2 John, 3 John, Jude

2 John:  John here is exhorting Christians to live in a way that pleases God and to be aware of those who do not speak God’s truth.  Our only hope to speaking the truth in love is to stay in the Word and be ready for those who would bring their own teachings.  This is a warning to avoid those doctrines or cults that place the words of their earthly leaders to be equal to or above the Word of God.

3 John:  This letter that John wrote was one that had good news and bad news.  John commends the group for their hospitality and at the same time rebukes one of the leaders.  Paul describes him as “one who loves to be their leader, but will not listen to authority.”  A true sign of following after one’s own will, and not the will of God.

Jude:  Jude was warning Jewish Christians about false teachers and wicked people who found their way into the church.  These people were teaching because God’s grace was free, behavior didn’t matter.  Jude reminds them that if that were true, why would God have delivered Israel from Egypt and yet later destroyed all those who did not believe?

Salvation is full and free, but it does not gives us license to do whatever we want.  It is the basis for us to do what is right according to the Word of God.

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory and with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Merry Christmas!

Author: Pastor David

Hebrews 1-8

The Hebrews apparently thought highly of angels.  The author of this letter to the Hebrews began by establishing that Jesus was greater than any other spiritual force.  Ch.1:6, “And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all God’s angels worship him.”

As God’s Son, Jesus’ authority surpassed any prophet or angel. He is God, yet He became man.

And because Jesus became man, we know He understands our human frustrations.  This has to be the most thrilling news that we can give people who are hurting and dying.  Jesus became flesh and experienced the same trials and temptations that we face, yet He has overcome and now is forever representing us to God, as our High Priest.  Ch4:14-16  “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Thus, we have the perfect high priest.  Only through Christ’s perfect sacrifice are we able to find forgiveness for our sins. Jesus offered this sacrifice once for all.  There is no need to look for something else.  It doesn’t exist.  He offered His sacrifice (His life) once for all.

We must see Jesus as superior to anything that was given before He came to us.  He is the perfect sacrifice, the perfect high priest.

As our High Priest, Jesus, by His sacrifice, takes away our sins and remembers them no more.

In ch.8:12: “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

I don’t know about you, but the fact that I know Jesus is interceding for me and is my great high priest, representing me to the Father, gives me great comfort that I am forever His and that my confessed sins, He remembers no more.  Praise God!!

Author: Pastor David

 

 

Philippians 1-4

As I read the chapters of Philippians, one theme continually seemed to surface.  That being, Christ is our example.  Paul pointed to Jesus as the ultimate example of servanthood and selflessness.

Let’s focus on what I believe to be the sum and substance of the book of Philippians.

Chapter 2: 5-11.  Christ, even though he was God, sacrificed, gave up everything, so that we might have the gift of salvation.

We must strive to imitate Jesus Christ, the humble servant of God.  What I am, or what I think I am, or who I am, or who I think I am, is not to be compared to the image of Christ that Paul gives us in these verses.

We are to give ourselves totally, without reservation, to do His will and be active in His service.

Author: Pastor David

2 Corinthians 1-4

This second letter by Paul to the Corinthian Church came about one year after his first letter to them.  He makes it clear to the church at Corinth that things have not gone as planned and that he was not able to follow through on his original plans to visit them both on his way to Macedonia and then on the way back.  There are some real truths Paul tries to teach this church and he is very direct when he points out the problems he has heard of about them.

Real truth to understand:  Our plans, no matter how well intended, should always be subject to change by the Lord as He sees fit.  May we never put so much emphasis on the importance of our plans that we do not allow God to change our direction mid-course.  As believers, we are subject to the sovereignty and mind of the Lord.

In chapter 2, Paul starts by being very specific about an individual who has caused grief and sadness to the body of believers.  He affirms the church that they have handled this appropriately and it is actually time to move on.  Vs. 6, “The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him.”

Real truth to understand:  Once someone repents of a grievance to the body, and the body has disciplined him, it is enough.  It is time to move on.  We need to be as quick to forgive as we are to discipline.  So often, discipline seems to be the end of the matter.  Actually, it is only the start of the process to forgive and to restore.  If God, who is so eager to forgive a repentant sinner (and that is all of us), and then puts those forgiven sins out of His view, should we not also be ready to restore the repentant brother or sister?  Discipline should never be discussed without restoration being equally important to the process.

