Why Does Everyone Need A Sign?

"Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?"
John 6:30

What is it with people who always want a sign? The Jews were asking Jesus for a sign that He was indeed the Son of God. Whoa! Wait a minute! Where were these guys just a few hours ago? John tells us that they had returned home.

From where? From being with Jesus on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. What were they doing with Him? They were eating the bread and the fish that Jesus multiplied from a boy's simple lunch. Wasn't that a sign? Why were they asking for a sign? They wanted the spectacular. They wanted the unusual. They wanted the side show.

Jesus refused them, a sign saying they had already received one (the loaves and fishes). He pointed them to the main event -- the FATHER! "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." Jesus was telling them that signs come and go, but God remains forever. Signs can be manipulated, but God is unchanging. All too often we get wrapped up in the same philosophy of life that the Jews had. We want the signs. We want the miracles. We want the healings.

If we can just see these, then we will know that God is present, that the Holy Spirit is working in our midst. All the while we miss the main event. God is with us all the time. He says He will never leave us or forsake us. That's good. He promises that wherever two or three of us are gathered together in His name, He is there with us. That's great! He has pledged to set up His throne . . . in our hearts!

Now that's really something -- to have the living God dwell in us. It doesn't get any closer than that. Let's take a vow that we will never become so enraptured with the miracles that we miss the miracle worker. After all, God the Father is the main event. Knowing Him is greater than seeing a few signs.

Do You Have Branches In Need Of Removal?

"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit"
John 15:2

If every plant has roots, then most plants have branches. There's an interesting thing about branches. They produce fruit. Now don't mistake the word fruit for "fruit." Some trees do produce delectable fruit that is beautiful to the eye and delicious to the tongue. Other trees produce nuts while still others produce fruit that is inedible and perhaps even poisonous. The word "fruit" is simply defined as a necessary seed bearing part of a plant.

Let's ponder the true fruit trees for today. We had a cherry tree in the back yard of our old house. It's wasn't much of a tree, and the fruit isn't much to look at or eat, but it is a cherry tree -- an ancient one at that. If I really wanted good fruit from that tree, I would have to cut out the dead wood that abounds in it. Then during the beginning of the fruiting season, I would examine each branch for small, developing fruit. If a branch did not have fruit, I would cut it off. If I really wanted the biggest, best, juiciest cherries, I would look for deformed fruit and cut it off. I would remove all but the biggest cherries from each clump of cherries. All of this pruning would assure me that the remaining fruit would receive all the nurturing the tree could give. The result would be prize winning cherries! (At least that's the theory -- you haven't seen this tree, our gardener told us to cut it down!)

The Lord has to do the same thing with us. You see, we are spiritual trees. It is our purpose on earth to produce fruit. There are many fruits we need to produce. We could start with the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians. We could move on to the most important fruit -- SOULS! Our lives ought to be of such quality that our lost neighbors, co-workers, family, and friends want nothing less than what we have! Unfortunately, we all have "branches" in our lives that are not bearing good fruit. It may be an unholy anger, or lust, or drunkenness, or thievery, or lying, or -- and the list goes on. All of these branches are in need of removal. Our Father knows just what branches to prune and when to prune them -- you see, not all bad things can be removed at once. It would destroy the life in us. It is important to let Him do the pruning -- especially in the lives of others. In our lives, we will find that He will point out those areas in need of pruning and ask us to voluntarily remove them. If we continually refuse, the our Lord will do it for us -- but the pain will be much more intense.

So the question for today is this: "Do you have some branches in need of removal?" If the answer is "yes", I suggest that you set about doing it as the Lord directs.

Before I Formed You In The Womb, I Knew You

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Jer. 1:5

I have a tool in my toolbox that has only one purpose. It is a highly specialized tool; one that I bought to do a single job. That job was completed several years ago, but I keep the tool. On occasion I have tried to use the tool for other purposes, I did that last week, but the tool refuses to cooperate with my ineptness. It is as though that tool shouts to me, "Hey, idiot! I can't do that job. I was not made to do that job. It is an impossible task for me to accomplish!" And you know; the tool is right. Its job is to tighten and loosen the ring that holds the kitchen garbage disposal in place. It does that quite well. It does not work on any other plumbing problem. It makes a miserable hammer. And God forbid that it would ever be used in electrical work!

