or giving a friend a Bible.
I’m tempted to say “God owes them, big time,” but I don’t believe I want to be presumptuous or blasphemous.
“God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love that you have shown toward His name in having ministered to the saints, and in still ministering” is how Hebrews 6:10 puts it.
If God were not to reward the faithfulness of the most loyal, it would be sin on His part.
After all, “this momentary light affliction is working for us an exceeding weight of glory far beyond all comparison” says 2 Corinthians 4:17.
5. Every caterpillar/butterfly testifies to our heavenly future.
Suppose we could inform that caterpillar crawling across a leaf of the glorious future just ahead of him (it?).
Would that humble creature believe he (it) would someday have gorgeous wings and flit through the sky?
So, why do we have such difficulty believing in the destiny God has planned for and promised to His own?
6. I believe in Heaven because the alternative belief is in despair.
“I would have despaired had I not believed I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living”(Psalm 27:13).
This world, by the way, is not the land of the living, but is the land of the dying.
The “land of the living” is just over the next ridge, immediately following our final breath here.
Jesus said, “Because I live, you too shall live.”
Who among us has not grieved at the thought of never seeing a precious loved one again, as we have left the cemetery.
The alternative to faith is despair.
7. I believe in Heaven because some of the best people who ever lived believed in Heaven.
Pick up a Bible and read it ….
A whole lot of formerly ordinary people from literally all walks of life had come to faith in God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit long before I was ever even told there was a God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12:1-2.]
8. I believe in Heaven because I believe in hell.
Luke 16:27-28Amplified Bible
27 So the rich man said, ‘Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.’
There has to be a hell.
I don’t like to think much about hell.
But I have to because God’s Word teaches about it.
The plain truth is that hell is real, and real people go there forever.
Several times in the Gospels we read Jesus was grieved when people turned away from him–grieved because he knew they were walking down the road that eventually would lead to hell.
The message Jesus brought is simple: Unless you turn and put your trust in me, you will die in your sins and face an eternity without me.
In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we see the rich man begging for a little relief from his suffering.
Father Abraham explains that this kind of relief is not possible.
The rich man then turns his attention toward his brothers who are still living.
“Then I beg you … send Lazarus… Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”
Notice a short time in hell turned this unbeliever into a motivated evangelist.
In a sense the rich man is saying,
“Someone has got to warn people that hell is real and that real people go there.”
How tragic that the man in this story found out too late.
What’s it going to take for you to become motivated?
Pray God’s grace, not his wrath, will fill your heart with a passion to save the lost.
9. I believe in Heaven because it’s a great incentive to responsible living and compassionate everything.
Skeptics will point to the shallow sayings of some believers that for the Heaven-bound this world does not matter, and that improving life on Earth is just so much arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Those who say such are wrong, their thinking unbiblical, their teachings are misleading.
We have great responsibilities here in this life, and it’s not just to get people to (ahem) “pray the sinner’s prayer” so they can go to heaven.
We were commissioned to make disciples, a far bigger thing.
“The heavens are the heavens of the Lord,” says Psalm 115:16, “but the earth He has given to the sons of men.”
We are stewards of this planet, and thus answerable to Him.
I’ll go so far as to say those who are working to give the planet clean air and pure water, safe streets, are also doing the work of the Lord in their own way.
10. I believe in Heaven because of reasons I’m yet to discover.
There is so much more.
As some have said, we are “hard-wired” to believe in God and likewise in Heaven.
I willingly accept that and see it as residue of the creation.
The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less.
When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then. “I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake”(Psalm 17:15).
“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).
“If it were not so, I would have told you.”
Jesus said that. I believe Him.
I simply choose to believe.
God, the Father …
God, the Son …
God, the Holy Spirit …
The Revealed Word of God …
The Resurrection ….
In Heaven …
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Heavenly Father, thank You for the book of Revelation and for the greater insight and understanding it gives us into the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus, of what is to take place after He comes to take the members of His mystic Body to be with Himself, and how we should live in this present age. I pray that You would bless me as I read and take to heart all that is written in this final book of Scripture. Thank You that You are the eternal and immutable God Whose plans and purposes can never fail. Thank You for the Cross of Christ and His glorious Resurrection, which secured for us an eternal inheritance, by faith. I pray that all I say and do would give glory to You and that one day I may cast my crown before His feet. Thank you for all Your goodness and grace to me and to all men. This I pray in Jesus’ wonderful name.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross over again to the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, 6 so that this may be a sign among you; when your children ask later, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall become a memorial for Israel forever.”
Joshua 4:19-24 Amplified Bible
19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth [day] of the first month and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21 He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that the hand of the Lord is mighty and extraordinarily powerful, so that you will fear the Lord your God [and obey and worship Him with profound awe and reverence] forever.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
The Christian life is, in a sense, one big call to remember.
Our Lord Jesus, speaking of the new-covenant meal of Communion, told us, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19, emphasis added).
Every Lord’s Supper, then, offers us the opportunity to remember together all that is pictured in the bread and wine.
Deuteronomy similarly envisions a scenario in which a son asks his father;
“What is the meaning of the testimonies and statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?” (Deuteronomy 6:20).
The father responds by telling Israel’s story of redemption, highlighting that what God instructs is “for our good always” (v 24).
The book of Joshua, too, commends the same kind of commemoration when the Lord instructs the people to set up 12 memorial stones at the Jordan River, so the stones would become revival“to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”
God wanted His people then—and wants His people today—to ever remember His faithfulness and to tell, testify, confess, to teach others what He has done.
Such remembrances and memorials have always been a significant time to worship and praise for the miraculous works only Himself demonstrates.
But in a day [like now] with endless competing claims on our attention and affections, we need more reminders of God’s faithfulness than ever before.
It’s notable that the examples above are concrete and interpersonal.
We participate in the Lord’s Supper together, and it offers us a multisensory experience to help us remember.
The twelve stones at the Jordan River constituted a physical memorial.
The instruction of Deuteronomy encourages us to have conversations about God’s faithfulness and goodness in our homes.
Please note that the word “conversations” is PLURALIZED.
Meaning more than one –
But not just conversations … but full blown WORSHIP and PRAISE and PRAYER.
