Tag Archives: obedience

Who Is This Man?

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Who is this man, that even the wind and the waves obey him? (Matthew 8:27, Mark 4:41, Luke 8:25) Who is he indeed.

This is the same Jesus who just got done telling us how precious we are to him:

Like a treasure buried in a field. The finder sells everything he owns to buy the land to have the treasure. (Matthew 13:44)

Like a merchant who finds choice pearls and sells everything he has to buy them. (Matthew 13:45-46)

This same Jesus didn’t need to speak to the storm in order to calm it. He said the words for the benefit of his disciples… for me. He wanted us to know he is who he claims to be – God in the flesh.

And this same Jesus, seeing me as a precious treasure, a priceless pearl, gave up everything to come to earth to die. (Philippians 2:5-8) That was the price he was willing to pay for me.

Who is this man? He is my Savior, my Lord, my Advocate, my Friend, my High Priest, my God. I don’t know why he loves me so. But I am very glad he does.

I stand before him amazed and humbled, adoring him. He can calm a storm. He can even save the likes of me.

Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me, for dying for me, for buying my forgiveness with your blood. You. God. Did that for me. I’m sorry for sin in my life. I accept your grace, your cleansing. May this precious pearl live a life that shows you how much I love you, how much I appreciate what you sacrificed to make me one of your own.

Stay Or Go?

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The people wanted Jesus to stay. They were amazed at his teaching, and their diseases were being healed. They probably would have made him king. People from all over, from many nations, were flocking to Jesus. His reputation was spreading like wildfire. (Mark 1, Luke 4, Matthew 4)

So why didn’t Jesus stay? Why didn’t he set up shop right there in Capernaum, preach what he wanted to preach, heal everyone who came to him? It sure would have been easier than the course he chose: the dusty roads, the danger, hot, sandy deserts, and rough seas.

What is God saying to us today through Jesus’ example? Maybe he’s calling you to go to a foreign country to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Maybe he’s nudging you to walk across the street and share him with your neighbor. I’m pretty sure he’s not calling you to sit in your recliner and wait for someone to knock on your door.

I think it’s also a message for our churches. Maybe we are wrong to focus our energy on making our churches attractive to sinners when God, by example, personally went to where the sinners were. Jesus went out and spoke to Samaritan women, lepers, and tax collectors. He didn’t wait for them to come to him, or orchestrate a rocking worship service to attract non-believers. There were no shortcuts in the course Jesus took.

So, dear one, are you going to stay where you are? Or are you going to get out there and befriend someone who needs the Savior, rub shoulders with sinners, reveal Jesus through your life choices and the words you speak?

Dear Jesus, thank you for your example to us today. May you find us who know you as our Savior walking where you walked, sharing the Gospel with neighbors and friends. May we never be satisfied with sitting on the sidelines, watching others do your will. May each of us obey your call, whether across the ocean or across the street, to lead a soul to their Savior. And thank you for promising to walk with us on our journey.

Building the Temple

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The people threw a celebration when the foundation of the Temple was finished. (Ezra 3:10-13) There was a lot of work ahead of them. But that first, and important piece was finally in place. And they stopped to worship God there.

A couple of things come to mind as I read Ezra 3, and as I apply this account to my life. Scripture tells me I am God’s Temple. (I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16) He lives on earth in me. 

The New Testament talks a lot about foundations. Jesus told a parable about building houses on sand, compared to building on solid rock. (Matthew 7:24-27). In Luke 14:28-30 Jesus speaks about how important it is to finish building on the foundation. Paul names the Foundation in I Corinthians 3:11. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Jesus is the sure foundation and he grounds me, supports me. If I build my life on him, he can take it. But the Temple wouldn’t have been worth much if the people we read about in Ezra had just left the structure as a foundation. If they had continued to celebrate and rejoice and worship God over the foundation, the Temple would not have been able to be completed or to be used as it was intended.

