Then They Will Know. . .

Throughout the book of Ezekiel the phrase (or a form of it), "Then they will know that I am the Lord" is repeated often at the end of a chapter or passage.  God speaks to His people through the prophet Ezekiel and it seems that God's goal is to make sure that the troubled world in which Ezekiel lives knows that there is a God and that He wants them to know who He is.
Ezekiel's life was characterized by faithfully relaying to the world he lived in the message God gave him and by his own personal obedience to God.  God communicated warnings and promises through Ezekiel that would eventually be fulfilled in God's timing.  Through a combination of Ezekiel's obedience and God's faithfulness to His word, Ezekiel's world would know that there is a God and that He is Lord.
We might not be prophets but we, like Ezekiel, live in a world that desperately needs to know God. 
The Bible says that in the past God spoke through the prophets but now He has spoken through Jesus, His Son (Hebrews 1:1, 2).  As followers of Jesus, God calls us to reveal Him to our world through the message of His word and the testimony of our lives.  If we will do that, there's a much greater chance that the troubled world in which we live will come to know that there is a God, that He is the Lord and our world is NOT simply spinning out of control. 

Born Like Jesus

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day filled with family, food and fun.  That's something to be thankful for!  I hope your special day was a blessing to you. 
Now we begin the 'official' move toward the Christmas holiday.  Black Friday launches our culture into a time of intensified consumption rationalized under the heading of generous giving.  In the midst of the spending and buying frenzy, the first Sunday in Advent propels the Church toward celebrating the historic event that changed the world: the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.
The Christmas story is a familiar one.  Jesus, Son of God, born of a virgin mother through an act of divine conception whereby only God Himself, creator of all that exists, could be the Father of Jesus.  We could say that Jesus was born of imperishable, incorruptible, eternal 'seed'; not of the natural cell or perishable, corruptible and finite human 'seed' that characterizes all other human life, like us.
Amazing isn't it?  Here is something no less amazing for you to think about this Christmas season.  The Bible says that when we are given new life by the grace of God through faith in Christ we are spiritually reborn; "born again (now get this!), not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23).  Did you catch that?  When we come into this world we are all born of that natural, perishable 'seed'.  But when we are born again spiritually, we are spiritually conceived by God in a divine act just as Jesus was! 
If you are born again through faith in Jesus there has been a holy and supernatural act of God to conceive new life in you.  Kind of gives the Christmas theme of birth a whole new meaning doesn't it?

A Thanksgiving Thought

Gratitude is the hinge pin that holds the door of prayer while it swings open widely to the heart of God.
Rev. Don Kirsch

Give thanks in all things.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

DOING Christianity

The book of James is practical Christianity written to followers of Jesus.  It is for the Church, for us.  James' challenge to us is summed up in 1:22 - "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says."  In its pithy style, The Message version words it this way, "Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!"
James is a call to action.  It's about applying the word of God in ways that reveal God's word and what we believe in ways that produce visible results.
That makes sense, doesn't it? James 2:1 says, "don't show favoritism."  We can comply with that.  "Humble yourselves before the Lord" (4:10); that takes some work but we can do that.  "Let your 'Yes' be yes and your 'No' be no" (5:12).  In other words, don't try to back up your words with "swear to God" or other words we use to try to convince people that what we say is true.  Most of us could adjust to doing that.
But what happens when you get to the part that says that if a fellow believer is sick, call the leaders to gather around, pray and anoint the person with oil in the name of the Lord AND THE PRAYER OF FAITH WILL MAKE THE PERSON WELL; THE LORD WILL RAISE HIM UP. (James 5:14, 15)?  Are you going to just listen to what the word says or do it?
God wants us to believe His word, obey it and leave the results to Him.
We need to take Him at his word when He says, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective "(James 5:16).  That is applied Christianity; that is faith in action!

