THE INVITATION

 THE INVITATION

I was probably about to turn seven or eight when Mom and I began to talk about having a party to celebrate. We talked about all the important things: who to invite among neighbors’ and friends’ kids, and those from my class at school; what kind of cake I wanted; what games we would play. 

When Mom talked about sending out invitations, I insisted we didn’t need to do that.  I would just tell my friends the details and they would remember.  Mom was very skeptical, but she let me have my way.  Thinking about it now, it’s surprising that she didn’t just figure out a way to get those invitations out without my knowing.  Maybe she was teaching me a life lesson! 

Sometime during the week of my Saturday party, I did tell everyone, but when the day arrived, not a single one of those kids came!  If you know any seven or eight year olds, then you know they are not especially good at remembering things, and certainly not dates and times for a future birthday party with no invitation to help their moms remember.  Whether or not Mom was trying to teach me a life lesson, I did learn a lesson: Invitations are really important!  If you want people to come, you have to give them more than just a passing invitation they will probably forget five minutes after you tell them!

Thanks to Covid (there have been some reasons to be thankful for covid isolation), I spent a lot more time this Christmas season thinking about the coming of Jesus and all that it means to me.  This was the first year in a while that I read through all of the book, O Come All Ye Faithful, a wonderful book I bought years ago, with devotionals related to the season and the words of the carols, and their history.

I thought especially of the invitation God Himself gave to the shepherds at the birth of His Son, from Luke’s gospel, chapter 2, beginning at verse 8:

Now there were in the same country (the city of Bethlehem), shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be for all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. 

And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.’

God’s invitation for the birth of His Son was of such vital importance, He didn’t leave it to chance.  He sent an angel to announce it!  And then he followed it up with a multitude of angel hosts and the shepherds couldn’t forget it!

I would have loved to have been there among those shepherds.  Imagine having an angel deliver an invitation from God Himself to announce news you’ve been waiting generations to hear?  But what would have been truly mind blowing was to then see the heavens rolled back to reveal a multitude of heavenly host!  Whoa!

Pastor John MacArthur, in his devotional about this carol, says:

The word “host” is from a Greek word used to describe a military encampment.  Christ also used military imagery to describe angels in Matthew 26:53 (“legions of angels”).  Revelation 5:11 suggests that there is an angelic number too large to count.

He says the use of military imagery suggests a host of angels, not in celebratory garb, but in military fatigues! 

That certainly puts a different slant on the image of a heavenly host of angels, doesn’t it!

The shepherds didn’t waste a single second, as we read in John 2:15 and following:

So it was, when the angels had gone away from into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.’

And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe, lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.  And those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

The shepherds not only responded to the invitation of the angels, they gave their own invitation to everyone they met concerning this Child, Jesus, their long awaited Messish.

Invitations to follow Jesus by faith fill the pages of the New Testament.  Here are just three:

1.    In John’s gospel, when some disciples heard Jesus speak, they followed Him and asked where He was staying, to which He replied, Come and see, and they did!  They spent the day with Him and later told others, We have found the Messiah (the Christ). And they brought them to Jesus, and they followed Him as well.

2.    John’s gospel, chapter 4 records a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at the end of which Jesus reveals that He is the Messiah she and her people have been waiting for, and she leaves to tell the others.  Verse 39 says:

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman . . .and they urged Him to stay with them.  And many more believed, not just because of the testimony of the woman, but because of His own word about Himself.

3.    One of the most precious of the invitations, given by Jesus Himself, is given in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 11, verses 28-30:

Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

When was the last time you received, not just an invitation, but a life changing invitation?  I’m guessing never.  The invitation of Jesus to “come and follow” Him is that kind of invitation.  Just read about His disciples in the gospel accounts, and that of the Samaritan woman and her neighbors – meeting Jesus filled them with joy, assured them of forgiveness for their sins, gave them confidence for the future – that Jesus would never leave or forsake them and would welcome them into His kingdom as His very own child.  Want that?  The invitation to put your faith in Jesus still stands.

I echo the invitation of the disciples:  Come and follow my Jesus.

This is the end of 2020 and many of us are saying: Good riddance!!  Maybe you have had a heavy burden to carry this year.  Maybe you have lost your job, had covid, nursed others with covid, lost someone to covid, are feeling the strain of reduced hours with reduced salaries, or no salary, feel stressed from trying to do your job from home, and home schooling your children too.  Maybe you have carried your burden alone with no one to walk beside you.

Jesus tells us in the Matthew verses that He can help us carry the burden.  First and foremost, Jesus wants us to know Him as Savoir from our sins.  He died in our place to free us from the burden of sin’s penalty and daily power. As His child, He walks with us through life’s trials, carrying the yoke of it with us, making it lighter.  Because He becomes our strength, He gives us His rest in the process. 

Your invitation has been issued – by Jesus Himself – who says “come and see”.

Read through the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament of the Bible) and find out who Jesus is for yourself. 

Your invitation has been issued by the disciples of Jesus and the woman of Samaria who did come and see and found in Jesus the very One whom they were waiting for – the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior.

Your invitation comes from me because I know Jesus as they did and want you to know Him too.

You may never hear an invitation from a host of angels, but you don’t need one.  Jesus Himself issues the invitation:  Come to me, come and see. 