So here’s what I’m thinking. I, as the Temple of the Living God, have a solid foundation in the person of Jesus Christ. He is my Savior. I went to him and confessed my sin and asked him to forgive me… and he did. That’s cause to celebrate!

But it doesn’t have to end there. There is work to be done. I want to grow in my relationship with him, build on my salvation by studying his Word, surrounding myself with Christians who will hold me accountable, and by praying. 

If I attend church on Sunday for a “worship experience” and come away from there feeling spiritual, I’m celebrating on the foundation. If I don’t study my Bible or pray, don’t talk about Jesus to others, live a life that looks no different than my unsaved neighbor, this Temple isn’t being built. I’m living on the foundation without a useful structure through which God can work.

Dear Foundation, I thank you for being that solid rock beneath my feet. I thank you for forgiving my sins and the privilege of having you living in me. I want to sing your praises, celebrate having you in my life. But I pray that I, like the example we read about in Ezra, will be motivated to build my life on the Foundation you have provided. Give me discernment to know the Truth of Scripture, give me opportunity to share Christ with others, let me be strong enough to resist temptation and rise above the world’s influence. May I be a Temple you deserve, holy and useful for your kingdom, built on the Foundation of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Healing Stream

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As I read Ezekiel 47 this morning about the Healing Stream, I was reminded of Jesus, the Living Water. The angel in Ezekiel’s vision described water that would freshen the Dead Sea, cause fruit trees to thrive so that they wouldn’t go dormant, and produce fish of every kind for fishermen to catch.

Fruit trees, fish, a useless body of water restored, blessed, “life will flourish wherever this water flows”. (verse 9)

Shouldn’t that describe the life of a believer in Jesus? Sometimes we don’t really know how dead we are in our sin until we are faced with the Truth of Scripture. Accepting Christ’s gift of forgiveness causes our worthless lives to have meaning. We, too, become fishers of men, we bear fruit that reveal Jesus to those around us. And none of this comes from our effort, our frame of mind, or even our faith.

Just like in Ezekiel’s vision, our transformation comes when the Healing Stream, the Living Water, Jesus Himself, flows through us. Which makes me wonder.

“Life will flourish wherever this water flows.”

I wonder if I haven’t built a dam that prevents the water from flowing freely. Would a sin I hold onto, harboring hatred or jealousy, neglecting my time with God in his Word and prayer, cause the Holy Spirit, that Healing Stream, to hit a snag?

I want my life to be like that which the angel showed Ezekiel in his vision. I want the Healing Stream to flow freely through me. I want to bear fruit, feed hungry souls, and be an example of the power of God to a world that needs him. 

Dear Father, Forgive me when I begin to build a dam that would prevent you from flowing through me. You are the Healing Stream, the Living Water. What a privilege it is to know you. I pray that I will be that vessel through which you can flow freely to draw others to you, too. Give me the ability to recognize the beginnings of dam-building, may I quickly repent, and may you use me today. Refresh me. Flow through me. And may Jesus receive the glory.

As Long As It Takes

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If you read the book of Lamentations you will feel the anguish over the state of things in Israel due to their disobedience. In fact, throughout the Old Testament you will often hear the Jews crying out to God: How long will you continue to forget us?

And often you will hear God’s reply: As long as it takes.

God doesn’t delight in punishing his people. He created us to fellowship with him, to love and obey him. And because he created us with the ability to choose or reject him, he drew a line in the sand. We call the condensed version of this line The Ten Commandments. There needs to be no guessing concerning the requirements for having a blessed relationship with him:

Worship me only. Love me above all else, Obey my instructions how to treat people, how to conduct business, what to believe. And for we who live after the cross: accept my Son as your Savior.

Sure it’s a tough list of rules. In fact, an impossible list to achieve for us humans. Yet God’s requirements don’t change. Here’s the line in the sand. Cross it and enjoy a forgiven life under grace. Stay where you are and accept the consequence.