Like my tool, we are a called people. You are called. I am called. We were chosen by God, and He gave each of us a purpose. Today's verse reveals Jeremiah's call as a prophet of God. Now I am not about to say that each of us is called to be prophets. That would not be true. Be we are all called to fulfill a task, a particular task, and we will not be satisfied until we accomplish what we have been tasked to do. Let's take a look at Jeremiah's call. I think it will tell us something about our own.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," says God to the prophet. The Father was reassuring Jeremiah that the caller was knowledgeable about whom He was calling. God knew Jeremiah from the inside out. He was there the day Jeremiah was conceived, He was there before Jeremiah was conceived. This is God's way of saying, "I know every thing there is to know about you. I thought about you and the plans I had for you long before you were even two separate cells in two separate individuals. I have had you in my plans for generations before you were born. I know you. I know all about you. I know every gene of every chromosome that has been combined from every generation previous to yours. I mixed them all together to form one unique individual, you, Jeremiah. Every fiber of your being was carefully chosen and placed by Me, your true Father, to accomplish what I am calling you to do today."

Wow! God really knew Jeremiah. And He really knows you, too. You are no different than Jeremiah, not really. Multiple generations ago, God foresaw that He would need you in this age, day, and time to accomplish something that no one else could do. Like He did with Jeremiah, He ordered your ancestry so that every gene of you chromosomal makeup would be just what He needed at just the right time. He ordained your parents, grandparents, and great-great- great grandparents so that you would be unique, you see, with God there is no mass production. There is no great "assembly line in the sky" that kicks carbon copy individuals all prepackaged and ready to ship off the end of the line. God makes each one of us totally different than any other product.

I can see that you need to ponder that for a few hours. Take you time. We will look at the second part of Jeremiah's calling tomorrow. It fits you, too!

A Fool Becomes Wise

A Fool Becomes Wise


Have I seen a fool today I ask

Surely one has passed my way

I will try to remember his face

Did he speak to me as he slipped silently past

No surely I would have known

For he could have only said something foolish

I will recall his face with some thought

If I can find those words he spoke to me

Ah yes it was when first I did rise

Now it is all coming back to me slowly

Now I saw him again as I pass this mirror

It was I

I had wounded a friend with hasty words

Ah but this fool must find those words again

I will replace them with words of right

I must secure my friend with truth

I love my friend and I regret those words

This fool must now become wise

I can do that with the help of my friend

Jesus will help this fool become wise again


RONNIE LEVINER
COPYRIGHT©2005

Prayer

"As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools."
Psalm 84:6

The Valley of Baca has been translated both as the Valley of Weeping and The Thirsty Valley. Neither of these are very pleasant names. Obviously, the Valley of Baca was a dry, desolate place. Today, you may be walking through your own Valley of Baca. You may be feeling dry in your soul. You may be thirsty and wondering where the living water is to quench your thirst. But lets look at today's scripture again.

What are we going to do when we are in this thirsty place, we are going to dig a well. What does this mean in our spiritual lives. Well, there are times when we have to step out on faith, to take some sort of action. The word translated well could also be translated pit or ditch. Apparently, there were no streams in the valley of Baca, but there were rainstorms. But the ground just soaked up the rain, unless you dug a pit.

Digging that pit was an act of faith. It was in expectation of a refreshing rain. Too often when we are in a dry place, we do not expect it to rain ever again. We believe that we will not see water again, so we are not
prepared when (not if, when) the rain does fall. In that case the rain is
refreshing for the time, but after it stops we find ourselves in much the
same situation as before.

I know a lot of people who seem to have these vicious ups and downs in their moods. One moment things are terrible. The world is conspiring against them. Everything is awful. Then some blessing comes their way and everything is wonderful for a few days until the next trial.

What many of us need to do is create a reservoir of blessing to sustain us in the dry seasons. The next time God sheds His blessings on you dig a well. Drink in those blessings, bask in them, praise him for them, store up the knowledge of those blessings, learn the lessons he is trying to teach you, find out what you can take from that blessing to help you in the hard times. Then when the dry spell settles down in your valley again, you remember those lessons, you praise God just as you did during the season of refreshing drawing on the strength you gathered during that time. You also remember that the trial before the blessing did end and God delivered you in a marvelous way and that if he did it once he'll do it again.

So, if you have found yourself in the valley of Baca today, take out your
shovel. You have some digging to do.

Lord, today let me dig a reservoir for your blessing and in the times of trial let me draw from that well of refreshing you have sent me today.

THE FOREST....THE TREES

Trials and troubles ...
They come to us all.
We stumble, we falter
And sometimes we fall.

