Category Archives: Christianity

November 17 – We Must… I Did

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Acts 4-6

Last night my pastor shared some thoughts from Paul’s letter to Titus. He pointed out that the grace of God starts at salvation, but doesn’t end there. God’s grace instructs us to live godly lives and to look for Christ’s return. God’s grace reveals Jesus who redeems and purifies His children, who then become “zealous for good deeds.”

Then Paul says in Titus 2:15:

These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

The pastor challenged us to be zealous in talking about Jesus. If we really believe what Peter said in Acts 4:12, that there is no other salvation than in the name of Jesus, that our family and friends will go to hell without Him, then how can we remain silent?

The high priest warned Peter and John to stop talking about Jesus or bad things would happen to them. Peter answered:

We must obey God rather than man. (5:29)

Then Peter proceeded to talk to the high priest about Jesus. That’s zeal!

There are some people in our world today who continue to name the name of Jesus with a black hood over their heads, and machetes at their necks. We don’t face that threat yet in this country. But I wonder if we’re allowing ourselves to be bullied into silence, anyway.

God is asking me, and maybe asking you, who it is we are obeying. I don’t face a threat on my life if I talk about Jesus. But do I let public opinion handcuff me, am I afraid of stepping on toes, do I allow Satan’s voice to stop me from talking about Jesus because he’s convinced me my friend isn’t interested, or that I won’t know what to say?

Who cares? If I really believe that Jesus is the only salvation, and that anyone who doesn’t know Him as Savior will spend ETERNITY IN HELL…

then I must be zealously sharing Him every chance I get. I must make opportunities to talk about Jesus. I must ask the hard questions of my unsaved loved ones.

I must obey God and forget what man thinks about me.  Because in the end, I won’t be accountable to the United States government on that day. I will be accountable to God, however.

And when I look Jesus in the eye, I want… because of God’s grace… to be able to say that Paul’s “We must…” became my “I did.”

 

 

 

November 16 – Transformers

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Acts 1-3

Is anyone else blown away by the change in Peter? He was an uneducated fisherman who had become a disciple of Jesus. He was a bit impulsive. What did he do when Jesus asked him to pray for Him? Peter fell asleep. More than once. And when things got sketchy, our hero denied even knowing Jesus… three times. That after swearing to Jesus he’d be faithful.

Uneducated. Impulsive. Weak. That’s the Peter we know and love.

So what happened? If you read these first chapters in Acts you’ll see a confident, articulate, controlled leader. The first sermon he ever preached saw 3,000 converts. That sermon, and his second recorded in chapter 3, are still speaking to hearts thousands of years later.

And, dear one, these things happened only weeks after Jesus’ death on the cross. Peter hadn’t gone to seminary, or watched You Tube videos on public speaking techniques. The change in Peter happened after the Holy Spirit filled him.

You and I have the same Holy Spirit in us, once we repent of sins and accept Jesus’ gift of forgiveness. That same Spirit that transformed Peter has the power to transform us, too.

If you have kids, you know what Transformers are. They are toys that can morph from one form to another. The child is in control. He manipulates a few parts, and you have a powerful robot to fight their battles. It’s a completely different toy. The transformed toy doesn’t look like the original toy at all.I thought of that when I read about Peter.

Because Peter was transformed when the Holy Spirit took control. And the transformation is astounding.

Do you have the attitude that God can’t use you? You’re too shy. Or uneducated. You don’t know what to say. Your past is too ugly. You can’t sing, and you would probably die before you had to stand in front of a Sunday School class full of eight-year-olds. That’s the old you.

If you know the Savior, the Holy Spirit is living within you. And if you adopt the attitude of, “I can’t” you are telling the Spirit that HE can’t. Do you really want to go there?

I believe God wants us to be His Transformers. He wants to change us, to use us, to morph us into vessels through which He can reach the world. He transformed Peter in a dramatic way.

And He’s transforming lives still today. Has He transformed you?

November 14 – He Is Risen!

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Matthew 28; Mark 16

Jesus is alive. The One who died on that cross got up from the grave and showed Himself to many people. Oh, some say it isn’t true. The guards were paid to say the disciples stole the body, and many people still believe that today.

Some say Jesus wasn’t really dead. It was an elaborate hoax executed by Jesus and the disciples. But it’s hard to explain away the water and blood that poured out of the dead body of Jesus when the soldier ran Him through with his sword. It’s hard to refute the eyewitness accounts of His death and burial.

They have trouble explaining how so many people could report seeing, talking to, and eating with Jesus after He died. But many people choose to believe the feeble explanations.

People can try to theorize about how it is Jesus pulled off such an impressive hoax. But the truth of the matter is, Jesus died, and then lived. He died. And then lived.

