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."
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [the only God]! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being]. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be [written] on your heart and mind. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your [a]children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths] and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand (forearm), and they shall be used as [b]bands (frontals, frontlets) on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the [c]doorposts of your house and on your gates.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Amen.
Parents, Grandparents and God’s Children of all ages and walks of and among life, what first comes to our mind when we meditate about “family devotions”?
Does it include regular times set apart for your family read Scripture? Prayer? Worship in song? Formal Bible instruction with age-appropriate resources?
Yes, all these things and quite a few things more characterize family devotions.
And all serve to glorify and honor God and too will definitely come to benefit our children and our families as we instruct them in what is most important.
I don’t think there’s a mandate to be found in sacred Scripture that is more solemn than this one. That we are to teach our children the truth of God’s Word is a sacred, holy responsibility that God gives to His people. And it’s not something that is to be done only one day a week in Sunday school. We can’t abdicate the responsibility to the church. The primary responsibility for the education of children according to Scripture is the family, the parents.
God instructed the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:6–9,
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
This ancient passage of text makes it abundantly clear that God’s forever intent is for parents to teach their children and each other about God and His ways.
God’s Word should be at the forefront of our lives and the center of our homes.
Thousands of years later, Apostle Paul echoes the importance of these words.
Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” One way we teach our children this truth is by coming together as a family to be in God’s Word and praying together.
The wisest of the wise King Solomon: Proverbs 22:6 gives this wisdom: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
As parents who love God and who deeply believe and cherish Him, we want to help our, and future generations of children also come to love and believe Him.
Deliberately, Intentionally, Purposefully, our setting aside time for our family devotions each day will show our children that God is the very center of our lives, and spending time with Him is our priority, and we desire to do His will.
We want to show them that it’s okay, God can be the center of their lives, too.
We also want them to be taught, see how God guides them through life in their community, schools, family, and decisions – so they may teach their children.
To raise them up with critically important biblical values that they may one day, as might be needed, to emphasize these values before school board authorities.
Advocate, Communicate, Educate, the highest values of acceptance and sanctity of all life which God indelibly places upon everyone – without any exceptions.
Living, Loving, Moving, Being enveloped in the Word feeds us with everything we need from advice, to wisdom, to morals and ethics and unto His salvation.
It sets us up with a rock solid, sure and certain and steadfast and immovable foundation, a place for all to turn to in times of trials, tribulations, and praise.
Family devotions are a wonderful time for discussions with your children.
As you and your family read through God’s Word together, you can discuss the ways in which it is inescapably relevant to their lives.
For example, some of your discussions might include the ways in which God’s character applies to our understanding of our morals, attitudes and behaviors.
Be sure to not only discuss troublesome behaviors, but positive ones as well.
Your discussions might also include questions about how and why the world works the way it does.
You might just find yourselves talking about your relationships with others and all the ways in which God’s character and His commands help transform those.
These discussions can help your children see that God’s Word is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12) and “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16b–17).
Family devotions help create a firm foundation for your children’s spiritual growth.
In diligently and prudently practicing the spiritual disciplines of reading and studying God’s Word of fellowship and praying together, you help train your children to incorporate and carry these “God” practices with them through life.
You’re also helping them to learn the immeasurable dimensions, the infinite applications of the truth of God’s Word and to come to know, love, Him better.
When we dive into God’s Word, we are teaching our children that God loves and cares about them and us relentlessly.
When we come together to God to pray, to seek Him, we are showing our children we have access to a God who is holy, loving, able to meet our needs.
Our family devotions will likely challenge our faith and contribute infinitely to our spiritual growth as well.
Family devotions also help us meaningfully connect with our children in the midst of a sometimes hectic world.
Taking time to pause to focus on God together is the sweet intimacy of Christian fellowship.
A family time that is deliberately, intentionally, personally, purposely set apart can also serve as a time to honor God and each other, to relate with one another.
As we share our joys and our concerns, our struggles and trials, prayer requests or discuss how God’s Word applies to our lives, we are sharing God in our lives.
Dedicating this time to focus on your children and on God can help strengthen your relationships with your child.
Family devotions do not have to be elaborate.
