Author: Peter Loeffelbein

I took some time off posting because of some personal family matters. Those matters are not resolved, may never be resolved and I am not at liberty to discuss them here.

Yesterday I opened my bible to Isaiah chapter 5 and read this:

“What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart! They even mock God and say, “Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.” What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.

Isaiah 5:18-21 –

I don’t want sorrow for anyone. But there are those who will have sorrow because of what they are clinging to.

I hadn’t decided what to do about posting yet. This morning I continued to read in Isaiah chapter 6. It is the record of when God reveals himself to Isaiah. He then asks a question.

“Whom should I send to this people? Who will go?”

Isaiah replies, “here I am, send me”.

My hope is that the posts I post will shed light on who Jesus is and what he has done. I write as if I’m writing to someone who doesn’t know about Jesus but I think many of the people that read my posts already know him and are following him. My second mission then is to encourage the folks reading these posts that already know him to share Jesus with others. But to tell them about him while they are serving them in some fashion so that they are showing God’s love while they are talking about God’s love.

I’ve been doing some gardening lately. I have had mixed success. Usually I buy bedding plants but I am starting from seed this year. Some seed didn’t germinate, some did. One way to guarantee failure of a seed to grow is to never plant the seed. I think it is The same with sharing the word of God. The word that is guaranteed to not bear fruit is the word that is not “planted”. So I am going to continue to plant seeds of God’s word in my readers hearts and minds.

Thank you for being a reader. May God bless your day, may you understand something about Him today in a fresh way. May you have opportunities to share Jesus with your world as you serve others today.

I’m going to be taking a break.

I don’t know how long it will be.

Everything I’ve written is still here.

More importantly, all of God’s word is still there to read, to grab onto and cling to. The Bible is the lighthouse in this stormy life, it is the fog horn. It is the GPS and shows us the way back to God our father through his only son Jesus.

I encourage anyone who reads this to add time to your day, set your alarm xx minutes ahead, rise up early, get your bible and begin reading it. Start in the Gospel of John. Read it. Read Paul’s letter to the Romans, read a psalm, read Isaiah. Read God’s message of love to us. All of these books in the Bible are written to us and for us by a God who loves us.

““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

Read God’s love letter to us.

May I ask you a favor? Will you please Pray for My wife Mary and I and our family? Thank you.

Thank you for reading my posts. May God bless and protect you. May your love for him become new and fresh and real and may you find new and fresh ways to share God’s love with those around you.

Who is this Jesus guy?

That is the most important question we can ever answer. Who is Jesus?

It’s not just a life and death question. It’s an eternal life or eternal separation from God question.

In Matthew 16 Jesus asked his disciples this very question.

“13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.”

In my mind I see Peter answering this casually, with a mouth full of the first century version of potato chips.

Muffled by the food in his mouth and crumbs tumbling out and he said it, “you are the Christ, the son of the living God…”

Only God’s Spirit can reveal this truth to a person.

I pray today that folks that read this post would stop and answer the question for themselves.

Who is Jesus?

For those of us who already know him, I pray there would be fresh revelation of what that means to us and to the world. For those who haven’t discovered who he is yet, may Gods Spirit shine it into your hearts.

Jesus is the messiah, the son of the living God.

This morning I woke up 1/2 an hour before my alarm. As I woke my dreams became reality. I had been dreaming that I had a headache and as my brain became alert enough to have conscious thoughts I felt the pounding and pain at the base of my skull. I tried all of the things that never work to relieve the pain. I was too tired and sleepy to get up but had too much pain to go back to sleep. The tug of war ended with my alarm going off. I let the dogs attend to their needs and i stumbled to the bathroom. Just before arriving I felt like I heard God say “judgement, warn them of my coming judgment”. I had been thinking about what to read and post about. I’m reading through the book of Philippians off and on and there is not much of anything about judgement in that letter. I have interspersed my study of Philippians with random crack open and read whatever is there studies too. One such study included Ezekiel 33 which warns Ezekiel that if he doesn’t warn the people of God’s coming judgement, no, I won’t explain it, I will quote it.