But not just one person conversing with the Lord, but a whole bunch of people, putting themselves in front of their “memorial stones” to remember the Lord.
For today’s Christians, every Sunday presents us with the opportunity to gather and remember with God’s people.
But we are going to need more than a weekly touchpoint to sustain ourselves.
Ask yourself:
What habits can I cultivate to remember God’s goodness?
How can I catalog His faithfulness to me and share that with others?
What “memorials” can I set up so that I can remember how God delivered me?
Opportunities to continuously see, instantly recall God’s faithfulness abound.
All we need to do is constantly, continuously look and instantly remember.
Revival at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky – 2023
I do hope and pray that Christians have stable and established faith in Christ.
I feel prayerful. Hopeful.
In fact, I’ve gotten choked up more than once over the last couple days at the thought that a genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit could be happening among our Methodist brothers and sisters.
So I have mainly been praying two things:
1. Oh, God. Let it be. Let your mercy pour down in genuine revival, and let these reports be true. And let it not end in Wilmore.
2. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
Maybe you will be moved mightily to pray, praise and worship this way as well.
It is of the nature of revival that we cannot know the true extent of it until days, months, and even years afterward.
Acts 5:33-39Amplified Bible
Gamaliel’s Counsel
33 Now when they heard this, they were infuriated and they intended to kill the apostles. 34 But a Pharisee named [a]Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law [of Moses], highly esteemed by all the people, stood up in the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) and ordered that the men be taken outside for a little while. 35 Then he said to the Council, “Men of Israel, be careful in regard to what you propose to do to these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody [of importance], and a group of about four hundred men allied themselves with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up, [and led an uprising] during the time of the census, and drew people after him; he was also killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men [merely human in origin], it will fail and be destroyed; 39 but if it is of God [and it appears that it is], you will not be able to stop them; or else you may even be found fighting against God!”
The distinguishing marks of revival may begin with an outpouring of the Spirit of grace, but that is only the commencement if the work of the Holy Spirit is to prove real and to be authentic and unstoppable, and a major mover of people.
“How do you tell if it is really a work of God? It’s not how high you jump, it’s how straight and how far you will walk when you finally land.”
The last great spiritual awakening in America took place during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
It was a nation divided by war, and things were very dark.
But when things are really dark, God’s light can shine brightly.
Cover headlines from Time magazine went from “Is God Dead?” in 1968 to “Jesus Revolution” in 1971.
What a difference a few years can make, especially when God intervenes.
America needs a spiritual awakening, and the church needs a revival.
The World needs a spiritual awakening ….
An awakening takes place when God sovereignly pours out His Spirit and it impacts a culture.
That is what happened during the Jesus Revolution, and that is what happened during multiple spiritual awakenings in the long history of these United States, predating its establishment as a nation.
A revival, on the other hand, is what the church must experience.
A revival occurs when the church comes back to life, when it becomes what it was always meant to be.
It’s a returning to passion.
I think many times we overly mystify the idea of revival.
We don’t really need to.
Another word we could use for revival is restoration, and that is what the church needs.
Speaking at a conference in 1917, R. A. Torrey gave this prescription for revival:
Let a few of God’s people, they don’t need to be many, get thoroughly right with God themselves—the rest will count for nothing unless you start right there; then let them band themselves together to pray for a revival until God opens the heavens and comes down. Then let them put themselves at God’s disposal to use them as He sees fit. That will bring a revival to any church, any community.
We can’t organize a revival, but we can agonize for it in prayer.
We can call on God to send it.
We can call on the people to come, to consider and to receive God [Acts 2:37-47]
Draw near unto the Lord our God and the Lord will draw near to us.
Psalm 73:28 Amplified Bible
28 But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God; I have made the Lord God my refuge and placed my trust in Him, That I may tell of all Your works.
Ecclesiastes 5:1Amplified Bible
Your Attitude Toward God
5 Guard your steps and focus on what you are doing as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the [careless or irreverent] sacrifice of fools; for they are too ignorant to know they are doing evil.
Matthew 11:25-30Amplified Bible
Come to Me
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [I openly and joyfully acknowledge Your great wisdom], that You have hidden these things [these spiritual truths] from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants [to new believers, to those seeking God’s will and purpose]. 26 Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27 All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Son except the Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son [deliberately] wills to reveal Him.
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”
James 4:8Amplified Bible
8 Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people].
Where is our Hope for Revival and Remembrance?
Psalm 85 Amplified Bible
Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
85 O Lord, You have [at last] shown favor to Your land [of Canaan]; You have restored [from Babylon] the captives of Jacob (Israel). 2 You have forgiven the wickedness of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah. 3 You have withdrawn all Your wrath, You have turned away from Your burning anger.
4 Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your indignation toward us to cease. 5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? 6 Will You not revive us and bring us to life again, That Your people may rejoice in You? 7 Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord, And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear [with expectant hope] what God the Lord will say, For He will speak peace to His people, to His [a]godly ones— But let them not turn again to folly. 9 Surely His salvation is near to those who [reverently] fear Him [and obey Him with submissive wonder], That glory [the manifest presence of God] may dwell in our land. 10 Steadfast love and truth and faithfulness meet together; Righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11 Truth springs from the earth, And righteousness looks down from heaven. 12 Indeed, the Lord will give what is good, And our land will yield its produce. 13 Righteousness will go before Him And will make His footsteps into a way [in which to walk].
In a worship song from the early 2000s, singer/songwriter Brian Doerksen sings,
“Jesus, hope of the nations/ Jesus, comfort for all who mourn/ You are the source of heaven’s hope on earth.”
As believers in Christ, we recognize and worship Jesus as the true hope of the world, and yet it’s astounding how often we pin our hopes on human beings.
In all of our history books, it is clear that people are far more inclined to find hope in leaders, politicians, and celebrities rather than in the one true God.
Why do we do this?
Proverbs 11:4-8 warns that placing hope in humans is futile because any human power will come to nothing.
As the apostle Paul tells us, “There is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1).
By saying this, Paul is assuring believers that in all situations, even in the midst of national turmoil’s and global crises, God is the one who holds all authority.
Any human who has “power” has it only because God allows it to be so.
2 Chronicles 7:1-3Amplified Bible
The Shekinah Glory
7 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the [[a]Shekinah] glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house. 2 The priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw how the fire came down and saw the glory and brilliance of the Lord upon the house, they bowed down on the stone pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever.”
In other words, through our continuous praise and worship, all our hopes and all our desires must lie with the Only One who is on the throne of the universe.
Our prayers and our worship must be oriented toward Christ, for he is truly the only hope—the only one who can change minds and transform hearts, disperse powers, and bring edification, and redemption and restoration, to bring revival.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray ….
Creator God, you made every living thing, and you hold all things together. Lord, we your Children now pray for you bring restoration to this world that desperately needs your leadership and authority. Please use Your church and their lives as catalysts for renewal, restoration and revival. We have heard of Your great works; please do them again, “stones of remembrance” in our day. And all for the glory, honor and praise of Jesus Christ, our only crucified, Resurrected and returning Lord, Savior and King.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
12-14 I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
How passionate are we about sharing the Gospel?
How much or how little are we willing to extend ourselves, sacrifice and take risks so that unbelievers may become followers of Jesus and believers may become that much better equipped to share the good news of our salvation?
As we approach the Lenten Season and consider these questions, are we helped by the example of the apostle Paul, who heroically, single-mindedly, pursued God’s call through all manner of difficulties and persecutions and throughout the Mediterranean world—all so that others may come to know Christ as Lord?
If nothing else, we we learn that nothing would stop Paul from preaching and teaching about Jesus—not a trial before royalty, a storm at sea, a shipwreck, a poisonous snake bite, chains, or even prolonged wrongful imprisonment.
Paul was hyper-zealous to make all of his days and deeds count for the Gospel.
His dramatic missionary journeys, and finally his journey to Rome to face down the Roman authorities on their home ground, illustrates God’s faithfulness and encourages us to see our circumstances as “God” opportunities for us to throw all of ourselves into our own mission, ministry journey’s to share the Gospel.
As I sit on a pillow in my dining room recovering from “urological surgery,” yesterday, my only thoughts were to start writing another devotional entry.
I can sit here in some fair measure of discomfort with my God, my Savior and the Holy Spirit and my caregiving wife at my side, to feel enormously blessed, so fully and completely grateful for what is stirring me to write and not rest.
God has formed and shaped out a place of such an enormous and intense joy in my heart, in my soul just for sharing of His Gospel, no matter the discomfort.
I have this ministry and mission of writing which Reverend John Wesley states:
“I look on all the world as my parish, thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of the world I am in … I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.”
Even if my only place in the world is my very own dining room in my own home.
As of now, by God’s grace, the matchless power and purpose of His scriptures, His own grand plan, [Isaiah 55:10-13] these writings have reached 125 nations.
I cannot speak to the work God has done, but I am still writing after 18 months.
For GOD my Savior and for the Sake of the Gospel
Philippians 1:12-14Amplified Bible
The Gospel Is Preached
12 Now I want you to know, [a]believers, that what has happened to me [this imprisonment that was meant to stop me] has actually served to advance [the spread of] the good news [regarding salvation]. 13 My imprisonment in [the cause of] Christ has become common knowledge throughout the whole [b] praetorian (imperial) guard and to everyone else. 14 Because of my chains [seeing that I am doing well and that God is accomplishing great things], most of the [c]brothers have renewed confidence in the Lord, and have far more courage to speak the word of God [concerning salvation] without fear [of the consequences, seeing that God can work His good in all circumstances].
Follow Paul through Acts and he leaves you breathless.
He’s constantly on the move, going from place to place.
One moment he’s stitching tents together, then he’s bringing Eutychus back to life, and then he survives a snakebite and heals the sick on Malta.
It’s almost as if you can’t imagine ever being able to keep up with him.
Surely the worst thing that could ever happen to someone like Paul is to be stuck in one house for two years.
But at the conclusion of Acts, that’s exactly how we find him (Acts 28:30-31).
You can just imagine the devil’s response to Paul’s imprisonment:
Now I’ve shut him down! That’ll get rid of him. He won’t be able to go anywhere for a long while. He’ll just shrivel up and die a prisoner.
Not a chance!
It is during Paul’s imprisonment that he penned some of his most noteworthy letters under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—letters that God is still using to transform lives these long and tornado twisting, storm driven 2,000 years later.
And, remarkably, the gospel has continually advanced not only despite Paul’s chains but because of them.
Paul was likely very different from other prisoners.
The soldiers who guarded him would have probably said to one another,
He is the most remarkable person we’ve ever had. We’re used to people constantly cussing, screaming, agitating, and complaining. But this Paul has joy and purpose, and he just preaches!
As a result of Paul’s daily ministry among these soldiers, word began to spread throughout the entire palace guard: The reason this guy is a prisoner is because of Jesus.
They got the point: He’s chained to us, he says, because he’s chained to this man Jesus Christ.
And it appears that some of these guards not only heard the gospel but responded to it.
As they were redeployed throughout the Roman Empire, arriving at their new posts as new men, the gospel would advance to different places through them.
And so Paul’s imprisonment, which at first appeared to be diametrically opposed to the spread of the gospel, actually proved to be essential to it.
You do not need to be a prisoner, a missionary, or an apostle to be used by God in spreading the gospel, nor do you need to wait for all the circumstances in your life to line up just as you want them to before you simply talk about Jesus.
Whether you are in your home, prison, a hospital, an office, a field, or wherever, and whether you realize it or not, you are never far from someone who needs to hear the amazing story of God’s grace.
What are the situations you face that you naturally see as obstacles to sharing the gospel, and how might they in fact be opportunities?
Who are the lost and longing people that God has placed in your life today?
They need God.
And they might only meet Him through your loving, sacred, holy boldness.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 40The Message
40 1-3 I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened. He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip. He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.
4-5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,” ignore what the world worships; The world’s a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts. Nothing and no one compares to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you.
6 Doing something for you, bringing something to you— that’s not what you’re after. Being religious, acting pious— that’s not what you’re asking for. You’ve opened my ears so I can listen.