You can keep them as simple as reading through a passage that pertains to issues you might be facing in your family, to reading through a certain book of the Bible, or purchasing age-appropriate devotional books.
You can include time for worshiping with music if you desire.
Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified Bible
23 Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
There is no set time-length that family devotions have to last, but you can be assured that you will soon find this experience to be a joyful time together.
At the conclusion of your time together, pray for God’s goodness in your family, any requests of friends and family, and for His abundant guidance in your lives.
Psalm 139:1-18 Amplified Bible
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do]; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken], Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And [You have] placed Your hand upon me. 6 Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, And the night will be the only light around me,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You, But the night shines as bright as the day; Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You formed my innermost parts; You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was being formed in secret, And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were appointed for me, When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
Remember to always praise God for His answers to your prayers, too.
Create an environment that is calm, loving, and memorable, one that your children will want to foster, nurture, impress, upon the lives of their children.
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).
Family devotions are a crucial means of declaring, living out family priorities.
By turning to God’s Word and prayer together every day (or most days, at least), we model the uncompromising centrality of these practices in our Christian life.
These daily times together will also prove an important means of our building closeness within our family…
Our devotions call us to a family experience each day.
Hebrews 6:19-20 Amplified Bible
19 This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells],20 where Jesus has entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of [a]Melchizedek.
Our time away with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and each other gives expression to this “confident assurance” we have all an anchor for our souls.
We each have our own hopes and dreams we desire to see lived in each other.
And while few of them are remarkably miraculous on their own, it is their gradual and steadfast accumulation which will add up to something special.
And then there is the benefit of building a habit that adds structure and stability to the family’s shared life.
As we have emphasized family devotions, we will gradually find out it becomes a kind of disciplined, organizing structure to the God life we all share together…
Through disciplined family devotions we model our own discipline of personal devotions, for the two closely, inextricably, inescapably, resemble one another.
By relating to the Lord as a family, we teach how to relate to him as individuals.
Growing up in a prayer-filled home is a beautiful and powerful thing.
Parents can pray over their children from the moment they are conceived through adulthood.
Children can learn alongside their parents how to pray to the Lord themselves.
Siblings can pray for and with one another as they resolve conflict and build strong relationships.
Extended family can cover loved ones in prayer through both joyful and challenging seasons.
Families can pray together more often than just before dinner, and it can be a life-changing and spiritually transformative experience that not only brings family members closer to God, but blessedly, ultimately closer to one another!
It is the kind of disciplined habit, perhaps like eating and praying together, and attending church together, that anchors family to the centrality of Jesus Christ.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:16-17
Lord, I pray that the message of Christ and his sacrifice is the root of gratitude in my and my family’s heart. That His gracious gift leads me and my family into thankful living, setting a timeless example for the rest of my family and their children. That they will have their own truly abiding relationship with Jesus one day, and that You would grow gratitude in their hearts out of the acceptance of Jesus as their Savior. Lead us to do everything in the name of Jesus and give thanks to You through Him.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
13-16 So roll up your sleeves, get your head in the game, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Transformation of Any Kind Takes Effort
We often prize the wonders of ability.
We prize more highly the wonders of those abilities who exceed our own and are even more highly prized are those whose abilities go far beyond everyone else’s.
But if we don’t put our abilities to work, we won’t accomplish much.
If we want change, we have to be willing to work for it.
If we don’t put in enough effort, we won’t bring about any positive change.
Authors who have written a stack of books will tell you that the secret ingredient was the effort it took to get up earlier each day to write.
Great inventors will relate the measures and degrees of “maximum” effort and commitment and dedication it took to bring an idea unto its finished product.
Sports figures will tell you to practice, practice, practice.
The Christian life is 100 percent God’s work.
The resurrection of Christ runs through our veins.
But the Christian life is also 100 percent human effort.
Apostle Peter here urges us to first prepare our minds for action.
The Greek expression here literally means to pull up one’s robe and get ready for action.
Then Peter instructs us to persevere all the way to the end through self-control.
We have to continue to be obedient to our Savior through responsible effort.
The Christian life is definitely going to be hard work from beginning to end.
The pull of the world is unquestionably significant, and will never go away.
