Peter’s Posts

You stink.

I was thinking about a person I know that did some really bad stuff. I mean besides me. This person hurt people, changed people, damaged them forever and was never caught. He died free. He will burn in hell. Unless….

I will also burn in hell, unfortunately all of us are destined to burn in hell…….why? We are all sinners. It’s like we are all deposits in a pit toilet and each of us wants to say “I’m not as stinky as that pile of poo over there” pointing with our little poo finger.

We are all poops in the same pile. All of guilty of some sin and so all sinners. We are all destined for the same place unless…..

Unless what?! Get me out of the septic system and out of the fires of hell!

I can’t.

But Jesus can.

He paid for all of our sins. Even the sins of that guy that I want in hell. But if Jesus has forgiven him then I must also forgive him. So I do. And I hope that he heard about Jesus before he exhaled for the last time.

Where are you with Jesus? Have you accepted his gift of forgiveness yet?

You stink but so do I. We all do. Get that taken care of please.

I was recently planning a day trip to my “hometown” of Pendleton Oregon. I put it in quotes because I wasn’t born there. I just lived there in my formative grade school years. Oh and 7th grade too.

I was hoping to see a few old friends. Most of those I contacted said “gee that’s nice. Make it worth our while, Bring your wife, we want to meet her.” (If I could underline or italicize the word her would be both).

My wife is a very special lady and we tried do that, she was busy recording a Christmas album.

I’m the one who grew up there. I’m the “old friend”. But I get it. Mary is the exotic foreigner. The urbanite princess from the far away city of Ephrata.

Jesus was a homie from Nazareth. He wasn’t born there but he grew up there. He went to the 1st century version of cub scouts there. He went through puberty there. He had his bar mitzvah there. (Did I spell that correctly ?) He worked in his dads shop there.

Matthew 13 tells the story. We have parallel stories in the other Gospels. They are worth the read.

The visit didn’t go well.

“53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”

58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”

I grew up in a church. My family went every time the door was open. My mom even created extra nights of bible studies so we could be there more often. I was hearing the words and seeing the ministry but it had become so familiar that I didn’t see God in any of it. I completely missed the Gospel message. I didn’t hear the good words, the good news.

In Ephesians:

“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. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

In Romans:

“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.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

The danger is there for me even today, to let the good news become so familiar that I lose God in my spiritual routine.

God loves us. Jesus died to pay for our sins. Not everyone knows that yet. I need to stay aware of that, stay awake and share my story.

For my Pendleton friends, I’ll be back there soon. Put the coffee on. Well not yet. I don’t like old coffee. But soon.

John 9

Mud pie in your eye

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.”

When i was 3 we lived in Wenatchee Washington. We had a large group of kids to play with. (I am a baby boomer).

One day my sisters made mud pies. I, being the younger brother and wanting to Play along, ate them. Later that day at the lunch table they came back up.

Mud is not good to eat. It’s not usually good to rub into eyes either.

Mud in the hands of a creative, creator God will do what He desires.

“Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Sometimes God uses strange and unpredictable ways of accomplishing his work. Mary and I are getting ready to make changes to our life that we don’t fully understand or comprehend but we are slowly moving forward towards an unknown future.

Can we trust God in this?

Here’s to mud in your eye.

May we see clearly your plan for us Lord or at least be obedient to walk each step as you direct.

I don’t have a plan. I am a terrible strategist because if I ever do bother to make a plan and the game changes I am undone because I don’t have the brain power or energy to prepare a contingency. (Contingency is not my favorite word, sellers of houses don’t like it much either).

Today’s story in Matt 13 fits my life right now.

“47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”’

Fish don’t live out a well planned and ordered life.

1. Hatch

2. Spawn or procreate

3. Don’t get caught or eaten

4. Get caught or eaten

5. Die

Maybe that is a good plan.

If I was like a fish then I am somewhere in between step 3 and step 5.

Then what?

Die.

Then what? Sorted by the angels.

Am I a good fish or a bad fish? Red fish blue fish?

I am a bad fish. But I have a good savior who has forgiven all of my badness and tossed me in his basket.

I am not righteous. Jesus is righteous and he has enough righteousness to cover my sinfulness with his righteousness and make me worth keeping.

I sense the net closing in. It could be my childhood trauma that creates this awareness or it could be God letting me know that my shift is almost over.

Before I go I must ask, do you know that Jesus died for our sins and was raised to life so that we can live with him forever? Today is a good day to receive him as your savior. I did. Join us.

The next two parables that Jesus gives us in Matthew 13 make me uncomfortable. They always have but especially right now.

