Acts 5:21 4/29/2025

“At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.”

The High Priest had arrested the apostles and ordered them to stop preaching about Jesus.  That night, an Angel busted them out of jail and told them to go back to the temple and keep preaching.

So, the apostles found themselves facing a dilemma that you and I face daily… the world pressuring us to do one thing… and God commanding us to do another. Just like you and me, they needed to decide what to do – knowing there would be a price to pay for their decision. 

Obedience is better than sacrifice, and delayed obedience is disobedience. I am well aware of this, yet in this situation, I may have been tempted to delay… perhaps waiting to see what the reaction was to the jail break.  Maybe rationalized that technically the angel didn’t say go right now, so I’ll prepare, and go later.  I might have tried to find a verse that justified this so I could disobey self-righteously.

This “hesitating” is my specialty.  I speak forcefully on bold obedience, and will certainly encourage you to act quickly and decisively when God commands you to move… But I tend to want to discuss it and negotiate when it is my turn to act.  I can attempt to justify this, but it is simply hypocritical rebellion. 

That’s not what the disciples did, they obeyed at daybreak. I need to have that same form of obedience. Their bold actions flustered the Sanhedrin and put the disciples in a position of power they would not have been in had they delayed. 

What’s your default response when God tells you to do something controversial? Do you obey when instructions are clear, or do you “pray about it”… and try to negotiate a less costly course of action?  Our most common struggle is not trying to know the will of God… it is deciding whether or not we are going to follow it.  As soon as we learn that immediate obedience to God is the best path, our ministry will take on new power. Decide today whom you will follow… the world, or God… then obey and don’t look back.

“Prayer is good: but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is naught but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism.” - Charles Studd

Luke 23:34 4/22/2025

“Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Sunday, we celebrated the most important day in human history.  Easter is the cornerstone of the Christian faith and without it we would be eternally lost. Every year, sermons are preached about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, focusing on the horrific physical abuse and humiliation He endured.  

But this verse is often overlooked even though Jesus made the statement while being crucified, and it carries an enormous amount of theology.  This one little sentence sheds light on perhaps the most heartbreaking aspect of the crucifixion… and that is that Jesus deeply loved the people who were executing Him. 

Jesus was interceding for those who were driving the nails into His hands and feet… He loved them as they abused Him. It is one thing to die for someone, it is quite another to pray for them as they kill you. And here’s the hardest part of this verse…  He was praying for you and me. We were the ones driving the nails.  Our sin put Him on the Cross, and His love for us held Him there.  We seldom contemplate this because we don’t understand that level of love and forgiveness.

Instead, we view our granting forgiveness to others as if it were an unheard-of act of spiritual heroism… expecting applause for our compassion. Allowing offenders to  earn surface level forgiveness but never forgetting their crime. That’s not how Jesus forgives.  He doesn’t see those crucifying Him as enemies–  He loves them, and prays for them… The dilemma we face is that we are instructed to forgive in the same way.

This is a command I struggle with, and It is impossible to justify my double standard  when Jesus purchased my redemption while I was sinning. … I can never take credit for my salvation because I was still holding the hammer and nails when He Saved me.  

Easter isn’t about God ignoring my sin… it is about Him acknowledging it, taking it on Himself, and paying for it. I didn’t earn His love… I was actively doing the opposite.  Yet God’s stubborn love forgave me, did the work of restoration for me, and instructed me to do the same for others.

“It's a good thing God chose me before I was born, because he surely would not have afterwards. - Charles Spurgeon

1 Timothy 5 4/15/2025

“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Paul is cutting through the religious rhetoric, and telling us not to preach about God’s love, while ignoring the needs of our family.  It’s a harsh statement that cuts to the core of our faith.  Christianity is not about going to church; it’s about BEING the church…  And that means worshiping God and serving those He places in your life.  

Dying to yourself is not always about being a martyr… it is more often about being an unnoticed servant. Considering others as more important than yourself is the target, and we don’t hit the target often… probably because we seldom aim at it.  

Our culture teaches us to discount people that don’t benefit us.  Some adult children seem to think it’s selfish of their parents not to die on time.  They feel inconvenienced when asked  to care for those who have cared for them.  Our society has become so self-centered that it is commonplace for the  life of a baby to be spoken of in terms of convenience.  

People are created in the image of God, yet we gauge their importance by what they have done for us lately. This leads to the devaluation of the old, disabled, disadvantaged,  and the unborn.  Its basis is (as always) selfishness with the question being “how does this life improve mine?”  If it does, they are valuable – if they are a burden, they are to be discarded.  It is a disgustingly egotistical mindset that apparently God views as being worse than an unbeliever. 

So, what will you do about this verse?  How about re-evaluating your ministry?…  It’s sometimes easier to serve those who don’t know us … and we are called to spread the Word to the ends of the earth. But how are we treating those that God has placed right in front of us?  Would the ones who know you best say they feel loved and protected by you? God may call some of us to the wilds of Africa to deliver His message, but He first calls all of us to go home and make our family our most important mission field.

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." - Mother Teresa

Exodus 16:1-2 4/8/2025

“They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.  And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron ...”

The “Wilderness of Sin” is a place I am familiar with… it is a place of selfishness in the midst of blessings … it is identified by grumbling about what I want, instead of being grateful for what I have.  

The Israelites have been miraculously delivered from slavery by the parting of the Red Sea, and are being given food and drink by the Creator of the universe…  yet, they are grumbling against the men that have led the way. 

Contentiousness comes naturally for man even when there is no reason for it.  We are seldom satisfied with the blessings we receive, usually needing just a little more.  In this case, God’s children just walked through an ocean on dry land, and they are grumbling about the lunch menu. 

The angels must shake their heads at our foolishness … We have been chosen and blessed. Heaven went to war to rescue us from eternal death. God gave His only begotten Son to redeem us …and instead of falling on our faces in humble adoration, we complain. 

We are worse than the Israelites because we have something they didn’t have… The Spirit of God living inside us.  ALL our needs are met in Christ, and we are offered freedom.  

But in our culture cynicism and condescension are prevalent.  We think it’s intellectual to be derisive and negative… It’s not.  It’s simply an attribute of the “wilderness of sin”. Our separation from God has permitted our self-centeredness to dominate us and make us egotistical and small.  Let’s leave the wilderness and head back towards the garden.  When we are reunited with our Heavenly Father, our gratitude will make us salt and light, instead of bitter and dark… 

Be grateful today and live out your joy and redemption for everyone to see. It’s your call… choose to be bitter or choose to be grateful… There are plenty of reasons to do either - but you can’t do both.   

“Be grateful and you won't grumble. Grumble and you won't be grateful.” - Billy Graham

 

Judges 5:1-2 4/1/2025

"On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: “When the princes in Israel take the lead,  when the people willingly offer themselves — praise the Lord!

Read chapter 5 of Judges, and you’ll see it is a song of praise, glorifying God for what He did in chapter 4. It is full of substance, and highlights God’s omnipotence. 

My Dad enjoyed songs like that… hymns that were full of theology. He referred to the songs that are popular today as “Seven – Eleven Songs” ….“You sing the same 7 words, 11 times and sit down”.  Instead, Dad liked songs with substance.

I have been trying to keep songs and thoughts like that in my head… Looking for ways to remain cognizant of God’s power. I have built monuments… memorized scripture… filtered what I see and listen to… and focused on gratitude in my prayers.

All of these are intentional acts intended to train my brain to look back gratefully - instead of looking forward anxiously.  It changes the complexion of my day and allows me to be productive instead of wasting time in negativity and anxiety.   Scripture says the joy of the Lord is my strength and a happy heart works like medicine. Songs, journals, and monuments are all ingredients that shape the soundtrack of my life and remind my heart that God is the provider of productivity, and joy.

What “songs” are stuck in your head today?  What information are you allowing to live rent free in your brain? Whatever it is, it will dictate your mood.  Have you allowed your mind to be oppressed by fear and negativity?  Have you invited social media to divide you from friends, waste your time, and ruin your day? How’s that working for you?... Those are choices you make… and they matter.

The soundtrack you choose will have a profound impact on your life… Choose the truth and let God’s love sing in your subconscious mind all day long.  Ditch the pessimistic, snarky attitude… and make songs of praise the background music of your life.  Get off the hamster wheel of grumbling and stop wasting your days … this is the day He has made… Rejoice and be glad in it.

You must take your own thoughts captive… not the other way around.

“Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.”
- Laird Hamilton