Like coupons you get in the mail however, this invitation does have an expiration date.  One day Jesus has promised to return as judge. Those who have accepted His invitation will be invited into His presence forever, for He died in payment for their sin, and they stand before Him forgiven and made right with God. Those who have refused to trust in Jesus and His sacrifice for them will be condemned to an eternal life separated from Him forever.  It will be an eternal life of darkness and pain.

You see, your response to the invitation of Jesus, to come, to believe, to trust in His death endured for your sake, is not one to be taken lightly, like a missed party invitation.  It’s a life or death decision, a life changing decision with an expiration date.

I can tell you from personal experience, you will never regret trusting in Jesus in this life – and you will have all eternity to enjoy Him and the blessings of heaven. However, to refuse to trust Him, results in an eternity of regret.

For All Have Sinned. . . But God. . .

 

What do you think of when you see the beauty of nature?

Jim and I took an adventure last summer when we toured many of the spectacular national parks. Breathtaking beauty unique to that part of our country!  I don’t know that I’ve always loved the outdoors as much as I do now.  I think it’s my age, but I also think it’s faith.  Now when I see a beautiful sunset, the ocean, or birds in flight, a butterfly land on a flower, or the grandeur of a mountain, my heart fills with joy and I immediately begin to talk to Jesus, thanking Him and telling Him how much His handiwork blesses my heart, and magnifies His great glory.

The Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:15-17, says this about Jesus:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible. . . . All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

That’s why my thoughts turn to Jesus when I see the beauty of creation. The Bible says He is the agent through whom heaven and earth were created.  He is its author, its artist, its sustainer, and all that He has made highlights His majesty. 

What do you think of when the beauty of the world around you catches your breath? 

There are those who view the beauties of earth and sky, but whose thoughts don’t immediately turn to God.  The Apostle Paul speaks of them in the book of Romans, the first chapters of which are very sobering.

Romans 1:16-24

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals, and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up to their uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

This is a terrible picture of the state of mankind apart from God.  Though God’s invisible attributes (like His power, greatness, creative genius, love of variety, love, majesty and glory, etc.) are clearly seen in what He has made, mankind refuses to acknowledge Him, glorify Him and thank Him, rather, though they see these truths about God, they suppress that which is plainly seen, leaving them without excuse for rejecting Him.

They think, God says through the Apostle Paul, that this makes them superior and wise, when in God’s view, they are foolish, with darkened hearts, acting on their foolishness even to the point of worshiping other things instead of the One who created them – in days past those “things” may have been literal idols made of stone, but today idols could be things like wealth, power, youthfulness, self-centered desires, possessions, leisure, independence from God, position, educational background. 

All of that is bad news, but the saddest statement to me is this one:

THEREFORE, GOD GAVE THEM UP

What does that mean? In other words, since they wanted no part of the God who reveals Himself in all he has made, He let them have their way, exercise their free will, worship who or what they pleased, instead of Him.  That terrifies me! 

What Paul means is that mankind has increasingly turned away from God to indulge himself in whatever he wants, and has suffered the consequence of his choice – alienation from the God who made him, loves him, and created him for relationship with Himself, and susceptibility to the downward spiral of sin that comes from the pursuit of other things leave hardness in the heart that was made for God.

Even those who think they are basically good people, trying to do their best by themselves and others, might be surprised by what God has to say about all our supposed “goodness” apart from Himself.

In Romans 3: beginning with verse 10 the Apostle Paul sums up the state of man apart from God:

There is none righteous, no, not one. . . .there is none who seeks after God. . . .they have all turned aside. . . .there is none who does good, no not one. . . . .there is no fear of God before their eyes.

What a bleak picture.  Unless God does a life changing work in us, there is not a one of us who is right in His eyes.  Not a one of us seeks God.  All of us have turned aside.  Not one of us does good.  There is no fear (respect, awe) of God on our part.

Does that come as as much of a shock to you as it did to me when I first read it?  This is God’s view of those who want no part of Him.

However, this is not the end of the story.

If “God gave them up” is the most terrible phrase in this passage from Romans, then chapter 3, verse 21 contains the best phrase:

BUT NOW, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD . . . IS REVEALED       

The Apostle Paul goes on to say, beginning in verse 23 that ALL of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.  Another words, not a single one of us, no matter how hard we try to live up to the Ten Commandments, or even our own “good” morals, is able to meet God’s standard for “rightness” with Him.  What is His standard?  God is the standard!  God’s righteousness is the standard!

It’s easy for us to look around and see others whom we consider better or worse than we are, we can always find someone worse!  But God doesn’t compare us to other people, He compares us to Himself! 

Now we’re in trouble, right?  Which of us is able to be like God in all His goodness and righteousness?  I don’t know about you, but I know there is no way I could even begin to touch God in His holiness and righteousness and goodness.  I am doomed to fail!

Can a person EVER be right with God then?  Oh yes, but not by any good works of our own.  We can only be right with God by trusting in the One who did satisfy God’s righteous requirements – His Son Jesus.

Jesus lived the life of righteous perfection that you and I could never in a billion years live.  And He did so without once sinning against His Father’s law. 