“Once again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, give your people this message: ‘When I bring an army against a country, the people of that land choose one of their own to be a watchman. When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people. Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die. They heard the alarm but ignored it, so the responsibility is theirs. If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives. But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.’ “Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me. If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself. “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die? “Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins. When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins. And suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right. For instance, they might give back a debtor’s security, return what they have stolen, and obey my life-giving laws, no longer doing what is evil. If they do this, then they will surely live and not die. None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live. “Your people are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right,’ but it is they who are not doing what’s right. For again I say, when righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and turn to evil, they will die. But if wicked people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live. O people of Israel, you are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right.’ But I judge each of you according to your deeds.”’

Ezekiel 33:1-20 –

Is my little town of Ephrata facing an enemy? Not that I know of, not a physical enemy. Is there a danger of floods or tornadoes or earthquakes? Not that I know of. We were covered by volcanic ash once but that actually turned out to be a blessing. Is there a mass judgement coming to my town? Not that I can foresee or tell, but there is a judgment coming individually to each one of us. At death God pulls up a chair, looks each one of us in the heart and asks, “why should I let you in my heaven?”

The verses I quoted above talk about a change of heart that leads to a change in behavior, but this situation I’m describing is deaths door, no time to change. It’s time to cash in. All we’ve got is what we’ve brought to the bargaining table and it it is woefully inadequate.

There is a bargaining chip that can get us out of the bind and into God’s graces. That chip is Jesus.

I write this post because it’s what I experienced. Was the word judgement of my own making? I don’t know. But because of what we have now read together in Ezekiel I felt bound to share it.

Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. Are you lost? You can be found. Are you finding yourself in darkness? Jesus is the light of the world. Do you feel left out? Jesus is the door into the sheepfold. Are feeling abandoned and alone and in danger? Jesus is the good shepherd who leaves the 99 in search of one the lost sheep. Are you hungry or thirsty? Jesus is the bread of life and he is the spring of eternal life. Are you overgrown with extra stuff sapping your strength and making you fruitless? Jesus is the vine and God is the vine dresser. There are many more examples but my time is up.

Do not wait. Choose Jesus today.

You can have chili, cedar cheese crackers and raspberry sorbet for dinner but there is a day of reckoning or in my case, a morning of testing. That meal doesn’t sound like a diabetic rebellion but wow. Ding ding ding! High score for blood sugar.

Spiritually there is stuff we do and get away with that’s off our spiritual diet. We ingest and partake of things that we shouldn’t and because of grace and mercy we are forgiven when we apologize to God.

But there are 2 things I wonder about. The first is, is saying we are sorry the same as repentance? Repentance means to turn around, change course, do a 180 degree turn. The second is, what does this cheating on our spiritual diet do to our spiritual health? We may be forgiven but are we killing the spirits moving and working in our lives?

In the Lutheran liturgy each week as he began his sermon the pastor would say “grace and peace to you, from God our father and from our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ”.

It’s the greeting Pail used in many of his letters, Peter used it too. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

The reason I mention these scriptures is that they state Jesus’ dual role in the life of the Christian. he is our savior, his death pays for our sin and he is our Lord, our boss, our master, our sovereign King. It means he can tell us what to do and we will obey him. He can also tell us what not to do and we will obey him.

Do we really need a boss in our life telling us what to do and even harder, what not to do? Yes. Yes We do need that because this boss ordering our life Is the same boss who can and will forgive us when we fail him. And besides that His orders are always for our best good.

I sum up.

I fail, in my diet, in my spiritual life. There is forgiveness but there may be consequences, physically and spiritually. Jesus wants to fulfill his dual role in my life, save me from my sins and lead me as a good King. When I fail I should repent, turn around, throw the cheese crackers away! (the sorbet is gone already, burp).

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

John 12

The horn button principle.

” Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up[g] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.”

The horn button principal. I have A 57 chevy pickup. His name is Rusty. For close to 30 years before I had my truck, I had a 57 chevy truck horn button. It sat on a shelf in my garage. I wanted a truck. I had horn button. When anyone asked about the horn button I would say “I’m growing to grow a 57 Chevy pickup from that horn button”. A long time passed. Finally one day I gave away the horn button. That ended my dream. Or so I thought. Several years went by but around my 50th birthday I got a letter from an uncle saying he had a 57 Chevy truck that he wanted to give me. It was the same person that I had given the horn button to. The day I got the truck I also got the horn button back. I had planted the seed and it germinated and grew into a truck.

The principle is that you have to let the dream die so that it can come back to life. Bigger and better than you could hope for.

Jesus literally planted himself in the earth for us. He died and was buried and came back to life changed. The people who were following him had an idea of who and what Messiah would be. It was wrong or at least incomplete. Messiah wasn’t coming to set Israel free from Roman oppression. Messiah had come to set mankind free from sins oppression. Jesus had to die, the incorrect or incomplete messianic dream had to die so that Jesus could become the real and only hope of freedom from sin.

“25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

John 12

Our king is here.

“12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna![d]”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[e]

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”[f]

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”’

Kings usually care about controlling real estate. They want to control parts of this planet. Our king cares about a much smaller but more significant area. My heart. Our hearts. Jesus wants to rule from where we love. From where we decide. He wants to rule in our hearts.

Personally I struggle with allowing him to sit on the throne in my heart. One minute I say “welcome King Jesus!” As I show him to the throne. The next minute I’m tipping the throne forward and dumping him onto the floor.

Why? Why does he put up with me?

Thank you Jesus for being patient with my willful and wayward heart. I long for the day when the struggle will be over and you will be my permanent King. Forever enthroned in my heart.

Beware!

Sorry celiacs but you may want to skip this next post. I’m going to talk about the glory of bread.

Bread glorious bread! The crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy insides. All of the yummy ways we can use it to carry other delicious food types into our mouths like pepperoni and garlic butter and sandwich fillings! I think the best part of bread is the delightful aroma as it bakes. The yeasty smell.

Yeast is pretty amazing stuff. It turns a ball of dough into a loaf of bread by puffing it up. As the yeast activates thousand of bubbles create little pockets of nothing.

In Matthew 16 Jesus talks about yeast. It’s not always a good thing.

“5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Just like yeast in dough, self righteousness can puff up a person. A puffed up

Person thinks themselves larger and better and self approved and not in need of a savior. But they are, as is a loaf of bread, Full of holes.

When Jesus died he got holes put into his hands and feet. But his death paid for my sin and restores my relationship with God. His holes make me whole. It is nothing I have done. I receive his holiness as a gift because he was willing to receive holes in his hands and feet.

Jesus called himself the bread of life.

“32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”’

Beware.

Beware of bread? No.

Beware of yeast, the yeast of the self righteous. Receive the bread of life, Jesus who became hole-y to make us holy and restore us to wholeness.

John 12

Giving Jesus our very best.

“12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.[b]” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you,[c] but you will not always have me.”

9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.”

Mary gave Jesus the best she had. She gave it freely and extravagantly. “And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

I don’t have a personal example of this. I can’t say, “it was like that time I…..” I say this to my shame, I am a stingy person. And worse yet, Jesus doesn’t get my reserved best, he gets what I have left at the time. Like right now, I’m scrambling to put thoughts together. It’s like my spiritual life’s feast is a Charlie Brown thanksgiving, toast pretzels and popcorn.

I come to him, just as I am, spent, tired and empty and he still loves me. I long for the day when I can present him me at my very best, but in the meantime he takes me as I am, worn out, broken, used up, confused, distracted and let’s me rest with him. Then he tells me he loves me.

He just wants me, he just wants us to be with him.

