Author: Peter Loeffelbein

Has anyone ever told you to shut up?

How about while publicly praying?

“Shut up, God is busy! Leave him alone!”

Basically that’s what happens in Matthew 20.

“29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

33 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”

34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”

In Mark 10 one of these guys is named, Bartimaeus. Luke also records the story with one guy. (Mentioning one guy doesn’t say that there wasn’t two guys).

Keep quiet and don’t bother God.

Who would say something like that? Would they be a friend or an enemy?

Mary and I were praying together last night and I got so distracted by a disturbing thought that I stopped praying mid sentence.

It wasn’t “shut up! Stop bothering God!” But it did stop me.

God will never say “shut up”. He will never say “stop bothering me with this”.

He will say, “what do you want me to do for you?”

Would these guys have been healed if they weren’t persistent?

In Luke 18 Jesus gives us a parable.

“18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”’

We should not let anyone or anything silence our prayers. We will Pray, keep on praying for healing and for salvation for our friends and family and for protection and for provision and for guidance.

I will not be shut up.

Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me……

John 17

Jesus prays for me and everyone else who will believe in him.

“20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”’

Jesus prayed for me. He knew about me, about us. We were on his mind and in his heart as he was preparing to go to the cross. In less than 24 hours he would be dead. Crucified. A form of killing that kills with pain. Knowing how and why he would die, he prayed for us.

Earlier in this chapter Jesus says something that’s very important and I don’t want to skip over it.

“After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

Eternal life is gained by knowing God, and knowing Jesus, God in the flesh.

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

I don’t get it right all of the time. I fail, I stumble but I keep coming back to Jesus and ask for forgiveness and the weird thing is, he does. He forgives me.

He knew about me and prayed for me. He knows about you too. He longs for all those who will believe to jump in and do it.

“Following the leader, the leader, the leader, we’re following the leader wherever he may go”🎼.

As I was typing this I could hear the tune in my head. I can’t remember what it’s from. Peter Pan?

Jesus actually said something like this in Matthew 20.

“20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

21 “What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

22 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”’

Where is our leader? Right now? He is in heaven, preparing a place for us. What else is he doing? He is interceding for us. What was he doing before that? Before that the greatest man that ever lived was dying for our sins.

Philippians 2 Paul stayed this principle in a more practical way.

“2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.”

Christians, those of us who follow Jesus, should be the servants of all

And as I was typing this I was imagining a CEO leaving a boardroom to unstop a toilet, a nasty toilet, filled to rim.

As a Christian, There should be no job beneath our dignity. “What do you need? How can I help? Child care? Diaper duty? Dog doody duty? Teaching in Sunday school? Janitorial? Visiting shut ins? Visiting the hospital? Visiting the jail? Cleaning? Gardening? Cooking?

As I’m writing this it feels very flannel graph ish. Disconnected from life and pretend. The main truth, that no job is beneath me is there but my approach and how I’m saying falls short of honesty.

The reality, Jesus served us, following him we must strive to serve. Humility for the sake of humanity, to care about other people and care for other people. To do what needs to be done.

As Christians, how are we doing? Does being a follower of Jesus change how we act? Change what we do and how we do it? Does it change why we do it? Does Love compel us to serve?

Jesus make me more gooder at being good and doing good and serving and loving.

He knew what was coming and and he did it anyway.

He was innocent and he did it anyway.

Jesus knew how and when and what was coming to him and for him in Jerusalem and yet he went there willingly.

Matthew 20.

“17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”’

Why? What prompted him to continue on into Jerusalem knowing he was about to die in the cruelest, most painful way that mankind had ever invented?

Obligation?

Duty?

Compulsion?

No.

It was love.

In Isaiah we read this:

“4 Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.”

Jesus knew we needed him to die in our place so he suffered the death we deserved. Then he was raised to life that we can live forever with him, this man who willingly walked into Jerusalem, knowing it would kill him.

He did it for us.

He did it for me.

He did it for you.

Today, what will we do about this?

Today.