How to Get Wisdom Without Having to Wait Until You're Old

I once thought that wisdom was a natural result of growing older.  I have known a few wise people and most of them were pretty old.  I figured that if a person, if I, could live long enough, accumulate some worthwhile knowledge and experience, and avoid repeating the mistakes of earlier life, I could be counted among the wise.  But that's not how it works.  Experience and knowledge combined with some lessons learned at the school of hard knocks might make one street smart even somewhat of a philosopher.  But true wisdom does not originate with us; it comes from God.

The brand of wisdom that the Bible says "comes from heaven" has some characteristics that set it apart from the wisdom of age, experience and knowledge.  "[It] is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."  (James 3:17, 18).   There's only one way to get that kind of wisdom; ask God for it (James 1:5).  The Bible says that if you and I lack godly wisdom, we should ask God for it and He will deliver.  But we must not doubt when asking.  We must trust that He means what He says and will do what He says He will do.

No matter how old or young you are, wisdom is yours for the asking; God's variety of wisdom.  It was a long time into my life before I learned this.  Too many years passed until I discovered that God would give me wisdom if I would just ask Him, believing that He would provide.  Don't wait until you're old.  You don't have to!

IN HERE, OUT THERE, UP THERE

The book of Hebrews sets out the superiority of 1) Jesus to any priest under the old covenant and 2) his sacrifice to any of those under the former Jewish system of worship.  Hebrews 13:10-16 describes it this way:  Under the old sacrificial system, the High Priest carried the blood into the Most Holy place (IN HERE) in the tabernacle or the temple for atonement for sins.  The carcasses of the animals were burned outside the camp (OUT THERE). 
In the case of Jesus, however, and what makes him and his sacrifice superior, he was crucified OUT THERE.  Not in the holy place but out where the garbage was dumped, where death happened; outside the camp.  Crucified to make us holy through his own blood (Heb 13:12). 
Therefore, God's word calls us to join him OUT THERE where life hurts and the stench is strong.  And we can do that, the Bible says, because we have another address waiting for us UP THERE, "a city that is to come".
IN HERE where it's clean, fragrant and safe, in the holy place of our churches with our 'holy' friends is not our permanent home.  Although we would prefer to stay IN HERE, we dare not get too comfortable and attached to what we have IN HERE.  Jesus has called us to join him OUT THERE and it is a sacrifice to go there.  But unless we join him OUT THERE we have no rightful claim to what he offers us UP THERE.
It's been a while since I have made any kind of a sacrifice to be OUT THERE with him.  I'm going to do something about that.  How about you?

Embracing a Different Perspective on Hardship

This morning I came face to face once again with that troubling statement in Hebrews 12:7(NIV)  "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons."  Then the questions flooded my mind.  The broken heart of a mother whose child has died - God's discipline?  The loss of a job - God's discipline?  A sudden disabling accident - God's discipline?  A diagnosis of cancer or sudden heart attack - God's discipline?
Are we to take from this that God treats us as His kids by bringing hardship upon us OR does He treat us as His kids by going through the hardship with us rather than rescuing us from hardship, using it supernaturally to grow our faith and to produce godly character in us?  
In addition to a careful consideration of the surrounding context of this verse, I looked at some other English translations to help me understand better what God wants me to learn here.
The King James version of the same verse:  "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons."  And the paraphrase, The Message:  "This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training."
The first 13 verses of Hebrews 12 teach us that to 'win' in the spiritual journey we must be willing to submit to our heavenly Coach like Jesus did. 
A good coach who wants an athlete to discover the greatness within and to compete to win will subject that competitor to discipline; discipline as training, not punishment.  No good coach would punish an athlete to get more out of them.  Punishment would break the spirit and result in resentment and rebellion.  That's not to say that God doesn't punish His kids when we've got it coming.  But this passage is about discipline; God's effort as a loving, divine Father to help us become the best we can be for His glory. 
Think about the following verses and what they say about how God views hardship and suffering in the lives of His children:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4 (NIV).
"[Let us] rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope."   Romans 5:3-4 (NIV).
These verses teach us that God wants us to see hardship, trials and suffering as having redemptive value.  Though there's nothing inherently good about suffering, the Bible teaches that suffering can produce positive results in our faith and character when through it we are drawn closer to God and into a life of greater trust in Him.  Maybe that's why He doesn't bail us out of every trial.  Maybe that's why we are urged to "endure hardship as discipline."
Let me hear from you on this. 