I take a walk down a gravel road every day. In fact I walk the same path 3 times every day. I take the same route so I can just pray or think and let my brain relax. Last week for the first time I saw a snake. I saw a gopher snake, a little baby one less than a foot long. Then 2 days later I saw a much bigger one. It stretched across about 1/2 the road. Now that I know they are there I can’t just mindlessly wander. I am vigilant and watching. These snakes are harmless but they scare me.

I wonder if my spiritual life could use a wake up like this.

The bible warns us to be vigilant, not because our enemy is a gopher snake but …”Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

We have an enemy who is actively seeking our destruction not a harmless gopher snake, a powerful and destructive killer, A lion. Maybe I should wake up and watch where I’m going. There is so much good and so much evil just a click or two away.

If we look at the Christian life like Jesus described it in John 10 where Jesus is our shepherd and we are his sheep then the lion analogy brings on fresh meaning.

“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

There is a lion who wants to destroy me but he knows that he has to separate me first. Isolate me from my flock and from my shepherd. I need to stay close enough to hear his voice.

When I was 16 I was sent on an errand. I was supposed to drive from Ephrata to Longview, pick up a transmission and drive back home. Simple plan. Against the advice of my elders I chose to take White Pass. They recommended Interstate 90 and Snoqualmie pass. I had gone over Hiway 12 and Whites Pass 3 years before and liked the view. I chose white pass.

I didn’t remember a left turn. After Natches there is a big, well marked left turn. I didn’t take a left turn. So Hiway 12 turned into Hiway 410 without me even noticing.

I continued on my way and soon the road became unfamiliar. “A lot has changed since I was here last” I thought to myself. Blissfully unaware I drove the cascade mountains and I arrived in Enumclaw. I stopped at a store to exchange fluids. I bought some and left some. The woman behind the counter asked about my journey. I told her I was headed to Longview. She asked, “do you know where you are?”

I confidently replied in the affirmative. I asked “which way to the freeway?”

She snickered and told me to just keep going and watch for the signs.

I didn’t ask for specific directions because I thought I knew where I was. I know now what I didn’t know then. I was LOST!

I tell this story for one reason.

We can’t get help unless we first know that we need help. We can’t be found until we first know that we are lost.

I have some bad news for mankind. We are all lost. From conception we are lost and estranged from God.

“9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away,

they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.”[b]

13 “Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practice deceit.”[c]

“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[d]

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[e]

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 ruin and misery mark their ways,

17 and the way of peace they do not know.”[f]

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”’

This is not good news. This news can be turned around though.

Here is the good news!

Luke 19:10

For the Son of Man (Jesus)came to seek and to save the lost.”

To be saved, to be found by Jesus the first step is the same for each one of us, we have admit that we are lost. We cannot find our way back to God on our own. Our only hope is to accept Jesus’ help. His death pays our debt of sin and his resurrection shows that he is the way to eternal life.

I could not get to Longview through Enumclaw without a drastic course correction. I had to turn. Enumclaw is about midway on the I-5 corridor between the northern border of Washington state and the the southern border. To show how lost I was, Longview, my destination borders the Columbia river and Washington’s southern border. I was L-O-S-T lost.

At that very same time as a teenager, I was in a search for God. I knew I was a sinner and so I was in the constant cycle of sinning and trying to be good enough to outweigh the sin. But I would fail and sin some more. In my spiritual life I also had to change course. I had to repent which is a fancy way of saying I must turn around. I was in a Spiritual Enumclaw but I thought I was heading towards my spiritual Longview.

I think one of the best examples of a person turning around, repenting, is the story of the prodigal son. Jesus tells the story in Luke 15. To shorten the tale, the younger of two sons tells his dad in so many words, I can’t wait for you to die so I can get my inheritance so I will just cash out now. The dad agrees, gives his son the money and the son leaves and squanders it all on a loose partying lifestyle. He ends up broke and friendless, feeding pigs, the lowest job imaginable.