Be assured. God won’t just let you stay on that side without doing everything he can to get you to come over to his side. You may even find yourself asking, “Why, God? How long are you going to cause me pain?”

AS LONG AS IT TAKES.

You Lie

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I was reading in Jeremiah 42 this morning the account of yet another time Israel disobeyed and God punished. As I read, my mind kept wandering toward pictures of things happening in the US today. Are we any different than those in the Old Testament who blatantly sinned, told God to back off, and were so prideful they thought they knew more and were stronger than God?

God’s warning through Jeremiah was: repent or die. Their response: You lie.

Today, Christians are still saying: repent or face the consequences. The world’s response: You lie.

They tell us we lie if we say Jesus is the only way to the One True God. They say we lie if we tell them homosexuality is a sin, that abortion is murder, that God created this universe with a word, that marriage between a man and a woman is a sacred union before God and meant to last a life time.

The list goes on and in many cases, Christians are portrayed as liars and haters. In some countries, there will be Christians TODAY who are tortured and murdered for speaking the Truth. The temptation to keep quiet is certainly there for many of us, in order to avoid the labels or the danger.

Oh Christians, and I know there are many of us out there, let’s determine to be heard with firmness and in love. Let’s use our voices to proclaim the Truth of Scripture with unwavering boldness. Read the newspaper, watch the news on TV, know what’s happening in our world and in our country. Vote intelligently. Run for office. Pray.

Pray.

The things we do – or don’t do – today will determine the future. Will our children and grandchildren face persecution because we sat in our recliners and did nothing? Will we face persecution because we were afraid someone would call us out, call us liars? We who know the Truth have a responsibility and a calling to proclaim that Truth whether they want to hear it or not.

May God find us faithful.

A Tattoo On My Life

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Tattoos are the rage these days. I have a friend who got her first tat when she turned 60. I recently saw a boy of about eight with a cross tattooed to his leg. Both his parents were covered in colorful ink.

Tattoos are no longer “Mom” written on a sailor’s arm. Flowers and skulls and dragons and butterflies, even faces and catchy phrases are worn from the scalp to the toes and everywhere in between by a growing number of people.

In Ezekiel’s vision, an angel was given the task of putting a mark on the forehead of the people who were grieved over sin. (Ez 9) Only those few, with the angel’s tat, were saved. Everyone else lost their lives as a result of God’s judgement.

So I ask myself: is there a visible sign in me that identifies me with the Savior? Is it possible to be a closet Christian? Or, like in Ezekiel’s vision, are we to live as though we had “JESUS” tattooed on our foreheads? The Bible tells us there is no other name under heaven that can save us.

I have no plans to ever have a tattoo. I’ve only ever seen one worth having, and that’s my niece’s personal tribute to her brother, who was tragically killed in an auto accident two years ago. It’s the Hebrew word for “brother” that Jesus used when he spoke to his disciples, and it’s on her right wrist.

I don’t want a tattoo. But I want to live my life in such a way that Jesus is as visible as if his name was tattooed to my forehead. May Christ be seen in me by the words I say, the places I go, the things I do, by the very look on my face.

Dear Jesus, I love you. What you did on the cross so that I can be with you is everything to me. Help me live my life so that others know that about me. May they recognize your love, your grace, your peace, your Presence when they look at my life. Convict me when I begin to get off track and may I be quick to confess. I would be honored to represent you today according to your Word. You have tattooed your Name on my heart. May I wear it proudly and truly so that someone will recognize you and want you in their life, too.

How Do I Look?

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I’ve heard the account of Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego many times and for many years. But when I recently read about Daniel’s desire to abstain from the kings food, I found myself wondering what it is I am ingesting myself. Not the chips I ate yesterday, or the big piece of angel food cake I had for dinner last night. I’m wondering what it is I’m feeding my soul.

What do I read, watch on TV? What is it a pastor or teacher or friend or blogger has said? The Bible tells me to guard my heart. How am I doing?

