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

How to Win in the Search For Joy

This morning as I was spending my time in study with God’s Word, the idea of joy was brought to light. I went to bed with feelings of heaviness and depression seeking to overwhelm me. Many of you can relate. For me, it wasn’t as if there was some terrible event lurking at my door, it was just a result of being tired and triggered by a small irritant, too minor to even mention. But life wears on a person. I know that the day to day life of work, kids, and keeping up the house, is for so many, harder than it would seem. So, the battle for the Christian to have and maintain joy, is real and difficult. And we have an enemy, the devil, always lurking around casting little grenades of tensions that will blow up our joy, if we are not careful.

The Christian life is a life of warfare. We are in a battle every day. This is why we are instructed in Ephesians 6:11 to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” One of his schemes, is to be sure we do not live with joy.

But the devil isn’t just running loose and wreaking havoc upon us unfettered. I don’t have time to fully develop the doctrine of God’s sovereignty here, every Christian needs to search and study the scriptures to gain a better grasp on this doctrine and how it applies to suffering. For me personally, it was the Book of Job that illuminated this area in my life. Understanding the doctrines of sovereignty and suffering is the key to our being able to live in joy. Since we know that without faith it is impossible to please God, Hebrews 11:6, faith is an imperative to the Christian walk. And since joy is different than happiness, which depends on circumstance, joy requires faith. It means that in spite of suffering and pain, we trust in God so much, that we do not turn from Him with anger and bitterness when He allows things to happen that we do not like.

When we look at the life and the death of Jesus, we find something going on that doesn’t fit with our concepts of joy. Listen to author of Hebrews as he shows us an amazing aspect of the death of Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2
 …keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.

Jesus endured the cross for the joy that lay before Him. What could possibly lay before Him in the slow and painful death He would face on the cross that would bring joy? The answer is that the result of His death, would be His glorification, as He knew that He would die, be resurrected, and ascend back to the glory He left to sit down at the right hand of God’s throne.

My friends, we have the same hope for our Christian lives. As we live out this life, we will have troubles. Sorrow will come our way. Suffering of one form or another is inevitable. But as we face this life and its end, death will come. But Jesus has overcome death and just like Jesus, we will ascend to be with God. We shall dwell in the presence of the glory of Almighty God. This means we have reason to endure for the joy set before us. It means every day, whatever we face, we have reason to have joy.

Yet, here we are, struggling day to day to have joy. What must we do? The answer is in His Word.

Psalm 119:111
Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

Jeremiah 15:16
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

Step one is to read His Word. Feast on it. Devour it. It is filled with the hope of our salvation.

John 16:24
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Step two is to pray. Ask God in the name of Jesus to make your joy full. We are told to pray without ceasing, so pray without ceasing. Ask God to give you joy, even in the midst of pain and suffering.

Psalm 100:1-2

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!  Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

Step three is to serve God and do it with singing. Your church has plenty of opportunities to serve in and the world is filled with needs. Nothing makes you forget your own troubles more than helping someone with theirs.

Philippians 2:17-18
Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.  Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Ephesians 5:18-19
 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.

Step four is fellowship. Go to church. Hang out with fellow Christians. Encourage and be encouraged with other believers. We need each other.

James 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Step five may be the hardest step. But it can be accomplished if we walk in the Spirit and we follow the other steps. Count it joy, all joy, even in the trials of life. Even in our worst pain and our darkest night, we can call it joy because we can know it is a test of our faith. God would not test our faith if we had none. Remember that you are a child of God. That is enough to make it all worth bearing.

The Bible has much more to say on joy. Seek it out by seeking out Jesus.

I leave you with one more scripture. It is our prayer for each other.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

God Bless!

How to Have Complete Assurance That You Are Saved

If you are anything like me, there are still times in your life that you struggle with your own assurance of salvation. Certainly, to doubt the work of Christ on the cross would be wrong and even sinful. The Bible is clear that Jesus came into the world to save sinners and His death and resurrection were effective. But it is impossible to read the entire counsel of scripture and fail to see that there are many in the world who have deceived themselves in believing that they are truly saved. It was Jesus who made this clear by saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” - Matthew 7:21-23  

Paul instructed us in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

It is possible to fail the test. The people Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7 called Jesus, Lord. They prophesized, cast out demons, and did mighty works, all in His name. Yet, He called them “workers of lawlessness” and said he never knew them. These people will not enter into His eternal rest, He told them to depart from His presence. They failed the test.