Greater is He who is in us than who is in the world, but the pull of the world sometimes seems to be too insurmountable and our balance of thought shifts.
Keeping up and Letting down our biblical guards becomes a great struggle.
Spiritual Transformation is quite the balance act between the Word of God and word of man, and takes all our mental power, our willpower, our muscle power.
But thankfully our balance is the very Cross of our Savior and is a gift of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Amplified Bible
The Wisdom of God
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God. 19 For it is written and forever remains written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [the philosophy of the philosophers], And the cleverness of the clever [who do not know Me] I will nullify.”
20 Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world’s wisdom? 21 For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the [a]foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior]. 22 For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense], 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].
Three Keys to a Hope-Filled Spiritual Mindset.
1 Peter 1:13 English Standard Version
Called to Be Holy
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action,[a] and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The words in 1 Peter resound with the sound of hope.
This verse provides a three-step plan for living hope-filled lives.
Peter walks with us through the definition of hope, its nature, and how to be determined in hope.
As a follower of Christ, we live future-minded.
We govern our present choices and actions by training our minds in three areas knowing we will see Jesus face to face someday.
First, we cultivate a disciplined mind.
Outlook influences outcome, and attitude determines action.
I have to keep a source of sugar nearby because my diabetes is in constant need of close and frequent personal monitoring, regular, steady, medical attention.
Sometimes walking through this life is a little like picking up dirt and debris along the way, and soon hope gets lost in the mess.
Centering the thoughts of our minds on the message and wisdom of the Cross, and the promised return of our Savior Jesus helps us to maintain our hope.
Second, we develop a sober mind.
This means to have a steady, calm, and controlled mind by guarding what we think about or expose ourselves to.
It’s listening and obeying God’s Word through the disappointments and discouragements we face.
When we have a sober mind, we stay aware of our range of thoughts, and when hopelessness creeps in, we remind ourselves of God’s faithful, steadfast nature.
Our hope is present and future-minded, so we can strengthen it when we meditate on God’s Word and worship him, which keeps our minds steady.
Third, we pursue an optimistic mind.
“High Energy Positive” comes easily for some people.
It’s like they ooze glitter, and they sparkle.
We can look at that type of person and wonder if they understand pain exists.
As a positive person, let me assure you: I am aware of pain.
Pain has stolen my breath and turned my world dark.
But I’m also aware that God’s heart is abundantly good and trustworthy.
When our hope seems lost, and our outlook is gloomy, look up.
Find something good to focus on.
Maybe it’s the sunrise or the sound of birds singing, the greening of the trees in the coming promise of a new Spring season or your perhaps your child’s smile.
When you see it, hold onto it, lock onto it, “Fort Knox” it, and thank God for it.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
A “God” disciplined, sober, and optimistic mind creates a hope-filled spiritual mindset that allows you to experience the hope of God in the day-to-day grind of life.
We have the blessed assurance of seeing Jesus face to face in the second coming, we can see evidence of him in all our today’s as we all fix your minds upon him.
Look up at the Cross of our Savior instead of down “at your grave site” when hope just leaks from your heart, and let God bring you through to fresh hope.
When Jesus came the first time, he came to reveal God (John 1:18).
As wonderful, powerful, and gracious as he was in his earthly ministry, he did not fully reveal all who he is.
Our hope is tied to his return.
When He comes this time, He won’t come to reveal God, but to reveal himself — the conquering Lord, the Rider on the white horse.
Every knee will bow.
We will get to see him as he really and fully is — Emmanuel in power and grace, triumphant in every way.
When we set our hope on Jesus’ grace when he returns, we can be confidently ready for active service to our king today.
We can live in His hope, under his leadership with obedience and praise today.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God, the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
O Almighty God, You know exactly how much I long for the day when I get to see My Savior Jesus face to face coming with the angels in power. Until that time, fasten my heart and my thoughts in living hope to the glory Jesus will share with me on that day, and please empower me to live as one who knows that victory is mine in Jesus.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
17 For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be [a]made ineffective [deprived of its saving power].
The Wisdom of God
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God. 19 For it is written and forever remains written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [the philosophy of the philosophers], And the cleverness of the clever [who do not know Me] I will nullify.”