But then a light dawns, “15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:15-24 –

My story has many almost aha moments, where I almost see the light but then early one Sunday morning after leaving college and a pastoral ministry degree path which I thought was how I would my way into Gods approval, i was mentally fretting about if i wasn’t going to become a pastor how i could ever earn Gods love but just then the words of a couple of verses in Ephesians came into my mind and I finally understood them.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 –

God my father had been watching and waiting for that moment and just like in the prodigal son story he ran to me ,”But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

I was welcomed home.

When I was lost in Enumclaw, I couldn’t get where I was going until I realized I was going the wrong way. I did finally figure it out and I found the southbound interstate 5 and got to Longview, but not before going through a torrential downpour, both outside the truck cab and down my face as I bawled my eyes out.

If on your life’s spiritual journey you have found yourself anywhere but at the feet of Jesus then you are lost. Jesus said that he is the way to the Father.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 –

The most important part of this story, the part that I want to stress , is that I was lost but I didn’t know it. I had missed a turn and ended up miles from my destination but I didn’t know it. That was also true of my spiritual journey in life. I thought I was on the right path, trying earn my way to God.

There are many ways to get to Longview, I found a very long and circuitous way. But there is only one way to God our father and that is through his son Jesus. Jesus came to earth to live a perfect human life and then die the death that We deserve, he took our place, he took my place.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

John 3:16-18 –

Jesus came to save us. Jesus came to be the way to the Father.

Where are you today? What destination are you headed to? I can tell you how to get to Longview, I can also tell you how to go home to a Father who loves you, who loves us, and that way is through Jesus.

Philippians

Paul and Timothy. That’s how the apostle Paul starts out this letter.

Paul wrote this letter from prison. Paul was in prison. Timothy was a free man and yet as Paul writes his letter to the believers in Philippi he adds Timothy in the greeting. I am in chains here and Timothy sits at my feet to aid me.

I want a Timothy in my life. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a personal assistant who is so loyal as to follow you to jail?

Timothy also was one who could be trusted to be sent to a foreign office, even in a decadent, and immoral city to maintain his own integrity and preach, teach and serve the people of that immoral and decadent place. Paul sent him to both Ephesus and to Corinth. He served tin those places and others and then also carried correspondence back and forth.

He was a stenographer and writing assistant, Paul includes him as co-author on several letters he wrote, Timothy’s name appears as the co-author on 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon.

How do i get a Timothy for myself? I can ask God for a Timothy to aid me in my life. He may answer that request, but while I am waiting for a Timothy, should I also pray that God make ME a Timothy? Can I be made to be helpful, loyal, hardworking, faithful, able to teach and yet eager to serve?

Paul says this about his friend and mentee: “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.”

Philippians 2:19-23

Lord Jesus help me be like this man Timothy. Let me be useable and send able and bendable like he was. On the other side, Let me value and trust and invest in those people you put into my life like Paul did for his helpers.

I’ve had this nagging problem that I’ve hinted at but I am prompted to share it and add what God is doing to help me.

The problem is that I don’t feel like God really loves me. I believe that I am saved by Jesus, but it feels like it was like a person at a yard sale who buys a box of junk because he sees in it some treasures. He has to buy the entire box just to get the treasures. I feel like the junk in the box that gets bought because God has to take all of us.

I was thinking about this yesterday and wondering if I should post about it, I was driving in Wenatchee at the time and just then a large truck drove past me, with large letters that read, “the junk man”. It said something about taking all your stuff or something to that effect.

As I Started to write this down I felt if God asked me what Is it I wanted? My brain didn’t have an answer but My heart yelled out, “I want to be your favorite!”

My brain was embarrassed by my hearts outburst. I expected a rebuke from God or at least an explanation by God of how he can’t have any favorites. Instead I felt like God Said “oh Peter, don’t you know, you are my favorite! My favorite Peter Loeffelbein” and then in my mind I saw a picture of God at the garage sale searching through the box, looking for me, I was the treasure he was seeking.