Quitting time. My favorite time of day. Packing up my gear, putting away the tools. Cleaning up and setting up for tomorrow. It’s a great time of day. What if you walked onto the job at quitting time and still got paid for the whole day?

Bonus!

That’s what happened in Jesus’ story in Matthew 20.

“20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”’

Some of us are reaching quitting time, not just of a job or a career but of life. It is the eleventh hour. The sun is setting. What does God want from us? What will God do for us?

Jesus died to pay for our sins. All of them. Whether it’s the grocery sack full of the at age 16 or 26 or a cargo ship full at 56 or 66 or 76. The age doesn’t matter and the amount doesn’t matter. Jesus died to pay for our sins. You only have to ask. Forgiveness is for all at any age, even at the eleventh hour.

God wants his kids to come home. Will you accept his gift of salvation today?

See it

One of my daughters is potty training her son.

He wouldn’t lie still to get his diaper changed this was problematic for his mom. One day He wanted to see the poop his mom has to clean up, then he said “ooh yuck!” And now he will lie still while mom is cleaning him up.

I deal with messes in my own life. Some of it is like the childhood potty training ritual where I make a mistake and the wriggle around and make the mess bigger before I let God clean it up. Sometimes we need to see the poop to appreciate the grace of God in his cleansing it all away. I wonder if God would let me see how my own sin dirties up the rest of my life, if it would be easier to lay down, relax and let God clean me up. And hopefully it might also propel me to maturity and righteous living (pooping in the pot instead of my pants, spiritually speaking).

The Christian life is a journey, it a relationship, it is a maturing process. I have to grow, and I should grow up. (I hate the word should. I also hate the word shame.) I instead of should grow up I’m going to say can grow up.

Jesus talked about the Christian life as a new birth.

“There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”’

John 3:1-8 –

The Holy Spirit brings about new life in my heart when I become a believer and follower of Jesus. I am now a baby believer. I began this process many years ago. It is not linear, not a straight line. There are peaks and valleys, times of growth and times of stagnation.

I want to grow up as a believer. I want to quit making messes that make me dirty. I am wondering if I asked God to “see it” if he would show me my “little” secret sins and how nasty they really are and how they poison my life and family and prolong the maturing process. I hesitate to ask because I’m not sure I can handle the truth of how my indulgences have hurt those around me. I will pause this thought.

The verses I quoted earlier are from a familiar place in the Bible. In case you don’t know how God feels about you and what Jesus came to do for us I’ll end this with those verses.

““For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

John 3:16-17 –

God loves us, even in our poopy messiness. And he wants to clean us and help us grow up.

It’s about the heart. Or the kitchen.

Our external actions don’t always expose where our heart, our beliefs and motives and longings our true feelings are. We can mask where we really are, what we really are.

Jesus exposes one mans heart in a very gentle and loving way in Matthew 19.

“16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

18 “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’[c] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”

20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”

Would we eat at a restaurant that stored poison next to food prep areas? If you didn’t know about it you might. The front of the restaurant may be clean and inviting, the service excellent, the prices good, the food very tasty but the buying public doesn’t see the kitchen.

God sees our kitchen. We may never kill anyone but we have a long list of people that we hate. We have already murdered them in our heart.

We may never commit adultery but we cherish our fantasies, we have done the deed in our heart.

The front of the restaurant doesn’t determine the safety of the food. It’s in the kitchen. The public part of our life, no matter how squeaky clean it is can still be hiding a very dirty and perverse and dangerously poisonous heart.

God sees into our “kitchen”. God sees our heart. AND he loves us anyway.

In Romans Paul tells us this about God’s heart for us:

“6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And later in Romans he says this:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus loves us. Even me. Have you seen my kitchen? Sometimes it’s a mess, (not my literal kitchen, it’s very clean) but the kitchen of my soul. Yet Jesus loves me. Jesus loves even me, even you.

Today will you ask him to forgive your mess and take you into his family? I did.

I saw him, my dad, yesterday as I was shaving. I didn’t literally see him but I saw him in me. I had to tip my head back so i could use my bifocals to see what I was shaving. We don’t look a lot alike but he is in me.