44′ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”‘

We are in the process of downsizing our life. I didn’t realize how much of my security is in my possessions. I am in a state of anxiety.

When I read these two very short parables my first focus is on the “sold all he had”, “sold everything”.

The point isn’t about the value of what they had. The point is the treasure that they had found far surpassed the sum of everything they owned.

Jesus is that. Jesus is that treasure. He is worth more than the sum of all I possess. Am I seeing him as a great treasure today? Is he worth more than the sum of all I possess? Am I living like it?

Am I all in?

Is everything I possess his to use? His to take?

Do I trust him with my life?

I have trusted Jesus with my eternity, do I trust him with my today? If I get a tomorrow do I trust him with that too?

Big questions for a Day that ends in Y.

John 8

“You’re doing it wrong, I am here to help”

John 8 verses 12-59 are the record of Jesus confronting the Jewish leaders with the mistakes they were making, and their misunderstanding of the mission of the messiah. The confrontation is uncomfortable. To understand, It should be read in one piece. That doesn’t work well here.

I will list the highlights of what Jesus said in his explaining his mission as messiah:

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”’

“23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”’

“They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up[a] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.”

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”’

“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”’

“I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”’

“Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.”

Jesus is the light of the world. Anyone who doesn’t believe In him will die in their sins. WE are all sinners and slaves to sin, he has come as the Son of God, to set us free. If we obey his word we will never taste death. He pre-existed Abraham because he was eternally begotten of the Father.

We are all slaves to sin. Jesus came to set us free.

I hope this is an encouragement.

I had one of those door inside a door inside a door

experiences at church today. During communion worship I had a vision of myself in heaven kneeling before the throne of Jesus worshipping. The song lyric that Mary was playing was about “my lord” and I thought about the words “MY Lord” and I was suddenly aware of all the other people in the room and I felt awkward excluding them. In my vision there was a host of people and we were all praising “OUR Lord” and the doors began to open, Jesus is my Lord but I live in a body of believers, we are a community and Jesus is OUR Lord, then Rory’s saying, ‘no lone ranger christian’ rang in my head and I started feeling very alone and tired and I realized that I have allowed myself to get isolated from the rest of the christians around me and I started feeling very vulnerable and exposed. Not sure how it’ll happen but I am being called back by my shepherd to the safety of the fold.

Facebook asks “what’s on your mind?”

I didn’t sleep well and my mind feels like a two year old on a sugar rush. I can almost hear the rapid random foot steps racing from thought to thought.

What’s on my mind?

Yes.

Oh and that too.

Paint.

Coffee.

Windshield wipers.

Concrete.

Push button.

Friends.

Funerals.

Lord of the rings monster.

Coffee.

Jesus.

Mustard seed.

Mustard seed?

Tiny little mustard seed.

In Matthew 13 Jesus talks about the tiny mustard seed. He said the kingdom of God is like it.

“31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”’

I know about A man who lived 2000 years ago. I know what he said and what he did. He was from a different ethnic group than me, he spoke a different language. Thousands of kings and kingdoms has risen and fallen. 2 millennia have passed since he died. More importantly, 2 millennia have passed since he rose from the dead.

This man had 11 guys that were his disciples. Because of their faithfulness the tiny group of men have impacted the planet.

I found this on the internet:

“As of 2010, Christianity was by far the world’s largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third (31 percent) of all 6.9 billion people on Earth,” the Pew report says. “Islam was second, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23 percent of the global population.”Apr 2, 2015

Jesus said in Matthew 28, “18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”’

In Luke 24 Jesus says this, “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Did I mention my mind behaving…squirrel….

I hope I am understanding the parable of the mustard seed. If I am the church has done well but is not finished. 2.2 billion believe. Good. We need to continue to care for and encourage each other.

4.7 billion do not believe. How many of those have heard the message that Jesus died to forgive our sins and rose from the dead to give us eternal life? Some will reject the truth. But some will believe and receive.

Today is a Good day to start sharing the good news.

Pants.

Keys.

Coffee.

Squirrel.

Weeds. I hate them.

Sometimes weeds are just the right plant in the wrong place. Like violets growing in my grass or grass growing in my flower beds. So let’s not think about those when we say weeds. Let’s think about thistles.

Thistles spread in 2 ways. By seed but also through the root system. If you pull a thistle you are actually propagating new thistles. Every place on the main root system under ground where a plant broken off more grow back. It’s like Mickey in the sorcerers apprentice where every piece of the broom becomes another broom. Nightmarish!

I hate weeds. They are ever present. Weeds are a picture of sin. Weeds are also a picture of people with malicious and evil intent. Why does God allow weeds? Why does he allow people with evil intent to continue to live among us?

