I Don’t Need Your Bull!

If you have ever been involved in raising cattle or showing cattle, you know that the bulls are the rulers of their domain (or so they think). You can watch a bull as he walks across the field or the pen and see pretty quickly that he is convinced that he is all that. In addition, he can get a little testy when another male of the species dares to encroach on his domain. The posturing between two bulls in the adjacent pens can be quite entertaining. It brings to mind the title of a play – “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Psalm 50 (NIV)  ⁷ "Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
       O Israel, and I will testify against you:
       I am God, your God.

 ⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
       or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

 ⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall
       or of goats from your pens,

 ¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine,
       and the cattle on a thousand hills.

 ¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains,
       and the creatures of the field are mine.

 ¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
       for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

 ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls
       or drink the blood of goats?

 ¹⁴ Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
       fulfill your vows to the Most High,

 ¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble;
       I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

Pardon the long Scripture passage, but it seems necessary to get the point God has shown me this morning. It is judgment time and God is getting ready to hold court. However, this court is a little different because the judge and the prosecuting attorney are one in the same. God has a problem with His people and He is going to be both Judge and prosecutor in the case. He starts off by saying that He has nothing against the sacrifices of His people. Why? Because these sacrifices show obedience. However, He has no need of the animals that they are bringing for sin and atonement offerings. The strutting bulls that they bring to be killed are symbolic of the attitude of the people bringing these offerings – all show and no go.

God is saying to the Israelites, “I don’t need you to bring me these animals. I already own everything that is on, over, or under the earth by virtue of the fact that I created them. Do you think that I would call on you if I were hungry? Is there any food that you could provide that could possibly measure up to the banquet I could set in front of Me with just a single word?” In other words God is telling them that nothing they own interests Him.

What then does God want? In verse 14 He tells us. “Sacrifice thank offerings to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High.” Two things God looks for in a sacrifice – our thanksgiving and our obedience. Praise Him for what He has done and follow through on what we are to do. When you look at it that way, it sounds pretty simple. So, why does God have to tell us this? He reminds us because we tend to take the easy way out. We would rather see an innocent animal sacrificed than give God a part of ourselves. Luckily for us, Jesus didn’t feel the same way. He was willing to be obedient even unto death and He offered up praise and thanksgiving right up to the cross. Maybe we should give God what He asks for and stop trying to hide behind a bunch of bull.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Stop and Listen

I used to try to help my dad work on our cars. I use the word “help” loosely because I am not very mechanically inclined; even so, Dad would patiently explain what he was doing and why. One thing I remember is that he very often would stop talking and, after motioning me to be quiet, listen to the sound the engine was making. After listening for a time, he would begin to make adjustments to correct whatever problem he had diagnosed. It was almost like the engine was telling him what was wrong.


Psalm 62
⁵ I wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken.⁷ My salvation and my honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.


David was a man of many words, as evidenced by the book of Psalms. He used words to paint pictures and provide instruction in things related to God. In some of the Psalms, it is almost like he is arguing with or questioning the direction given by God. In this passage, we find that David also knew when to stop talking and listen – listen for the still small voice that is God.


One of the things I miss about living in a more rural setting is the quiet. It seems that there is constant noise and commotion all around, making it difficult to find a time and place to escape all of the hustle and bustle. Our society has become so fast paced and “now” oriented that there never seems to be an opportunity for down time. One of the outcomes of this type of existence is the never-ending sound of “progress.” Even our interpersonal relationships have come to the point that they are unable to survive silence. We have difficulty just being with someone and enjoying their company without the constant flow of words.


Even though David recognized the fact that God and God alone was able to protect and sustain him, he was able to stop and wait for the Lord to give him direction. Unlike today’s Christian, he was able to take time to just sit in the presence of the Father and listen. The Bible tells us that it is not always the spectacular and the ostentatious that carries God’s message – it is often the still, small voice that can only be heard by a heart focused on the source of all wisdom. Many times, the message is for us to sit quietly and wait.


Like my dad working on cars, we have to eliminate as much of the background distraction as possible and focus on the source of our information to hear what we need to hear. The answers we need don’t always come immediately. There are times that we must wait for a while before that which we seek becomes audible. Like David, our hope must be in God. We must recognize that He alone can protect us and guide us in the quiet times, just as He does in the midst of battle.


We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Whiskers

You realize how important a job being a parent is when you experience the unqualified trust that your child has in you. It is both exciting and humbling at the same time to realize that this young life is looking to you for protection and instruction. They want to be able to tell you things and know that you are listening. I can remember one of my children saying to me, “Daddy, bend down here so I can ‘whisker’ you a secret.” The words may not have been just right, but I knew what was being said.

Psalm 17
⁶   I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God.
        Bend down and listen as I pray.

The Psalms of David are a study in the relationship of sinful man with a righteous God. David was a man after God’s own heart even though he cycled between deepest gloom and highest praise. His life is a testimony to the value of maintaining regular fellowship with Father, even when you may be questioning what is going on around you. When David prayed, God listened and responded because He knew David’s heart.

Not only was David consistent with his prayer and praise life, he was personal. David approached God as Abba – Daddy. We sometimes seem to miss the fact that God loves us because we are His children, and He wants the best for us. We get so wrapped up in our independence, we forget that He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives - just like earthly parents do. It is both a mystery and a profound example of God’s character that, even though He knows everything about us, He still wants us to talk to Him.

David knew that there was a time and place for everything. He knew when to approach God as Jehovah, but just as importantly, he knew when to ask Him to bend down so he could whisper in His ear. God desires an intimate relationship with each of His children. He provided the sacrifice in His Son, Jesus Christ that makes this type of relationship possible.