7-8 So I answered, “I’m coming. I read in your letter what you wrote about me, And I’m coming to the party you’re throwing for me.” That’s when God’s Word entered my life, became part of my very being.
9-10 I’ve preached you to the whole congregation, I’ve kept back nothing, God—you know that. I didn’t keep the news of your ways a secret, didn’t keep it to myself. I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough. I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth For myself alone. I told it all, let the congregation know the whole story.
11-12 Now God, don’t hold out on me, don’t hold back your passion. Your love and truth are all that keeps me together. When troubles ganged up on me, a mob of sins past counting, I was so swamped by guilt I couldn’t see my way clear. More guilt in my heart than hair on my head, so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.
13-15 Soften up, God, and intervene; hurry and get me some help, So those who are trying to kidnap my soul will be embarrassed and lose face, So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable will be heckled and disgraced, So those who pray for my ruin will be booed and jeered without mercy.
16-17 But all who are hunting for you— oh, let them sing and be happy. Let those who know what you’re all about tell the world you’re great and not quitting. And me? I’m a mess. I’m nothing and have nothing: make something of me. You can do it; you’ve got what it takes— but God, don’t put it off.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria, In Excelsis Deo, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia Amen.
22 Wives, be subject [a]to your own husbands, as [a service] to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ is head of the church, Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives should be subject to their husbands in everything [respecting both their position as protector and their responsibility to God as head of the house].
25 Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God], 27 so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless. 28 Even so husbands should and are morally obligated to love their own wives as [being in a sense] their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own body, but [instead] he nourishes and protects and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members (parts) of His body. 31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined [and be faithfully devoted] to his wife, and the two shall become [b]one flesh. 32 This mystery [of two becoming one] is great; but I am speaking with reference to [the relationship of] Christ and the church.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
My Reflections on Saint Valentine’s Day
You are all probably acutely aware of all the pink and red an whites decorating many of our stores in the month of February.
I have been thinking a lot about what it represents, and what we can learn.
It occurred to me that many of us Christians will preach lovely messages on Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, and even Christmas.
Yet, I find when it come to Valentine’s Day, we usually pass that one over.
I had to ask myself the question, “why?”
I can’t speak for others, but I think the answer for myself is that this seems too worldly to merit preaching a message related to it.
But is God completely silent on the themes this day brings to us?
You can’t avoid it.
The commercials, the decorations in the stores, the parties in school, the gifts at the office, and many other things confront us all whether we like it or not.
We are talking about romantic love.
Why do we Christians avoid that topic so much at church and in religious settings?
Is it completely worldly?
Is it ungodly?
Does the Bible condemn it?
Maybe the Bible ignores it?
I think what we will find it that it is far from worldly.
In fact, it is a reflection of our God.
1. Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down; fix in us thy humble dwelling; all thy faithful mercies crown! Jesus thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art; visit us with thy salvation; enter every trembling heart. [Charles Wesley, 1707-1788]
My Reflections on the Sure Love of God
God is love.
When I say love, I am not talking about the little miniature fat guy Cupid that goes around shooting people with arrows.
That is almost too cute for my taste.
In fact, it can make romantic love seem almost silly or frivolous.
What I am talking about is the special love a man and a woman have for each other.
The love a man and woman have for each other is part of God’s design from the very beginning when he saw that it was not good for man to be alone.
If you never read the Song of Solomon, which is really titled the “Song of Songs” in the first chapter, which means “The Best of Songs,” then you are definitely and decisively missing out on the best love poetry ever written.
Key Words throughout the Book are: “Love” and “Marriage.”
The Song of Solomon beautifully portrays the qualities of a pure “love” and the ingredients for a “successful marriage.”
To develop this kind of a relationship requires total honesty, unselfishness and unconditional an unconventional support.
The whole book is a love poem between a betrothed couple, who later appear to have gotten married.
It is romantic, sensual and is part of the word of God.
The couple refers to each other as the “one whom my soul loves.”
It speaks of being faint with love.
It describes the admiration for and the delight they have in each other.
In poetically describes the precious beauty that they see in each other.
Some people have had a real problem with taking this book literally, as if romantic love poetry is not worthy of scripture.
As a result, they interpret it as an allegory of God’s love for his bride Israel or as an allegory of Christ’s love for the church.
But that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it is still romantic love poetry.
If it were merely figurative of God’s love for us, the conclusion is still the same.
Romantic love is not worldly but comes from God. In fact, if it were figurative, then the case is even stronger that romantic love is godly, good, and beautiful.
It is a reflection of the love that God has for us.
Imagine that!
God describing is love for his people in romantic love poetry!
However, I think we should take it as what it is. It is simply beautiful and romantic love poetry.
Romantic love does not originate from the world.
It comes from the God of love.
In fact, all throughout the Bible, God presents himself as the greatest lover of all.
God fondly recalls the early days of his marriage to his bride, Israel.
Look at this passage of scripture:
“Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord GOD.
Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.
I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 16:8-14)
God loves his bride passionately.
He showered all of the symbols of his love on her.
Nothing was too good for her.
God is the lover of lovers.
When God loves, He loves very passionately, and with passionate love can come intense anger and fury, jealousy and pain when the one whom your soul loves is unfaithful to you.
Notice what happens next in this passage:
“But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing. You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors and played the harlot on them, which should never come about nor happen. You also took your beautiful jewels {made} of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them…” (Ezekiel 16:15-17).
And God continues for many more verses describing how his perfect bride was unfaithful to him using the very jewels, clothes, other things God gave to her.
It was as if his “perfect bride committed adultery in their own bed! After going into more details about how he beloved was unfaithful to him, He concludes:
“Thus I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy. I will also give you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. They will incite a crowd against you and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. They will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. Then I will stop you from playing the harlot, and you will also no longer pay your lovers” (Ezekiel 16:38-41).
Do you think God is angry?
Of course!
Wouldn’t you be angry and hurt if the one your soul loves cheated on you?
In fact, many of us would divorce our spouse in a heartbeat.
But God does no such thing.
In his passionate, relentless, undying love, God does not close the book on his beloved bride.
His love never dies.