Be Faithful and Be Careful!

We don't often have the best of conditions in which to be faithful witnesses to the goodness and truth of God.  In fact, circumstances are usually just the opposite but God expects us to be faithful anyway.
Such was the case for Ezekiel.  The people of God were five years into a time of exile that would last 70 years.  The memory of the destruction of Jerusalem and their temple was still fresh and they wondered if they would ever adjust to the 'new normal' of life in a foreign land among a pagan people.
These were the conditions when God called Ezekiel to be His spokesman. 
The people were suffering and their focus was on their circumstances and on how to survive in conditions they had never experienced before.
God warned Ezekiel that the people were rebellious and defiant and probably would not listen to what God had to say to them.  I'm guessing that they were mad at God for their circumstances and had no intentions of listening to anything He had to say.  Sounds much like conditions in our world today!  But Ezekiel was to speak to them on God's behalf anyway (Ezekiel 2:3-7).
We as followers of Jesus, live in a culture that is becoming increasingly hostile to God and His word.  But we are to share the good news of God's love "whether or not they listen".  It can be very discouraging for a faithful follower of Jesus when repeated attempts to introduce people to Christ are met with hostility and rejection.  It is tempting to just give up and say, "Lord, I've had it!  You deal with them!"  But then how are we any different than those who rebel against God when we try to speak to them on His behalf?
God warned Ezekiel, ". . .take care. . .that you don't rebel like these rebels." (Ezekiel 2:8, Msg).
As He did for Ezekiel, God stands faithfully with us in our pursuit of obedience to Him.  Our call is to relay His message and guard against becoming part of the problem while we attempt to announce the solution.

Why We MUST Spend Time Together

Hebrews 10:25 says, "Let us not give up meeting together,  as some are in the habit of doing. . ."
Some take this out of its context and apply it to gathering for worship on Sundays, using it as leverage for requiring nothing less that consistent and regular worship attendance and rebuking those who fail to do so.  But this only part of a collection of verses which, when considered together, mean so much more than "let's be sure we all go to church on Sundays."
In the early part of Hebrews 10 Paul teaches us that because of Jesus and his sacrificial death on the cross for our sin, we have unobstructed access to God Himself.  In verse 19 he says that since that is true we have the opportunity and responsibility to act on that reality in several ways.  Each of those ways is introduced with 'let us'.  Verse 22 "let us draw near to God"; 23 "let us hold unswervingly to the hope we possess"; 24 "let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds"; and 25, "Let us not give up meeting together. . .but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Whether it's meeting together on Sundays for worship, in a Bible study group at some one's home or over a cup of coffee at the local sidewalk bistro, we need to make getting together as followers of Jesus a priority.  It was a priority for him to make it possible for us to do so!
I MUST meet together with my brothers and sisters in the faith frequently because I need to be occasionally prodded (spurred on) and encouraged (reminded) to keep up the work of loving others and doing what God has created me to do. 
There's coming a day when you and I will give an account to the Lord for how we lived every day as disciples of Jesus; that day might be closer than we think.  When it comes 'let us' be able to say that we met often to encourage each other to live as Jesus calls us to live and then we went out to do just that.

On This Veteran's Day

From the heart of a grateful nation, HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY to all who now serve and have ever served the cause of liberty in the uniforms of our armed forces.

May the blessings of God remain upon you!