Very few parents expect their children to prostrate themselves on the floor and await permission to speak before they will grant them an audience. There is a time for formality and a time for intimacy. Sometimes God just wants us to ask Him to bend down so His child can “whisker” in His ear.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

No More Time

Farmers in the Panhandle of Texas face a daunting task. While much of the land is fertile and suitable for crops, the weather can bring some interesting challenges. The issue of water has been solved with the use of irrigation, but they haven’t found a solution for the droughts, the hail, and the destructive winds. Harvest time, in essence, becomes a guessing game. There is a small window between when the crops are ready and when the weather becomes too bad to harvest. If you miss the window, your entire season’s work can be left lying on the ground, worthless to anyone but the wildlife.

Jeremiah 8
²⁰"The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone," the people cry, "yet we are not saved!"²¹I weep for the hurt of my people. I am stunned and silent, mute with grief. ²²Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?

God has just described to Jeremiah the fate of the nation of Israel. They have not only abandoned their relationship with the Father, they have also lost their sense of shame. The things that are being done, even in the Temple, are against everything they have been taught over the years and God is going to punish them. In verse 12 of this chapter, God says that they do not even blush at the thought of their evil. Consequently, God is sending death and destruction to the land. The people will suffer either death by starvation, death by the sword, or captivity at the hands of a conquering nation. There are no other alternatives at this point.

These words strike the heart of Jeremiah like a knife. In anguish, he cries out “My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken.” He can hear the voices of his people crying out in their suffering, but the time for punishment has arrived. Even though Jeremiah knows that the die is cast, he cannot help but mourn over the fate of God’s people.

What an incredible message to the people of God! The Bible promises us that there will be a day when God’s redemptive work on this world will be over. Those who have not taken advantage of the opportunities presented them to “believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved” will be out of chances. Like the farmer standing in his field, looking at a crop beaten to the ground by a hailstorm, we will see people come to the realization that they have missed the train. The harvest will be finished, and some will not be saved.

Church, if that does not send cold chills down your spine, get on your knees and ask God to rekindle your fire of compassion for the lost. We are surrounded by people who have not surrendered their lives to Jesus, and time is running out. Once the hourglass is empty, there will be no medicine around to heal their wounds. Earlier in this chapter, God tells Jeremiah: “They offer superficial treatments for my people's mortal wound.” We must make sure that what we offer is the saving power of the blood of Jesus, not a band-aid for an eternal life threatening injury.

REACH ONE MORE FOR JESUS – before the harvest is over.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Self Tackle-ization

I had the privilege of growing up in the Texas Panhandle where football is king. Every Friday night in the fall, the skies over that area are lit with the glow of lights over football stadiums from one end of the region to the other. In the Panhandle, football games are a city-wide event. To keep those few who are unable to get to the stadium informed, there is the local radio station up in the booth excitedly recounting the play-by-play. I heard a story about one such announcer who was describing a long run by one of the players who suddenly tripped and fell with no one anywhere around. In his excitement, the announcer declared that the runner was a “victim of self tackle-ization" (that’s with a long “I”).

1 Timothy 4 (NLT)
¹⁴Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecies spoken to you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. ¹⁵Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. ¹⁶Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right, and God will save you and those who hear you.

Timothy was Paul’s protégé in every sense of the word. Paul starts this letter with the words, “¹This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and by Christ Jesus our hope.  ²It is written to Timothy, my true child in the faith…..” By virtue of his part in sharing the Gospel with Timothy, Paul felt a responsibility to this young man, who by now had been ordained by the elders of the church to be a part of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles. Even though Timothy was a partner in his ministry, Paul continued to fulfill his duties as mentor to the man in whom he obviously had great confidence.

Being a Christian in those times could be hazardous to your health. Imagine how people responded to one who actively worked at spreading the Gospel. First of all, you started with two strikes from the Jews in the area. First, you were teaching the truth of a new covenant that turned the theology of Judaism upside down. To make matters worse, you were associating with the unclean Gentiles. Speaking of the Gentiles, this message of one God flew in the face of all those whose status and income were based on the worship of idols. Every person who became a Christ-follower reduced their financial position. Timothy had his work cut out for him.

In this passage, Paul brings Timothy back to the beginning of his journey. As is still the custom in many churches, Timothy was ordained for the ministry. This process culminated with each of those who had already been ordained laying their hands on the head of the one being sent, and speaking a word of prayer in his ear. Paul tells Timothy to remember the words these elders spoke to him and to God. They are a gift to be combined with the other spiritual gifts God has given him, to empower him to do the work to which he has been called. “Pay attention to these matters.” Paul exhorts. “Throw yourself into your tasks.” In other words, keep on doing what God has called you to do.

As he closes this portion of his teaching, Paul gives Timothy instruction that every believer should heed. “Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching.” We have a responsibility to make sure that our motives and our message remains true to our Maker. If we do, God will take it from there. He is responsible for the increase.

Satan loves to see a child of God fall. That is one less witness that he has to worry about. If we keep our feet on the path and our message true to the Word, the victory will be ours. If we don’t, we run the risk of becoming a victim of "self tackle-ization."

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Temptation

Have you ever noticed that, if there is more than one kid in a room where something has been broken, it is always the other one’s fault? Even more amazing is that, if there is just one child in the room, the dog did it, even if you don’t have a dog.

James 1
¹³And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, "God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. ¹⁴Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires.

Christians sometimes get the mistaken impression that, when things come into their lives that pull them away from the Father, somehow God is tempting them. That couldn’t be further from the truth. God doesn’t need to tempt us; we have a nature within us that does a very good job of trying to get between our God and us.