Tears and snot came next.

This is how God feels about me.

It also how God feels about you. We are each one of us, his favorite, His treasure.

My hope is that you read this and feel in your heart, God’s great love for you. I hope it brings hope and joy to you, that it breaks the crust off your heart like it did mine. God loves us all. Truth. But God loves me. You can say that too. God loves me, he sent his son to seek me. Seek you.

Now you say it.

God loves me. It’s true.

I was thinking about this as I woke up, God doesn’t have an accounting ledger, he has an eraser.

Think of the vastness of space, not just our little corner but all of it. What did Carl used to say?”Billions and Billions of planets”. God created those. Everything that exists God thought of and then spoke it into being. And then he also created us. We rebelled against him and broke every rule he had put in place. This rebellion separated us from God.

But God loved us and he wanted to create a way for us to be restored to him.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:3-11 –

Our God loves us so much the he humbled himself and stuffed all of his God-ness into human form. In this form He would be subject to time and space, he would need to sleep and eat and eliminate waste. (Mary and Joseph changed God’s diapers). He would feel pain, and thirst, and anger and sadness and joy. He would laugh and cry. He, God himself would experience humanness and do it perfectly.

There is so much to consider when thinking about this, God becoming man, but what struck me this morning is the incomprehensible aspect that the God who lives beyond and outside time and space, entered and restricted himself to both of these just so he could eventually suffer and die. When I was 19 my parents and my older sister Shari brought me to Schreiner’s Hospital in Spokane. It had been a very nice family outing. We got to the hospital and got me checked in and then decided to go out for breakfast. One catch, i couldn’t go. I was now a ward of the hospital. My family was free to roam about the big city of Spokane but I was constrained to stay. Jesus being God had never had restraints on him but while he was here, he was human and stuck to a place and a time. He did this.

For me. For us.

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! ”

Thank you Jesus.

It’s a sign.

Gods master plan wasn’t interrupted by the cross of Jesus. Gods master plan was the cross of Jesus. Don’t think for a minute the Jews conspiring to kill this man was an accident. Jesus knew ahead of time what was coming. He knew he would die a death that pain itself was the killer. The victim is slowly suffocated by pain. He knew. And yet he loved us so much, he did it anyway.

Matthew 16

“16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.[a] 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.”

The sign of Jonah. Jonah was in the fish three days and three nights. Jesus would soon be in the earth 3 days a 3 nights. The fish couldn’t hold Jonah and death will not, did not, can not hold Jesus.

If you added up what Jesus had done in front of these people to this time in his ministry, like feeding 5 thousand the another 4 thousand with a bag of bread and some fish, healing every person who asked for it, raising the dead back to life, walking on water, calming a storm, all of this had already been displayed, then they asked for a sign from heaven.

What nudge are we waiting for in our generation? It’s always Gods love that draws us in. God loves us. He showed us his love in the sign of Jonah. That Jesus was swallowed up by death but he defeated it. He didn’t need to beat death, he is God, but he knew we needed it because death waits for us all. At death we must cash in our chips to pay for all of mistakes, our sins, our selfishness but we don’t have enough. Our pockets are empty at the grave but Jesus not only beat death, he paid for our sin too. His perfect life sacrificially given up pays for it all.

If you live in Ephrata look up to the top of Beasley hill tonight, there’s a sign there, a sign for each one of us. It’s a cross. God loves us so much that he sent his son to die in our place.

John 11

Jesus brings the dead back to life.

“38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.”

This story was hard for me to write about. I couldn’t get images of rotting flesh and Zombies out of my mind.

The weird thing is that I have personal experience with being clinically dead. I was in a car accident when I was 11 and was without pulse and not breathing when I arrived at the hospital. My mom arrived just then, saw me and asked some doctors who had just checked me and were walking away if she could talk to me. They said ” it doesn’t matter now”. My mom touched my leg and I started coughing. The doctors spun around and started working on me again. I remember being above my body in the hallway and the return to the pain of being damaged but in flesh.

