The Kingdom of God

Reading in Luke chapter 13 today, I ran across the descriptions of the Kingdom of God given by Christ in verses 18 through 21.  The Lord Jesus first says the Kingdom of God is like “mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden.  It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.” Next, Jesus describes the Kingdom of God as “yeast that woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until it spread through the entire mixture.”  The thought occurred to me that the presence and influence of God in our lives is aptly described as something that may at first seem insignificant, but spreads to permeate every area of our life.  It may seem like a “small thing” when we come to understand and acknowledge the saving grace of God.  A walk down the aisle of a church or a simple “sinner’s prayer” may not seem like much at the time.  But when God’s presence and influence in our life is genuine, we discover that it spreads throughout our entire being, influencing the way we talk, the way we think, the way we react.  The “birds of the sky” in our life, those little fleeting things that appear then fade away, come to “nest” in our relationship with God.  Like the flour leavened with a little yeast, our whole life comes under the influence of His authority and purpose.  May God make it ever more so in me.  Blessings of grace to you in Christ, our Lord!

Whose Supper?

We will observe Communion at Bethlehem East Baptist Church on the fifth Sunday of November, 2009.  The church has habitually celebrated Communion on fifth Sunday’s in the morning worship hour.  In preparation for this one, I was reading in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 20 caught my attention: “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not really to eat the Lord’s Supper.”  The Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, pointedly notes that believers in the church at Corinth had regressed to a point where their observance of the Lord’s Supper had become woefully irreverent and ineffective.  As I reflected on the passage and in particular this verse, it occurred to me that I, too, am guilty of failing to make the observance of the Lord’s Supper as meaningful as it should be.  I have often let my involvement in leading the congregation through the observance hinder me from truly appreciating what the Lord’s Supper means.  Instead of it being all about Him, I have many times let it be all about me!  What are others thinking as I lead them through the ceremony?  Did I get all the words right as I quoted the Scripture?  Have I demonstrated proper reverence after partaking? etc, etc, etc.  I am praying that the Lord will help me realize the event is not “the Pastor’s Supper” but the “Lord’s Supper”.  I am praying that God will remind me of the awesome demonstration of love that He gave Christ and that He will let both my observance of the event and my reflection of its meaning in my life be truly a reflection of my sincere appreciation of the Lord’s death, until He comes!  After all, whose supper is it anyway?

In Spirit Power

Luke 4:14 says simply yet profoundly “Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread throughout the entire vicinity.“  As I waited in the Lord’s presence this morning, it occurred to me that most of us are probably missing out on God’s best because we fail to “return…in the power of the Spirit”.  As you may know, Jesus had been in the wilderness for forty days and was tempted of the devil during his sojourn in the wilderness.  Using the written Word, Jesus overcame all the attempts of the devil to distract Jesus from His relationship with the Heavenly Father.  After defeating the devil in the wilderness, Jesus returns to Galilee and the verse that caught my eye today clearly states that Jesus did so “in the power of the Spirit”.  I will readily admit that I am not completely certain of the full extent of the meaning of that phrase.  I am, however, convinced that in the reality of that phrase is a key missing ingredient in the experience many of us have in our Christian pursuit.  I suggest that many of us find ourselves so busy and preoccupied with other things that we fail to take time to develop our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father to the extent that His Holy Spirit literally becomes the power source in our life.  Instead of returning in the power of the Spirit I believe that many of us “return in our own feeble strength” to engage life and ministry.  As a result, we are easily exhausted; we fail to remain strong in times of crisis; and we quickly succumb to doubt and fear when dark trials beset us.  Perhaps we should learn from our Great Example and take the time to develop our personal relationship with God enough that we can truly “return in the power of the Spirit”.  It might just be the missing ingredient in our spiritual life that would, when we recover it, transform us into the dynamic witness that we should be for the One who gave His life for us.  May His grace and mercy be yours.  Amen.

Four Winds

One of the places where I believe God inspired me with a truly valuable lesson from His Word is the the verse from Ezekiel 37:9 which says “Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”  Reflecting on this verse, I have come to discover that often we encounter at least four different winds in life: the headwind of adversity, the crosswind of confusion, the tailwind of circumstance, and the rushing might wind of the Holy Ghost.  Each of these winds seems to come in sequence every time we make a move toward a deepening commitment to the Lord.  First we encounter adversity as if to test whether our intent is genuine.  Then, having persisted through adversity, we often encounter crosswinds that would confuse us, seemingly offering a variety of ways to fulfill our commitment.  Sometimes, if we are not careful, so many choices can lead to indecision and confusion that stalls or even kills our commitment.  However, if we press on through the potential confusion we then often encounter the tailwind of circumstance.  This wind, sometimes called a following wind, seems to push along in a direction we might not really intend to go, but it seems that circumstances would force us to endure it.  Still, if we persist in our commitment despite adversity, confusion, and even circumstance, we at last encounter the rushing mighty wind of the Holy Spirit and the clutter of our lives is blown away as the Lord rushes in to carry us through.  Have you hit some difficult “points of sail” in your life lately?  Press on by aiming close to the Mark!  The rushing might wind of God is on its way!