James tells us that God does not tempt anyone and neither is He tempted to do wrong. Now, we all know that Satan tempted Jesus, so is the Bible contradicting itself? Since our Father is not a God of confusion, we know that there can be no contradiction; it is not in His nature. The scripture says that He is never tempted to do wrong. The difference between Jesus and man in relation to temptation is that, while He was tempted by Satan, He never contemplated giving in and doing the wrong thing. His relationship with His Father was such that the strength to resist was always there.

If temptations do not come from God, where do they come from? James tells us that temptations come from the “lure of our own evil desires.” In other words, we tempt ourselves by allowing our sinful nature to control our actions. Even though Jesus was tempted physically, emotionally, and spiritually, He never contemplated “doing wrong” because He was in tune with God’s will.

We only need look in the mirror to find the source of our desire to give in to sin. As Christians, however, we only need look at Jesus to see how to overcome these temptations. Jesus maintained a constant relationship with Father through communications. He frequently took time to get by Himself and talk to His Father. He also had God’s word hidden in His heart. When it came time to rebuff Satan, Jesus quoted scripture.

In the immortal words of the comic strip character Pogo, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Thankfully, however, we have found a friend, and He is Jesus.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Contact Worship

When I was in high school, sports were divided into two categories – contact and non-contact. According to the football coaches, the non-contact sports were basketball, baseball, track, etc. The contact sport was football. That was the “man’s game.” To make his point about the toughness of football, my coach paraphrased legendary college football coach, Duffy Daugherty, at our first practice one year, “Football is not a contact sport. Dancing is a contact sport. Football is a collision sport.”
Psalm 141 (NLT)
² Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

I must make a confession. I am a self-confessed, non-repentant, chronic worshiper. I am of the conviction that one of the problems in our churches and our world is that we have squeezed the concept of praise and worship into a tiny box that is to be opened only on Sunday mornings. Consequently, we miss out on the blessings that come from giving God the honor and glory He deserves for all the things that He does in and around us every day. That being said, understand that I will seize every opportunity God gives me to sing the praise of praise and worship.

I love to read the Psalms, partly because so many of them were written by David. Now, there was a man who understood praise and worship. It didn’t matter what the circumstance was, or how deep in the valley it had taken him, something would prompt David to offer praise to God. When you contrast that with the cynical, “What has God done for me lately,” attitude of people today, it becomes apparent why we struggle so with the idea of a God who is involved in every aspect of our lives. When you get right down to it that is the foundation on which our praise and worship is based – the day-by-day walk that we have with a Holy God.

In this passage, David stops to worship His heavenly Father. The preceding verse tells us that he was in the process of pleading to God for help – “…. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help!” In the midst of this plea, David stopped to worship. Why? I think it is because he knew that we make our most intimate contact with the Father in worship. Look at what he says – “Accept my prayer as incense offered to you and my upraised hands as an evening offering.” David was entering into the presence of God just like the priests did in the Temple. He offered the sweet smelling perfume of prayer and his upraised hands as offerings to the Father. That is worship.

We can learn a lot from David about worship, but one of the fundamentals is that worship starts with, ends with, and is defined by personal contact with the Father. Corporate worship is nothing more than a group of individual worshipers communing with God in the same place at the same time. Even in situations where David worshiped in public, he was in his own zone with God. Remember when he was escorting the Ark to the newly completed Temple? He danced in front of the procession in praise and worship to God, which brings me to another point about worship – it is almost always accompanied by or immediately followed by praise. I don’t know how anyone can experience being in the presence of God without an outburst of praise. Don’t be afraid to let people know you are praising God!

So what does all this have to do with contact sports? I am not calling worship a sport, but I do feel that we need to understand the principle of contact. Praise and worship are a result of contact with the Father. It is our fellowship that fosters our praise. But there is another type of contact involved in praise and worship – spiritual warfare. The Devil will not sit by and watch a Christ-follower lift Jesus up through praise and worship without intervention - because he knows that when that happens, people are drawn to Him. We have to be ready to defend our right to praise and worship. David said it like this in Psalm 149:6 – “Let the praise of God be in their mouths, and a sharp sword in their hands ----.”

We serve and awesome God!!!!!

Glory

Glory - praise and thanksgiving offered as an act of worship to a deity.


Ephesians 3
²⁰Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. ²¹May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.


In this letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul is writing to a group of believers who are rich in Jesus Christ, but don’t seem to realize it. Paul starts off by reminding them of all the things that they have as a result of their position in Christ Jesus – salvation, spiritual blessings, wisdom. He then reinforces the fact that the Gentiles are just as much a part of the family as the Jews. The mortar that joins every believer to the Chief Cornerstone is the blood of Jesus Christ. God is no respecter of persons.


In this chapter, Paul describes what he calls the secret plan of God – every person on earth has an equal opportunity to become a child of the King. His mission, ordained by God, is to make sure that the Gentiles have opportunity to hear the Good News and accept the message of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for our sins. Not only was God inviting the Gentiles into His family, He was opening the doors of His church to them. This revelation was being made in order that the world could see all of the children of God worshiping together


Paul goes on to tell us that the wisdom of the concept of one church for all believers is so overwhelming to him that he can do nothing short of falling to his knees in prayer and worship. His prayer for the church is that it appropriates the strength God has made available to us, that we grow in the knowledge of God and His love, and that we experience the depth of His love, even though we will never be able to fully understand just what that means. Once we have done these things, we will be filled with the “fullness of life and power that comes from God.”