Jesus spoke to Lazarus. “Come out” and the mound of flesh and bones that was rotting inside a cave came back to life and walked out of the grave. The same voice that had said to pre-existing darkness, ” let there be light” and light came into being, reanimated the body of his friend with 3 words. “Lazarus,come out.”

We are all dead in our sins.

“2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved”.

We are all dead in our sins but we don’t have stay that way. Jesus speaks to each one of us and says “(your name here), come out”.

I read in Isaiah recently and as I was reading I kept wondering how does this fit into the good news in the New Testament? This fits together but not like frosting fits a cupcake. I can’t think of how it fits except maybe to say like a Jenga puzzle, 3/4s of the way into the game.

“For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins. Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.”

Isaiah 64:3-9

Then put that alongside the good news found in John’s Gospel.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

John 3:16-19

They do not contradict each other. God loves us. He has described this love in various ways, frequently he uses the metaphor of a father’s love for his children. A father’s love is not always displayed in kindness and affection. Sometimes a father needs to love in stern rebuke, redirection or in discipline which can be painful. Earthly fathers do these things guessing and hoping for the appropriate course of action to take but God, being all knowing and all wise does it right every time. God makes no mistakes when he disciplines his children.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says it like this: “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:4-11

God has one goal in mind for us. To make us more like Jesus.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Romans 8:28-29

He is is patiently forming us, like we read in Isaiah, as a potter forms clay. The potter has a shape in mind and he will form the clay as HE pleases because he is the master. He will complete the work he starts in us. Since we don’t know what his design is, it can be confusing watching the process from the inside. He will masterfully make us into the product he wants and needs us to be and it will always be with the character of Jesus as the framework.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:3-6 –

If I go back to the original verses I started with, Isaiah and John, I think Isaiah is written from mans perspective, realizing that sin has separated us from God, and The verses in John are Gods reply, “I love you, I’ve sent Jesus to pay off your debt so we can be restored. Accept my gift. Some will not but it is offered to all. “

Today, right now, as you are reading this, have you received God’s gift of reconciliation? If not, will you? Today, now if you want to, you can be restored to our God who loves you. If you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ as lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

If you have already received this gift, have you told anyone else? Statistically, in a room of 100 random people, 69 of those people have not yet heard or have chosen not to believe about Jesus or in Jesus. Our job is to tell them, tell them that there is s God who loves them, that he sacrificed his only son for them, to restore the relationship between us and Him.

May God bless your day. May you be constantly reminded of His love for you and for all the people around you. May you find ways to serve the people in your world with grace and humility, serving with the gifts God has given uniquely to you.

What do a stomach bug and a TV show about a crime solving priest have in common?

Two essential elements of Christianity. That’s what. Repentance and confession. In The series Father Brown is more concerned about the criminal’s soul than he is about solving the crime.

His main goal in the show is to get the guilty party to repent and confess.

Today I came down with a Flu bug. I was at work when I decided to turn around, change direction and go back home. I repented of my decision to go south east to Moses Lake, I turned around and headed north west back to Ephrata.

I was only home a couple of minutes before my stomach confessed of everything I had eaten. It wouldn’t be satisfied with a partial confession, it had to have it all out.

“5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

Take it from me, when a stomach confesses it is nasty business. All kinds of ugliness comes out. The same is true for a heart and soul.

Usually working together with confession and almost always preceding it, is repentance. My favorite story of repentance is found in the book of Luke. Jesus tells the story of 2 brothers. The younger cashes in his inheritance and goes partying. When he runs out of money he also runs out of friends and ends up destitute, feeding pigs.

“17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.”

The next verses are what I think are the best bd description of God’s Father heart towards us, his wayward children.

““But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

Are you feeling a long way off? Sometimes I do. It’s mostly my fault too. I go my own way and then feel estranged but Gods heart towards me, towards us has not changed. God is scanning the horizon anxiously waiting for us to return.