Notice:
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her (or “woo” her), Bring her into the wilderness And speak kindly to her. Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. It will come about in that day,” declares the LORD, “That you will call Me Ishi And will no longer call Me Baali” (Hosea 2:14-16).
Maybe some of the flavor of this is lost in translation.
God woos his bride back to him after a period of anger and wrath.
He puts a song in her heart again.
In that day, she will no longer call him “Ba-ali,” which translated means “my Lord.”
No longer will God be “my Lord,” but “Ishi,” which means “my husband.”
Do you see the kind of love that God has for his bride?
In fact, one of the final pictures we have in scripture of the consummation of God’s plan is that of a marriage feast.
In Revelation 19:7-9, God uses the image of a wedding to describe the time when his heart’s desire will be fulfilled.
We, God’s people, are the bride, and he is eagerly anticipating that wedding day when we will be together forever.
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God'” (Revelation 19:7-9).
In the next scene is the arrival of the groom.
But it is unlike anything you have ever seen.
Notice:
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11-16).
The groom comes riding in on a white horse.
His robe is dipped in blood, his own blood.
Jesus died and was willing to go to Hades and back for his bride.
Even though she has been unfaithful, he will come riding in, swoop her up on his steed and ride off into Heaven with her arms around his waist.
Yes, Jesus loves his bride with an undying love.
You know, love does strange things.
It makes people look past the warts and the rough edges.
Sometimes people will say, “I just don’t understand what he sees in her!”
Maybe she is a “Plain Jane” with several flaws.
Maybe she is overweight.
Maybe her hair is stringy.
Maybe her clothes are out of style.
Maybe she is mismatched.
Maybe her nose is too big.
Maybe she is nothing to look at.
Maybe she is a mess.
But to her man she is the most beautiful thing in the world.
Love causes him to look past those things to see who she really is.
Isn’t that what God does?
He looks past all of our rough edges, all of our filth, all of the ugliness in us.
He sees what we can truly become.
They say that “true love is blind.”
I disagree with this.
Oh, I know that there can be the star struck person who is no longer capable of thinking with good judgment, but that is not what I am talking about.
I am talking about true love.
True love is not unaware of the flaws, the warts, and the dirt.
Instead, true love looks beyond these things.
Now, please turn in your bibles to our devotional text from Ephesians 5:22-32.
Ephesians 5:22-33The Message
22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.
25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.
29-33 No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.
A Beautiful Bride ….
In many weddings, the moment a bride begins her walk down the aisle is very important.
Everyone stands to join the groom in watching her as she processes to meet him.
That moment is important for the groom too, of course.
He loves his bride and longs to have her with him.
Her walk down the aisle is a picture of the approach that began before they met.
And their meeting at the end of the aisle symbolizes the beginning of their new life together, which they pledge before God to continue throughout their lives.
Jesus loves his bride too.
Our text makes that clear even as it calls earthly husbands to give themselves up in loving service to their wives.
After all, for all to see, Jesus gave himself up for his bride, the church, at the cross at Calvary.
Christians are not frigid prudes that do not know what love is.
Christians are passionate people full of life that comes from the giver of life.
Remember this, the next time your anniversary comes up, or the next time your beloved’s birthday comes, or any time when you are driving on your way home.
We serve a God who is full of passionate love, and nothing is godlier when you display the same passionate love of God toward the one whom your soul loves.
Rejoice! Together we are the one for whom Christ waits at the end of the aisle.
The toughest love
Valentine’s Day, also known as the “day of love”, is one of the most widely celebrated holidays.
It’s the day when we’re supposed to tell those near and dear to us how much we cherish them.
Because everyone needs to feel loved.
Love is powerful.
So powerful, Jesus summarized the greatest Commandments using only love:
Mark 12:28-34Amplified Bible
28 Then one of the scribes [an expert in Mosaic Law] came up and listened to them arguing [with one another], and noticing that Jesus answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is first and most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’ 31 This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] [a]love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to Him, “Admirably answered, Teacher; You truthfully stated that He is One, and there is no other but Him; 33 and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to [unselfishly] love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully and intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.
Now, when it comes to loving those closest to us, we should, of course, tell those people that we love them—and often.
However, in reality, doing so requires very little faith on our part because chances are our love will be returned to us in equal measure. (Luke 6:32–33)
Once we have experienced the true nature of God’s unending, unconditional love, the only reasonable response is to share that love with others who have not yet experienced it.
But this is where Jesus asks us to lean on our faith.
He gave another commandment that often seems quite illogical and at times, impossible.
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you (Luke 6:27).”
We are also called to love the unlovable.
This selfless love He’s describing can only be expressed with the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit.
When we put aside our emotions and trust the healing power of the Holy Spirit to help us and work through us for the benefit of those on the receiving end, we become a sure and certain eye witness of God’s transforming love and power.
Today,
“My beloved is mine and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies…..”Song of Solomon 2:16
In addition to telling your special someone how much they mean to you, maybe we should also reach out to those who wouldn’t normally come to mind on Valentine’s Day – Cherish Christ’s church, even when church is not so lovable.
You will be loving what Christ himself loves!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
A Valentine’s Day Prayer for True Love
Dear God, Help me today to understand what love really means.
I need a love that’s big enough to include all of us. Big enough for the dating and engaged couples, of course, with their giddy daydreams of a future together. But also big enough for the married folks, whether their passion for each other is still blazing brightly or barely more than a smoldering wick. Big enough for the singles toasting their independence, and for the singles wishing someone would come along and make that independence disappear. For the lonely and widowed and brokenhearted, I need a love that understands, a love that welcomes in hurt and sorrow instead of excluding them.
The love I need more than anything is Your love. Without Your love, no other love will ever be sufficient. And with it, every other love becomes richer and truer and more life-giving than it could have been otherwise. We have learned all our best loves from You: the love of faithful friends, of spouses and significant others, of parents and siblings and children. Love that commits. Love that sacrifices. Love that lays down its life. You authored each of these loves, taught us how to recognize them and long for them and give them away. Our best efforts at Valentine’s Day are just a fraction of the wholeness of love.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Today, let everything I see remind me of Your great love for all of God’s Children.Let today be a day for love. Real love. Big love. Your love.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
7 Now Jesus began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been selecting the places of honor at the table, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down [to eat] at the place of honor, since a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by the host, 9 and he who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place,’ and then, in disgrace you proceed to take the last place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down [to eat] at the last place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; and then you will be honored in the presence of all who are at the table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled [before others], and he who habitually humbles himself (keeps a realistic self-view) will be exalted.”