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells a story about weeds.

“24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”’

I love stories about heart changes, about redemption and things cast aside as useless being brought back in and used. This isn’t one of those stories.

There is a day coming for those “weeds” of this world where they will be gathered and burned.

It breaks my heart to know that not all people will be put in Gods barn. Everyone can be, but not everyone will choose to be in the barn. It is a choice we make.

Jesus explains the parable later in the chapter.

“36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

John says this in his book about good news:

“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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 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. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

Who will we choose today?

We get to choose. I Choose the barn. I Choose Jesus. I Choose life.

And you? What is your choice today?

John 8

Are you in or are you out?

“21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up[a] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.”

To answer my own question. I am out.

I am out of my sin. Not that I don’t sin anymore but that I have accepted Jesus death on the cross as payment for my sin (s). All of them. Unless I die before finishing this post I will sin again. My heart is deceitfully wicked, selfish to the core, and yet Jesus loves me.

I do not understand this but I believe it is true and I rejoice.

Jesus said here, “when you have lifted up the Son of Man,” referring to his upcoming gruesome death on a cross.

Easter Sunday is coming. The celebration of the day when a very dead Jesus walked out of a very sealed tomb. Now he lives forever to be my advocate before his Father in heaven.

This is good news. All of this is true for anyone and each one who reads this. Jesus died to pay for our sins.

Are you in or are you out?

This may seem hokey but i seriously found the three pictured items on one walk today. (My hand seems to always be there so I can’t count it as a fourth found item)

They seemed to tell a story. It’s a love story.

The good news in four pictures:

1. Dirty hands.

We all have dirty hands. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The screw.

Sorry for the crudity but we are all screwed. Our sin has separated us from God. In life it may not seem to make a difference. At death, well, things get ugly for those still separated by sin.

The nail.

There were 3 nails that pierced through Jesus’ body and secured him to the cross. To quote a song, it was his love that held him there.

For God so loved…

“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. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John 3:16-21

The washer.

Jesus death washes us clean. With him as the payment for our sin, we are restored to God. With Jesus resurrection we are guaranteed eternal life.

“3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:3-7

Join us this Sunday and hear more about the most amazing love story ever told. God’s Love for us.i attend Ephrata Foursquare Church but any church that teaches the Bible and only the Bible will be sharing the same story. That story is about you. That story is about me. Come and join us. Let’s learn together more about this amazing God who sent his son to die for our sins just so we can be together for now and for forever.

Family resemblance. We look for it in our kids and in our grandkids. We tend to claim the good traits. Not so much those things that we wished we wouldn’t have passed on.

 

(this is a picture of 9 of 10 of our grandchildren, 10 wasn’t available for viewing yet)

What is God’s will for our lives?

 

God’s will is that we would be made to be more like Jesus. He wants us to look like part of the family.

 

Romans 8:29

“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.”

 

How is that possible? We are sinners and he is God/man, perfect in every way.

 

We can be Made to be more like Jesus when he is living inside of us. When he is the voice in our heart leading and guiding and correcting and reproving.

 

How can Jesus, who is God, live inside a human?

 

I don’t know how exactly how that it is accomplished but Gods Holy Spirit will come and live inside us when we receive Jesus as our Lord and savior.

 

What must we do to make that happen?

 

In Romans Paul said it works like this: “8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 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. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

 

Up to the point of us saying those words, “Jesus you are Lord”, we have been the boss of us, after saying those words Jesus will be the boss of us. We shouldn’t take that transition lightly. The management has changed.

 

What is next? Well, what happens when a new baby is born? The baby is swaddled and fed and cleaned and taught and the process is repeated millions of times over until the baby begins to feed and care for itself. A new Christian is a baby who will need care. Christian spiritual baby care is found in a healthy church and in healthy Christian friends.

 

We need to find our Christian family.

 

Matthew 12 Jesus talks about what makes up the Christian family.

 

“46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

 

48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

 

Find a church where the people exemplify Jesus.

 

Yes church is part of the Christian life like family is part of the human life. We need each other to support, care for, protect, teach, cleanse, diaper, feed, train and so much more. We need community. We need family. We need each other.

John 8

What if God knew our secrets?

“8 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”’

We don’t know what Jesus wrote with his finger on the ground. We can only guess. The Text says that the older men left first. This was a society that esteemed elders and they would’ve been in the front. They would’ve seen what Jesus was writing first. I believe Jesus was writing out the list of each mans dalliances, names and dates.

Who was without sin? not one in that crowd. There is no crowd where the outcome would be any different. No one is without sin.