Repentance and confession are not our ticket back in to his love. God loves us. Repentance and confession are our way to be purged and healed.

So I say and you can say it with me if you like; Forgive me Father, I have sinned against you and against heaven. I am unworthy to be called your child.

And he says about us and to us, welcome home!

Proverbs 9:10

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. “

Growing up as a Loeffelbein, there was always a project going on in the garage. Something was being built or repaired or modified or enhanced almost all of the time. In my early childhood my dad was racing in the jalopy class. I don’t remember what the specifications were but they were mostly homebuilt open wheelers. At the same time he was also building street rods, one I remember the most, a 39 Ford coupe.

The strongest memories from those days were approaching the garage, the door open, and my dad, my brother and my dads friends bent over, and crawled under, and poking into and hanging out of the car projects. I remember the smells of grease and oil and I remember the sparks. Showers of sparks. Sometimes from welding and sometimes from grinding. Lots of sparks. Sprays and geysers of sparks. I may actually be superimposing years of memories on top of each other but I don’t think it will change the validity of my point.

I feared those sparks. Somehow my older brother either wasn’t afraid or worked past it or around it. Because my brother faced the fear, No it wasn’t that. My brother knew and loved my father and felt safe in his presence even if there were sparks and loud noises.

God has invited us all into his garage, his work shop. There are some scary and surprising things going on inside. He is busy creating, restoring and repairing humanity.

Some of us never look into the garage. We have no knowledge of or interest in Gods creative process. Some of are drawn in but see the sparks and are frightened away. But some of us move past to meet the maker of the sparks and get to know the father God who creates and repairs and redeems.

I am reminded of what the ghost of Christmas present says in A Christmas Carol, “come in and know me better man!”

He invites us in, but not just to watch. He wants us to participate and he wants to work on us too.

The work God wants to do in our lives is almost always in our hearts. Sometimes it’s actually heart transplant surgery, where he takes out a heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. Sometimes it’s the deconstruction of walls we’ve built around us. Sometimes it’s tearing down the high platforms of pride In ourselves or the lofty expectations we have for others. Sometimes it’s to remove cancers of hate. Sometimes it’s to repair wounds inflicted by others. There is electrical work to do. Sometimes our brains get wired wrong. God untangles the mixed messages. When any switch a person flips on us makes us angry or when we flip the love and respect switch but it keeps opening the lust faucet.

To know God is to love God. If we don’t love him yet, We don’t we know him yet. He is our Father. He has the role of provider and disciplinarian but he also has the role of the great one who loves, who holds and helps, who protects and prompts, who leads and guides. He created us but not like our parents, blindly, just hoping and guessing what we will be and what will will do. He created us, not as a toy but as a tool. We were created with and for a purpose. We have an enemy who wants to distract and destroy us and diminish or destroy our purpose.

We need to fear and honor this great and awesome God who said to nothing, “let there be…. “ and everything we know came into existence. To fear and honor him is the beginning of wisdom, but to know him is find out about ourselves, first that we fit into a plan and next, how we fit into his plan. To know him is to be loved and cared for by him, and to be guided by and disciplined and trained by him. We have value because he created us on purpose and for a purpose.

In All of this is God is waiting for us but we have to say the words. Like in a wedding, the honeymoon night awaits. The wedding rehearsal does not a marriage make. It is very similar to the wedding but it is not the same thing. A wedding, saying the vows and exchanging the rings, that makes a wedding.

God longs and waits for us but we are stopped from joining him by a wall of sin, (Wall or crevasse) a dividing point. Jesus died to remove the barrier and fill in the gap so there is no more division.

In his letter to the believers in Collisi Paul said this: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

Colossians 2:13-15

God is inviting us into the garage, partly for work we need done on us, and partly so we can participate in what he is doing in and for others. Will you brave the sparks with me and join in God’s plan to restore broken lives, mine and yours?