Then, willingly, and in obedience to His Father’s will, Jesus went to the cross, although He was innocent of all the charges brought against Him by His enemies.  You and I deserve to die for our sins because we are justly guilty of sinning against God, but Jesus intentionally took our place, taking on Himself the penalty for our sins in a horrible, violent death by crucifixion.  Three days later, according to the Father’s will, He rose again and is today seated at His Father’s right hand – praying for believers! 

Here’s the dilemma we have.  If we can’t live the kind of righteous life God expects, our plight is hopeless. . . . unless. . . . someone was to step in and offer to take our place, to take our punishment upon Himself!  That’s exactly what Jesus did.  The sinless One died for the sinner. 

His death becomes effectual in our lives when we embrace by faith the death of Jesus in atonement for our sin.  When we do, the most miraculous exchange takes place!  All of our sin – past, present, and future – is credited to Jesus’s account, and all of His righteousness is credited to ours.  So when God looks at us now, instead of seeing our sin, He sees that we are clothed in the righteousness of His Son.  We have been forgiven, and our sins atoned for. 

So, instead of striving for a goodness we can’t hope to achieve so that we might be “right” in God’s sight, we can REST on the work Jesus has already done on our behalf.  Is that not the BEST news you’ve ever heard?

As if that isn’t wonderful enough, God places the very life of Jesus in us.  The Spirit enables us to say no to sin and yes to righteousness, empowering us to live the righteous life God desires.  We are new creations!

Are you laboring by the burden of the guilt of all your sin?  Tired of trying to earn God’s favor by doing “good things” and failing over and over again?  Maybe it’s time to put your whole trust in what Jesus has already done for you and live with the peace that comes from reconciliation with a holy God, before whom you can stand guilt free, knowing that your sin has been atoned for. 

The next time you are out in the beauty of God’s creation, revel in the truth that the One who made and sustains all of creation, can be seen in all He has made.  And that same One has made it possible for you to stand before God forgiven, and thank Jesus for His supreme sacrifice of love on your behalf.

 

 

PEOPLING LIKE JESUS

If you’ve read some of my other blogs, you know that I am an introvert.  Even if you’ve never met me, you’ve probably met other introverts.  They are the ones who find a quiet corner at the office gathering where they can watch people, but not have to converse, and then they leave early.  They are the ones who more than likely avoid parties with a lot of people, especially if they don’t already know someone.  They are the ones who prefer the solitude and quiet of a library to the noisiness of a popular lunch spot.  They might be the ones who can teach a huge seminar in an adult school, but feel intimidated by having a meal with strangers.

As an introvert, I often find myself making choices that protect my space because I just don’t feel like “peopling” (being with other people).  Peopling, especially in large group settings that require a lot of listening, is exhausting for introverts.  When we’ve had to do a lot of it, we need to withdraw and recharge.

That was my experience a few years ago at our nephew’s wedding. I had just had major surgery a month before, so I was still a bit sore. Having done a lot of listening and smiling, I decided to take a break, walking over a lovely grassy expanse toward a quiet, deserted area in the distance.  As I began my walk, I saw the elderly man who was walking ahead of me, and swerved a bit to my right to avoid him, when he moved in my direction, and avoiding him wasn’t possible. I confess to a little complaining in my mind because I wasn’t going to get the peopling break I thought I needed.

As our paths crossed, we said hello, and exchanged our reasons for being at this particular wedding.  I don’t remember now how the conversation took such a personal turn, but this sweet elderly man began to tell me about how he had recently lost his wife. He was so obviously missing her, and his grief was so raw, that he began to cry as he told me about his wonderful wife and the hole her absence left in his heart.  My heart, so recently protective of my own space, melted with compassion.

I asked him if he knew Jesus and he said he did.  What followed was a precious conversation about the blessings of heaven, where his wife had found the fulfilment of all her earthly hope.  She was with Jesus, looking into His face, breathing the air of heaven.  One day, when Jesus called him home, his wife would be there to welcome him.  Thinking and talking about the promises that are ours in Jesus lifted both our hearts with encouragement and joy that transcended the sorrows of loss.

When we separated, I knew that man would still grieve and miss the presence of his wife, but he would also remember the joy, fulfilled for her, and that awaited him when his own home going grew near.

As I walked back to the wedding reception, I sought the Lord’s forgiveness, for wanting to avoid that man, just because I needed a break from peopling. What a blessing that would have forfeited not meeting him, and what a blessing of encouragement in God’s Word and in His truth, I would have withheld from him, because I just didn’t want to talk to anyone.

During this long time of COVID related isolation, without the distraction of activity, or peopling, the Lord did His sanctifying work in my own heart. Having been greatly blessed through Paul E. Miller’s book, A Praying Life, I was led to read another of his books, Love Walked Among Us.  Quoting many different Scripture passages, Pastor Miller talks about the humility and love of Jesus, evidenced over and over in the ways in which He peopled.

Unlike me, when Jesus was confronted by huge crowds, when what He really planned for was time alone with His disciples, He didn’t resent the intrusion.  He didn’t send them away.  He didn’t complain to His disciples (although they sometimes complained to Him!). Instead He had compassion on them, He patiently taught them, healed their sick, drove out demons. 

When being pressed by a crowd on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter, and a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, quietly touched the hem of His robe, He stopped to find her.  He looked into her face and loved her.