All of this culminates in one result – glory to God. If we are to accomplish anything as a church, it must be a direct result of the power of God at work in our body. We cannot even imagine what God can do with a church that is committed to being a tool of the Father in the Kingdom’s work. Our finite minds cannot process that kind of input.


How will we know when we are operating in the infinite power of God? It won’t show up as numbers on a graph, or pictures on the wall. Our success in moving toward becoming the church that God wants us to be will be reflected in the attitude of each member of the body. There can be one, and only one reason for the things that we do as a church, and that is to bring glory to the God. Any other outcome is unacceptable. Our attitude of worship must permeate the lives of those around us, no matter where we are. Worship is not restricted to a place or a time – we must glorify the Father at all times, and in all places.


We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Significance

It has been described in many ways – climbing the corporate ladder, improving oneself, getting ahead, reaching for the gold ring. All of these phrases can be boiled down to one word – ambition. Just about everyone desires to improve their lot in life. Most people establish goals for themselves and set about working toward those goals through education, experience, or whatever means are appropriate for the situation. They are driven by an inner urging for self-fulfillment. Others have different motives and methods. These are the people who are looking for recognition. They see themselves as insignificant and the goal is to attain significance – to elevate themselves. To them, the ends justify the means and there is no shortcut they will not take and no tactic they will not use to attain their goal. The problem is that, once they have arrived, they are seldom satisfied.

Numbers 16
⁸ Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Now listen, you Levites! ⁹ Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near him as you serve in the Lord’s Tabernacle and to stand before the people to minister to them? ¹⁰ He has given this special ministry only to you and your fellow Levites, but now you are demanding the priesthood as well! ¹¹ The one you are really revolting against is the Lord! And who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?”

Aaron and his family had been chosen by God to be His interface with the people. Up to this point, all of God’s direction for the people had come through Moses. Even after the Tabernacle was completed, God continued to meet with Moses. Theirs was a special relationship. However, the time had come for some of the duties of service to be spread out. Aaron and his sons were ordained to serve in the office of the priesthood. You can imagine the enormity of this task when you think that there were over 600,000 men over the age of 20 to take care of, not to mention the women and children. God then appointed the tribe of Levi as the ones selected to assist the priests in the performance of their duties.

In this chapter we read about an insurrection of sorts within the Levites. One of them decided that it was time that the Levites moved up the ladder a bit. Korah got several of the leaders of the assembly to back him and he went to Moses with his demands. Here is how he presented his argument, “You have gone too far! Everyone in Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than anyone else among all these people of the Lord?” Notice how he uses bits and pieces of the truth to aid in his attempt to elevate himself among the people. The Bible tells us that Moses was the most humble man God created, so we know that he would never act as if he were more important than anyone else.

In this passage, we read God’s response through Moses. If this were happening today, you can almost hear Moses saying, “Are you crazy? God has picked you and your relatives out of the whole nation of Israel for the special purpose of serving in His house and you are complaining! Don’t you realize that your accusations against Aaron and his family are just a smokescreen? Your are rebelling against God Himself!” We would probably react the same way. How could anyone be dissatisfied with what God has called them to do?

Events like the revolt of Korah are still happening in the Church today. Even though God has given each of His children special gifts and ministries, some are not satisfied. It seems that there is an abundance of ambition even among God’s family members. It seldom manifests itself as open revolt, but it can cause the same kind of division that Korah did. When you boil it all down, the root of the issue is not a search for significance in one’s ministry, but the elevation of self.

There are no insignificant ministries in God’s house. There are no insignificant servants. Our significance as Christians is gained in doing everything we do to the glory of God.

We serve an awesome God!!!!

Makeover

I heard a story about a man who came to the big city and saw an elevator for the first time. As he stood there watching, an elderly woman got on and pushed a button. A little later, an attractive young woman got off the elevator and left the building. He excitedly said to his son standing next to him, “Run get your mother and bring her here. I can’t wait to see what she comes out looking like.”

Ephesians 4
²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

As Paul continues his letter to the church at Ephesus, he contrasts the life of the believer and the nonbeliever. He cautions against allowing the lifestyles of those who do not claim Christ to become part of the Christian’s way of life. Earlier in this chapter he tells us that we must not be just like everyone else. Our new life must show that we are not confused by the wiles of Satan that draw us away from God. We must bring light into a dark world, exposing those things that the devil uses to pull us down for what they are – lies from the mouth of the father of lies.

This passage is a call to all believers to dare to be different. God says through Paul that we have been given a spiritual makeover. We are a new person, closer to the likeness of our Father than we have ever been, because we have invited His Son into our hearts. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus – righteous, holy, and true. That is a miraculous transformation. Our filthy rags have become a cloak of righteousness, our evil hearts have become holy temples, and our lying lips now speak the truth of the Word of God. What a change!

There is also a word of warning in this passage. Notice that the Scripture says that we must be “displaying a new nature.” If we are not vigilant in our walk with Jesus, our old sinful nature will fight its way back to the surface. The natural man has not been removed from us, just covered with the new nature of Christ. In and of ourselves, we do not have the strength to resist the old man. We have to be constantly aware of its presence in us, and allow the Holy Spirit to keep it at bay.

Unfortunately for the old man in the story, his perception of the function of the elevator was mistaken. No matter how many times the door closed with his wife inside, she would be the same when she stepped off as when she stepped in. He was working off of a case of mistaken identity. Christians have been through the real deal. We have within us the nature of Christ and if we allow it to be the one that is displayed to those around us, they will see the same kind of change in us that the old man thought he had seen in the elderly woman.