If you know Him, doesn’t that Truth make your heart soar? Jesus is alive! The tomb is empty because Jesus rose from the grave to live again.

Oh, what a wonderful Savior! Praise God! He is risen!

November 12 – Humbled

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Matthew 27; Mark 15

Every time I read the account of Jesus’ last few hours on this planet, I am humbled. He endured it all for love of me. He quietly listened to the lies, was punched and kicked and spit on. He heard every insult, and felt the pain of those nails tearing through His flesh. He even experienced what happens when God the Father turns away.

It takes about ten minutes to read about it. But Jesus lived it one minute after another, one long hour after another. Jesus suffered excruciating pain, and died a humiliating death – because He loves me that much.

I believe that as He breathed His last, His mind went ahead to 2016, and He saw my face. And your’s. That’s why He did what He did. He died so we could be forgiven.

Charles Wesley wrote a hymn the speaks to me every time I hear it. In it he asks a question: Can it really be that Jesus Himself shed His blood for me, the one who cause His pain in the first place?

The angels can’t even understand the depth of love that put the Immortal God on the cross to die. Jesus left heaven, took on mortality, and emptied Himself of everything except His love for me. And it’s by His grace that forgiveness found me.

It was like I was imprisoned by sin, chained to desires and actions that caused me pain. But I met Jesus, and those chains fell off, my heart was free. I’m alive in Him. I’m clothed in His righteousness. I got up off my knees a free woman, and followed Jesus.

Now I don’t fear judgment. Jesus, His righteousness is mine. I can boldly approach the God of the Universe, washed clean by Jesus’ blood. And I can claim the Son of God as my own!

Amazing love! How can it be, that You… my God… should die for me?

I am humbled. I am grateful. I love my Savior!

November 10 – Love Is Not All We Need

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Luke 22; John 13

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another. John 13:34-45

What does it mean to love one another? Many seem to believe love is the same thing as acceptance, or tolerance. Some think love means giving people hugs, then giving them space to live life anyway they want. I grew up in the 60’s when the word “love” was proclaimed from drug induced songwriters and poets, and touted as “free.” Is that the love Jesus was speaking about here?

Jesus tells us to love others the same way He loved the disciples, loves us. Let’s look at how Jesus loved:

He healed diseases, forgave sin, pointed out hypocrisy, cast out demons, confronted sinners, overturned money tables, and finally and most importantly, suffered and went to the cross to die. There was no acceptance of sin in the way Jesus loved. There was no looking the other way.

Jesus’ love was not the hippie version of love, or even the Hallmark-feel-good version. Jesus loved tough. Jesus’ love was in-your-face. Jesus’ love went beyond this life into eternity.

Personally, I think we need Jesus’ love demonstrated more fully these days. I think the Church has adopted a definition of love that is meaningless in light of God’s Word. If we adopt the world’s view of love, they won’t recognize us as Jesus’ disciples. We’ll look just like them.

They won’t recognize the reality of Jesus’ love that does not want them to die in their sin. That love which sent Him to the cross so they can be forgiven and live with Him forever. We need more than love. We need to put that love into action just like He did.

We need to love one another hard enough to call sin sin, and introduce people to their Savior. Then we will be loving in the same way Jesus loves.

November 9 – Break Me

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Matthew 26; Mark 14

Peter wanted to do it right. He loved Jesus. He believed Jesus. He was a follower, a disciple of Jesus. And if you’d asked Peter, he’d have told you in no uncertain terms that nothing would ever change his devotion to Jesus.

But as determined as Peter was to stay true to the Lord, he failed miserably. Three times.

Sometimes I feel like Peter must have felt when he told Jesus he’d never betray Him. Especially after a Sunday morning sermon that challenges and blesses me, or time in God’s Word when He strengthens me or gives me that spiritual hug. I am as determined as Peter was to stay close to my Savior and never, ever betray Him.

But then I fail miserably like Peter, too.

When Peter realized what he’d done, he didn’t make excuses, or rationalize his behavior. He recognized his sin, and he wept. Bitterly. He was a broken man.

I want to be like Peter in that way, too. When faced with my sin – every sin no matter how small I may want to convince myself – I want to be broken before Jesus. I want to repent, to receive His forgiveness, to be able to fellowship with Him with nothing in between.

So, Lord, point out those sins in my life. Break me. Drive me to my knees so that I will repent and let You cleanse me. Thank You for wanting to.

November 8 – Bridesmaids Unprepared

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Matthew 25

How are you getting ready for Jesus’ return? Have you prepared your heart, used the gifts and abilities He gave you in service to Him, showed His love to others in tangible ways? Jesus is coming again. And whether we meet Him in the air at the sound of the trumpet, or experience death first, we will stand before Him on that day!