Chapter 4 gives us a beautiful understanding of how the Presence of God dwells in us as we allow him to dwell.  In vs. 7, Paul says:  “But we have this treasure (the presence of God) in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (Paul & Company). We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Real truth to understand:  When we are in Christ, and He in us, we carry His presence into every area or facet of life.  He is in me, and expressing His presence through me as I go about doing what He has called me to do.  It is difficult to separate His purpose for my life and my daily living.  My life, and all its doings, are to show forth the Christ that dwells in this “earthen vessel.” Not only is my ministry affirmed, but my daily living as well.

So as Paul so beautifully states in vs. 16-18:  “Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”  “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” … ever heard that before?   “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, (our troubles), but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Our light afflictions (in the light of eternity) are so brief and unimportant as we compare them to the life that God has promised to all who finish the course and finish strong.

Author: Pastor David

Romans 9-11

Paul in talking to the Romans reminded them that no good work could bring salvation.  Rather, God saves His people through His love.  The sovereign God told Moses that He would show mercy where He wants to show mercy, although no one deserves or can earn His mercy.

Mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness.  Having mercy on someone is by far greater than anything else you could do for them.  When you show mercy, you go beyond love, you go beyond grace, you actually exonerate the person to whom you could have judged.

God has extended His mercy to Israel for centuries.  He loved Israel so much that He would go to great lengths to bring them to Himself.  His grace was stretched, His love was tested, but His mercy has kept Him from wiping them out of existence.

Though the Old Testament emphasized God’s mercy and pointed to God’s salvation by faith, many of the first century Jews preferred to count on their own righteousness (Pharisees), to make them acceptable to God.  Paul says he admires their zeal but is broken hearted that they have failed to understand God’s plan for salvation.

God offers salvation to every individual, regardless of ethnic background.  Salvation comes through believing in Jesus.  No amount of good works can ever be sufficient to win God’s approval.  Paul gives a very simple example of how all people are now able to be called “sons of God.”  He so beautifully gives us the meticulous process of grafting a “foreign” branch into the original tree.  It is by His grace that he ties all nations to Himself by grafting us into His “chosen people.”

Let no one ever take that away from you.  While you may not be a part of His original chosen nation, we have be grafted into the living tree and we have become sons and daughters of the most high God.  We share in all the benefits and blessings of being called “His People.”

Praise be to God!!

Author: Pastor David

John 7-8

Reading through the scriptures for today, I was drawn to a phrase that made me stop and reread the sentences each time it appeared.  Jesus, Himself, over and over repeated the phrase:  my time has not yet come!  Jesus repeats this phrase or a version of this phrase spoken about Him in Ch.7:6, 8, 30 and then again in Ch.8:20.  And while I understand the purpose and reasoning behind this phrase, I cannot help but think God has a very specific time for all things in all our lives.

Sometimes I believe we cry out in distress to God and beg for what we ask of Him without ever giving God credit for knowing the best time or the right time.  I know we believe in miracles when we pray, but have you ever felt like God was saying to you “not yet!”  I believe God is moved by our prayers and supplications, but I also believe in His sovereignty.  While all the promises of His word are yes and amen, nowhere do we read that it is as I demand.  Spoiled children are known for “I want what I want when I want it.”  How are we any better than our Savior, when He so many times would not allow things just because He knew the time was not right?

God is true to His word.  He will come through just as He has promised.  But today may not be the right time.  It doesn’t mean He has forgotten, it simply means “the time has not yet come.”

Pastor David

 

Luke 19-21

There are so many wonderful truths that we could focus on, but for today’s passage I want to focus on one incredibly important passage. Focusing on only one theme does not preclude the other themes cited are any less important. In fact, if it is in God’s Word, it is important.

The theme I want to dwell on is that of genuine worship. Oh how we need to ask ourselves if our worship of our God is pure and undefiled. God is not so much concerned about how we worship as much as where is our heart in worship.

In ch. 19, we read the story of Zacchaeus. He is certainly curious about what is happening and because of his stature, he is not able to see Jesus as he is moving through the city. But it wasn’t his physical stature that captured Jesus’ attention. It was the stature of his heart. Jesus recognized the stature of his heart. Without even talking to Zacchaeus about why he was in the tree, or why he felt he needed to see what was going on, Jesus knew his heart and invited himself to stay at Zacchaeus’ house. It’s not what we see on the outward side that qualifies us to worship God but most assuredly what is on the inside. The fact that Zacchaeus was a rich man does not matter to Jesus; what matters to Jesus is his humble yet genuine confession. When coming into the presence of Jesus, Zacchaeus genuinely repents and offers restitution for his sinful ways. This is true repentance. This is what makes his love and worship of Jesus acceptable to God.