Can you imagine what would happen if every born again Christian started displaying the new nature that they received at the time of salvation? For one thing, the lost world would be amazed at the difference, and that amazement would rapidly turn into curiosity. As we began explaining the transformation, we would be reaching one more for Jesus!

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Authenticity

Have you ever noticed how relationships grow? When you first meet someone, it’s like a stranger knocking at your door. You may invite them into the foyer, but that is about as far as it goes. When a casual acquaintance knocks at the door, you may sit down in the living room, but the conversation is still a bit on the formal side. When a true friend comes to the door, they may open it and say, “Is anybody home?” When you invite them in, you are likely to sit down at the kitchen table and talk. If this friend wants milk for their coffee, they know where it is and they will get up and go to the refrigerator. If there is something else in there that looks good, they will help themselves. True friends are treated like family, and you can sense when a relationship has reached that point.

Ephesians 3 (NIV)

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
I love to read Paul’s prayers because they usually touch on things that we take to the Father. What Christ-follower wouldn’t like to have Paul pray over them the way he prayed over the churches the Lord had placed in his care? This passage contains a prayer prayed for the church at Ephesus, but it has application in the life of every believer. First of all, Paul acknowledges who he is praying for – God’s whole family. This was especially important to the Ephesians because Paul had just told them of God’s plan to bring the Gentiles into His family. There was to be no distinction, when it came to membership in the family, between Jew and Gentile. All believers were part of the family.

Paul then prayed that God would strengthen these Christians – not with physical strength, but with a power that can only be bestowed by the working of the Holy Spirit. This power permeates so deeply within the soul that it give us an inner strength to take on anything, endure anything, and persevere in the face of whatever the enemy has to throw at us. This is the power that doesn’t have to be demonstrated through some feat of strength; it is recognized in our daily living.

The next part of this passage speaks to our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our salvation is secure at the time we acknowledge our sin and ask our Savior to come into our hearts. However, when you think about it, oftentimes, this invitation is just into the foyer. We recognize who Jesus is, but we are not ready to really fellowship with Him. As we grow in Christ, we realize that we have much to learn from Him, and invite Him to come in and sit down in the living room. We want to talk, but we are not yet ready for a real commitment. Finally, one day we realize that we are missing out on the best part of being a Christian – authentic friendship with our Lord - the kind of friendship where we totally open ourselves up to Him. We sit down at the kitchen table and really share our lives with Him and He is welcome into our innermost hiding places.

The word dwell in this verse is translated from the Greek word which means to “settle down in a dwelling;” in other words, to make oneself at home. Paul is telling us that Christ desires to make Himself at home in our hearts. Think about the implications of that. If we allow Jesus to do what He wants to do, we will have His presence in our innermost beings. He will be invited to poke around in any part of our lives, because He is family.

Where is Jesus in your life? Is His name one that you recognize, but have no contact with? If so, find someone who knows Him and ask them to tell you more about Him. Is Jesus a casual acquaintance? If that is the case, spend more time with Him. He wants to be much more than an acquaintance. Our objective should be to have nothing that we can’t let our Lord and Savior see. Open up yourself to the best friend you could ever have. He is authentic – the genuine article!

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Boldness

You probably never experienced this as a child, but on a few rare occasions, I was invited to visit the office at my high school. The only three people who would request the presence of a student in the office were the principal, the vice principal and the counselor. Since the Mr. Vick, the principal liked to come to the classrooms to talk to people, and it took an appointment to get in to see the counselor, it was a pretty safe bet that if you heard the dreaded words, “Randy Welch, please report to the office immediately,” it was not for a tea party. You were probably headed to see Mr. Sipes, the vice principal in charge of discipline. It was like going to the dentist. There were only a few options and all but one of them was bad.

Ephesians 3

¹²Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome.

Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. As with many of his epistles, Paul starts this letter with words of encouragement for God’s people. In this case, he writes of the many examples of faith that he has heard spoken about the Ephesians. He promises that he will continue to lift them up in prayer as they face the day-to-day problems that rise up in the body of Christ. His prayer is not that they grow in numbers, even thought that would be a natural outgrowth of a spirit filled body. Neither is his prayer that they become financially prosperous and build a lot of buildings. Paul’s prayer for this church was for wisdom and understanding. He wanted them to grow all right, but he wanted that growth to be grounded in a special understanding of what God had in store for them.

The letter to the Ephesian church goes on to paint a picture of the life of one who chooses to be a Christ-follower. While we look at a life cycle as one that goes from birth to life to death, Paul says that a believer goes from death to birth to life in Christ Jesus. We are born dead in our sins and are made alive by our relationship with God through our Savior. This process makes us a part of the family of God and as such we become living Temples in which God can live in the person of the Holy Spirit. What a glorious description of the free gift we receive when we accept the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

In this chapter, Paul tells us that there is more. He starts the chapter with the revelation of God’s secret plan for the world – God wants every man, woman, and child ever born on this earth to become part of His family. Even though the Jews were, are and will always be His chosen people, through the work of Christ on the cross, everyone can share in this inheritance. The mind fairly boggles at the thought. God has opened His family to each and every one of us.

What is the bottom line? In this verse, Paul says that our position in the family of God gives us something that is better than life itself. He says that, as a result of our turning from a life of servitude to Satan, we have what was reserved for only the High Priest in the Old Testament. We can stand in the very presence of God the Father. Not only that, but we don’t have to approach Him with fear and trembling. Paul says we can now “come fearlessly into God’s presence.” He will not only tolerate our intrusion, we can be assured that we will be treated as an honored guest!