When a leper asked to be healed, He didn’t recoil in disgust.  He actually touched him, although according to Jewish law, He would consequently be declared unclean and have to absent Himself from the synagogue for a set period of time indicated in the law of Moses.

Instead of doing what I might do, avoid others, when too many people demand my time and attention, Jesus, Paul Miller says, “incarnated” Himself into their lives.  In His humility, in His encounters with those He met, Jesus entered the lives of others, loved them, and served them.

Jesus WAS equal with God because He IS God, (John’s gospel, chapter 10, verse 30, I and the Father are one.), but, instead of insisting on the honor due Him as God, He became like one of us and took upon Himself the form of a servant, even to dying on the cross for our sake.

The Lord spoke to my heart as I looked at Jesus in all these accounts of His interacting with people, and made me realize how often I do exactly the opposite of Jesus, though I am His child. Living in the isolation of COVID has made my natural inclination to isolate easier (not a good thing!), although it has also given me lots of quiet time to hear the Lord speak through His Word.

How many wonderful encounters, like the one with the man at the wedding, have I missed, and do I miss today, because I just do not feel like peopling like Jesus?

Our governor has lifted some of the restrictions that have been in place since this pandemic began in mid-March.  I’ve been an introvert for 7 decades, and don’t expect to be acting like an extrovert anytime soon. But, I am hoping that as we get out more, I’ll have many opportunities to people like Jesus as I interact with neighbors, wait staff at restaurants, shop clerks, office staff, friends. 

Oh Lord, teach me to love and people, just like Jesus. 

HOW DEEP THE FATHER'S LOVE

We were having a family discussion about music a few weeks ago with our daughter and son in law.  They asked Jim to quickly name three of his favorite songs from his growing up years.  Jim is a literal whiz at remember old songs and the artists who performed them, so I knew he would have no problem.  The only one I remember him mentioning was “Till”, by the Angels, which was our wedding song. 

Maybe you would like to play along.  Let’s narrow it down a bit first.  Quick: name three of your favorite LOVE songs from your growing up years.  Go!

How did you do?  My list included, “Till”, of course, then  “Leavin on a Jet Plane”, by Peter, Paul and Mary; and “Your Song” by Elton John, the last two were popular when Jim was in Viet Nam, just three months after we were married.  It was a time of great longing for his presence.

Did you notice that my kids did not ask ME what my favorite songs were?  Know why?  They said they knew if they asked me, I’d just pick hymns and praise music because it’s all I listen to.  Kids, they never consider that you might have had a different life before they were born! 

I do love those wonderful love songs from the days when my love for my husband, and his for me, was new and full and deep.  As wonderful as human love is however, it cannot compare to the love God has for us, which is why I also love hymns and praise music and spend most of my listening time singing along to them these days. 

A favorite came on the other day while I was listening to Pandora.  It’s called, “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”, by Stuart Townend.  You can listen to it on YouTube if you like: https://youtu.be/YV2zMZ-nZ7k

The words to this song embody so much of what makes God’s love so personal, intimate, sacrificial and sweet to me. 

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Imagine.  The Father’s love for us is so great that it can’t even be measured. 

The Apostle Paul prays for the Christians in the Ephesian church to know the fullness of God’s love in this way.

(That) you may be able to comprehend with all (believers in Christ) what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  
(The Bible - Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 18-19)

Dr. David Jeremiah writes this about those verses:

The breadth of God’s love encompasses the world and all that are in it.  The length of His love extends from eternity past to eternity future. The depth of His love addresses the deepest needs of the human heart. And the height reaches to His very throne.

My favorite memory of those years when Jim was in Viet Nam was getting a MARS call, relayed to me from a radio operator there via a ham radio operator in the states.  We were nearing the end of our three minute call, saying our I love yous, when the Viet Nam radioman said to Jim, “You have time for one more I love you, sir.”  There was nothing like being awakened in the middle of the night to get a call from Jim and have him say, “I love you”. 

God the Father, however, did not just speak about His love on the pages of the Bible, He demonstrated His love, with a gift.  He gave His best, His only Son, as the song says, in order to save a wretch like you, like me. What made us wretches?  Sin.  We’re all tainted with it, with no possible way out, until God demonstrated His love toward us.

The Apostle Paul says in Romans, chapter 5, verse 8:

But God demonstrates His own love towards us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Do you ever wonder whether you could give your life for someone else’s - maybe your parent, or spouse, or your children, or a good friend? 

How about someone who wanted nothing to do with you – like your ex-wife or husband, your estranged relative?

Or someone who hurt someone one you loved – like a child molester, or a mugger, or a murderer?

God didn’t wait for you or me to clean up our acts to demonstrate His love for us.  No.  Jesus died for us while we were sinners!  When WE were the person who wanted nothing to do with Him.  When we were the ones who scorned Him.  When we were the ones who broke His commandments.

Who loves like that?  God does. 

Jesus willingly gave His own life for yours, so that you might be forgiven, so that you might become His treasure.  He endured separation from His Father while He hung on the cross so that you would never have to be separated from Him, EVER. 

Feeling like a wretch?  Then come to Jesus, who loved you and gave His life for you, just as you are.  He loves you that much. 