So, this brings up the question, and it is of the utmost importance we find the answer, how do I know I am saved?

Sometimes the Bible just doesn’t quite seem to make it easy to understand some of the things of life. But the answer to this question is clear. The Apostle John has posed the question and given the clear answer in 1 John 2:3-6. Read what he says.

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.  Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:  whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

How does he say we come to know Him? By keeping His commandments and by keeping His words. The blessed life of the true Christian is lived by being “In Christ”, and John tells us that we are “In Christ” because we walk “in the same way in which He [Jesus] walked.”

This is clear writing and easily understood. We can only have assurance of salvation by living a life committed to walking as Christ did, in complete obedience to God and His Word. Jesus, the Son, always did the will of the Father. It is through a committed life to the commandments of scripture, in which we will experience the fullness of joy, because in this, we know we are in Christ.

Does this mean our lives will be lived in perfection? No, it doesn’t. Obviously, John saw that presumption coming and squelched it in the verses just before he told us how to be sure we are in Christ.

1 John 2:1-2
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

We aren’t saved by our ability to follow His commandments. Praise God or I would be doomed, for I still struggle mightily. If you were honest, you would say the same. You see the standard by which we must judge ourselves, (Take a look at 1 Corinthians 11 for a study on this principle), is not each other, but Jesus. He is the gold standard. He is the goal. It is His walk and His walk alone, that we must seek.

I believe in the doctrine called the Perseverance of the Saints. I do not believe you can “lose” your salvation. But let’s not get hung up on that argument. We are called to persevere in our faith.

Hebrews 10:35-36
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

We must persevere. It is the will of God that we must persevere in. This is our part in the salvation experience. We persevere by living a life that is committed to walking the same holy path Christ does.

Saved by grace, no question. But joy will come to us through a life committed to following Jesus. Faith without works is dead – James 2:14

God answered a prayer for me last week. He brought me to a place where I could see His grace. But He did it through pain. I leave you with a lengthy, but very important scripture. Take ahold of this principle and it will change your life.

Hebrews 12:5-17
 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,  and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.  Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;  that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.  For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Unlike Esau, you still have the chance to repent. Take that opportunity today.

Being a Bird Feeder For God

One of my favorite things to do is feed the birds and then sit in my kitchen and watch them as they fly in and out taking advantage of the various seeds at our feeders. Lately whenever I go out to refill the feeders, I am reminded of the words of Jesus spoken to us in Matthew 6:25-26:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Jesus gave us these words so that we would understand that as His children, God provides everything we need. Not only does God take of His children and the animals of the world, He even takes care of those who reject and scorn Him. In Matthew 5:45 Jesus tells us that God "gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike."

But the beauty of how God operates, is through His people. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

It is important to understand that even as Jesus was telling us we need not be anxious for anything in this life, He was also commanding us to go into the world and be the means by which He would provide for both the just and the unjust. Listen to Jesus on this.

Matthew 5:43-48
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The truth is that the evidence of our salvation is found in how we love others. Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 25:34-40

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

God’s people are God’s hands and feet. We are the means He uses to provide for those in need. Sometimes this means we give a sandwich to a homeless man in the streets. Sometimes it means we simply take time to say a kind and encouraging word to a stranger who we observe sitting alone in a hospital waiting room. Sometimes it means we pray for the needs we read about on our Facebook page. Sometimes it means we buy some birdseed at Rural King and put up a bird feeder in our backyard.

Open your Bible on a regular basis to Luke 10:27 and read how Jesus answers the lawyer’s question. “Sir, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” No, Jesus isn’t suggesting salvation is by works, Jesus is explaining how the one who receives Him by faith will be forever changed in how he views others.

May mercy, grace, and above all else, love, become the characteristics that define us.