Just What You Need When You Need It Most

Genesis 14 describes a war that broke out between five kings and their forces on one side and four kings and theirs on the other.  When it was over, the city of Sodom had been overrun and the invading army had taken all the city's food, some of the citizens and fled with everything.  Lot, the nephew of Abram, God's man in the region, was also taken captive along with all his possessions.  When uncle Abram heard about this he put together a special ops force of 318 warriors and launched a nighttime rescue and recovery raid.  He was able to retrieve nephew Lot, all his stuff and the others that had been kidnapped.
Abram returned victorious and undoubtably pretty exhausted after the raid.  As Abram and his troops arrived home Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God came out to meet Abram and his men with bread and wine and a blessing from God (Genesis 14:18-20).  This must have been a refreshing gesture of kindness and encouragement for Abram and his troops; just what they needed after a hard-fought battle.  Moved by this expression of divine provision, Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had captured.
Hebrews describes this Melchizedek as a mystery and, in some ways, compares him with Jesus: "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest forever." (Hebrews 7:3). 
We are left wondering where this guy came from and we know nothing of where he went.  He just seems to appear on the scene with just what Abram needed at just the right time.
God is like that, isn't He?  The battle wears us out and seemingly out of nowhere, God shows up in someone to bring us refreshment, encouragement; even forgiveness!  Yes, forgiveness.  "At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6).  That's the glory of the God who loves us.

More Than Helpful

God's purpose in bringing us to faith in Christ is not just so that we can be better people who can be helpful to others.  I have met some very nice, very kind and helpful people who could not be less interested in hearing about Jesus much less in following him.
 In Hebrews Paul commended the Christians to whom he wrote for the way they demonstrated their love for God by helping "His people" (Hebrews 6:10).  However, he was also critical of their lack of spiritual growth (Hebrews 5:11-12).
One might ask, "What's the big deal about spiritual growth if people are being kind and helpful?"  It's not a big deal unless Jesus expects more from his followers than being good people.  It seems that he does!  Remember the Great Commission? Jesus said, "Go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19), not 'Go and be good and helpful people'.
This is what Paul was getting at where he said to these followers of Jesus, ". . .by this time you ought to be teachers. . ." (Hebrews 5:12).  Teachers, not spiritual first graders!  Spiritual first graders aren't equipped to "go and make disciples" (Hebrews 5:13).  They can be good, kind and helpful people but that's about it!
God didn't bring you to Jesus to stay where you are.  You were rescued from sin and death to GO; to GO on to maturity in the faith; to GO on growing in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ; to GO and introduce others to the Savior.  Now that's being helpful; REALLY helpful!

Even When it Hurts

Baruch was the devoted friend and companion of the prophet Jeremiah during one of the most troubling times in the ancient history of God's people.  There was much suffering among them as the Babylonian forces descended upon them as God's punishment for their idolatry and disobedience to  Him.  Baruch's role as friend to the prophet in those days was to record the words of the Jeremiah and take care of his personal needs.
One day as Jeremiah was dictating the words of God while his secretary, Baruch wrote them on a scroll, Jeremiah's attention abruptly turned to Baruch and he said (my paraphrase), "Baruch, God has a message for you.  God is aware that you have been complaining about your own suffering and how 'worn out' you are with all that's been going on (Jeremiah 45).  But He is at work here, doing what needs to be done.  So what makes you think you should be treated differently than anyone else?  You'll get through this alive but don't expect any special treatment." 
I would guess that Baruch was plenty shocked by what his friend said to him; maybe even hurt, not by the words but by the fact that his closest friend would talk to him this way.
Jeremiah loved his friend.  More importantly, God loved him and God trusted Jeremiah to challenge Baruch's attitude as one of God's children.
There are times when we all need a good dose of reality to keep us firmly grounded in our faith.  Jesus got after Peter and the other disciples when it was necessary but he did it out of love for them and love for God.  Proverbs 27:5-6 says, "Better is open rebuke than hidden love.  Wounds from a friend can be trusted but an enemy multiplies kisses."
Baruch's name means 'blessed'.  He was blessed having a friend who would speak the truth to him lovingly.  If you have such a friend, you too are blessed.  If you ARE such a friend, someone else is blessed.