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Stuart Townend Copyright © 1995 

WHO IS THAT GUY?

I’m going to ask you to use your imagination for a bit.  


Supposing we met at a party thrown by your husband’s boss.  In a cozy corner where no one else bothered us, I asked you about yourself and you told me all about your job, your family, and your love of sewing and reading.  Then you asked me about myself.  For the next fifteen minutes I regaled you with details about how I was descended from royalty, that I had the promise of a fantastic inheritance from my father upon his death and that I couldn’t wait to come into all that was mine.  


I’m guessing you would have smiled and said “um hum” in all the appropriate places, all the while looking for a way out of what seemed like a really bizarre and probably untrue conversation.  Before it was even near time to leave, you started to anticipate the conversation in the car with your husband on your way home. 


Maybe your side would go something like this: 


YOU:  Oh, my goodness!  What a conversation I had tonight with that lady in the green dress.  Did you see me talking to her? (Husband nods)  Who did you say she was?  


YOU: That lady was ____________________________________________!!!


How would you fill in the blank?

• ·       A nut job
• ·       Seriously suffering from delusions of grandeur
• ·       Someone we should make friends with
• ·       An escapee from a local mental hospital

(By the way, in case you’re wondering, I made that background up.  😊)


In Matthew’s gospel in the Bible, chapter 16, verse 15 we read an account of Jesus speaking with His disciples.  He asks them:


Jesus: Who do men say that I am?


Disciples: Some say John the Baptist (who had already been beheaded), some Elijah,, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.


Jesus: But who do you say that I am?


Simon Peter:  You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.


Jesus: Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.


Like me at the imaginary party, Jesus made some pretty amazing claims about Himself.  He said:

• He had come from heaven (John’s gospel, chapter 3, verse 13)

• Whoever believe in Me will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

• He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. (John 5:23)

• I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger and He who believes in Me shall never thirst (speaking of spiritual hunger and thirst – John 6:35)

• I am the light of the world; He who follows me shall never walk in darkness, but have the light of life. (John 8:12)

• Most assuredly I say to you (Jewish leaders), before Abraham was, I AM. (John 8:59 As God, Jesus is eternal, existing before Abraham)

• I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. (John 10:11)

• My Father, who has given (My sheep) to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.  (John 10:30)

• I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  (John 11:25-26)

• I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.  (John 14:3)

• I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  (John 14:6)

• I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot received because it neither sees Him or knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  (John 14:15)

• My kingdom is not of this world.   (John 18:36)

These are some pretty audacious claims by Jesus, with others I haven’t recorded.  Maybe some or all of them are new to you.  

If you met Jesus at a neighborhood party and He shared these things with you, what would you say to the driver of your car on the way home?

YOU: This guy I met at the party said all of these far out things about himself.


YOU: That guy is ______________________________________.


How would you fill in the blank? 

·       A nut job who thinks he's equal with God

·       Seriously suffering from delusions of grandeur

·       An escapee from a mental hospital 

If He was any of those things, we could dismiss Him out of hand. 

Some people do, but many, many others down through the ages have believed His claims and seen their lives transformed.

 So. . . . what if all Jesus said about Himself is true?  

Food for thought, isn't it?  Think about it and decide for yourself. Then answer the question:

So, who IS that guy?

DID YOU KNOW? JESUS IS COMING BACK!

I love writing devotional blogs.  Usually some God given idea will come to mind by the Spirit that will begin to percolate in my brain until it forms something more than just an idea, and a blog is eventually born.  Since coronavirus arrived, I have written nothing.  Many of you who regularly read my blogs will already have realized that I have been recycling old ones.  Not a single idea has popped into my head this entire time about which I feel I can write.  


I usually tell people that if I haven’t written a blog in a while it’s because I’ve been neglectful of those things that keep me close to the Lord, and empowered by the Spirit, but that hasn’t been true during this time of isolation.  


Our pastor has graciously been daily recording devotional videos since the start of the pandemic, first going through the entire gospel of John, followed by Acts, and now on to 1 Corinthians, and so nearly every day I have read a psalm, that day’s chapter, and then listened to the video.  Afterward, I’ve spent time praying, for loved ones who don’t yet know Jesus, as well as for those loved ones who do, and praying for a variety of other things.  I have probably been more disciplined to be in God’s Word and in prayer than I have been in a long time because when we’re not on lock down, other activities get in the way.


I’ve puzzled over this inability to write for a really long time, until today I think I finally can pinpoint the reason – I have not be personally touched by the virus.  I only know of one person, a neighbor of my daughter Becky’s, who contracted the virus and was able to manage it at home.  None of our family members are sick, and all of my children are still working, or being paid by their company.  


I have been in situations before when another Christian, who’s life seems to me to be untouched by suffering, tries to speak into my pain.  Their words sound shallow, and trite.  Their stories of others whose children came out of drug abuse, or who were rebellious and then turned to the Lord, not really helpful.  They didn’t spawn my hope, they made me feel worse.  In my mind I think, of course one can be cheerful and full of faith when everything is going well.  I didn’t want to be one of those people trying to speak into the life of someone with whom I could not relate, so I haven’t written.


After all, I don’t know what it is like to have a loved one diagnosed with COVID 19, hospitalized alone, without the comfort of family, to have them die alone without personal good-byes.  I have no idea of the depth of grief that brings to the family.  