Christian brothers and sisters, if we are living powerless, defeated lives, it is because we have not claimed the promise in this passage. We refuse to stand before our God and give Him the praise and honor He deserves. Go boldly into His presence and make your requests known. God not only allows it, He desires it. He wants to show His presence, to a world dying in sin, through His people!

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

The Cross, the Crypt, and the Crown

There is an old story about a very near-sighted man who wanted to impress his girlfriend. He was going to have dinner with her family one evening, so he went over early and put a needle in the crook of a tree some distance from the front porch. He reasoned that when dinner was finished, he and the girl would sit on the front porch and he would find the needle and impress her with his visual acuity. That evening, as they sat on the porch, he pretended to see the needle and set out to retrieve it. As luck would have it, as he was walking across the field, he stumbled over a cow.

But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you."
Matthew 28:5-7

It is the third day after the crucifixion. The women have come to the tomb to anoint the body for burial. They were expecting to be challenged by the Roman soldiers, but instead they experienced an earthquake caused by an angel rolling the huge boulder from the mouth of the tomb. The Roman guards saw the angel and fainted dead away, but the women listened as he spoke. These two women had also witnessed the events on the cross three days prior to this. They had heard Jesus’ words from the cross and were there when He gave up His spirit. They knew that he had been placed in this very tomb and now the angel had rolled away the boulder and showed them that Jesus was no longer there! One can only imagine what was going through their minds.

There are three absolutes that make up the foundation of our faith as Christians. First of all, the Son of God lived a sinless life on earth and died on a cross for our sins. Result – an empty cross, stained with His blood. Next, Jesus was resurrected on the third day following His crucifixion. Result – an empty tomb containing the grave clothes of Jesus. Finally, Jesus ascended into heaven to take up his rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Result – Jesus is wearing His crown of righteousness seated at the right hand of God the Father. God used the emptiness created by the actions of sinful man to create the fulfillment of the salvation of these same men.

The empty cross points out the victory of Jesus over sin. The empty tomb testifies to the victory of Jesus over death. Jesus’ position at the right hand of God gives us our promise of the final victory over the very presence of sin and death, and our ultimate destination before the throne of Heaven. The empty cross and the empty tomb must have created a huge feeling of emptiness in the hearts of those who had walked with Him, but they soon experienced the filling of the promised Holy Spirit. God can change even the most profound sorrow into glory for His Kingdom.

We do not worship at the foot of the cross – for it is empty. We do not worship at the door of the tomb – for it is empty. We worship at the feet of the Savior – for He is seated next to God, making intercession for us, and preparing our eternal homes. We must not be like the man on the porch and get so involved in reaching for the obscure that we stumble over the obvious.

Jesus is alive!

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Not on My Watch

When I was in college, all the freshmen men were assigned to guard the campus from Friday evening after dinner to the start of the football games on Saturday. It was customary back then for the visiting team to send people out to “paint the campus” of the home team. This involved finding any flat surface that was visible to the masses and writing pep slogans for the visitors. Our job was to make sure this didn’t happen. When the guards were gathered on Friday, we were always given the charge: “Don’t let it be said that our campus was desecrated on your watch.”

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.
Ezekiel 33:1-6

God has been telling Ezekiel the fate of His people and all the nations surrounding them – and it is not a pretty picture. Ezekiel knows that he is prophet to a doomed nation. God has given them chance after chance to turn back to Him, but they have ignored His call and laughed at His prophets. An invading army will soon come to destroy the cities and take captive those people who survive the battles.

In this passage, God reiterates Ezekiel’s mission to God’s chosen people. The word is out that a mighty army is coming to plunder and destroy, so it is time to deploy the watchmen. In time of war or threat of war, the cities of Ezekiel’s time would increase the duties of the watchmen posted on the walls of the city. Instead of just watching for strangers entering the area, these guards were now responsible for keeping a lookout for the approach of the enemy armies. From their high vantage point, these watchmen could identify troop movements when they were still miles away. This advanced notice could give the people in the city time to complete preparation and increase their chances of fighting off the attack. Without this time, the enemy would be at the gate with their battering ram before the city knew what hit them.

God’s message to Ezekiel was – you are My watchman. As watchman, Ezekiel could not fight off the attackers, but he could warn the people. It was his job to make sure that the Israelites were aware of the danger they faced in time to take action. Like Ezekiel, we are watchmen. The enemy is constantly probing, looking for weaknesses to exploit. We must sound the alarm! A good watchman does not make one announcement from his tower and then run and hide. He continues to warn the people until there is no more time left. In doing this, the watchman may put himself at risk.
Sound the alarm! If we are obedient in our duties, at the end of the battle our Commander will recognize our service. If we fail to sound the alarm as long as there is breath in us, we share in the responsibility for the fate of our people. When the commander asks if the people were caught sleeping we want to be able to say – “Not on my watch!”
We serve an awesome God!!!!!

The Summons

Why is it that we always seem to imagine the worst? Take for example being called to the principal’s office when we were in school. In elementary school, the principal or one of the office staff would make an announcement over the PA system for someone to report to the principal’s office, and fear would take control. It didn’t get much better in junior high (an ancient form of middle school) and high school. One of the aides would come around with a note from the office. They couldn’t catch you in the hall and give it to you, they had to come to class and hand it to a teacher! As the aide walked out, it always seemed that they were giving you a look of pity. The point is that it made no difference what the summons was for; you assumed that your educational future was on the chopping block.

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?"
John 18:4

Jesus’ earthly ministry is about to end. He has been sharing with His disciples some of the things they will be encountering after He is gone. While they don’t fully understand the significance of the coming events, they do believe in Jesus. In the previous chapter, Jesus prayed for the disciples and all who had believed on Him during His brief time on the earth. His prayer was that they would remain united in The Way and continue to grow in knowledge of the Father. He wanted them to continue to become more like Him so they could share in the glory of God that is reserved for those who obey and serve Him.