Love without Liking

Webster’s defines love as “an intense affection for another person based on personal of familial ties; a strong affection for or attachment to another person based on regard or shared experiences or interests; an intense attraction to another person based mainly on sexual desire;…an intense emotional attachment;…a strong enthusiasm; etc” .  Like, on the other hand, is defined as “to find attactive or pleasant:ENJOY; to want to have;…to have an inclination or preference;etc”.  Today I reflect on the question as to whether we can obey Christ’s command that we love one another as He has loved us while at the same time we do not like one another.  Can you love without liking?  Many of us are aware that the Bible uses different words for love.  I recall lessons and studies about “filial love” being family love, “erotic love” being the love between husband and wife, and “agape love” being love as God loves.  What about the statement we sometimes here which claims “I may have to love them but that doesn’t mean I have to like them”?  Can we actually love someone as Christ commands without liking them?  My inclination is to say that this is one of those fundamental truths of our faith that we short circuit and then wonder why our faith does not seem to mirror the blessings we read about in the Scriptures.  I lean toward the point of view that IF we are truly going to love someone as Christ has first loved us, THEN we are going to have to like that someone as well.  I believe that Christ not only loves you and me, I believe He likes us!  I believe He wants to be around us; to fellowship with us; to constantly be with us.  Why else would He tell us that He is going to prepare a place for us so that where He is we can be also?  Would you invite someone you don’t even like to spend eternity with you?  So maybe we should take another look at this whole idea of whether we can love without liking.  What do you think?

When We Shall Know The Truth

The Gospel of John, chapter 8, verse 32 declares that “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” We preachers often use that text to boldly declare that when we meet Jesus, we know the Truth, and He (the Truth) sets us free.  Great sermon and easy to preach because we have Jesus’ supporting words in John 14:6 (“Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life….’”).  I plan to keep preaching that so don’t throw me out with the bath water just yet!  Still, I discovered one of those golden nuggets of Scripture yesterday that made me come to realize there is a powerful and life changing principle in this text of John 8:32 that some of us may have missed.  After all, don’t you know right now some one who is a church going, Bible reading, regularly praying, Christian who is still bound with some kind of chain(s)?  So what’s up with that?  I would ask that you take a look at John 8:32 in its context and in the New International Version.  It turns out that in some translations, like the Holman Christian Standard I quoted first, the first word of verse 32 is either omitted or translated “and”.  In the New International Version, the verse says “THEN you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  Do you see it?  This verse and its very powerful and important promise is the second part of one of those “IF/THEN” things that Jesus so often used!  We have to get the “IF” part right before we can be sure of the “THEN” statement!  In this case, Jesus first of all is speaking to “the Jews who had believed in Him” so the original statement did not necessarily apply to unbelievers encountering Christ and being set free.  This great principle was given by the Master Teacher to those who already believed His claims about being the Son of God.  Next, Jesus makes the condition known by stating the “IF” part of the principle:  “IF you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples.”  Please allow me to condense His teaching into that one new commandment that He gives, which is “Love one another as I have loved you.”  So what we have is Jesus saying to those who believe Him when He claims to be God’s Son, IF we hold to His teaching, THEN we will know the truth!  It is as a follower of Christ, an authentic follower of Christ, that the reading of His Word and the revelation of the Holy Ghost reveals genuine truth to us, and that truth is liberating!  For instance, after becoming a Christian, I discovered that had a difficult time with foul language.  I had used curses and words not fit to repeat for so long that it seemed impossible to me to truly clean up my mouth.  I thought it was anger that made me talk that way, but as I followed Christ and learned more about Him, I discovered that my real reason for using profanity was my own insecurity- a sense of not being accepted.  As I followed Christ, I learned through the Holy Ghost that I am accepted in the Beloved and the need to use profanity and bravado to try and emphasize words has left.  The Truth has set me free!  Have you been bound by something even after coming to Christ?  Why not take another look at John 8:31, 32 and rediscover Victory in Jesus!