I don’t know what it is like to be unemployed, maybe both husband and wife, and have no income, with children to feed and bills to pay.  I don’t know the kind of panic and desperation that causes.


I don’t know what it is like to have the school shut down and to add to all the other concerns that weigh on parents’ minds, the necessity of having to home school your children, or face a summer without camps when you both have to work.


I don’t know what it is like to have a family member in health care who can’t come home because of COVID exposure, worrying daily whether they’ll catch the virus themselves.


I do lose sleep at night, anxious over who might get the virus and who might lose their jobs, questioning who to believe as I listen to conflicting opinions about masks, medicines, opening up or staying on lock down. Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy!  Nevertheless, my life and that of my family members, has not suffered loss.  I am incredibly grateful for that, but aware that it is not everyone’s story.


So, what do I say to suffering people when my own life has not been touched? 

All I can do is share what has been sustaining me through these long weeks of lock down, when I wake in the night with anxiety and as I go through my days.


The answer is simple, not a what really, but a Who.  JESUS


Jesus isn’t just a name to me.  Jesus is not just a character I heard about in church when I was a kid.  Jesus isn’t biblical character I happen to know a lot of things about.  No, I KNOW Jesus as a person, as a friend, as a constant companion, as Someone so worthy of worship, as a personal Savior, as the One who loved me enough to die for me so that I could be with Him forever.  


I talk to Jesus during the night when fear threatens.  I talk to Him about my family because He knows them very well.  I talk to Him about their health, their jobs, their need to know Him for themselves. 


Thinking about Jesus calms me.  I remember that He has promised that nothing can ever separate me from His love.  I remember that He has said: “Call on me and I will answer”, so I know that when I talk to Him, He hears me and answers.


I remember what the Bible says about how great He is.  He is powerful, nothing is too hard for Him – not the resolution of global pandemics, or changing the hearts of those I love which seem closed to Him, not economic uncertainty, or the disagreements between those in charge of handling things.  


Jesus is sovereign.  It may look like presidents, and prime ministers, and health officials are in charge, but it’s really Jesus.  He says He’s working things out for our good and His glory, and He means it.  He has a plan and a purpose and nothing and no one will prevent Him from carrying out His will.  Do you know how comforting that is when I’m anxious?


One thing that has filled me with urgency to pray more and to reprint some old blogs that clearly share the gospel, is that I firmly believe Jesus when He said He was going to come again. I’ve been thinking about that promise a lot! Even when the world seems topsy turvy, that promise gives me hope and joy – even in the midst of a pandemic.  

The Apostle Paul calls it, “the blessed hope of His appearing”.  


I feel so strongly that His coming gets nearer every day that I have shared the gospel recently with someone I barely know, something I’m not always brave enough to do.  I’m posting Bible verses on Facebook in the hope that someone may read them and be drawn to want to know Jesus.  


To speak words of comfort to you, when I have no idea what you might be suffering as a result of COVID 19, seems like it might not comfort you at all.  But, telling you that Jesus is coming again is critical.


When Jesus came the first time, He came as Savior.  He came to live the perfect life of holiness we could NOT live, no matter how hard we might try to obey God’s law, and He lived that perfect life.  Fulfilling God’s law perfectly enabled Him to be THE perfect sacrifice for sin, which the justice of a holy God demanded.  


The death He suffered should have been OUR death, the just penalty for our sin and failure to keep God’s righteous law.  Miracle of miracles, Jesus chose to die MY death for sin, taking MY sin upon Himself, and dying so that God’s justice against sin could be met.  His resurrection from the dead was God’s “seal of approval”, if you will, that He accepted His Son’s death as the penalty for MY sin, that I might NEVER have to pay it.


The death and resurrection of Jesus made the GREAT EXCHANGE possible!  My sin was transferred to HIS account, and HIS righteousness was transferred to mine, declaring me NOT GUILTY!  When I embraced this truth as my own, Jesus claimed me as His very own child.  There is now NO condemnation for me, or anyone who is trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf, and nothing can every separate me from His love (see Romans, chapter 8).


Jesus came that first time as our Savior, but when He comes again it will be as Judge.  At that time, He will separate all those who have rejected His sacrifice on their behalf and they will receive in their bodies the just judgement of God for their sin, which is eternal death.  Those who have trusted Jesus will be welcomed into the Eternal Kingdom of the Son to live with Him forever.


That Kingdom will be far beyond our imagining.  There will be no night.  There will be no more tears, or suffering, or pain, or dying.  The righteousness of the Lord will reign – no more sin – in us, in our environment.  We will have glorified bodies like the one Jesus had when He was resurrected, bodies that will never get sick, bodies that will live forever.  We will be greeted by loved ones who died believing in Jesus’s sacrifice on their behalf and we will recognize them! But the BEST part is that we will SEE JESUS, face to face.  His is the first face we’ll long to see.


It has been so difficult to write to people who are suffering when I am not experiencing that suffering for myself.  In the light of what I believe is the Lord’s soon coming, I couldn’t not write about that.  


This world with its pandemics, economic woes, death and dying, wars, politics, hatred, is real.  You know it because you’re experiencing it’s suffering.  Yet, there is another world, just as real, though we can’t yet see it. Jesus has promised He will return and usher it in.