My prayer is that, most importantly, God has your heart. I pray that you have asked Him to forgive your sin, to be your Savior. Then I pray that you have nurtured the gifts He’s given you, and used them to win lost souls for His kingdom.

Are you a faithful servant? Do you put His love in action by caring for all people, giving of your time and resources?

I hope you’re not like five of the bridesmaids we read about today who did just enough to be able to say they were part of the company. But that wasn’t enough. And they couldn’t depend on anyone else to get them ready to meet the Bridegroom.

And neither can we. Our relationship with God is personal. Our accountability to Him is dependent on our own actions.

I pray you will not put off getting right with God. When the Bridegroom comes, and He will, it will be too late to put oil in that lamp.

November 7 – The Many

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Matthew 24

Jesus’ disciples asked Him what the signs would be announcing His second coming, and the “end of the age.” The Lord told them there would be people claiming to be Him, wars, famines, earthquakes.

He said life will be hard for His followers. They will experience tribulation, will be hated and killed because they follow Jesus. Some of His followers will fall away and turn on each other. They’ll be mislead by false teaching, and lawlessness will increase.

Was He describing 2016?

But then He said half of a verse that broke my heart. 24:12b:

most people’s love will grow cold.

The word “most” makes me sad. Makes me wonder how many of the people who attended church yesterday would be able to say their love for God is the burning passion of their lives? Or is their love like that for a buddy? Comfortable, warm, but not consuming?

Also makes me wonder about the temperature of my own love of my Savior. Is it the driving force behind my every thought and action? Is it a passion that burns every minute of every day, that ignites me to serve Him with purposeful enthusiasm?

Jesus said that before He returns, MANY of His people’s hearts will turn cold toward Him. I do not want to be counted among the “many.”

November 6 – 15 Minutes!

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Mark 13

My mom was a stay-at-home mom until I was in the seventh grade. She got a full time job when all of us girls were finally in school. Every day she’d leave us with the expectation that we were not supposed to sit in front of the TV when we got home. Beds were to be made, dishes done, clothes picked up, homework completed, and whatever chores she left for us to do were to be done before she got home from work at 4:20.

I wish I could say we were diligent in our chores. We’d usually find ourselves in front of the TV, or playing Barbies, or reading,  instead of doing what we knew we should be doing. Until one or another of us would notice the time and shout:

“15 minutes!”

On cue, the TV would be turned off, and we’d all go into stealth mode. Dishes would get done, beds made, clothes put away, dusting or sweeping done. We got pretty good at rapid housecleaning.

I thought of that today when I read this chapter in Mark. Jesus tells us to be ready when He returns. We don’t know when that will be. He just wants us to be diligently doing what He’s asked us to.

And we won’t get a fifteen minute warning. Some people act like they’ve got all the time in the world. After all, He hasn’t come back in 2,000 years, they rationalize. The chances are He won’t come back today. So they put off surrendering to Him. They don’t obey His voice to speak to that friend about their need of a Savior. They figure they’ve got time to live like they want to live. They’ll do the “Christian” thing when they get older.

Jesus doesn’t seem to take too well to that idea. He tells us God could come back at any time. Any. Time. The only one who knows when that will be is God Himself. And when He comes, it’ll be too late to obey Him.

Our Savior tells us to live today like this is the day He’s coming back. Live today with the same focus and determination my sisters and I had those 15 minutes before Mom came home. He’s left us with some instructions, some chores to do before He gets back.

Will He find us faithful? Or will we be caught unprepared?

November 5 – All She Had

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Matthew 23; Luke 20-21

Years ago I was at a congregational meeting of the church where I was a member. Among other positions like trustees and Sunday School superintendent, we were going to vote on a new president of our women’s ministry. The dear lady who had held that position for years had felt it was time she stepped down.

We sat there and listened to her give her last yearly report, then read her resignation. It wasn’t a flowery speech. Concise and to the point, she ended with a verse taken from Jesus’ parable about the widow’s gift. I’ll never forget it.

“She gave all she had.”

Whether we are given much or little, God blesses those who give it all back it Him. Whether wealth or talent, compassion or intellect, Christians should hold nothing back in service to our Lord.

Makes me wonder if I’m holding anything back. Family? Health? My time?

At the end of my life, I would like to be able to look into Jesus’ eyes and tell Him honestly that I gave all I had, that I wore myself out serving Him.

Generous Father, You have blessed me so much. I can’t begin to thank You. Forgive me when I take any of it for granted, or hoard it, or squander it. God, I want to hold my hands out to You and ask You to empty me. Whatever I have, I give it to You. Show me those things that I’m holding on to, or misusing. I want to confess, to repent, to give it all back. Not because I want anything in return. You’ve already given me more than I deserve.