Another reminder from the story of Zacchaeus is that of others judging him based on his past rather than his present spiritual status. Ch. 19:6-7, Zacchaeus came down out of the tree and welcomed Jesus to his home (life), but the people started their tongues wagging, “Jesus is staying with a sinner.  Zacchaeus was judged as the man in the tree, but Jesus judged Zacchaeus as the man who came down and welcomed Him. We must always be careful not to judge. Often we question someone’s act of worship because we know their past. Jesus always accepts a person’s worship based on where their heart is now.

The same principles are at work when Jesus comes into the temple and reacts to what He sees happening in the place where people come to meet with God. What He saw was people taking advantage of those coming to worship.  Hucksters, faith peddlers, people who were making a franchise out of faith. Remember, it is not how we worship, it is why we worship. When we come in humble contrition before God in thanksgiving for what He has done for us that is when our worship is acceptable to God. But don’t come with an ulterior motive. God will judge us harshly when we come with any other motive. God will never hold guiltless those who exploit the privilege of worship.

Bottom line, when we come to worship be sure it is for the right reason. God simply wants our hearts pure before him. Even those who still need forgiveness can come to worship God, His Holy Spirit will convict and if the heart responds in repentance and humbleness, God accepts that persons repentance as pure worship. Remember Zacchaeus, he went up the tree a sinner, but came down a believer.

What is our motivation when we attend church or come to worship. Are we coming to really to worship God, or have we come with an ulterior motive. Worship may take many forms, but only what comes from the heart is received. Don’t think that you have the right to judge someone else’s worship just because it does not look just like yours. Remember, it doesn’t matter what people think or say, it is God who judges us when we come. We don’t need any magical formulas to make God happy, what we need is sincerity. Remember, man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart. Where is your heart today? How will God judge your worship. I don’t know about you, but I believe I have a full time job making sure my worship is pure. My neighbors worship will be judged by God, the same as mine.

Pastor David

Luke 5-7

Luke, the physician, loves to tell us about the physical healings Jesus performed while He was here on earth.  The stories are varied and each one tells us something more wonderful than the last of the goodness of God toward His followers.

I read the passage of the paralyzed man whose friends, in order to get to Jesus, took him on his mat up to the roof, removed the roof tiles, and let him down in front of Jesus.  All I could see were the many Sunday school lessons and VBS sessions from years ago where the teacher would put the characters on the flannel board and then gradually lower a man on his mat down to the level of the others on the board.  I tell you this because I know my faith was being formed as I heard of the miracles Jesus performed.  Faith does not just happen.  “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” As we grow older the depth of the question of faith gets deeper and deeper.  Who had the faith, the paralyzed man or his friends?  When Jesus spoke, why did He say, “your sins are forgiven?”  That was much more complex than the flannel graph story.

Luke always emphasized how people responded in faith to Jesus. Whether it was the faith of the sick individual or the faith of the friends.  Who had the faith?  Was it the sick or was it the friends? What does it matter?  Faith was being exercised in the presence of the Lord.  This particular miracle Jesus performed spoke very personally to me.  As I read the passage where the paralyzed man’s friends were so determined to help him, I couldn’t help but see a special truth. This paralyzed man could not have come to Jesus without the help of his friends.  He could not have made it to the house or navigate the crowd.  He would have had to give up except for the help of his friends.  Stop and think, have you ever been so low, so sick, so bewildered that without the help of your friends, family or brothers and sisters in the faith, you simply would not have made it to Jesus.  The scripture clearly tells us that we need others to help us when we are down. “If you are sick, call for the elders….” In my ministry, how often I will talk with someone who has been sick, or shut-in and never called for the elders or the church to help them in their time of need.  Friends, we often times need each other, in order to get to Jesus.

To finish out our reading for today, I want to draw your attention to the story of the widow of Nain, in ch.7:11-17.  This miracle Jesus performed stands out because so much more than a miracle was happening.  Jesus was reaching out to a woman who had already experienced the horrendous loss that comes when you lose a loved one to death.  The woman who was walking behind the casket of her child, had already walked that path before.  She walked that path when her husband died.  She walked that path one time more than anyone should ever have to.  If you notice, Jesus ministered to the widow first before raising the son.  His heart was touched with the grief she was carrying.  However, He said something to her that no one else should ever say to someone who is grieving.  He said “don’t cry” or “stop crying.”  Only God can make that request of anyone and that is because He is the only one who can give the reason to stop.  He is the giver of life.  Only He can fill the void in a person’s life where there is such great loss.  After Jesus said “don’t cry,” He immediately touched the coffin and said, “ young man I tell you, get up.”  And life was restored to his body.  Only Jesus can do that. Only He can tell you to stop and only He can raise the dead.