It’s weird when I see that, see him in me. Sometimes It is unsettling.

We didn’t get along. I held a grudge against him for the way he treated my mom. He was not always kind. Sometimes he could be very cruel. He never repented. Not to me anyway.

My sister shared a letter that he had written to my mom when he thought he was dying. He was very apologetic and loving. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be his judge. Maybe?

I wasted many years in estrangement. He got sick and life changed for all of us. Then my mom died. Then he died.

He was a hero doing many heroic things for many different people. He was a friend and a guide to many lost boys who had no fathers. He was a hard working man. He was a good man in many respects.

I am not filled with regret, but I do have many regrets.

Dad, sorry for my part of the estrangement. I love you and I miss you.

I just had a vision of heaven. It was just a flash. I will try to describe what I saw.

There was a glorious walled city. Gleaming white. There was only one way into the city. There were two lines of people approaching the city. One group was allowed into the city. The others were walked off into darkness.

The line of people that were let in were all wearing the same thing, a beautiful crimson red robe.

I recognized some in this line. They were notorious sinners. Then I looked at the other line line and saw some really good descent people. It confused me deeply.

I looked back to where the lines were forming. I could see that it was one line from deaths door, then it split. At the split I saw Jesus. As each person approached him he would gently ask them two questions, if they shook their heads no, he would sigh and point them towards the darkness. If they nodded their heads yes, he embraced them, kissed both cheeks, took off his robe and put it on their shoulders. Smiling he would say ” well done good and faithful servant, welcome home!” Then guide them towards heavens gate.

What were his questions?

Maybe it was Are good enough to be in heaven? That couldn’t be it, I saw some bad people in the line moving towards heaven. Was it how much did you give? That answer couldn’t be a yes or a no. Was it did you behave? Did you follow the rules? Did you keep the commandments?

I had to know so I went up closer to listen. Here is what he asked them.

“Do you know me?”

“Would you like my help?”

That was the vision.

Could it really be that simple? Is that all there is to getting into heaven?

The apostle Paul said this about that. “9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

Evidently it is that simple. It isn’t about the following the rules, but it’s about following a savior.

Do you know Jesus? Do you know this man who died on a cross and came back to life 3 days later? Have you heard that he loves you? Have you heard That he suffered and died so that our sins could be forgiven? Your mistakes and my mistakes? will you accept his help today?

We will all step through death’s door. What is on the other side? Will it be like the vision I had? Which line will you be in? It is your choice. Will you accept Jesus’ help then? How about starting today?

Childish or childlike?

When I was little my grandparents had an old bathtub buried in their garden. It was a garden for water lilies. My brother told me to be very careful around it, there was no bottom. I believed him. I walked a wide circle around that white rimmed hole to the center of the earth.

I was told another story as a child. I was told about this man who did miracles. That he healed sick people, even raising some from the dead. He was killed by being nailed to cross. He was put into a grave carved out of rock and three days later he came back to life. He stayed here for a few more days with his friends and then he was taken up in the clouds where he said that he would build a house for me, and he would come back some day.

Kids believe the stories that they are told. They have child like faith.

Jesus talked about that in Matthew 19.

“13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.”

I think I was there the day they pulled up the old bathtub in grandmas garden. There was a bottom after all. That story wasn’t true.

As for the other story? No one can disprove. Many have tried. I still believe the whole thing. Even the part about him coming back someday.

I heard more of the story as I got older. I found out why he died. He died to pay for my sin, to pay for our sin. The sin that keeps us separated from God. He died because he loves us so much he would rather suffer and die than to be kept apart from us.

It’s been a long time since he left. We don’t know when he will come back. One thing is for certain, his return is closer now than ever. He is waiting for the last one who will believe in him to hear the story I was told and to believe it.

Are we telling the story? Some one needs to hear the story today. Will we tell them the story of Jesus?

#tellourjesusstory, #Matthew191315

People are messy.

Life is a mud-puddle and we are the players in it.

