Jesus On Stand By

This morning found me continuing on in the Book of Acts, chapter 23. Having read this story many times, there is a temptation to sort of gloss over it. Most of us who read the Bible over and over have probably been there. This section seems to be more of a historical record of Paul and his dealings with those who wanted him arrested and even dead. Interesting story but for a student like myself, who looks deeply at the scriptures for the spiritual applications it gives, it’s easy to think there really isn’t much to glean out of this passage.

 

But that is a mistake. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “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.”

 

If nothing else is gleaned from this chapter, there is one key verse that must pierce our soul and our spirit. Read.

 

Acts 23:11

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

 

Paul is in the midst of a difficult trial and his very life is at risk. And Jesus stood by Him. Paul is simply to stay faithful to be the witness God has called him to be and he can know, that Jesus is with him and he must take courage.

 

This is a Biblical truth that each and every one of us must lay hold of. We must testify to the facts of the resurrection. As Easter approaches it is a reminder of the resurrection. And if we are Christ’s, then we too, have been resurrected.

 

Romans 6:3-5

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

 

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

 

We have been born again unto new life. We are witnesses to His resurrection by being witnesses to our own resurrection into new life in Christ.

When we share that witness, Jesus stands by us and we can take courage, just as Paul did in Acts 23.

 

The message of Acts 23 is that God is in control, He will move things into place as needed so that we can be His witness, whether in Jerusalem, Rome, or our own hometown.

 

As Easter draws near, let us share the news of the resurrection of Jesus and how because of Him being raised from the dead, so were we. Jesus will be there standing right be your side.

 

How to Deal With Fear

Most of us have, at times, experienced those places in our lives when we just struggle to get a grip on our fears. There is no end to the things of this life that can paralyze us with fear or anxiety. Loss of jobs, health, relationships, and even sometimes simply serving God are all just a small list of the things we get anxious about. We remember the famous words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Those are nice words. They fit well sometimes in the moments of our lives when our fears are completely without merit. But truth be said, there are things to fear. There are things in this life that are very difficult to deal with and we should never brush off people who are facing trials of life that have serious possibilities and conclusions.

Pain is real and there are countless types of pain. There are illnesses, such as cancer, that have a very scary prognosis. People face real issues every day that are life-altering and bring very heavy burdens to their lives. We need to have something in our lives that does more than write off our fears.

Enter Jesus. Jesus was a realist. He walked this earth as a man and was tempted in all ways just as we are according to Hebrews 4:15. He knew fear. He knew it was real and He knew what it felt like to be facing something terrible, so terrible that it brought Him agony beyond any.

Luke 22:44
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Jesus knew fear. Notice though where He is in this time of agony. He is in prayer. He is in the presence of His Father, Almighty God.

There is a temptation to think God doesn’t care about your situation. That was Jesus, you say. Of course, God was watching over Him and was listening to His prayers, but I’m not Jesus. I’m not important. Baloney, that is the devil trying to drag you down.

Jesus knew we would have weak faith at times. On more than one occasion he even rebuked His disciples for that, but only because they needed to be reminded of the truth of how solid the object of their faith is. We serve a God who is so much bigger, so much stronger, so much more caring, so fuller of grace and mercy, than we can ever imagine. God is infinite. You must learn what that means.

Jesus tells us just exactly what infinite means in terms of how ell God knows us and is watching over us. Read.

Matthew 10:26-33
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So, everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not one single sparrow falls to the ground that God doesn’t know about. Even the hairs on your head are numbered. God knows every little thing going on in your life. He knows the beginning, the middle, and the end. Despite what some false teachers may say, he has not left us to our own. He is sovereign and He is in control. Nothing happens without His knowledge and if it happens, he allowed it. He is God.

I hope this encourages you this morning in whatever fears you face. Don’t feel foolish if your fear today seems silly and ridiculous. Take it to Him in prayer.

There are things to fear, Jesus made that clear. He said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Fear God. But if you will humble yourself before Him and confess that you do fear Him, He will give you new life and adopt you into His family. He will call you sons and daughters. He is the perfect father, a father who will allow only what is necessary in your life to purify you and at the end make you like His son, Jesus. He will turn your sorrows into joy.

Open His Word today and you will find the promises of the new life in Christ. It is a life of love. I leave you with this scripture truth.

1 John 4:15-18
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

How do you deal with your fear? Be perfected in love.

 

 

 

Sitting In God's Good Grace

Sitting here this morning in the dark looking out the window. It’s raining, kinda foggy, and every now and then a little thunder breaks the silence. I don’t know if I’ve ever known a more peaceful moment. I read my Bible, studied it with my Holman NT Bible Commentary, and simply have been sitting in the presence of God, sometimes praying to Him, sometimes just listening. This is the verse He gives me to share.