20 Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world’s wisdom? 21 For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the [b] foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior]. 22 For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense], 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].
26 Just look at your own calling, believers; not many [of you were considered] wise according to human standards, not many powerful or influential, not many of high and noble birth. 27 But God has selected [for His purpose] the foolish things of the world to shame the wise [revealing their ignorance], and God has selected [for His purpose] the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong [revealing their frailty]. 28 God has selected [for His purpose] the insignificant (base) things of the world, and the things that are despised and treated with contempt, [even] the things that are nothing, so that He might reduce to nothing the things that are, 29 so that no one may [be able to] boast in the presence of God. 30 But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin], 31 so then, as it is written [in Scripture], “He who boasts and glories, let him boast and glory in the Lord.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Is the Christian faith a reasonable religion?
Some believers throughout church history have agreed with many nonbelievers in proclaiming that Christianity is not a reasonable religion.
Nevertheless, a powerful theological-philosophical consensus within the history of the faith has argued that the historic Christian religion involves knowledge and is indeed, remarkably compatible with logic and with reason.
This historic agreement has often been expressed in the common statement: “faith seeking understanding.”
Its most articulate and persuasive spokespersons through the centuries have been such distinguished Christian thinkers as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
The question of whether Christianity is reasonable all depends on what answer you are looking for. What answers does the world seek for itself and what is it about the answer the Cross gives which is better than what many folks want?
I once read about a dishonest manager who was desperately wanting to hire someone for his accounting department who thought like he did. He ended up with 3 applicants for the job and he proceeded to interview them the next day.
The first applicant came in and sat nervously at the desk and he and the manager engaged in some small talk.
But eventually, the manager asked the applicant this question:
“What does two plus two equal?”
The man was just a bit puzzled, scratched his head, got out his smartphone calculator, but eventually answered, “Well, that’s simple: the answer is four.”
The manager stood up from his chair, walked around his desk, thanked the man profusely for his time and then unceremoniously ushered him out of the office.
The next applicant came in and again the manager engaged him in a pleasant conversation.
But eventually he got around to asking this man the same question.
And the 2nd man responded,
“Well, there are several possibilities: two and two make four, but so does three and one — or two point five and one point five — they also make four. There are a probably number of ways to arrive at that approximate same answer.”
The manager thought that was a pretty good reply, got up from behind his desk, shook his hand, told him he might get back to him in the next several of days.
Finally, the 3rd applicant came in and again the manager some time talking about several subjects, but eventually the man was asked the same question as the others: “What does 2 plus 2 equal. The man seemed startled by the question.
He looked at the manager, cautiously looked around the room, got up out of his chair, went over and closed the door… then he came back and reached inside his shirt pocket, turned off his phone, leaned across the desk, said in a low voice,
“Tell me, what would you like the answer to be?”
He got the job and a hefty bonus in that very instant.
Easy questions for easy times and hard questions for hard times.
The hardest of questions for the very hardest of times,
The most impossible of questions for the most “Impossible” times ….
With those statements now lodged somewhere in your thought processes ….
Waxing philosophically I ask the question today –
“Is Christianity Reasonable?”
Is it logical?
Can you “hang your hat” on what our faith says?
And the answer to that question is this:
It all depends.
What ANSWER are you looking for?
“What would you like the answer to be?”
You see, if Christianity offers the answer you’re looking for… then it IS reasonable.
But Paul tells us in our biblical text today there are people out there who don’t like Christianity because it doesn’t offer the kind of answer they want to hear.
Paul wrote: “… we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” 1 Corinthians 1:23
The cross is a stumbling block to many.
It’s foolishness to a lot of folks.
In fact, there’s something about the message of the cross that make people uneasy, annoyed, upset… sometimes even downright nasty.
• There was the Roman historian Tacitus who called Christianity a “pernicious superstition”.
• Sigmund Freud believed that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, was a psychotic illness.
• And former Attorney General under Bill Clinton – Janet Reno – declared:
“A cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible studies; who have a high level of financial giving to a notable Christian cause; who home schools their children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the Second Amendment; who distrusts big government. Any of these may qualify a person as a cultist….”