Our focus distorted,
Our vision impaired,
Attention to earth's cares
Has caused us to err.

But God gives the way to
go through these with ease,
'cause He sees the forest,
though we see the trees.

We search to know God's will ...
we strive for His way.
We know when we find it,
we're sure not to stray.

We think that we trust Him ...
His plan is the best.
And if He'll just show us,
then in it we'll rest.

But we ask for His guidance,
then do as we please.
Though He sees the forest,
we're lost in the trees.

There's much more to faith
than what meets the eye.
It's trusting He'll do right,
not questioning why.

It's giving up our wants,
letting Him have the say ...
it's doing what He wants ...
and without delay.

It's spending time seeking Him
while down on our knees.
Letting Him see the forest,
and us just the trees.

Wouldn't It Be Scary If God Wasn't Compassionate?

''As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust"
Psalm 103:13-14

Wouldn't it be a scary thing if our God was not compassionate? Could you imagine the fear we would live in if our God were mean like the false gods? You borrow a penny from your wife's purse without her knowing. Is it stealing? Will God strike you with lightning -- or worse yet -- a lingering fatal illness? You say an angry, hateful thing to your mother. Do you duck for fear of some celestial punishment? Talking about living in fear, that would do it.

Fortunately our God had great compassion on those of us who have a healthy fear of Him. That fear is a healthy respect for, not a breath wrong and you die type of fear. Because of this great love, we live in peace knowing that forgiveness is always available, should we sin?

Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten that God can be a severe judge. We take for granted that He will love us no matter what. We have not seen an Ananias and Saphira type of incident in our churches lately. So what is there to fear. We can neither see God nor feel Him nor hear Him with an audible voice. This all gives rise to the question "Does he really exist? And even if He does, is He really interested in what I do?" Sure, we never really ask those questions. But we all too often live like we did. Think about it. What do you really think about God? Who is He really? What is your real relationship with Him? Do you really know Him?

Do you really care about what He says? I urge you to honestly answer these questions. If you do, you may be surprised about how much you have to grow in your spiritual life.

I Will Help With Your Burden

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."
Galatians 6:2

In a traditional wedding ceremony, the couple vows to love each other "in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse."
According to I Corinthians 13, this quality of endurance is characteristic of Agape love whether that love be for a spouse, a friend, a co-worker, family member, fellow Christian or someone to whom you are ministering. We are called to "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6.2)

Within any type of relationship, difficulties will arise. Sometimes they will arise within the relationship. One or both persons will say or do things which hurt the other. For the most part such hurts are unintentional, but that doesn't always assuage the pain. More often the difficulties arise from outside the relationship itself. Sickness, persecution, financial distress, emotional pain, attacks of Satan which affect one of the people will by extension affect both.

Remember the context in which 1 Corinthians 13 appears. In Chapter 12 is a discussion of the body of Christ and how what affects one member affects all. True Agape love feels the pain of others, and in so doing, helps carry that burden. Their prayer needs become our prayer needs. Their distress becomes our distress. Their need for salvation, deliverance or healing becomes ours as well.

But, you say, that's hard. How can I carry another person's need as though it were my own? That isn't natural. Absolutely correct. It isn't natural. But neither is Agape love, it is supernatural. When you have loved as much as you can in your own strength and that strength begins to lag, step out of the way and let God love that person through you.

To bear another's burdens doesn't require that we need to be strong, it simply requires that we be willing. There will always be another pair of hands helping with that burden. And if you look closely, you will find that they have the imprints of nails in them from a time, when he carried a burden that wasn't his.

Lord, today show me someone struggling under a burden I can help carry.

Can You Out Give God?

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself" Gal 6:2-3

After his eventful day of murder and mayhem, Cain asked God if he was his brothers keeper. Some centuries later a popular musical hit of the 60's stated "he's not heavy. He's my brother." There is a lot of history in between those two events. The most significant moment in time between them was the life and death of Jesus Christ. It is he who brought about the change from "no" to "yes" (from the human standpoint) to the brother's keeper question. For He taught that we should bear one another's burdens. He said we should love our neighbors. When asked who our neighbor was, He replied "whoever is in need."

By bearing each other's burdens, we fulfill the "law of Christ." What law is that? Try this one on for size. "Love your neighbor as yourself." Or, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Can you imagine what our world would be like if we would only "bear on another's burden?" Who would sell drugs on that dark corner? Who would rape the first girl he saw? Who would commit murder? Who would rob or steal? Would you dare lie to a brother who's burden you were carrying? Would you cheat on your wife or husband? Of course not! You are to bear their burden, not make them heavier. Just in case you think you might be above this command, Paul tells us the man who thinks he is something when in actuality he is just a little, frail human like the rest of us, is deceived -- not by satan, but by his own thoughts. This means that none of us are so high and mighty that we can forget about our brother or sister in their need.

Truthfully, the person who has the most should be willing to help the most. Don't get me wrong. I do not advocate socialism in any way. What I do suggest is that we willingly share out of our bounty with those who are in want. This type of generosity cannot be legislated through taxes. Nor can it be commanded by "generosity police." It only comes through the firm belief that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and that He alone gives us the love we need to be generous. Granted, there are those who have an innate goodness without Jesus, but they are the exception, not the rule. And even then, they are most likely to have a Christian background. Let's take the opportunity this week to develop a bit of generosity. Instead of looking down on the poor, let us help to lift them up. Instead of shunning the "ugly", let's find the "beauty" in them. Instead of hoarding our meager wealth, let's give it away! I can guarantee that there is no way you will ever out give God.

What does Love mean? Kids 4 to 8 year Share Their Answers :)

There is nothing I could find to dispute these stories. True or not they are humorous and touching.

What does Love mean? Kids 4 to 8 year Share Their Answers

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca - age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still it's gross."
Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

One Final Entry from Leo Buscaglia

"Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said...""Nothing, I just helped him cry."

Turn Your Tears of Sorrow to Joy

"And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep." For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law"
Neh 8:9

There is something foreboding about the truth -- especially when you are trying to hide from it. It seems to reach out and slap you in the face. It takes your breath away. It crushes your pride. It causes great pain. It reveals your true nature. And you weep with great sorrow -- and brings you to repentance.

That's what happened to the people who returned from the exile. They were rebuilding the entire city of Jerusalem -- making it safe for habitation -- making it a place to worship God again. Then someone finds a copy of the law. An assembly is called. The Word of God is read. Sin is revealed -- and the wailing begins.

That's one way to look at the truth. Nehemiah had another idea. He saw the truth as an opportunity to begin again. He sent word to stop the weeping. It was not a time to cry, but a time to celebrate. The truth had been revealed. Now they knew why they had been in exile. Now they knew why their plans had failed. Now they knew what to do to correct the problem! Indeed it was a time to celebrate!

I've said that true revival will begin with the sound of weeping -- and I still believe that. But after the weeping will come the celebration of life! While we may not enjoy the truth, we all love a good party! Why will we celebrate? We will have found new life. We will have discovered new strength. We will have broken through the barrier that separates us from God. We will have touched the heart of God. We will have entered into His presence.

Yes, we will celebrate. But first comes the weeping in the night. As the psalmist says, "Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy." (Psa 126:5)

Thanks Lord for Being Who You Are

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name"
Psalm 100:4

Praise and thanksgiving are part of every level of prayer. They are continuous as we walk in the light. To come before God with thanks- giving is no different than coming before our earthly parents with an attitude of gratitude. Nothing disturbs a parent more than a child who is always demanding, forever complaining, and never satisfied. How would you feel if you've given as much as you can as a parent and your child still wants more, more, more? On the other hand, how would you feel toward the child who snuggles up and says, "Thanks for being who you are. I just love you and I know you're doing the best you can for me." What a great parent-child relationship.

Can you imagine approaching God and demanding, "I want more!"

And He responds, "I gave you My only begotten Son."

"But I want more!"

We ought to start every day by saying, "Thank You, heavenly Father. I deserved eternal damnation, but You gave me eternal life. How may I serve You today?

Praising God is acknowledging His attributes. I try to be aware when I pray that God is the ever-present, all-powerful, all-knowing, loving heavenly Father. I don't praise Him because He needs me to tell Him who He is. He knows who He is. I am the one who needs to keep His divine attributes constantly in my mind. I try to keep the knowledge of God's presence foremost in my thoughts. No matter where I go, He is with me.

Step Into The Presence of Jesus

"The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him"
Nahum 1:7

It's nice to be known. When you walk into a room full of strangers, you immediately look for a familiar face. Why? We don't like to be alone. If we see two faces that we know and they are on opposite ends of the room, we have a choice to make. Invariably we move to the end housing the person with whom we are most comfortable. We just like to have company in a strange or uncomfortable situation.