Are you ready for His coming?  Jesus didn't tell us when.  Maybe it will be tomorrow.   Are you ready?

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

MY FAITH STORY - FROM knowing TO KNOWING!!

I haven’t always loved Jesus.  It’s only as I’ve looked back on my life that I can see the evidence of His drawing me to Himself, even when I was a child.  


There was the Vacation Bible School I attended at a local church when I was about seven.  My parents sent me to give me something to do in the summer. What I remembered was being captivated by a story about Jesus the teacher told using flannel figures on a flannel board (maybe some of you remember those).


Hollywood, believe it or not, produced a story called, Adam and Eve, probably when I was in middle school and I dragged my dad to see it.  I don’t know why the movie intrigued me, I just wanted to see it. 


When The Ten Commandments, with Charleston Heston came out, I talked my cousin, who was babysitting us, into taking my brother and me.  Why?  I don’t know, it just sounded interesting.


I had almost no knowledge about God or Jesus, and yet these three experiences made me feel warm toward God, so that I wanted to know more.  


Sometime in middle school I talked with my dad about going to church.  He and I were most alike in personality, and though he had almost no church experience at all, while my mom did, he was the one I approached to take me on a church quest.  He was surprisingly agreeable.  We attended a few different Protestant denominations and settled on a Methodist church right across a park from us in Union City, NJ. That’s the first church we began to attend as a family.  


From then on, we always regularly attended one church or another, one Protestant denomination or another.  I did lots of things in churches as I grew older.  I sang in choirs, taught children in Sunday school, and Vacation Bible School, and was a Christian camp counselor for a week.  By this time in my life, I knew a lot more ABOUT Jesus, but I did not “know” Jesus in a personal way, though I didn’t know it at the time.  I continued to live my life the way I always had, which was not always very good, all the while doing my Sunday “thing” and serving in my church.


Then I met Jim at the very end of our last year in college.  He had more of a religious background than I did – years of parochial elementary school, high school and then college.  Since we had different backgrounds, and neither of us was particularly wild about going to church at that time in our lives, we stopped going altogether.  We did what we wanted and were satisfied.  About six years passed.


I really can’t pinpoint any one thing that caused me to long for God.  I can only explain it by using the words of the Apostle Paul regarding a woman named Lydia in the book of Acts in the Bible; chapter 16, beginning with verse 11:


Paul and his companions went to the city of Philippi in Macedonia. Because there was no synagogue in the city, they went to the riverside where people had gathered for prayer and they spoke to those who were there.  Lydia, a business woman from Thyatira, was there, and she was a worshiper of God. 


What Paul says next is exactly what happened to me those six years after Jim and I married:

The Lord opened her heart to believe the things spoken of by Paul.

 (Acts 16:14)

Lydia worshiped God, but she didn’t yet know Jesus.  


What was it Lydia believed?  The most important message Paul ever preached – the one he undoubtedly preached to Lydia that day - the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Jesus died for our sin.  Jesus was buried.  Jesus rose again on the third day.

If you had asked me before that time what I knew about Jesus, I would have told you those very things – but back then I only knew them as facts to be recited, not truth to be embraced.  


Once the Lord opened my heart to believe, my heart was changed!  I didn’t just believe with my mind, the Lord filled me with an understanding of Who Jesus is and why He came that was personal, and personally applied – a message for ME!  The result was a commitment of my whole being to that truth.  


The first thing I noticed was that I could not get enough of the Bible.  I didn’t always understand what I was reading at that time, but I wanted more of it.  I wanted to KNOW God more and more.  When I read about Jesus in the Gospels, my love for Him grew.  There were tears of gratitude for His sacrifice for me that I had never shed before.  


There were new priorities – in addition to devouring the Bible, I wanted to be in church to hear more about Jesus, to sing about Him, to know other people who also loved Him.  I prayed more, and over time, I just talked to Him all the time in what has become an intimate, personal relationship with my living Lord.  


When I did the same things I did before – singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school, and Vacation Bible School – I had a desire not just to DO something at church – but a desire to SERVE God and His people, to teach His Word so that others could know Jesus too.


I began to notice that I cared a lot more about people than I used to and that my care didn’t just stop with my mind and heart.  I began to think about practical ways to show Jesus’ love to other people – reaching out to an elderly neighbor, visiting nursing homes, going way beyond what was expected in relating to the learning-disabled kids I taught.  And it filled me with a joy I had never experienced before. 


As I’ve got older, I was also far more bothered by my sin.  I’m forgiven, thanks to Jesus’ death in my place.  I still sin though, and sinning grieves me a lot more than it did when I was younger.  I’m still appalled by the things I sometimes think and sometimes the things I do as well, and so I’m that much more grateful to Jesus for loving me and forgiving me, despite my sin.


That is what it’s really like to KNOW and love Jesus – not just know about Him – but KNOW Jesus Himself – as Savior and Redeemer, dearest Friend, Almighty God who is worthy of all worship and praise, coming King with whom I’ll live forever.