Hearts Revealed

Have you ever wondered what was in someone’s heart?  Maybe you had a crush on someone as a teenager and you wondered if they had any feelings for you in their heart?  Perhaps you saw a news story about someone accused of a terrible crime and you wondered what kind of evil the accused person had in their heart?  Or maybe you just sat in a mall somewhere and watched people as they passed by and from time to time you just wondered about their inner thoughts, what might be going on in their heart.  Some may even have done some introspection on our own heart, wondering why we behaved a certain way or why we said a certain thing.  I was reading this morning and ran across Psalm 145:5 which says “I will speak of Your glorious splendor and Your wonderful works.”  My reflection on that verse caused me to remember that the Bible also tells us that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”  The more I reflected on the message of God’s Word to me today, the more I realized that our heart may not be so difficult to discern after all.  The prophet Jeremiah said that our heart deceitful above all things and asks “who can know it?”  Could it be that what comes out of our mouth gives us a reasonable indication of what is in our heart?  The 5th verse of Psalm 145 makes me think that my conversation reveals a lot about my heart.  For instance, when I have bad feelings in my heart about someone, I have noticed that I tend to talk to others a good bit about how bad the culprit did me.  When I am angry about failing at something, I have noticed that I tend to vocalize a lot of excuses about why I failed.  I could cite more examples, but maybe you get the picture.  What comes out of our mouths does seem to”say” a lot about what is in our hearts.  Psalm 145:5 then challenges us to see what our conversation tells us about our relationship with God.  “I will speak of Your glorious splendor and Your wonderful works.”  Has your conversation revealed that your heart is captivated with God’s awesomeness?

A Bigger Bang Still

This is not about the traditional “Big Bang” theory which essentially claims that two pieces of nothing came out of nowhere and collided, causing a big bang which caused another bang and so on until what we now now as the universe came into being, with big bangs still happening throughout the galaxies.  No, this is about an even Bigger Bang.  I read today in Psalm 136:26 “Give thanks to the God of Heaven!  His love is eternal.“  In fact, the entire 136th Psalm is all about praising and reverencing the Awesome God of gods and Lord of lords because He is truly awesome!  He created everything that is and His worthy of our highest praise.  So how does this all relate to the Big Bang, you ask?  I am glad you did!  Have you ever been to a really good and really big fireworks display?  You remember how the fireworks launch up into the sky and burst in to beautiful arrays of colors and forms?  Then, just as one series of bursts fades and quietness starts moving in there is another round of explosions (big bangs) and more displays of colors and shapes fill the night sky, causing the crowd to “ooh” and “aaahhh”!  Well, Psalm 136 reminds me that God continues to show up in our lives with round after round of the demonstration of His great love and mercy!  Again and again He shows Himself Faithful and True to His people, causing us to “oooh” and “ahhh” in the spirit realm.  And the best part of all is that there is a an even Bigger Bang still to come!  When Jesus steps out on the clouds of glory to call us all home, this old world is going to see a Bigger Bang Still!

Where Arrows Fly

In our area, bow season begins later this week.  As I thought about the preparation and planning many of our bow hunters are doing as they make ready for the season, I remembered this verse from Psalm 127:4 “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth.“  I thought about the process of drawing a few arrows and releasing them in the general direction of a target just to get the old muscles back in the feel of drawing the bow.  It was not real important to me where the arrows actually landed; I just wanted to send a few down range.  Later on, I began to take more care in aiming the arrows toward the mark as I started sighting in the bow.  Of course, the arrows I took time to aim came much closer to hitting the mark than those I just let fly.  The thought occurs to me that where arrows fly is where arrows are aimed.  Perhaps the same is true with our kids.  Maybe they fly where they are aimed.  Just maybe more of us should take more time putting effort into getting our kids sighted in to life’s mark rather than just “sending one or two down range”.  Your thoughts and comments are welcome, of course!

A Place for Our Hope

Recent events in our nation and our world have tested the dreams and hopes of many.  Loss of jobs, loss of sons and daughters in a seemingly never ending war, loss of confidence in elected officials, and a host of other issues have brought about depths of despair for a lot of people.  Some once had great hope in the stability and security of job in their chosen career field.  Some once had great hope that when a certain person or party won election to office, things would change for the better.  Some had hopes of a child growing up to become a successful and prosperous leader of their own family one day.  Hope is a fragile thing and can so easily be dashed into pieces by unexpected turns of events.  Is there a place we can put our hope and know that our hope remains secure?  Psalm 119:147 says “I rise before dawn and cry out for help; I put my hope in Your Word.”  I am thankful that the ups and downs of my own life have convinced me that our hope is always secure in God’s Word.  While I have observed many changes over the years in family, in society, in government, in world affairs, and so on, I have also seen that the Word of God is sure and certain.  I have found that when I diligently seek Him early every day and when I hope in His Word, my hope remains stedfast and safe.  Have you found a place for your hope?  Why not place it in His Word?  He who is Faithful will most surely perform His Word!