How important it is then that we know the Lord. Even more important that He knows US! There have been times that I walked up to that familiar face only to discover that the person didn't know (or remember) me! Now that's embarrassing. What do you say when you greet a person with a hearty "Hello, Bob. How are you." Only to be greeted with a puzzled look
and a "Do I know you?" It makes you want to melt through the cracks in the floor!

It certainly is comforting that we are known by the Lord when we take refuge in Him. Not only are we known by Him, but He welcomes us with open arms. He asks how we are doing. He inquires about our spouse, our kids, the job . . . . He is interested in all our doings. He makes us feel welcome -- at home -- at ease. When we are in His refuge, His shelter, His fortress, we have nothing to fear. If you are outside the stronghold looking in, open your door and enter. Yes, you read me right. The only door that keeps you out of God's presence is the door that you keep closed to Him -- your door -- your heart -- your privacy. In all reality, God has no doors on His kingdom for He is willing to accept all comers. It is only our refusal to accept Him as our Savior, our Lord, our King, that separates us from the joy and peace we all seek.

So, open your door and walk into the presence of Jesus. Though you may have done it before, you can do it again -- every day. Don't allow yourself to be kept apart from Him. He certainly wants you in His presence. He will never turn you away if you are seeking His face.

Love Those Who Hate You

"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Matthew 5.44

Abraham Lincoln was a master of forming alliances between peoples of divergent opinions. He incorporated people who disagreed with him into his personal staff. This didn't always promote harmony in the White House. One day one of his advisors came to him and said, "Mr. President,
you really have to destroy your enemies." Mr. Lincoln smiled and said, "Isn't that what I do when I make them my friends?"

There is great wisdom in that statement. Yet that wisdom predated Lincoln by 1800 years. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus announced a revolutionary way to deal with your enemies. He said, you return kindness for injury, love for hate, courtesy for dishonor. It seems backwards, but it works. It's mighty hard to hate someone who is busy loving you and doing good for you.

In addition, it is baffling to them. They can't understand what is up. They wonder why the person is not retaliating or snubbing them. The smile on that person's face is like a spotlight of conviction. It eventually becomes too difficult to go on hating the other. It also becomes futile since that person really isn't hurting. Curiosity arises and the person begins to wonder what is there about this person which causes them to remain friendly when others are not. That curiosity leads to questions which can eventually lead to the only answer worth giving.

That answer is that we love those who hate us because God did the same for us. In Romans 5.10 Paul writes: "When we were enemies [of God], we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." God, like Lincoln, defeats his enemies by making them his friends. Indeed he goes one step further and makes them his sons and daughters. Praise God that I was one enemy he destroyed by recreation of my soul.

Lord, let us remember that we were once your enemies and you loved us. In that same way let us love and convert those who oppose us.

If You Are Sure God Is In It, JUST DO IT

"And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
Luke 14:2-3

Jesus never backed away from a task just because it flew in the face of contemporary convention. In this case the rabbinical interpretation of the Sabbath commandment was that absolutely no work could be done on the Sabbath. So, when presented with an afflicted man, Jesus asked whether it was right to heal him. This put the Pharisees in a box. If they said "yes",
they would be contradicting their own teachings. If they answer "no", they would incur the wrath of the populace. Being good politicians (rather than good spiritual leaders), they did not answer at all.

Jesus healed the man.

"So what?" you ask. "I can't heal someone. I don't even know if my prayers to God for healing work. I've prayed for this certain person and they got worse and died. Again I ask, so what?" It wasn't so much the healing that was important here. It was Jesus' example of obedience to God rather than man's interpretation of God. He bucked the flow. He swam upstream -- and He did it gracefully and perfectly.

You and I are often asked by God or one of His representatives to go against the flow. Most often we refuse. God may be pointing out something in your life that needs to be removed. Remove it. Don't argue. Don't buck. Do it! He may be asking you to go to the mission field -- or tell your neighbor about Jesus -- or change jobs from the lucrative one you have to one that is more fulfilling but lower paying. What ever it is -- no matter what others say -- if you are sure God is in it JUST DO IT!

As Jesus found favor with the Father, so will you -- and you will be blessed on earth as well.

Always Do What Daddy Says

"Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him
closely"
Luke 14:1

Jesus never had a moment's peace. Everyone was watching Him. From the day He walked into the Jordan River to be baptized He took on celebrity status. The first year was wonderful. Everyone loved Him. The second was more trying. The third -- well let's say it would have driven a mortal man insane!