You may say, “Jesus did not give back my _____________.”  However, He has given us the promise of the resurrection.  We know this world is not forever.  But, we do know that heaven is eternal.

Author: Pastor David

Mark 7-9

As I read today’s scripture, I was struck with one of those Ah, Ha! moments.  Being in the book of Mark, I expected to really focus on the miracles that Jesus performed rather than what I am about to share.  There is no getting around the fact that Jesus performed miracles by simply speaking them into existence.  And yet, as marvelous as those miracles were, Jesus taught His disciples and all who were present, a tremendous lesson in how to honestly worship God.

In Ch.7 verse 2, Jesus was being condemned for what His disciples were doing.  In fact, they (Pharisees) were trying to discredit Jesus because He was not following their rules.  Notice it does not say these rules are from the scriptures.  The rules are from their “unwritten laws” handed down from one generation to another.  In other words, traditions.  Verse 7, Jesus says their worship of Him is worthless because the things they teach are nothing but human rules; eating before washing their hands.  I suppose Jesus’ disciples are guilty of bad hygiene, but it has nothing to do with following the law.  How often do we show dishonor to God because we get so caught up in what we have manufactured as a certain standard of “holiness?”  We are hypocrites when we force our rules on someone else.   Those rules do not come from the Word, they come from our traditions and our own human rules.  Vs. 8, “you have stopped following the commands of God, and you follow only human teachings.”  Vs.13b, “by your own rules, which you teach people, you are rejecting what God said.”  How dare we come up with things in the flesh and equate them with God’s words.  That is dishonoring and disrespectful of God’s words.  We know what the “Jewish” law proclaimed about eating unclean anything.  And I’m sure if that’s all we ever knew, we might not be so quick to condemn their misunderstanding of the purpose of the law regarding “unclean” items.  But Jesus here becomes very serious when He says to His followers, “Do you still not understand?”  It is not what you ingest that defiles you, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.   All of the things that really defile us come from deep within the heart of man.  Jesus’ own words are:  “The things that come out of people are the things that make them unclean.”  Here is where Jesus lifted the law of eating “unclean” anything.

“All these evil things begin inside people, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, evil actions, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, speaking evil of others, pride and foolish living.  All these things come from inside and make people unclean.” (vs. 21-23).

Bottom line, God is displeased with anything that we manufacture as holiness or equating things we call traditions with God’s word.  And rather than being concerned with what we should eat or not eat, or how we should prepare it, Jesus told us that it wasn’t what we were taking in, but what we are giving out that is life or death to ourselves.

I know I have only commented on one chapter of our reading today, but I feel sometimes we need to be reminded that God’s word is sufficient as a rule of godliness and not what I can come up with, or what I have believed for years.  If it isn’t in God’s word, it is tradition!

Author: Pastor David

 

 

Matthew 22-24

If ever we have been given a lesson in “how not to be a follower of Jesus,” chapter 22 stands tall in what not to do.  Jesus condemned those who did what they did, for all the wrong reasons.  When our intent is to show someone else up as to who is more spiritual, it will always end badly.  This always shows that our salvation is of works rather than grace.  Salvation by works is futile; but salvation by grace is eternal.

In Chapter 23, Jesus takes the time to line list how a person should live and not live.

Hypocrisy is not tolerated by Christ in any fashion.  “Everything they do is done for men to see;” when our actions become only that of a show for someone other than the Lord, we are hypocrites and in the same boat as the Pharisees.  It is easy for someone to say all the right things, but do all the wrong things. When we window dress for the sake of someone or a group of someones, we are only pleasing men and not God.

How empty servanthood is when we do not serve for the right reasons.  It makes us bitter, dry and empty.  Jesus likened it to “whitewashed tombs.”  It looks great from the outside, but inside it only houses dead men’s bones.

In Ch. 24, Jesus tells His listeners how the end will come.  He speaks both of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD as well as the end of time.  This is one of those timeless chapters.  Jesus, speaking to His disciples, tells them to be watchful that they do not fall prey to the false Christs that will come in the “last days.” The possibility of being deceived is equaled with the fall of Jerusalem.  He tells them of impending persecution and a “falling away” of believers.  But He also assures them that the Gospel will be preached to all nations before the end will come. This is a lot to digest . . . false Christs, deceivers, and the Kingdom being fulfilled.

Matthew concludes with the message that we must always be prepared for the Coming of the Lord.  There is no way for anyone to know the day or the hour of the return of Christ; so then how ought we to live?  Living daily for Christ and following His commands is the only assurance that we will be ready when He returns.

Matt. 2:42, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”

Author: Pastor David