12 Jesus also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or wealthy neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. 13 But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind, 14 and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the [a]righteous (the just, the upright).”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Parable of the Honored Ambitious Guests …
The guests and host of a banquet met Jesus.
At the banquet, the guests tried to sit in seats of honor, near the place where the host would sit.
This was common in that society, which cared about honor for people who were respectable and had status in the community.
It was also common to invite people over who would invite you back, because you could then benefit socially from attending another dinner party hosted by someone else.
But Jesus introduced a different kind of world by what he said to the guests and the host.
He told them to sit in the least honorable seats, and to invite guests who were too poor to return the invitation.
In this way Jesus revealed a way of life in which status doesn’t matter, and in which shame and honor are erased.
Jesus revealed this way of life in his teachings, and he made this way of life possible by becoming the most despised outsider of all.
He died on a cross and bore the worst of all rejections in order to make God’s kingdom a reality in our world.
God’s kingdom is the only place where the only status that matters is that we are “loved by God.”
God’s kingdom is a gift that Jesus Christ gives to us.
Jesus Teaches About Ambition, Humility, Service
Ambition can be a powerful ally or a destructive enemy.
If your ambition is misplaced and fueled by shallow wants and superficial desires, you will find yourself perpetually dissatisfied, ultimately discontent.
The Bible talks about that type of ambition in Matthew 6:24, warning against greed and the insatiable desire to earn more money than you could ever spend.
If wealth and riches and status are your ambition, you will never be satisfied.
There is nothing wrong with ambition or about being ambitious ….
There is nothing wrong with Christian or with a Christian being ambitious.
There’s nothing wrong with making money, but you have to own the money; you can’t let it own you – love of money is not supposed to be our ambition.
You and I have to have a more sacred purpose that’s greater than money.
The money will come to you through hard work and God’s blessing.
Your greater purpose should be what your ambitions push you towards.
Matthew 6:33 affirms this by giving us the insight that God knows our desires.
God knows what fuels us, and if we aren’t scheming and plotting to send someone to ruination, He wants to bless us with the things that we seek.
Jesus advises that if you and I seek firstthe Kingdom of God then He will give you and I everything that you and I need, and more.
Humility and service are just two of the other values that Jesus not only taught but exemplified during His earthly ministry.
On so many occasions in the Bible, we read Jesus teaching His disciples to always consider others before themselves. Jesus repeatedly emphasized the importance of self-denial and service to others.
In Luke 14:7-14, Jesus used the occasion of a banquet to give insight into humility and service.
He addressed the guest regarding humility in verses 7 to 10, And in verses 12 to 14, He spoke to the host about serving others.
Luke 14:7-14The Message
Invite the Misfits
7-9 He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, “When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he’ll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You’re in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.’ Embarrassed, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.
10-11 “When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’ That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around all high and mighty, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
12-14 Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.”
Be Ambitious and Humble Yourself and Be Exalted …
Jesus’ teaching is clear – do not think so highly of yourself that you always come expect the very best treatment at all times.
No matter who you think or believe or perceive yourself to be when you are in public or in society, remember that there’s always somebody higher than you.
Being ambitious might be good at times but certainly not on many occasions.
Imagine a famous big city mayor who went to a wedding banquet along with his bodyguards and servicemen.
Upon his arrival, the host was too busy attending to other guests so he could not personally welcome him.
Thinking he was the most highly regarded guest, the mayor naturally walked into the dining hall and sat, took the best seat and made himself comfortable.
When the host noticed his presence, he came and whispered to his ear that the seat he occupied is reserved for the governor.
At this very public event, the mayor had no choice but to get up so the governor could take his rightful seat.
With all of the media outlets present, and their cameras following his every move, what a huge embarrassment for the mayor knowing all eyes are on him.
Humility and the “Ambitious Famous” Christian
Humility is a fundamental grace in the Christian life, and yet it is elusive.
There may be times when we think we deserve VIP treatment because of who we are in the church or society.
We are the Pastor – therefore we are entitled to the very best parking space.
Head of Table: We were the chairperson for the building committee and we just carried out the most successful capital campaign in the history of the church.
The Matriarch and the Patriarch of the Church – Head of the Line meal tickets.
Or perhaps there have been times when we ourselves exhibited false humility.
Do you think you have this “I am all this, that and the other, ergo…” virtue?
Please allow me to say, “If you know you have it, you have already flaunted it!”
As someone rightly said, “Humility is not thinking meanly of ourselves; it is simply not thinking of ourselves at all.”
Jesus is the greatest example of humility, and we would do well to ask the Holy Spirit to enable us to more imitative of Him and significantly less of ourselves.
A True Act of Ambitious Charity …
The Lord Jesus also emphasized the importance of treating people equally regardless of their social and economic status.
Unfortunately, when we are the one’s who are hosting a banquet, we prefer to invite rich and powerful people – trying to increase our status and self esteem.
But Jesus told the host of the banquet that when he holds a feast, he should be extraordinarily radical and also invite the poor, the lame, and the blind.
Why should the host do what Jesus said?
It’s because these people won’t be able to repay him.
They could not invite him back because they couldn’t afford to host a banquet!
However, the host will raise his standard of living in the eyes of the community he is living, showing true compassion, receiving his reward at the resurrection.
The reality is that whenever we host a party, we just prefer to invite our friends, relatives, and the rich and famous.
We want to have people who can bring the very best, most expensive gifts or those who can invite us to their party in the future.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with inviting these people.
When Rabbi Jesus said, “Do not invite your friends, brothers, relatives, or rich neighbors,” He did not mean absolute prohibition.
Such language is common in Semitic discourse and is used for emphasis.
Jesus’ point here is that inviting one’s friends and relatives cannot be classified as a spiritual act of charity.
It may also be a rebuke against those prone to reserve their hospitality for rich neighbors.
They intentionally do this knowing that these guests will automatically feel obligated to return the favor.