Psalms 145:9
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

My lesson spoke about the “common grace” of God. This is the grace He has shown to all of us, whether we believe in Him or not. This is the grace that keeps us fed, safe, and watches over all of us, even when we are living in direct rebellion to Him.

Yet, for reasons that make no sense to my earthly mind, He chose to call me out of the life that only exists in His common grace and has brought me into the grace of salvation that comes only through faith in His Son, Jesus.

This morning I am resting in the peace of His uncommon grace. You can as well. If you are reading this, He is calling you to come to Him. Read this verse. It’s for you.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

What To Do When Fear and Anxiety Try and Overcome You

Saying we have faith in God, and actually living it out, are two different things. The truth is that sometimes it is quite difficult to not be anxious and not to fear the worst. Countless times in my Christian life I have seen God answer prayers and do things that far exceeded my petitions. Yet, just this past week as I faced surgery to remove my gallbladder, I wrestled with anxiety. I barely slept Tuesday night as I just couldn’t get a grip on my fear. I hate medical procedures and this particular surgery played right into my fear. I prayed and I prayed, and I remembered all the times God has brought me through the storms and trials of my life. Yet, I couldn’t let go of the fear.

He did it again yesterday. Things couldn’t have gone better than they did. I am home recovering and yet, even though God brought me comfort and even some joy in the midst of that surgery, I find the temptation to fear the recovery. Me, the guy who does nothing but preach how we must trust God, struggles to overcome his fears.

The good news in all this is that even when we waver in our faith, God the Father, though Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, understands us and never let’s go of us. I love what the psalmist tells us about God in Psalm 103:13-14, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” God knows we are frail, we are weak, and we struggle in our humanity. Yet, He has compassion for us in our weakness.

This is no excuse for our sins, of course. It doesn’t mean we should just give up trying to trust Him. The Gospel is good news because Jesus died for us, which demonstrates the compassion we read of in Psalm 103. And when Jesus ascended back to Heaven to be with the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit back to dwell within each and every believer. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us, guides us, and comforts us in our times of need. He even helps us to pray when we don’t even know what to pray as Romans 8:26 declares to us that “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”  

We are in good hands, when we are in the hands of God.

This does not mean things are always going to go our way. This morning my Bible chapter was Acts, chapter twelve and in this lesson, we are reminded that God is sovereign. This means He is in control. Which means we are not. Take time to open your Bible and read this chapter. A lot happens in the twenty-five verses.

King Herod arrests some of the church men and severe persecution begins. James, the brother of John, is put to death. Then Herod has Peter arrested. Things look really bad at this point. Certainly, fear would be a normal reaction for Peter and the others in light of James’ execution. The first lesson we can find here is an important one. Sometimes God allows physical harm and even death to come to His children at the hands of evil men. Sometimes, He protects them. James dies, apparently without any type of trial. Peter is spared, at least pending a public trial. There is a temptation to ask why James, why not Peter? The answer is simply that God’s ways are higher than ours, and there isn’t always an answer that satisfies us. One of God’s greatest attributes is that He is sovereign. He knows what He is doing, He sees a much bigger picture than we. We are called to walk in faith.

Walking in faith, as we know, can be difficult. The next lesson in this story is to see how they responded.

Acts 12:5
So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church..

The importance of prayer cannot be overstated. The church not only prayed, they earnestly prayed. The NASB uses the term fervent. This wasn’t just some words spoken out loud with little emotion, it means they were talking to the living God in heart-felt devotion and faith in God.

There is another important aspect to this prayer. It was the church that prayed, not just individuals. When I went to the hospital for my surgery yesterday, I had already a multitude of Christians praying for me. People were praying for me who go to many different churches. It doesn’t matter which building you go to or what denomination is written on their sign, the Bible teaches us that the church in its purest form, is made of every single believer who is saved by their faith in Christ. The Book of Acts talks a lot about the unity that exists within the world-wide church and when it uses the term that is its meaning. It honors God when we unify as the church.

God answers these prayers for Peter in a miraculous way. We see an angel show up, we have a bright light in the cell, and then Peter’s chains simply fall off him. The gates open on their own and Peter walks out following the angel. A true miracle.

Not good news for the guards, who Herod quickly executes. Herod’s anger continues to grow and in another display of God’s sovereign power, because Herod refused to glorify Him, an Angel of the Lord appears, and Herod is eaten by worms and dies.

Is that a wild chapter, or what?

Take some time and read this chapter over. Meditate on it. The truth we come to is simply this; God is sovereign, and He is in control. We will not always understand what He ordains and allows, but no matter what, we must walk by faith, not by sight.

The battles of life are hard. There will be some things we simply won’t understand, but we cannot fall into the trap of why this and why not that. We must build our faith and we do that through reading our Bibles, being part of God’s church, fervently praying without ceasing, and letting the Holy Spirit be our guide, our teacher, and being the power in us to do