Morning, folks.
Welcome to your cult! (Smile)
Tacitus, Freud and Janet Reno are just a few of those who are offended by the message of the cross.
It makes them angry to think anyone would embrace what we believe.
And yet for those of us who understand what the cross means we KNOW that the cross of Jesus Christ is the answer because it is the very POWER OF GOD to those who are saved.
As Paul wrote:
“the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”1 Corinthians 1:18
The cross IS the right answer… IF it is the answer you are genuinely looking for.
But most of the world that is NOT the answer they are genuinely looking for.
Many people only want an answer that will give them control of their lives.
They want to be “in charge!”
The Bible offends them because it declares that our lives are to be controlled by God.
The cross declares that God bought you with a price – you are not your own. If you accept the answer of the cross you cede authority in your life over to Christ.
That answer doesn’t sit well with a lot of folks.
Many even reject belief in God because they don’t want someone else in control.
Or, if they do believe in God, they do not want a God Who demands change in their lives, they want a God who will automatically change FOR them… they want to say how their lives should be run, how big a box they can put God in.
That was one of the concerns for the Jews of Jesus’ day.
Paul wrote that the Jews of his day rejected the cross because “Jews demand miraculous signs.” 1 Corinthians 1:22
They demanded signs?
But didn’t Jesus do miraculous things during His ministry on earth?
Well, yes He did.
He healed the sick. Raised the dead. And fed 1000s with just 5 loaves and 2 fish.
And because He did the multitudes followed Him. Wherever He went people would crowd the hills and seashores where He would speak. Sometimes for hours on end.
Thousands followed Jesus.
(PAUSE)
That is… until He was crucified.
That is… until he was condemned as the ultimate criminal.
Who puts their whole faith, whole belief system behind a condemned criminal?
As long as Jesus was doing what THEY wanted Him to do… they’d follow Him.
Not really having any concept or vision of the genuine life giving power of God.
They they believed, he was a good man doing many great and miraculous things no one before him had ever done – and they each hungered for more and more.
But once He was arrested, condemned and crucified… they walked, ran, away.
The cross was not the answer they were looking for and some became afraid of.
A lot of people who’ve rejected Christ in their lives have done it for that reason.
God did not answer their prayer in the way and in the time they wanted, or they needed, something happened in their lives hurt them badly, they felt betrayed because God didn’t protect them from that pain. And they walked, ran, away.
As long as God did what they wanted done, they were willing to follow.
As long as someone was actually being, finally, giving and revealing genuine compassion – over a long span of time – fantastic! outstanding! Miraculous!
But then, suddenly it happened – something so completely, utterly unexpected, something so completely contrary to what they understood and seen about God.
The Miracle Worker ….
The only one who had loved them, had unconditional compassion on then, who had told them the Father in Heaven was absolutely on their side – was betrayed!
In the end, at the cross – no one came to help him or to release him or have true, genuine compassion and mercy upon him – including Father God – saved Him.
God did not “show up” to save this miraculous healer, compassionate friend.
Jesus had promised God would always be there to protect them from suffering.
But this was different.
He did not protect Jesus from great suffering and enormous hardship.
Therefore, He didn’t protect them from suffering and hardship either.
That wasn’t what they signed up for.
That wasn’t the God they wanted nor needed nor required.
Scriptures promised many things, that is what they were taught their whole lives, that is what their parents and grand parents raised them to all believe.
It was perfectly reasonable to them to steadfastly believe all of God’s promises.
It was reasonable to want a God who would protect and shield them from all of the very worst difficulties of life – at least that is what was written in Psalm 121.
But the cross defies that notion.
The cross speaks of death, and suffering, and pain, and loss.
It speaks of a world that is often without compassion, without mercy, severely unfair and unreasonably unjust and dangerous and lethal unto the maximum.
It speaks of a world where even God’s people are often required to endure the utmost levels of suffering and tragedy… hardship and pain – wishy washy God.
The cross declares that life is not so sacred as the scriptures repeatedly teach and won’t always turn out the way YOU want it to… or need it or require it to.