And if they fail to automatically invite us back we take an automatically offense and as an excuse to discontinue the relationship – bear an everlasting grudge.
Greatness and Servanthood and Ambition …
Matthew 20:20-28Amplified Bible
Preferred Treatment Asked
20 Then [Salome] the [a]mother of Zebedee’s children [James and John] came up to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down [in respect], asked a favor of Him. 21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit [in positions of honor and authority] one on Your right and one on Your left.” 22 But Jesus replied, “You do not realize what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup [of suffering] that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink My cup [of suffering]; but to sit on My right and on My left this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”
24 And when the [other] ten heard this, they were resentful and angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them]. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your [willing and humble] slave;28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin].”
In Matthew 20:26-27, Jesus taught His disciples that greatness is parallel to servanthood.
Jesus said in response to the request of James and John’s mother for them to be given high places in God’s Kingdom.
In his reply, Jesus poignantly highlighted about being a “servant.”
The word here means a “slave” and our English word “deacon” comes from it.
Not every servant was a slave, but every slave was a servant.
The Lord was teaching His disciples that the style of greatness and leadership for believers is different.
The Gentile leaders dominate in a dictatorial fashion, using carnal power and authority.
Believers are to do the opposite.
They lead must by being servants and giving themselves away for others, as Jesus did.
Sadly, in the church today we have many “celebrities” but so very few servants.
There are many who want to “flaunt” their authority but few who want to take the towel and water filled basin and get on their knees and wash “dirty” feet.
But while there are people who are still willing to serve, it’s interesting to note that they also have their motives.
Some are sincerely serving only to glorify God but others serve for honor and place and recognition of their “ambitious,” “obviously superior spirituality.”
What’s your motive for serving God and others?
Some final reflections and ambitious thoughts …
In Philippians 2:3-4, Paul uses the example of Jesus’ humility and service to encourage believers to do the same.
He uses the word “selfishness” which is sometimes rendered “strife” because it refers to “us versus them versus everybody, anybody else” rivalry.
It speaks of the pride that prompts people to push for their own way.
And then Paul encourages the church to have humility of mind.
It was a term of derision with the idea of being low, shabby, and humble.
The basic definition of true humility is regarding others as more important than yourself.
Our motive for being humble and serving others must be the praise of God and not the applause of men.
We must care significantly more about our eternal reward in heaven and not the temporary “we cannot take it with us to the grave” pseudo recognition on earth.
Remember, “You can’t get your reward twice”(Matthew 6:1-8).
On the day of judgment, many who today are first in the eyes of men will be last in God’s eyes.
And many who are last in the eyes of men will be first in the eyes of God (Luke 13:30).
The story is told about a wise man who shunned publicity.
He would speak every once in a while and when he speaks everyone listens to him.
After speaking he would immediately hide away into his own private place.
There would be rare times that he granted interviews and when he does he would always point to God as the giver of whatever wisdom that he possesses.
Many of us may be tempted to own to ourselves the wisdom or material wealth that we presently have.
But we should not allow ourselves to be possessed by that temptation, for who are we to own to ourselves what we have?
We have to always remember that we are mere vessels of God, whatever we have comes from God.
In our gospel text, Jesus highlights the great virtue of humility.
Jesus tells us to always be humble and not to crave for attention and adulation.
Why?
For the simple reason that the more humbler we are the more that Jesus is seen both with us and within us and emanating outward into the world from us.
The humbler we are the more the we become His effective vessels in this world.
The humbler you are the more that you allow Jesus’ light to shine upon you.
The humbler you are the more that you allow Jesus’ light to shine out from you.
The more light which emanates from us, more the light of Savior Jesus shines.
Maybe in some part of the earth we still walk on, the light of His Salvation;
Overly Ambitious Thoughts and Overly Ambitious Christians
Matthew 5:13-16 Amplified Bible
Disciples and the World
13 “You are the [a]salt of the earth; but if the salt has [b]lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people [when the walkways are wet and slippery].
14 “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Do we walk/talk the kind of “shining” humility, our Savior now requires of us?
We walk/talk the kind of “shining” servanthood our Savior now requires of us?
I am pondering the imponderable possibilities if the answers are actually: YES!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord God, we are shocked and awed by the kind of kingdom Jesus has introduced—it seems upside down and backwards to us. Its simple wisdom is wonderfully radical to us, the possibilities which would come from actual practice are enormous. We thank you for the great love that your kingdom reveals when we allow it to shape our lives.
Hospitable God, you invite us to a banquetwhere the last may be first,wherethe humble and the mighty trade places. Let us share your abundance with no fear of scarcity;let us greet strangers as angels you have sent!Send your Holy Spirit nowso that we may find a place at your table and welcome others with radical hospitality.In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus, Guest at all our tables, we pray. Amen.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
4 Now there are [distinctive] varieties of spiritual gifts [special abilities given by the grace and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers], but it is the same Spirit [who grants them and empowers believers]. 5 And there are [distinctive] varieties of ministries and service, but it is the same Lord [who is served]. 6 And there are [distinctive] ways of working [to accomplish things], but it is the same God who produces all things in all believers [inspiring, energizing, and empowering them]. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit [the spiritual illumination and the enabling of the Holy Spirit] for the common good. 8 To one is given through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] the message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] the word of knowledge and understanding according to the same Spirit; 9 to another [wonder-working] faith [is given] by the same [Holy] Spirit, and to another the [extraordinary] gifts of healings by the one Spirit;10 and to another the working of [a]miracles, and to another prophecy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], and to another discernment of spirits [the ability to distinguish sound, godly doctrine from the deceptive doctrine of man-made religions and cults], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues. 11 All these things [the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering] are brought about by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, distributing to each one individually just as He chooses.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Spiritual Gift of Faith
Today, let’s learn something about the spiritual gift of faith.
Your first reaction to this might be, “How can faith be a gift?
Aren’t we all supposed to have faith as believers in Jesus Christ?”
Faith is absolutely a gift!
It is specifically mentioned as a spiritual gift in scripture (1 Corinthians 12:9).
Because it is a spiritual gift, that means not everyone has the gift of faith.
And that’s okay.