The Choice is Yours

God wanted His people to stay and trust Him to protect them; they wanted to run to the 'safety' of Egypt to escape the threat of suffering and death at the hands of the Baylonians (Jeremiah 41:17, 42:7-17).  They had already made up their minds to go to Egypt but they decided to ask the prophet Jeremiah to find out what God had to say about it anyway (Jer 42:2).  They learned that if they decided to ignore God's advice and pressed on for Egypt, the outcome would be catastrophic.  They went anyway.  You can read in Jeremiah 43 and 44 how that turned out for them.
Sounds foolish doesn't it?  But don't we do the same thing?  Life gets hard, conditions get dicey and we stand at a crossroad.  We can obey God as best we understand His word or we can go our own way.
Our way might look really good while God's way makes no sense at all so we choose 'Egypt'.  It might even work out for a while; seem like the right decision.  But eventually we will clearly see that we would have been much better off if we had obeyed God.  What a painful lesson that can be!
Hebrews 4:8 says, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."  We stand at that crossroad every day where we have to choose to obey God or go to Egypt.  God will never mislead you no matter how much better Egypt seems to look.  How will you choose today?

Something to Count On

I don't look forward to throwing out those old jeans.  They are so comfortable but they are also starting to look pretty raggedy and my wife doesn't think raggedy looks good on me. 
Jeans wear out like many other things in life.  Our health, finances, job, even relationships; those things that we count on to give life meaning and stability can deteriorate and leave us with a sense of loss and disequilibrium.
The Bible says that even the heavens and the earth will wear out and one day perish (Hebrews 1:10-11).  Where does that leave us if we can't even count on the universe to hold up?  We sure can't count on the other stuff to endure and provide any lasting satisfaction.
Here's some good news!  The Bible also says that while everything in the created order has a shelf life and is subject to expiration, Jesus will always "remain the same and [his] years will never end" (Hebrews 1:12).  Jesus is the one Constant among all that God has provided.  When the finances dry up, heatlth goes south, the job ends and the relationship breaks apart (in other words, when the heavens and earth wear out), Jesus will still be there!  Now there's something we can count on!

A Very Good Reason

Onesimus had been Philemon's slave but perhaps due to a breach of trust or wrongdoing on the part of Onesismus, he left abandoning his relationship with Philemon.  Onesimus ends up in the company of the great follower of Jesus, Paul who takes him under his wing and leads him in a life-changing experience with Christ.  Paul sends a new Onesimus back to Philemon with a letter urging Philemon to accept his former slave not as a servant but now as a brother in the Lord (Philemon 16) and offering an extraordinary explanation for why things have turned out the way they have:  "Perhaps the reason. . .he was separated from you for a little while was [so] that you might have him back for good . . .[and] better. . ." (Philemon 15).
The story is a familiar one. Jesus told a story of a prodigal (wasteful) son who abandoned his relationship with his family but later returned also transformed.
A friend recently told me the heartbreaking story of how one of her children, a devout follower of Jesus as a child and teen now a young adult, had drifted away from the Lord and the values that had been so much of the formative years and more toward a destructive lifestyle.  As heartbreaking as those stories are, our faith in God lived out in our relationship with Jesus and shaped by the truth of his word, assures us that there might be a very good reason known only to our loving God at the time.  Can we live with that when the time comes?  Only by grace.

Our Bring-Backer God

In Jeremiah 29:14 God tells His people that He will bring them back when their time of exile, banishment and captivity is over.  Separation from their land and their center for worship was the result of their disobedience to God and to them, amounted to separation from the fellowship of God.  But God had a plan for them (29:11).  He had always intended to bring them back; back to Himself.
He loves us enough to let us wander for a while sometimes or to even send us into 'exile' to achieve His purposes in us but His goal is always to bring us back.
If you are in a place of exile sensing a separation from God you can be sure that because He loves you, He is still at work.  Behind the scenes He is preparing your character, pulling conditions together, orchestrating circumstances and working in and through others until the time is right for you to come back to Him.  And when that time comes, He will make sure that you don't miss it.  It will be clear to you and your wait will be over!