Apr

30

On the road through life…

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Where did you first get to know the God of all creation?

The Almighty God spoke to Abram (a.k.a. Abraham) at the tree of Moreh in a little place called Shechem back in the day. That’s where God made a covenant with him that he would one day be a father to all nations-–Father Abraham–-and that through his seed, many nations would be blessed.

The journey began when Abram, at God’s leading and with a few historic sidesteps, ended up settling his tent in the land of Canaan between a city called Bethel (“house of God”) and the city of Ai (“ruin”).

This journey can be likened to a prototype of a believer’s time here on the earth. Today, like Abraham, we are also journeying. Our world is the new Canaan and our walk with God finds us traveling here until the day the Lord returns or takes us to our real home. As sojourners, the Lord instructs in his word through the Apostle Paul, that we shouldn’t become too comfortable here in the new Canaan, because it’s really not our permanent home. Although, we do have a clear purpose: to preach in love that God is real and to make Him known.

Along Abraham’s journey, we are reminded that he, like us, was not a perfect being. He made mistakes along the way that served him more trouble than necessary. However, the Lord used even those mistakes to bring about his plans and purposes. Though there is plenty that Abraham did to show his dependence and faithfulness to God, and his journey allowed the Lord to bring him to this place, it was not an overnight experience. Neither is ours. It will take not only a lifetime but most likely an eternity to even mine the depths of all that the Lord has planned for those who love him.

When Abraham stopped at the oak tree and rested is where God chose to reveal himself to Abraham.It was at Moreh (meaning “teacher”) where God first appeared to Abraham and gave him the declaration of His promises. His oracles. Abraham lingered there. He fellowshipped with God and erected the first of many alters to him. It is only by stopping and lingering with the Lord that we, too, will be able to abide in His grace.

May we not hasten past the oak tree of Moreh in our journey while here on earth so that through the storms of life we may hear His still, small yet mighty voice.

Apr

25

Where is your rudder pointed?

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The human tongue is powerful. It’s likened metaphorically to several things including a sword or a ship’s rudder. Able to bless and curse at the same time. Even for the Christian, it’s sometimes difficult to curb what flows from this tiny appendage. If we could control our tongues, we’d be able to control our entire bodies according to the word in the book of James. Oftentimes, in the flesh, we fail.

Those who belong to God have been given another kind of strength that surpasses our flesh. It’s the Holy Spirit. We as believers should always remember we are standing upon a rock, and we need to abide in Him for our strength both in word and in deed.

To meet the hazards of our daily lives, we need to “put on Christ” daily. To love Christ is to emulate him through humility of thought, word, and deed as proof of our love. Sometimes it means sacrificing our own way in order to serve the Master.

Apr

19

His healing stripes…

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Seven hundred years before Jesus endured his final hour, the divinely inspired prophet Isaiah wrote down in precise detail how he would die. Words like pierced, bruised, and crushed all describe the scene brought on by the Jews and Romans on that fateful day, Good Friday. Many would have passed out from only a portion of what Jesus endured. Amazingly, he hung in there through the suffering. All for you and me.

Taking a look at the sacrifice he made, the torture, the humiliation, and how he was mentally and emotionally brought down by the weight of humankind’s sin, it’s mind boggling. What the Lord went through is stirring in the deepest of ways because what he suffered was what we deserved, not him. An innocent lamb led to slaughter. The marvelous mystery of God’s plan to redeem man through the scourges of his son is unfathomable. Though because of this miraculous feat, we are now set free. Set free spiritually from everything that besets our souls forever.

The compassion of God is truly greater than anything we’ll ever come to know. The more we dwell upon the flogging he endured… the stripes upon his back… the nails in his wrists, and the crown of thorns on his head, we more fully can understand the magnitude of his suffering. The greater meaning of it all, we’ll understand in heaven, but for now, we can rest in the truth of God’s word that these things were designed from the beginning for good.

The only remedy for the world’s sickness and disease of sin with all of its manifestations is the Lord. Isaiah tells us: “By His stripes we are healed.” We take medicine for our physical ailments, but the only medicine to cure our souls is the blood of the perfect lamb.

Apr

12

No red carpet… though he’s a star above stars

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At Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem days before his crucifixion, there was great excitement. He came down from the Mount of Olives on a donkey. The people were moved, though some wondered who he was. They laid down their cloaks and garments in his path and waved palm branches, signifying, to them, the liberation they thought was on the horizon. No pomp and circumstance, just the shouts and acclamation of the commoners, who sang and shouted, “Hosanna to God in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

The chief priests and Pharisees were anything but pleased. They thought peoples’ exultation toward Jesus would be their loss.

As Jesus approached the city, he was disheartened to the point of weeping because he knew the imminent suffering that was to befall the people. This day was among the last before his crucifixion. Had the people of Jerusalem truly understood what Jesus was all about, he would have saved them all. Yet they chose their own way, which brought about their ruin. Sadly, even the apostles were not aware of the prophecies being fulfilled, nor did they understand that Jesus was approaching a heavenly rather than an earthly coronation.

Apr

02

Jesus, a living hope

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What we may go through on earth–the struggles and trials in the storms of life–we’ve yet to suffer like Jesus. That God would send him to earth is beyond remarkable. For him to humble himself to the point of death for mankind, even death on a cross, is truly unfathomable. The mental, physical, and emotional agony endured is beyond comprehension. That he would even leave heaven to do so is superlative to anything we could even imagine.

On the day they cruelly hung Jesus on the Roman cross, his reaction to those who put him there was not spiteful but just the opposite. He asked his father to “forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Despite his agony, Jesus’ concern was not for himself but for the forgiveness of those who hated and despised Him. Even as they pounded nails into his flesh, his heart bled for them.

One can only imagine the surprise of Mary and Salome three days later when they went to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty. How vexing for Satan to know that his plan to thwart Jesus was in vain. The final enemy of death has been vanquished forever through our Lord.

He overcame death and through Jesus, we do also. Jesus is alive. We serve a risen savior. There is no longer any sting of death for those who believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ.