Hebrews 5:12 6/28/22*

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

How long have you been a Christian? …Accepting Christ is your spiritual birth, after which you should start to grow.  But in our comfortable, unchallenging churches, we seem to be showing up every Sunday for our bottle.

Paul is frustrated with the lack of growth among believers. He says they should be digesting the meat of the gospel and teaching it to others.

How about us?  How often do we discuss difficult theology?  We speak of the love of God, as we should, but do we ever talk about Hell, repentance, consequences of sin?  Do we even call it sin? Or do we attempt to remove responsibility by calling it a condition, or alternative?

Paul is telling us to grow up.  We must understand and teach others a biblical world view.  It may not be popular, but it is the truth. 

Your first bite of solid food is to understand that there is no such thing as “your truth” or “my truth”. There is only one truth – it is static, nonnegotiable, and established by an omnipotent loving God.

Some truths are hard to swallow, but necessary for growth. The meat of the gospel should always be served with the milk, but it must be served.

If you speak truth without love, you will have theological BO and drive others away.  If you speak love without truth, you offer weak platitudes and help no one. The fact is, you can offer neither, if you don’t offer both.

A mother would never neglect to introduce solid food to her baby simply because it is harder to digest.  She would carefully include the nutrition needed to develop a strong body, because she knows her child must grow to fight off the germs and threats they will face in this world.

You and I must grow for the same reasons. Dig deeply into the scripture.  Tackle the hard questions and study to show yourself approved.  The fight is coming. Will you be strong and lean, or weak and full of milk?

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” - Winston Churchill

PSALM 23:6 6/21/2022*

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

We have looked at every verse of this beautiful psalm except this one…and it may be the most powerful one of all.

When I was in 4^th grade at Bunker Hill elementary school, my beloved teacher Mrs. Fredericks had us memorize the 23rd psalm and recite it to the class.

I have forgotten many things in the last 50 years, but I will never forget the day I recited this psalm.

Mrs. Fredericks was so proud, and later told me that I could think of “goodness and Mercy” as twin Dobermans that followed me around and protected me.  As a fourth-grade boy, that was all I needed to get interested in The Psalms.  I have never gotten that image out of my mind…and have always felt looked after and protected since that day.

This morning’s verse dovetails with the first verse of the 91^st psalm.  Psalms 91: 1 says “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”.

This “911 Psalm” reminds me that when I dwell in the shelter of my King, I can rest easy in His shadow. A bear cub is never safer then when he is in the shadow of his mother, and I am never safer then when I stand with my King.

In this world which is filled with fear and anxiety it is comforting to have “goodness and mercy” growling at my enemies, and to know the shadow of the most feared warrior of the universe literally covers me.

But the final words of this verse are the most comforting… They assure me that this is not a temporary arrangement. When I accepted Christ, my eternal life began.  I will one day transition to a new body, but the old me has already been done away with - and my eternal soul now dwells, and always will dwell, in the house of The Lord. 

Walk today with “goodness and mercy” watching your back, and the Shadow of the “Great I Am” keeping you in the shade. And rest in the assurance that it will always be that way.  

“It is one thing to believe in God; it is quite another to believe God.” - R. C. Sproul

Joshua 3:17 6/14/2022*

^“And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”

The Israelites were facing a huge challenge. The Jordan river was at flood stage, and it stood between them and the promised land.  The annual flow of the Jordan today is about 2% of what it was, before multiple dams were constructed - and in biblical times at this location it was a formidable obstacle.

The Israelites were not Navy Seals with sophisticated equipment to forge a flooded river. They were families with children and possessions. Yet God’s instructions were clear…”Cross the flooding river”. 

Our verse says they crossed on dry ground - but if you read two verses earlier - it took a step of faith to make that happen:

“¹⁵Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.”

Very clear language that the Priests stepped into the water but landed on dry ground. Their feet hit solid ground, in what moments before, was a raging river…

The water didn’t stop, and they took a step…. they took a step, and the water stopped.  That is a critical point.

In my life I prefer for God to stop the water and then tell me to walk – but that is not what happened here.  This passage tells us that the entire nation walked across without so much as a wet sandal. But it took that first step of faith to stop the flood. 

What raging river are you facing today? What situation is calling you to step into the water in obedience? Will you be like the priests whose feet touched the water’s edge and triggered a miracle? Their faith provided safe passage for all that followed them.

God is in the business of delivering His people - but our deliverance comes through faith and obedience. This morning you have a choice to make…As you face your obstacle you can turn around and leave, or gaze into the eyes of your Savior - and in obedience, take the step.

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” -  Oswald Chambers

Matthew 20:34 6/7/2022*

“Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.”

The last three words in this passage are important… What did you do when Jesus opened your eyes?

When Jesus touches your life there is no doubt that you will regain your sight … the question is what will you do with your newfound vision?

We are all either moths or cockroaches – the determination is made by which way we go when the lights come on.  Did you run to, or from the light?

In our heart of hearts, we all know we need a savior… We are aware that God is holy, and we are not - so we need deliverance.  But the rub occurs when we realize that we not only need a Savior - but a Lord as well. We have no problem being delivered – but we balk at following.  We want God to be on our team…but he requires that we join His.

These men were blind and called out for Jesus to help them.  When Christ compassionately gave them sight it changed their lives…it impacted who they were and where they were going. It altered their purpose and trajectory… What about yours?

Which way did you run when the lights came on?  Did you run toward Christ or toward your own cravings?  Did you dig into your bible and begin learning God’s Word?  Or did you use the sight He gave you to hide from Him?

If you are reading this – it is not too late.  If you ran the wrong way, like a great running back you can still “put your foot in the ground” and change directions. God restored your sight to allow you to see His Holiness and realize your need for deliverance and direction.  Accept the gift of the Holy Spirit and obey His directives and you can begin living life as you were designed to live.

Run toward the light. Stop hiding in the cracks and crevasses of this dark world and be like a moth that flies toward the glow of His love.

With clear vision, comes clear responsibility.  Use your vision to follow Him.

“The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.” - A. W. Tozer