Divorce is that painful institution that I haven’t experienced and don’t feel qualified to talk about. I can see that it hurts. I’m sorry for those who are forced to go through it.

Jesus talks about in Matthew 19. Let’s see what he said.

“19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”’

I heard it said that being married is like putting two pieces of tape together sticky side in. “The two will become one flesh.” Divorce is a process of pulling those pieces of tape apart. No body wins. Parts are damaged. Abilities to be joined together again are diminished.

May God keep our hearts soft and keep those of us that are together, together and May God bless, heal and restore those of us who have gone through the process of tearing apart.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds, time just makes you older. Jesus is our healer, when he and time get together amazing things can happen. He will require that forgiveness be brought into the mix, forgiveness must be distributed liberally, all around. With that combination healing and restoration can take place.

I started out talking about life as a mud-puddle. Marriage should not be part of that dirtiness.

“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”

Prevention, forgiveness, restoration, healing, all available in Jesus. I just want to pray quickly here.

Jesus, please protect and bless those of us who are married. May our marriages be rich with your blessings. For those of us who are hurting now, for those in a rocky painful place, heal restore and renew joy and bring new life to stagnant places. For those who are recovering from divorce bring healing and hope and restoration. Allow forgiveness to blanket them.

Help us love each other better Jesus.

#matthew19, #learningtolovelikejesus

This was written by the prophet Isaiah, hundreds of years before Jesus was born and yet it tells us us what his ministry is about.

“And now the Lord speaks— the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The Lord has honored me, and my God has given me strength. He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers: “Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the Lord , the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Isaiah 49:5-7 –

Because of Jesus, there is hope for me, a Gentile.

Where are you today? Jesus brings salvation to the ends of the earth.

I was not part of God’s family. But I have been adopted by him, purchased through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus.

“Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.”

Ephesians 2:11-18

There is a battle raging. Are you dressed for it?

I was at the parade in our little town recently. There were many police, city and county sheriffs there to aid and to display. I saw one female officer who was wearing some type of body armor under her uniform. Body armor for a children’s parade? You never know.

As a Christian I am in an active war 24/7. A war for the hearts minds and souls of the people of our town, myself included.

Am I dressed for the conflict?

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

The battle is real and so are our defenses. Truth, righteousness, the Gospel of peace, faith and the helmet, salvation are what we wear.

The word of God is our weapon, and prayer. We need to be dressed for battle, even at a children’s parade.

It’s a River not a lake.

God’s love, his forgiveness, his mercy, his grace they flow out from a boundless reservoir but as they flow into our life they must also flow out of our life. We cannot get it but then not give it.

Matthew 18 explains this.

“21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”’

Remember Newman from the Seinfeld show? A nemesis. An arch enemy. As a Christian I do get to have one and only one. I do have one. You get one too. In fact it is the same one.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

But let’s not talk about him.

Let’s talk about this amazing love and forgiveness we get to be bathed in. We just need to remember to give it away as freely as we received it or we won’t receive it anymore.

Maybe it’s like a water pipe. The only way a water pipe gets fresh water in, is to have the water it has now pass through it. It has to give away what it has so it can get more.

God’s mercy must flow through us to get to us.

His love is like a river.

#Godsloveisariver, #matthew1821thru35

John 15

Hate speech: we are the hated

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]

The Work of the Holy Spirit

26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

No one likes to have their pet and or private sins exposed. We all have secret deeds done in darkness. Jesus came to us as the light of the world. Being around him, being around his followers is like lighting a lantern on a dark night. Those who want to stay hidden scurry away hissing.

Hissing? Ok, that may be just for drama.

People and things that want to continue in their activities that God has said, “don’t do that, it will hurt you” will hate the light of Jesus.

” They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]”

If we live in the light, there will be those people who hate us and our message.

This our rule, Jesus’ command; love each other. Jesus loved us to death, His own death. We are to love in the same way.

The world will hate us.

We will fight back, with love. Bring a pillow to a gunfight? Well yes. And bandages.

Jesus came to change hearts, not behaviors, starting with our own.