But that life will ultimately turn out the way a “wishy washy” GOD wants it to.
So, who among us would choose to trust an apparently untrustworthy God who was not even true to His very own words 100% of the time as the scripture says?
A tough question to ask and a tougher question to try and answer in such a way as to rebuild an apparently irreparably broken promise and convince others too.
To repair, rebuild, restore steadfast and immovable faith and trust and hope in God in a severely shortened, rapidly changing, unaccommodating span of time.
The Ultimate Answer: Jesus said to his disciples in an isolated Upper Room:
“… In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33b
The cross declares that this world WILL be hard. (You WILL have trouble).
BUT there’s something better on the other side. (I have overcome the world).
If you are looking for GOD’S answer… then that’s perfectly reasonable.
The cross of Christ tells us the absolute truth about life.
There WILL always be ultimate suffering. There will also be ultimate pain.
But if you are faithfully willing to wait on Him, Jesus will carry you through.
As Psalm 23 says: “Yea, though I walk through …” what was that?
(The valley of the shadow of death.)
The cross tells you the absolute truth about living in and through this reality.
And that’s because it is the ultimate answer the world needs to understand.
So, 1st – the world looks for an ultimate answer allowing them to be in control.
2ndly – the world looks for a reasonable answer that allows them to be either ultimately foolish or ultimately wise.
Paul wrote that “… Greeks look for wisdom” 1 Corinthians 1:22
They wanted to be able to understand the world on THEIR terms/ according to their wisdom.
The Greeks were into wisdom… their wisdom.
They were a culture known for their philosophers and sages.
But their philosophers were looking for wisdom based on their perceptions and their views of life.
When it came to God, if they couldn’t explain Him or understand Him on their terms they weren’t going to be happy. God had to fit in the box they had built for Him.
A college student once told a Christian professor: “For me to believe in God, I have to have a God which I can reasonably be expected to fully understand.”
The professor smiled and replied, “God refuses to be that small!”
God refuses to be small enough for us to fully understand Him on our terms.
In fact, we couldn’t understand Him in that way if we wanted to.
In Isaiah 55:8-9 God declared:
“… my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
God doesn’t fit in anyone’s neat little jewelry box.
He’s not easily understood.
He’s different than we are.
He THINKS differently than we do… and He ACTS differently than we do.
And that’s why it is so important to read and study the Bible.
It tells us all we need to know about WHO God is and WHAT He’s like.
It tells us of a God we wouldn’t have guessed existed.
One of the major characteristics of God is found in the Cross.
Isaiah 59:15b-17 describes it this way:
“…The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.”
There was no one else to intercede on our behalf, so God clothed Himself with righteousness and came down to intervene on our behalf.
But the Greeks couldn’t understand that.
They couldn’t understand one single God who’d sacrifice Himself for them.
Back when I was in High School I loved to read the stories of the Greek (and later Roman gods).
They were intriguing stories of the multitude of deities the Greeks worshipped.
It was called the “Pantheon”.
But none of their gods were like the God of Scripture.
There was Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite – and numerous other gods and demi-gods.
But there stories described them as being egotistical, selfish, bickering, petty, vindictive, adulterous and heartless, occasionally also being compassionate.
And those were their good and bad and absolutely indifferent traits.
What’s baffling to me is that the Greeks actually worshipped these gods.
They made sacrifices to these petty, mean-spirited gods.
And you just KNOW they made these gods up out of whole-cloth.
These are all made up stories.
But why would the Greeks portray their gods as being so selfish and evil beings?
Well, perhaps because these were the kinds of lifestyles Greeks identified with.
These were the kinds of behaviors they could easily simplify and understand.
Because perhaps this was how the average Greek viewed life in the big city itself.
It’s how they lived their lives.
The Greeks could not understand a God who would sacrifice Himself for them, because they wouldn’t be willing to do that for others.
The Cross declared a God they could not understand in their own wisdom.
I’ve had several people in my life describe me as an “optimist”. An “idealist” who really doesn’t understand “reality”. And I can see where they get that.
Most people know when I’ve entered a building even before they see me… I’m whistling, or humming or singing a song. They are right! I am truly an optimist.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not a realist.