The one man who lived his life without sinning, Jesus, stood there completely justified to condemn this woman but instead he forgave her.

What if God knew our secrets?

He does.

He knows all of them. He knows all of our past. Here’s the hard part to understand, he still loves us. Jesus knew us and and our sin and yet went to the cross to pay for them all, to pay for us all.

I did some stuff, bad stuff. I was young and stupid. I cannot undo what I did. I recently met an older gentleman who knows part of my story. I can’t see him without thinking about that part of my life and feeling shame and remorse. He only knows part of my story. God knows it all. Every detail. Every motive. Every move I made, he was watching me. He has enough on me to condemn me for eternity but instead he has forgiven it all.

Jesus paid it all. It’s not fair, but it’s true. I walk away forgiven.

Thank you Jesus. You have set me free!

Matthew 12:33-37 Jesus continues to speak to the religious leaders. They have just said that Jesus is driving demons out by the power of Beezelbub, the prince of demons. I wanted to explain that so we can understand the tone of what Jesus will say next.

“33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

By our words we will be acquitted.

In Romans 10:9-10 we read this: ” 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. ”

I don’t want to oversimplify salvation. Confession and belief. It is with the words we say that we will be saved, along with belief that Jesus rose from the dead.

Entering into a relationship with Jesus is simple. Maintenance of that relationship and growth in the knowledge of Jesus and how best to live, isn’t easy.

It’s like buying a car (or a truck, shout out to my truck Rusty, winter’s over and the hiway is calling buddy).

The purchase of the car and ownership of the car are not the same. Once the car is ours it becomes our responsibility to fuel it and regularly maintain it. If we don’t, that car will cease to function. Either it will run out of fuel or it will break from lack of maintenance. Once we are in relationship with Jesus we need to maintain that relationship. We need to spend time with him in prayer and reading the Bible, spend time with other Christians, Christians with a deeper faith that we can learn from, and ones with a newer faith than ours to help them with life.

The analogy breaks down when we look at the purchase. We aren’t buying our relationship with Jesus, rather he bought us. He bought us back from slavery to sin and death. He paid with his life by dying on the cross for us. He rose again from the dead guaranteeing us eternal life.

“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.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

My biggest fear in writing these posts is that I will give incorrect or incomplete information about who Jesus is. I want the world to know him and believe in him. Believe today that Jesus died for our sins and 3 days later he rose from dead and is now alive forever.

It’s with our words that we will either be acquitted or condemned and today is good day to be acquitted.

I don’t want to do this. Whatever this day has in store. I want to finish my coffee, stay in my Jammie’s and go back to bed and sleep. Wake me when the world is set right again.

The same problems I had yesterday are waiting for me today, I didn’t have the answers then and I didn’t get them in my sleep.

But I did win a can of cat food.

We don’t have a cat.

(From Safeway, not in my sleep).

So I trudge on with the same equipment I had yesterday, and most of the same unsolved mysteries and the unanswered challenges plus there’s new ones for today.

I’m feeling dried up, ill prepared and useless.

Then I read this:

“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[c] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

I remember that I am not alone, not left abandoned. So I pray this.

Jesus I need to be refreshed, renewed and strengthened. I have challenges that I don’t have answers for. Jesus help me. Fill me with living water. I need enough for myself and for those around me.

Then I go on with my day and see what God can do with this dried up husk. I may be a dried up husk but I’m Gods dried up husk.

Remember what he did with 5 loaves and 2 fish?

John 7

God on trial

“Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”’

The Pharisees were angry with Jesus because he “worked” on the sabbath by healing an invalid who had been crippled for 38 years, and he told that man to break the sabbath by carrying his mat home.

How dare God break the sabbath rest rule. What was the law?

“8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Interpreting this law of God fell to the leaders of Israel.

Rest became a job for the Jewish people. Do not work on the sabbath day. Well what constitutes “work “? I don’t have the specifics but I heard recently that stipulation was so specific and nitpicking that you couldn’t even wear false teeth because it constituted carrying a burden.

The people were so concerned with keeping Gods laws that they lost touch with the God who gave them the laws. The laws weren’t put in place to drive us away or to drive us crazy but to drive into the arms of God who loves us.

Jesus has come to set us free, not from the rules but from our failure to keep the rules. We can’t keep the rules. He can, he did, he died to pay for our breaking them.

It could just be the daylight savings time blues. I’m feeling like a smoldering wick and a bruised reed.

Good news for me is found in Matthew 12.

“15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

19 He will not quarrel or cry out;

no one will hear his voice in the streets.