John 15

Hate speech: we are the hated

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]

The Work of the Holy Spirit

26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

No one likes to have their pet and or private sins exposed. We all have secret deeds done in darkness. Jesus came to us as the light of the world. Being around him, being around his followers is like lighting a lantern on a dark night. Those who want to stay hidden scurry away hissing.

Hissing? Ok, that may be just for drama.

People and things that want to continue in their activities that God has said, “don’t do that, it will hurt you” will hate the light of Jesus.

” They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]”

If we live in the light, there will be those people who hate us and our message.

This our rule, Jesus’ command; love each other. Jesus loved us to death, His own death. We are to love in the same way.

The world will hate us.

We will fight back, with love. Bring a pillow to a gunfight? Well yes. And bandages.

Jesus came to change hearts, not behaviors, starting with our own.

Loving.

Gentleness.

Kindness.

Goodness.

Faithfulness.

Peacefulness.

Joyfulness.

Patience.

When a person accepts Jesus’ forgiveness Jesus actually comes into our lives, into our hearts and starts living in us. Immediately he begins to remodel. His designs always include the aforementioned qualities.

Our lives change. Our behaviors change. Our interactions with other people change.

In Matthew 18 Jesus tells us how to properly go about confrontation in a way that is private, honors both parties, and is solution and relationship focused.

“15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven.

19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”’

The Christian life is a life that is lived differently than the lives of people who don’t know Jesus. Why?

Love.

Jesus’ love for us.

Our love for the world of people, humans like us, fallen, bent and broken humans.

I don’t get this right all the time. But Jesus still

Loves me. Even me. Even you.

#matthew18, #forgiveasyouareforgiven

When I wrote this I wrote with both hands and both eyes and both feet intact.

If I took this verse in Matthew 18 literally none of that would be true.

“6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”

My eyes, my hands and my feet all cause me to stumble but only because my heart told them to. My heart, where all my thoughts are pondered and decisions made. It is desperately and decidedly wicked and selfish. My heart wants what it wants no matter what or who says differently. What can I do to be pure? What can I do To wash away sin and selfishness that is woven into my very fabric? My heart and soul are burlap, rough and coarse.

Jesus.

Jesus can and will take over our lives. He will cover us in his perfection so our Father God only sees his son when he looks at us, and as he is draped over us on the outside he begins to rebuild us on the inside. To restore and refine us. To turn our burlap souls into silk or satin or 600 count cotton.

God is the God of “and yet” or “even while”.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

While we were yet sinners Jesus willingly died for us. He died for me. He died for us. He died for you.

If you don’t know him yet, do you want to? If you do know him, can you think of someone who doesn’t know him that you can gently show his love to?

#matthew18 #doesJesusloveme?

I do a bible study on the weekdays. We are given a set of verses to read and to ponder, to reflect on. It is terrible of me but I hope for a short section. Just a few short verses that are succinct so I can grab the message and go.

Today was Psalm 99. The entire Psalm. Mary my wife has many of the Psalms memorized so she would know that it was short but powerful. It only has 9 verses.

I opened my bible to read and I got what I needed in the first three words.

“The Lord reigns…”

What else do we need to know? God is still running the world. He is still in charge. He is still actively working on bringing his children home to himself.

I am feeling like a bubble on the wind, vulnerable and not in control, useless and powerless to change myself or my direction but the Lord reigns, he sees me and knows me and has a purpose for me, and for us.

The last 6 words are as powerful as the first 3: “for the Lord our God is holy.”

God is holy, he is separate from us, he is not part of creation, but instead is creator. He is not limited in any direction or in any way. If what we need doesn’t yet exist, he can create it. He is not in a hurry, in fact he is not subject to time. He is not subject to anything or anyone. All this is true of him AND he loves us.

He loves us so much that he gave his one and only son to die in our place, to pay for our mistakes and create a way back into a relationship with him.

The Lord reigns.

The Lord or God is Holy.