Once this prayer was over, Jesus led the disciples to a spot on the other side of the valley. Even though Jesus had told them, in the course of their conversations this night, that it was time for Him to be turned over to the “religious” establishment, they didn’t seem to be overly concerned. After all, Jesus had often come to this place with His followers. However, this time was to be different. Judas also knew that this was a favorite place of Jesus, and he had laid his plans with the Jews to turn the Savior over to them on this night.

It must have been quite a spectacle - the battalion of Roman soldiers, the temple guards, the religious leaders – all following in a line behind Judas. I can imagine the commotion they caused carrying their torches and brandishing their swords. It must have looked like the beginning of a war. They probably thought that the show of force would so disorient these rebels that they could easily capture the leader. What they were not aware of was that Jesus already knew that they were coming! He wasn’t the least bit surprised.

There was no resistance – no confrontation. Jesus had known since before time began that this moment was coming. He was going to be betrayed, tried, tortured and hung on a cross to die for the sins of mankind. This was just the beginning of a chain of events that would forever alter the relationship between sinful man and a holy God. Even knowing all of this, Jesus went willingly because that was the will of His Father.

Church, we must keep this message at the forefront of everything we do. Jesus wasn’t dragged to His fate; He went willingly – for each of us. Spread the Word!

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

To Dad

My dad has always been a good father. He has taken care of his family in good times and bad. His parents, my Mother’s parents and all the brothers and sisters have always known that if they need advice or help with anything, they have someone to go to. I can remember when the men dad worked with started calling me “Little Gib.” I was as proud as a boy could be.

Ephesians 6
⁴And now a word to you fathers. Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.

With all of the good things my dad has done, the thing I remember most is not the fishing trips or the golf matches. It’s not even getting to play music with Dad and his friends. What I remember is sitting in the church and watching my father be baptized. I know that the transformation had taken place before he was immersed in the baptismal waters, but for me, that night was when my Dad went from being a good father to being a godly father.

I am fortunate to have a father that still uses the Bible for more than a table decoration. He has taught me what it means to be the spiritual leader of my home. I haven’t always followed his lead, but I have always come back. There is only one way to be a successful father and that is to follow the Son. The more we allow God to mold us in the image of Christ Jesus, the better father we will be. I want to be like my dad because he wants to be like his Father – like father, like Son.

I still cherish the time I get to spend with Dad. Whether we are making music or discussing memories, there is a joy in his heart that can only come from his Father. I watch as my son, daughters, grandchildren, and daughter-in-law look at Dad like I do as they listened to him talk or play his musical instruments or sing his songs. It makes me prouder than ever to be a part of his lineage because he is a child of the King.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

The First Furrow

Growing up in the farming country of the Texas Panhandle, one of my first paying jobs was driving a tractor. A lot of the crops were “dry land” (watered by rain) so there was little need to have nice straight rows. When it came time to prepare land for irrigation, the job became a little more difficult. The rows needed to be straight and uniform to cut down on erosion as the water flowed between the seedbeds. Once the first furrow was made, all you had to do was keep the wheel in the furrow to follow the guide row, but you had to find something in the distance to line up on for the first row. If you didn’t keep your tractor lined up with the reference point at the end of the row, the whole field could end up with crooked rows that would be destroyed by the water.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2

The Bible is full of reference points for a life of faith. The Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 tells the story of numerous people who demonstrated a life lived through faith in God. Their lives stand as examples of the blessings that come from lives lived in tune with God. All of those listed, even though they were human and had human frailties and failures, chose to allow God to set their paths and direct their steps. The very fact that some of those listed slipped and fell at times should give us hope and instruction. Hope in the finished work of our salvation and instruction in keeping everything out of our lives that slow our progress toward the goal Jesus set before us.

Scripture tells us that all Christians have a part in the harvest. Some prepare the soil, some sow the seeds, some water the crops, and some gather the harvest. We will all be involved in each activity at some time or another. Jesus has set the example for all phases of the work. He set the standard by coming to earth and living a sinless life, totally dedicated to the work of His Father. All we have to do is keep the wheel in the guide row and continue to do the work of the Lord. As long as we follow the commission Jesus gave us and stay the course He set, our work will not be in vain.

Even if we lose focus and let our rows start to waver, we can take heart in the fact that Jesus Is always there at the end of the field, giving us the reference point we need to get things headed back in the right direction. He has plowed this same field many times and knows where all the rocks are and how to avoid them while still preparing a field that will produce a great harvest. We have to recognize our part in the harvest and go about fulfilling our calling through faith.
We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Ad Campaign

Did you notice how much of the pre-Super Bowl hype a few years ago was about the “cleaning up” of the commercials and the entertainment portion of the broadcast? There seemed to be more anticipation of the ad campaigns than there was of the game itself. While I appreciate the effort on the part of advertisers, I wonder if their motives were as altruistic as they would like us to think. The purpose of any publicity is to draw attention to a product or a service and their media blitz accomplished its purpose – people could not wait to see the “G-rated” commercials. It makes you wonder if we wouldn’t get better products at a more competitive price if the product had to sell itself based on its own merits.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Psalm 19:1-4

As I read the verses in this passage, I remember times that I spent in the mountains of Colorado with my family. Surrounded by all the beauty of God’s creation, for the most part unspoiled by carpets of concrete and air that you can see, you can’t help but feel closer to God. Now, as I try to describe the experience, I realize that I could never do it justice. There is no way for me to show the magnificence and the glory of God as well as His creation does every day.