And do you know why?
Because I have a God who is real.
Not a god that I’ve cooked up in my imagination.
Not a god that is the result of my own personal wisdom.
My God is real.
My God stepped down out of heaven and took my place on the cross.
My God loved me so much that He gave His only begotten son that (since) I believe in Him I will not perish, but have everlasting life.
And if I have a God who is willing to do that… what else would He do for me?
My God isn’t based on “my wisdom” and my perception of life.
My God is based on reality.
And so is my attitude.
My God is absolutely ALIVE!
And will forever and ever remain so – even beyond the ends of eternity itself.
Yes, I’m an optimist.
But since I have a God who is real, and who really cares for me, that makes me a realist too.
So, 1st – the world looks for an answer that will give them control of their lives.
2ndly – the world looks for an answer that that allows them to be wise on their own terms
And 3rd – the world is looking for an answer that will give them strength… on their terms
1 Corinthians 1:25 says
“… the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
Many in this world want to be strong.
If they tell you a story about themselves they come across as the heroes of that story.
That’s what my father always did.
He’d tell me a multitude of stories about himself… each and every one had him be the hero.
It wasn’t until later that I heard someone else tell me a story about how dad’s best friend had beaten him badly in a short race up and down their street.
Dad didn’t tell that side of the story.
His stories had him being the hero.
And (for the most part) so does everyone elses’.
Folks don’t like to come across as being weak.
They don’t like being shown as having failed.
They don’t like hearing that they have messed up.
They know they have messed up – they just don’t like hearing it.
And so they tend to reject the message of the cross because it describes them as having sinned.
Singer Billy Joel, for example, was very offended by the message of the cross.
“.. I viewed the whole business as a lot of very enthralling hocus pocus. There’s a guy… nailed to a cross and dripping blood, and everyone’s blaming themselves for that man’s torment, but I said to myself, ‘Forget it. I had no hand in that evil. I have no original sin. There’s no blood of any sacred martyr on my hands. I pass on all of this.”
I guess perhaps Mr. Joel didn’t like the idea his personal sin put Jesus on the cross.
That would mean he was guilty of sin.
That he was weak. That he had failed
Perhaps, He didn’t, like a great number of people, simply want to hear that.
But the message the cross isn’t so much that Billy Joel killed Jesus by his sins.
The message of the cross is that Billy Joel deserved to die on the cross for HIS OWN sins… and Jesus simply offered to take his place.
Jesus came to die for those who had failed. For the weak and broken and the losers of life. And that’s why the message of the cross is so powerful for people like that.
Jesus didn’t come for the “healthy”, He came for the sick.
One person I personally know has observed to me that:
“Anybody with an active imagination could come up with a religion whereby those who allegedly “deserved” to get into heaven might just manage do so.”
“And anybody who takes a good hit from crack cocaine or LSD could do it also.”
However, the Word of God for the Children of God reveals that at the cross God promised those who DID NOT deserve heaven could receive it. (Romans 5:8-11)
All the other religions in the world are designed to assure the “righteous”, the “deserving,” by their own strength, goodness can ‘buy’ their way into a heaven.
But the Cross declares that not only does NO ONE deserve heaven… the only way you CAN get into paradise is by accepting the sacrifice of Christ.
You have to confess with your whole heart that you are weak and undeserving and absolutely need God’s help. (Romans 10:9-13)
The world views that as an insult to their reliance on strength.
The want power not weakness.
But the cross is all about power.
Not one ounce of ours, but every last possible, maximum measure of God’s.
1 Corinthians 1:18 says “the message of the cross… to us who are being saved.. is the power of God.”
The cross supplies all the power the world does not want to accept.
It supplies an answer the world can’t provide nor willingly, readily accept.
And we have got to understand that.
The Cross IS our answer to this world, because it is only through the Cross that lives can be changed.
That’s the power of God unto salvation.
And that is the answer the world needs to hear.