If I’m watching acts of sin played out on TV, what is that doing to my heart’s condition before God? If I go to a church with a “God is Love” theology without preaching the truth about his holiness, is that effecting my relationship with God? Is the music I listen to slowly separating me from God’s Presence? Relationships, thoughts, what I do in secret, are feeding my soul.

The difference in Daniel and his friends was noticeable They looked better than everyone else because of the food they rejected, the pure food they ingested. 

I wonder if people, when they look at my life, can tell I’ve feasted on God’s Word and abstained from what was offered to me by the world. I want to look different: better, more joyful, kinder, more honest. I want to BE a person others identify with my Savior.

 

 

A Good Heart

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How many times have you heard or said: He (she) has a good heart? How do you know? An adulterer who takes in stray animals, a thief who volunteers to mow a neighbor’s lawn, a liar who takes meals to shut-ins. Does kindness or thoughtfulness indicate a good heart?

In Jeremiah 17:9&10, we read that the human heart is “the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked.” Who can know what is truly in a heart, what really motivates a person to do anything?

Only God.

God is not fooled by acts of charity when the charitable person is harboring hatred or evil, and is rejecting him. I might be fooled into thinking a person has a good heart, even into thinking he or she walks with God. But unless that heart has been broken over sin, unless that person has repented and accepted God’s forgiveness, that person is actually carrying around a desperately wicked heart, and Jeremiah reminds us God judges the heart.

You can put pearls on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can put frosting on manure, but that doesn’t make it a birthday cake any more than a kind act gives an unsaved person a good heart.

Can non-believers be nice people, kind, and considerate? Of course they can. Satan is the master at making sin look good. But let’s not be fooled into thinking they are ok the way they are. Because “good” isn’t good enough! And an unrepentant heart is not a good heart.

God, I pray that each of us will take a good look at our own heart because that’s the only heart we can know. Your word tells us that without you, our hearts are desperately wicked. It also tells us you don’t judge our actions without judging our hearts. May our hearts be broken in light of our sin, may we bow before you in repentance, and may you turn our wicked hearts into good hearts. May we determine to obey your word today, and may others recognize that any goodness in us comes from you.

A Deadly Price-Tag

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God expresses his anger toward a disobedient people in the book of Nahum. He says things like: I am your enemy; and, I will not allow the guilty to go unpunished. He reminds them their riches, which are many, and gained dishonestly, will not save them from God’s wrath, from the consequences of their sin.

Nahum reminds us God is very serious about sin. He never excuses sin, or rationalizes it, or overlooks it. Every sin comes with a deadly consequence, whether it’s an angry two-year-old who pushes her brother off a chair, or a man addicted to porn who kidnaps, tortures, and rapes young women, like the man captured in Cleveland last year.

God says often in his Word that he will not let the guilty go unpunished. Then he turns around and says ALL have sinned. We are all guilty. We all face the consequences for every sin we’ve committed.

I am a Christian. But that doesn’t mean my sins, although forgiven, don’t come with a deadly price tag. My sins require death just like the sins of Ariel Castro (that monster from Cleveland). Every one of my sins come with a death sentence.

But when I accepted Jesus as my Savior, he took my sins and placed them on his own shoulders. He paid the painful consequences for me, he did not sweep them under a rug.

Hear me when I say, those who have not experienced Jesus’ grace will pay for their own sins. Every one of their own sins. The wages of sin is death, either Jesus’ death on the cross, or yours… for eternity.

God, may we all view sin from your perspective. Drive us to our knees, Lord, when we are faced with our own sin, our guilt and shame. Thank you for Jesus, for the cross, for your grace that is offered to anyone who comes to you with repentant hearts. I pray that everyone who reads this blog today will humble themselves and accept what you offer, and that is to pay for our sins yourself. The thought of anyone paying the ultimate price for their own sins frightens me. I pray that it will frighten all of us.