David must have had a similar occurrence in his life. As he writes the words to this Psalm, he acknowledges that God’s creation speaks for itself. Even though no words are spoken, God’s message is proclaimed by His handiwork. “They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world.”

We are all part of God’s creation. As Christ-followers, our commission is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Why is it that we find this mission so difficult? Could it be that the message our lives send out to the world is drowning out the message our words are sending out? God’s message never changes. Maybe it is time we examine the billboard!

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Emotional Outbursts

As I have become more chronologically enriched (older), I have noticed that it is more difficult for me to hide my emotions. I grew up thinking that “real” men didn’t cry. It wasn’t so much anything that was said to me as it was the culture of the times. Most of the men I knew had been in World War II and had come home with their emotions buried deep inside of them. The things they had seen and experienced had caused them to suppress their memories, more as a defense mechanism than a conscious act. Since they didn’t show emotion, I thought it was not manly to do so. As I got older, I worked in hospitals where you had to deal with emotional situations in a very unemotional manner or you couldn’t function when you were needed. Now I have come to realize that the expression of emotion is one of the gifts that God has given us.
Hebrews 10 (NLT)
    ²³Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. ²⁴Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. ²⁵And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.

The writer of Hebrews takes us through a primer on the Christian walk. In this passage, he briefly deals with the concept of the responsibilities and opportunities that we have in dealing with each other. It’s almost like the television commercial for a major credit card. The message of the commercial is that, if you have our card, you have access to amenities that “regular” people don’t have – “Membership has its privileges.” We are not being elitist when we say that the same thing is true of those who have accepted God’s free gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. In our case the slogan would be, “Relationship has its privileges.”

First of all, we have to recognize the basis for our status. The only thing we have to show that we are part of this family is our relationship with Jesus. The writer tells us that we must not only recognize this fact, we must hold on to it with everything we have. This relationship gives us a hope that those who continue to turn their back on Jesus will never have or even understand. That hope is freedom from the very presence of sin. We have already been freed from the power and the penalty of sin. When Jesus returns, we will no longer have to live in its presence.

Now that we have established the basis for our hope, we can begin to see some of our responsibilities as Christians. The Bible tells us that we are to think of ways to encourage each other. We all know that the Christian life is not always one of peace and prosperity. Satan cannot sit idly by and watch as God’s people succeed in this world. He will attack those who claim the name of Jesus. As brothers and sisters in Christ, it is our responsibility to lift up those who are under attack and encourage them to keep their focus on the hope. This is not a conditional instruction. The Scripture does not say, “If everything is going good in your life then encourage your brother or sister.” We do this regardless of our current status. When we act on our responsibility, we will see outbursts that will change the lives of others.

Finally, the writer says, “Don’t neglect the opportunities to meet together with other believers.” In other words, we are to take advantage of the opportunities we have for corporate worship. It may be true that you don’t have to go to church to worship, but you do need the encouragement and protection that participation in a local body of believers affords. That is one of the primary responsibilities of the local church.

Time is running short. Validate your membership in the family, then act on your family responsibilities and enjoy the opportunities for fellowship that families offer. Watch out for the emotional outbursts!
We serve an awesome God!!!!!

The Word

“Did you get the word?” Many a water cooler gabfest has started with this question. Someone has a bit of information that they feel certain no one else is privy to, and they want to share it. Information is power in today’s society. Those with “the word” demand attention – those without are relegated to spend their time trying to find their own piece of the information pie. This power has become even more evident with the boom in technology. One can now get information in seconds that would have taken weeks or months before.

Hebrews 4 (ESV)
¹²For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Have you ever stopped to think about the power of words? Communication is woven into the very fabric of our lives. The majority of recent advances in technology have centered on the ability to move information from source to consumer. All you have to do is watch the people around you. It is not at all unusual to see someone talking on a cell phone or entering information into their hand held computing device. We have discovered that it is not only the information that is critical; it is also the speed at which we can obtain it.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we have a source of information that transcends every bit of data that is available in the universe – God’s Word. This passage starts off with the declaration that there is power in the word of God. Notice that the writer describes this power as living. Almost six years ago, my pastor challenged the church to read the Bible through in a year. I took his challenge and it has changed my life completely. Yesterday morning, I started my fourteenth time through the Scripture since January of 2001. The numbers don't mean anything, but the fact that I am drawn to new verses or understand new truths every time I pick up His Word, speaks to the life that God breathed into this Book. God’s power transcends time and space, and so does His Word. The words God inspired are just as relevant today as they were the day they were written. Everything in the Bible has application to our lives.

Living power is just the beginning of the story. Scripture says that this word of God cuts deep into our being, exposing us for what we really are. What we need to understand is that we are the ones that are faced with what we really are – God already knows. Scripture points out where we need to seek forgiveness and guidance. Once we are convicted of our sins, we must put them under the blood of Jesus. We are just agreeing with Him that there is sin in our hearts.

The King James Version of this passage describes the knife as a two-edged sword – it cuts both ways. Not only does it convict us, it also protects us. In Ephesians 6:10-17, Paul describes the gear that we need to be prepared for battle with our enemy. He ends his description with two critical pieces – the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. Without salvation, there is no way to stand up to Satan – you are already defeated. Unlike most implements of war, the sword is made for close combat. When the enemy has passed through all outer defenses, the sword is the only weapon left.

To effectively use the tools God has given us, we need to read the manual. Everything we need to know about living a life for Him is included in His Word. We just have to use it!

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Proverbs 14
³³Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding, but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.