20 A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,

till he has brought justice through to victory.

21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”[b]’

Jesus cares about the lowliest of us. He will meet us where we are. I don’t have to be a flowering vine or a mighty oak for him to care about me. Even the bruised reed gets his attention.

(from 2017)

It’s Wednesday March 22. Its hump day, the middle of the week. I am anticipating that I have 2 more days until a weekend break, then work a week, then a short vacation, then work/break/ work/ etc for 14 years and then retire then grow old and then die.

That’s what I’m assuming will happen. But what if this is the day that a truck crosses the center line and I don’t make it? What if my extended plans for life don’t work out? What is the most important thing I can do today if it’s my last day here?

What if there is an eternity just the other side of our last exhale? Our breath leaves our lungs and our soul slips out of our body and then what? Heaven? Hell? In light of the fragility of life should I be prepared for eternity?

When Jesus was crucified he was hung on a cross between 2 other criminals, two thieves. All 3 of these men knew eternity was very close. They were swinging on a thread over the chasm of death.

Let us listen in on their conversation.

“32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[c] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”’

What are the words that I can write on this post to encourage people to believe in Jesus and receive him as savior? What can I say?

What do you believe about Jesus?

Did he rise from the dead? Did he pay for our sins with his death? Have you accepted that gift?

Eternity is coming, some call it death and expect it to be an end but the Bible tells us that the end of this life is just a doorway into eternity. Eternity has two options, with God or without him. I highly recommend the with God option.

Eternity yawns beneath us all.

Accept Jesus’ gift today. Today is all we know that we get. Today.

What if Jesus showed up at the door to the museum of our life and asked for a tour? The museum is the store house of our memories, the place where our motives and motivation are kept, where our world view rests. Would our tour sound like this?

“Welcome Jesus to the museum of my life. You may look but do not touch. Please stay on the well marked pathway during the tour. Jesus you are welcome here but please do not alter or change anything, I like my life the way it is”.

What if at the end of the tour Jesus made some suggestions for changes to improve our life? Remove this, add that, clear out an entire area, change the focus of our world view?

Matthew 12 has another story about Jesus shaking up the religious establishments view on their rules.

“9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”

It’s very easy to see how the religious leaders were wrong here. I keep wondering what other messages should this story be telling me?

So I imagined Jesus coming to me. My life. Bearing all of my life to him. Immediately I think of things that I don’t want him to see. Then I ask myself, why are they there? If Jesus shouldn’t see them, then why are they still in my life? Is there anger or resentment that I’ve been hiding? Why don’t I let Him wash that out of me? What about my little room of guilty pleasures? Not outright wrong, or the little closet of secret sins? Wouldn’t it be nice to do some spring cleaning and purge that all away? The weight of guilt and shame, overwhelming for me,but not for Jesus. He can cleanse those all away.

Is Jesus welcome in my life? Yes. Generally speaking. What if he asks me to change something?

Jesus is the Lord of the sabbath. He is that because he created it. He created. Everything that exists, exists because of him. He is the author and architect of life. He created me. He knows what is best for me because he knows what he created me for.

Back to the tour.

Today Jesus is at the door of the museum of my life. I am handing him the keys and saying, “Jesus, welcome to my life. It is a mess. I’m tired of the gunk and junk, please help me clean it up and clean it out”. Just over his shoulder I see a dumpster labeled Sin Disposal. That is a welcome sight. All of my sins forgiven.

Today not only will I be forgiven of sins committed by me, I will also be forgiving sins against me.

Time for some spring cleaning in my museum.

Is someone writing all of this down? My mistakes? My willful disobedience? Is there a record of wrongs in some file drawer? No human knows the total of my sin. No one person has the complete record of all of the wrong I have done. Well….Jesus is a man but he is also God…and He knows it all.

And yet…he has chosen to forgive me. All of it.

The next section of Matthew 12 Jesus mentions some notorious people. He doesn’t mention them to point out their sin, he mentions them to point out their state of being forgiven.

“38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.”

The religious leaders of Jesus day who prided themselves on a righteousness based on following the rules will be condemned by notorious sinners who repented.

Then let’s talk about The sign of Jonah, Jesus will die and be swallowed by death and the earth. This planet he created and the curse that was placed on it would swallow him. But not for long. Three days later he will rise from the grave and live forever. The earth and death and the curse of sin forever broken and beaten.

I quote this next verse a lot but it comforts me. I hope is does you too. I know I’ve done wrong, so does God. He knows it all and yet he has forgiven me.

“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.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

I am forgiven. That is good news.

Have you heard it yet? We have been forgiven.

Have you received it yet?