1 Kings 18:20-40Amplified Bible
God or Baal on Mount Carmel
20 So Ahab sent word to all the Israelites and assembled the [pagan] prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you [a]hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people [of Israel] did not answer him [so much as] a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone remain a prophet of the Lord, while Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Now let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the god who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” 26 So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, hear and answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied, or he is out [at the moment], or he is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened!” 28 So they cried out with a loud voice [to get Baal’s attention] and cut themselves with swords and lances in accordance with their custom, until the blood flowed out on them. 29 As midday passed, they played the part of prophets and raved dramatically until the time for offering the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the Lord that had been torn down [by Jezebel]. 31 Then Elijah took twelve stones in accordance with the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 So with the stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold b]two measures of seed. 33 Then he laid out the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. 34 And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and the wood.” And he said, “Do it the second time.” And they did it the second time. And he said, “Do it the third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.
Elijah’s Prayer
36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached [the altar] and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back [to You].” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood, and even the stones and the dust; it also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell face downward; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” 40 Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and [as God’s law required] killed them there.
Choosing between faith in the ‘gods’ of this world or the God of all Creation –
Was it reasonable for the priests of baal to keep ranting and raving, maiming themselves repeatedly over a long period of time waiting for their fire to come?
While completely contrary to all worldly expectations Elijah did everything reasonably possible to sabotage his own efforts – but God defied his reason?
Reasonable versus Unreasonable is only defined by God’s true righteousness.
What are the expected results of man’s efforts to control and contain ‘holy’ fire except to say they are severely flawed and only reasonably be expected to fail.
No lives are changed – but mutilated by ‘song and dance,’ pleading and praying to ‘gods and idols’ which do not and cannot ever exist and our adherence to sin.
The reasonableness of Christ and Christianity is in the forgiveness of all sins and the obviously changed lives it inevitably produces for all to witness too.
That’s the ANSWER of the Cross and the POWER of the cross .
Man’s attempts to seek to control their lives, man’s attempts to live by their own wisdom, man’s attempts to live on their own strength – they all utterly fail… because those are really never going to produce life changing answers.
Many of us reading these words are Christians.
Many more who might get around to reading these words are not and are in the categories of being hardcore pessimists, skeptics and agnostics and atheists.
We who have already accepted the answer of the cross in our lives know the changes which God has alone wrought in our lives through all circumstances.
But perhaps you know someone who doesn’t accept that.
Someone who is existing – living by answers that have convinced them to reject the cross outright and hardcore.
Maybe now is the most reasonable time to ask ourselves –
How good is it with God right now?
For those who are in that place of seeking, asking for something much more,
Maybe now is the most reasonable time – reasonably learned to ask these folks:
“How’s that “rejection” thing working out for you right now?”
“Do you sleep well at night? Or do you struggle with sleeplessness because of things you’ve done or said? Do you feel good about yourself? Do you believe that if you died tonight, you’d be able to stand up confidently, directly before God?”
As Christians we need to realize that the Cross IS the answer the world needs.
But do all these words of mine mean that if you are reading this and do not at this moment choose to believe in God, are expected to automatically believe?
The answer to that is an unequivocal NO!
It is not reasonable for me me to expect my words will instantly change how you feel about life and whether or not your life will get better with God in it.
My mere words, my alleged wisdom here, possess no such grandiose power.
What happens to your life after reading these words plus reading and digesting the Word of God for the Children of God – is solely, absolutely in God’s power!
I can only change myself through God’s Word and God’s Grace and Power ….
However, when God’s time comes, we get ‘warmed,’ we need to say with Paul:
“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2
The wisdom if His Words, the wisdom waiting for us in the shadow of the cross gives everyone who dares to come, all the answers to all those struggles of life.
But first you and I have to willingly lay our lives down at the foot of the cross.
Perhaps now is the most reasonable time to ask this most reasonable question:
“How reasonable or unreasonable is it with our souls exactly right now?”
In the name of God, the Father and God God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord of wisdom, I sometimes finding understanding the Bible to be difficult. I know you want me to apply your word to my life. I thank you for giving me your word so I can grow in my relationship with you. Help me grasp what you want me to know as I read your revealed word. Open my eyes to see the wisdom and power of the cross, the wonderful truths waiting in the shadow of the cross, in your instructions there. Be my One teacher, so I can live and obey your word. Thank you for your wise advice. 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). 