I don’t follow Him perfectly, no one does, but I certainly believe the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1:6, when he says:

Being confident of this, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

All those years ago now, when Jesus opened my heart to believe all that the Scriptures say about Him – not just with my mind, but with my mind and heart and soul – He began His good work in me, to save me from the penalty of my sin, and to make me more like Himself.  And one day, He will complete His work, and that’s a promise!



If you are reading this blog, consider that it is no accident, but rather Jesus drawing you to Himself.  Maybe you have always thought you “knew” Jesus, but as you read, you realize that you do not know Him in the way I’ve described.  Do you want to?  Then tell Jesus so.  I can tell you there is NO prayer He longs to answer more than that one!  


Get out a Bible and read the gospel of John.  Write down all the things Jesus says about Himself in it and think about them.  For example: Jesus says “I am the light of the world.”  What does it mean that Jesus is the LIGHT of the world? Light illuminates darkness.  Light helps us see when we can’t find our way.  Light can give warmth.  Do you know Jesus in those ways?


Jesus says, “I am THE way, THE truth and THE life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.”   What do you think that means?  What implication does that have for those who say there are many ways to God?  


Talk to Jesus about what you read in John’s gospel.  Ask Him to help you to understand.  Ask Him to help you believe, to go from just knowing ABOUT Jesus, to really KNOWING Him – with all your heart, soul and mind – that you might live your life for Him.  


Dearest Jesus,


I do not know who will read this blog today.  As they read it, will You warm their hearts to recognize the truth about Jesus and create in them the faith to believe all that the Bible says about Him.  Open their hearts to believe.  


As they read Your Word, the Bible, may they really SEE Jesus in all the ways in which He describes Himself.  May they believe that He died to save them from sin and its penalty, that He has broken the hold sin has over them so that now they can say NO to sin, and live FOR Jesus.  Help them to understand that one day, because YOU live Jesus, they will live also.  


And help them to trust in Your promise that the work You begin in them, this very day, You will carry on to its completion, until You call them home, or You come again.  

Thank You, Jesus.   Amen.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

How much do you know about shepherding?  I’m guessing about as much as I know, which isn’t much.  That’s why I found a book I purchased many years ago so enlightening.  While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks, written by Dr. Timothy Laniak, tells of his experiences living with and interviewing modern Bedoin shepherds. The book is intended for pastors who want to be good shepherds of the flocks under their care.  


In addition to wonderful photographs, I’m intrigued by what goes into shepherding.  Dr. Laniak describes what it takes to care for, protect, and guide sheep. Dr. Laniak discovered that sheep know they belong to a shepherd.  He names them, knows them and counts them every day. He says: 


Naming is a powerful, tangible expression of the shepherd’s intimate bond that begins at birth and grows through an animal’s tenure with a flock.


He gives this description of the shepherd’s knowledge of his sheep from watching one of his Bedoin shepherd friends:


The mothers, which number 51 were kept back from the lambs by Falah and Salim, while Nasir began to call them by name, and as each was allowed to come up, Nasir slipped the noose off the young one’s neck and give it to the mother.  He knew every mother and every lamb.  


An astonishing thing was that he called up each ewe and picked out her lamb in complete darkness. . .All through the process of loosing the lambs, calling up the mothers and handing the baby to suckle, he was calling out name after name amidst the din of mothers’ “baaing” and lambs crying for their food.  


To me it was pandemonium; to Nasir and Falah, everyday procedure. . . he could recognize each mother and each baby by the feel with his eyes shut.  All were black, but by feeling heads and backs he knew by touch which was which.  


Amazing, isn’t it?  What intimacy of knowledge each shepherd had of his sheep.  But there is something even more amazing than a shepherd’s love for his sheep, and that is the love of Jesus for His sheep.


Yesterday, in our 21 days of prayer initiative from our church, we read the tenth chapter of John’s gospel.  In it, Jesus calls Himself the “Good Shepherd”.  He says:


I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. . . He goes before them; and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.  


I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep and am known by My own.  


And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.


I love the picture of the Bedoin shepherds calling their sheep by name, and each one responding by pushing through the crowd of sheep to come forward.  To me, all sheep in a flock look the same, and yet the shepherd has a name for each one.  He knows them so intimately that even in the dark he can identify one and match her with her lamb.  


That is how well Jesus knows us – intimately, by name, in a loving relationship, like a Father with His children – or a shepherd with his sheep.  He calls them “My own” and they know Him so that when He calls, they recognize the sound of His voice and respond.  


Occasionally, a shepherd might find himself defending his sheep from a predator.  Jesus’ sheep are unsnatchable – for both Father and Son, who are ONE – keep them safe and secure.  


Sheep aren’t particularly smart, so the shepherd can’t allow them to wander by themselves.  They’ve been known to walk off cliffs if left to their own devices!  Jesus guides His own, as it says in Psalm 23:2; 3b

To green pastures and beside still waters and leading them in paths of righteousness

There is such comfort, peace and assurance in this description of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  Even in these days of coronavirus insecurity, you can know His peace when you belong to Jesus.


He is the Good Shepherd who gave His life for His sheep.  His life in exchange for yours.  His righteousness in exchange for your sin and its penalty of death.  His life in abundance now, and eternal life with Him forever as a result.  


Who wouldn’t want that?  Want it?  Tell Jesus and watch what He does in your life!  

I’m praying for you.