We can all strive for faith, but for some people the confidence in the truth of God comes more naturally than to others.
Do you know a person who can continue to trust in God no matter what comes their way?
A person who can see where God is working in your life when you can’t see it?
People with the spiritual gift of faith are unshakeable in their reliance on God’s promises and are a source of encouragement for the rest of us when we feel like embracing the world or giving up on God or think that God has given up on us.
Here is how we can define the gift of faith:
Faith is the exceptional ability to hold fast to the truth of God in Jesus Christ in spite of pressures, problems, and obstacles to faithfulness.
Much more than just belief, faith is a gift which empowers an individual or a group of people to hold fast to its identity in Christ in the face of any challenge.
The gift of faith enables believers to rise above pressures and problems that might otherwise cripple them.
Faith is characterized by an unshakable trust in Jehovah God to deliver on God’s promises, no matter what.
The gift of faith inspires those who might be tempted to give up to hold on.
Those gifted with Faith create a foundation upon which true community can be built and sustained.
It is critical for people possessing the gift of Faith to make, take opportunities to share their beliefs, their learning, most importantly, their life experiences.
Faith stories have powerful and transforming effects.
Faith is a prominent gift in witnessing congregations, where personal stories are shared in group settings, worship, Sunday school classes, or Bible studies.
Faith is the exceptional ability to hold fast to the truth of God in Jesus Christ in spite of pressures, problems, and obstacles to faithfulness.
Our Bible gives us many examples of individuals with the spiritual gift of faith.
Hebrews 11:1-12 The Message
Faith in What We Don’t See
11 1-2 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.
4 By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
7 By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
8-10 By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
11-12 By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.
Verse 4 – By faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain
Verse 5 – By faith, Enoch skipped death
Verse 7 – By faith, Noah built a ship
Verse 8 – By faith, Abraham said yes to God
Verse 11 – By faith, barren Sarah became pregnant
Faith in Scripture ….
Mark 9:23 (NRSV) Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.”
Luke 8:48 (NRSV) He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Luke 17:19 (NRSV) Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 18:42 (NRSV) Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.”
Romans 4:18-21 (NRSV) Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
God gives us believers gifts of the Holy Spirit.
We do not know why exactly God’s will is for us to have any of these gifts, but we are thankful for any blessings, gifting’s, and corrections that He gives us.
Faith — it is a gift, and all we need is about the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20).
To each and every one of us, a measure of faith has been assigned by God (Romans 12:3).
Moses had faith to lead Israel to the Promised Land, Sarah had faith that she would conceive even in her old age, and Noah had faith that God had spoken to him to build the ark even when everyone thought he was crazy (Hebrews 11).
There isn’t any formula that is alongside this gift of faith, and to think that there would be, it would be much more difficult to have faith.
Believing in faith is easy, but in our finite minds, thoughts barricade what is truly simple.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Faith without proof
There are miracles everywhere mentioned in the New Testament.
Many people today have seen what the goodness of God can do through miracles.
In Mark 2, Jesus was in a crowded house in Capernaum.
There were four men carrying a paralytic man, trying to reach Jesus.
They had to make a hole in the roof of the house in order to bring the paralyzed man to be healed by Jesus.
This act was an act of faith by the four men, and Jesus saw their faith in the man being healed of his affliction.
Well, the man not only got healed but his sins were forgiven.
Miracles are a wondrous gift, but having faith without seeing is believing that it is possible even though it seems impossible (2 Corinthians 5:7).
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”(Hebrews 11:1).
Our hope is in Christ alone.
Without faith, there is no hope.
We have faith that when winter begins to thaw, and all the snow begins to fade away, that the seeds that were planted in the previous season shall burst forth.
Springtime is a time of refreshment, a time of anticipated, expectant joy to see what was planted, will be planted and is to soon come up from the cold ground.
We don’t see the seeds with our own eyes, but by faith, we have the hope to see green leaves, diverse colors of flowers coming up to bring out joy and harvest.
Childlike Faith ….
Matthew 18:1-6 Amplified Bible
Rank in the Kingdom
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child and set him before them, 3 and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever [a]humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives and welcomes one [b] child like this in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Children are like sponges.
Children are naturally inquisitive about almost everything in their little world.
They max out their efforts absorbing everything they can see, smell, taste, and touch, and hear.
In a classroom, it is a teacher’s job to assure that the children are learning what is being taught.
Children learn from their families as to what is wrong and what is right.
But what they are the best at is having faith.
Think about the inquisitiveness of your own children right now.
What are they constantly getting themselves into?
What holds their “undivided” attention?
What is their “wish-list?”
What are their dreams?
As it might be applicable, be observant and give an answer to those questions for those of us who have grandchildren or great grandchildren inside our lives.
Think about when you were a child, what did you have hope for?
I hoped that I could see the world that God created.
As I got older, I realized what goes into making those dreams come true.
I then began to see that it may not ever happen, and my faith became less in that area of my life.
I let my fears become more and more of my reality because I didn’t truly believe that I could travel the world.
But, perhaps, one season, by God’s Grace, that dream of travel will come true.
I believe and have faith God will bring me to places that He wills for my life.
In Romans 10:17, the Bible states, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Our thoughts can be louder than the Word of God if we let them.
The Holy Spirit within us shows us what is truth and what is not.
The gift of faith is truth and grace that has been given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The spiritual gift of faith is steadfastly believing the truth, God’s truth alone.
No matter what happens whether you receive what you are believing in or not, your confidence cannot be swayed.
The fear, worry, and circumstances do not determine your level of faith.
If God has given you this spiritual gift of faith, then trust, without doubt, that He will absolutely do as He absolutely wills for your life.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
All-Powerful Father, I bow before You because You are awesome and worthy of all the praise. Your word declares that I can do all things through You who strengthens me! I put all my trust in You. You alone are my God. You alone are my joy. You are my heart and my soul. You are the grass under my feet and the sky above. You are seen and unseen, Father. Keep me at Your right hand forever, fill me with Your grace, and make me Yours all the days of my life. Father, we thank you for everything, and we love you with all that we are. I pray that those that have been given this spiritual gift of faith will never waiver. I pray that we will trust and believe you always God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 