Imagine walking through a forest or a jungle and everything you saw, you could eat. Fruits, leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, didn’t matter, it is all edible. Now contrast that with a forest or jungle where some stuff was edible and some stuff is poison, and the more poisonous it is, the more delicious it appears, hold that thought for a moment.

I’ve been thinking about how I am living and doing this Christian life. I was going over how my schedule has morphed and changed over the last several years.

I don’t remember how I used to do it in my earlier years. I somehow knew (more likely was instructed by my mentor Dr. Floyd Jacobson) that I need to study the Bible on my own. It is not enough food for a persons soul to simply rely on a pastors message one day a week to supply all I need spiritually for a 7 day stretch of time. What is that saying? Seven days without reading the Bible makes one weak (week). Would I try to live my life on one meal a week? No I need to feed myself daily, with food and so also with the word of God which is spiritual food. I have had plans and schedules for time to study the Bible in the past, I don’t remember now how I did it but I did it. And then for a while, I didn’t do it. No plan, no schedule, “I’ll get to it, eventually”  I would tell myself, but I didn’t get to it. I listened to Christian radio occasionally and listened to Christian music but even that slowly eroded and I was left with bibles and books about the Bible on shelves but seldom opened, unused CD’s (compact discs, a way of recording and playing musical files) by christian artists. Somehow God called me back into an active relationship with him, (prompting by my Pastor and nudging and urging by my wife certainly played a big part) and I began reading, then studying the bible again. I decided I would do it in the morning. I had to set my alarm for enough time to add some study time.

Now back to the forest or jungle, whichever image you can relate to better. (I like the forest). The Christian life that is lived picking and choosing whatever the culture is offering as a spiritual food source would be like that forest where I didn’t know what was poison and what was good. The Christian life that is lived reading and studying the word of God is more like the first example, everything is good to eat. while studying the bible I can read anywhere in it, and it will feed my soul. The thing about our culture  is that just walking through life, our head, heart and soul are getting crammed a steady diet of our culture, poison and all. We don’t have to choose, our culture will choose for us. The thing is, we can choose, I can choose what I watch, what I listen to, what I read but if I do not choose, I will continue to receive what the culture has chosen for me, force fed, crammed into my soft little brain, my tender heart and my hungry aching soul.

As a Christian I am wanting to live the life  of a Christian, but what does that that life look like? Is it the same as a non-Christians? With just a bookend of church on Sunday? No. Well, it can be but that isn’t a good way to survive. We already talked about how a soul and spirit need to get fed. How do I know about God unless I’m reading God’s words written to his children? How do I know what God expects from me? How do I know who God is or how he acts and reacts towards me, how he feels about me, (he loves me, and loves you too) unless I am reading the book he gave us to learn about him?

Have a plan, or don’t have a plan. Did I have a plan when I used to crawl up into my Dad’s lap for a back scratch? Okay, maybe that’s a bad example, but the bible is a book that will feed us, no matter where we go in it. It does not all taste the same, there are some portions of the bible that are dry as old bones, but even old bones have nourishment if you chew on them.

Paul says this in Romans chapter 12: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

In his letter to the Philippians Paul says this:

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.”

Philippians 2:14-16

We are to not conform to the pattern of the world, renew our minds and hold firmly to the word of life. My new schedule of getting up earlier started as hard, this morning it slipped back to hard. I read a little then napped before my second alarm went off alerting me to critical time crunch mode. I don’t want to not be transformed. I don’t want to slip into the shape the world and our culture is trying to press me into. Even after reverting to my old sleepy sleep in ways this morning. I still grabbed a nibble of God’s word.

Christianity, It’s a relationship. Relationships take time, and space, and interaction, and conversation. The Bible is God’s voice to us. My dad and I weren’t close but I do have memories of when we were physically near, in conversation and interacting, sometime a back scratch but usually on a project, building this or that, and those times, the memories are sweet. That is what I believe God wants from us, for us and with us. Time.

The bible is sweet food for our soul.

God is a father who wants to have input into our lives, to have a relationship.

I encourage all of us to get back into the habit of renewing our minds and nourishing our souls, and building our relationship with our Father God by spending more time in his word, the Bible.