The people watched Him because He did exiting things -- and maybe, just maybe it would happen to them. People haven't changed much. We still like to think the good things will happen to us. They all hoped that Jesus would touch them, speak to them, heal them, deliver them. The Romans watched Him -- He just might challenge the power of Rome and they couldn't have that! As His popularity grew, their eyes grew more jaundiced. A large crowd could certainly mean trouble in an occupied country. But it was the religious leaders who watched Him the most -- and trusted Him the least. He spoke with authority. The quoted the old teachers as though they were afraid to have an original thought!

He fed the multitudes -- they only taxed them. He healed the sick -- they condemned them as sinners. He cast out demons. They thought that authority -- though seldom used -- was theirs alone. He raised the dead -- not that had to be 'the work of the devil. No human could do that -- not even the high priest -- the most holy of them all (or at least the most politically savvy.) Yes, they watched Him like a hawk watched a mouse play in the field. They waited for Him to get too far astray -- then they would swoop down on Him and do away with Him -- then their power
would remain strong.

Jesus didn't seem to mind. He just did what the Son of God would do even if they didn't watch. He healed the sick -- even on the Sabbath! Didn't bother Him in the least. He raised the dead -- even the gentile dead. He cast out demons -- in the name of the Father. In short, He just did what Daddy said to do.

People are watching you. They want to see your faith in action. They want to see if you crack under pressure. They want to know if this Jesus you worship is real -- real in you. They are watching. How do you respond?

Let God Take the Controls

"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."II Corinthians 4.8-9

This scripture has been a sort of theme scripture for my life ever since I heard John Fischer quote it in a musical entitled "The New Covenant". Since that time I've done some study into the Greek words which make up this scripture. Especially thrilling when you understand the words is the part which says we are troubled on every side but not distressed. The word for "troubled on every side" means among other things to be placed in a wine press for crushing. The word for distressed can also be translated, "crushed."

As Christians we often get the idea that being a Christian is sort of an antidote for all the difficult stuff we face everyday. Then we get up one morning and we have a flat tire, we're late for work, get yelled at by the boss, discover a bill we didn't know we had, trip on the stairs and have afight with our spouse and say, "Lord, this isn't what I signed up for." Well, read that scripture over. It's exactly what you signed up for.

We are destined to be thrown into the wine press, but --- and here is the good part --- we will not be crushed. You see, God is doing something special in each of our lives. He is creating in our daily walk a demonstration of his power to the rest of the world. They look at us and see a quality of endurance which is baffling. And when they ask, how do you stand up under the pressure, we have an answer. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord."

No matter how much pressure the enemy places on the wine press, we cannot be crushed. God said it and it's so.

Lord, thank you for being there with me in times of trouble and distress.

A Good Joke

A mother called her son one Sunday morning, to get out of bed and get ready for Church. He replied "I'm not going'"

His mother said "Yes you are goin', so get out of that bed."

He replied "Give me ONE good reason why I should go."

She replied, "I'll give you THREE good reasons....
1. I'm your mother, and I say you're goin'.
2. You're 40 years old, so old enough to know better.
3. You're the Father, so you need to be there.....

Are You Ready for the Coming Battle?

"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ"
1 Pet 1:13

Most of us tend to forget that we, as Christians, are in a war zone -- fighting a very real battle. For the most part, our lives are pretty easy as believers. We haven't been thrown in prison for our faith. Our church buildings have not been invaded by armed police. We haven't lost our jobs because we are Christians. The grocery store will still take our cash and our checks. We aren't thrown out of our homes to live in the street. Life is pretty good!

Peter reminds us that we are enlisted in a mighty army. He warns us that we need to be in a state of readiness, prepared for battle. We need a constant "mind awareness" that we could be called into action at any moment. We must keep focused upon Jesus and the duties at hand.

This means that we have an absolute mandate to not let the world and it's affairs distract us from our mission in life -- to be good and faithful servants of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is too easy to come home from a hard day at work and "unwind" in front of the TV. We often don't feel the "need" to attend services every time the door is open. (Services are part of the war training that we must have to be ready to fight spiritual battles.) Prayer is something that we do on a "when the need arises" basis -- my need, that is, not yours.

I suspect that Peter would cringe at our state of readiness -- or lack thereof. His life literally depended upon and was consumed by his need to serve Jesus as a willing "slave." I doubt that he would understand all of our "needs." Rather he would shake his head in wonder at all of the "things" that so easily distract us -- then prepare a special "tactical drill" that would show us our weakness!
Amen and Amen.

Where Am I ?

I am back after years of disappearing from the blogging world....