Peter’s Posts

Luke chapter 8. It starts out with the parable of the sower and the seed.

“While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ” ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

There are hard hearts that will not receive the seed of good news that Jesus loves them and died for them. There are other hearts that will hear, accept it, flourish for a short time and then die away because their hearts are like rocky soil and the good news can’t take root. Then there are some hearts that will hear, will accept the word of God, will grow for awhile but will eventually be choked out by the cares of this world, money gathering, feeling good.

These three situations make me so sad. Thinking there are those who won’t make it. But I recognize myself and my life before I got saved in all of these situations. So it’s like the Christmas carol when Ebenezer is faced with his eminent death and he says “why show me this if I am beyond all hope?” Why would Jesus point out these heart conditions if there wasn’t a chance for us to recognize ourselves and ask God to change our hearts so that we can receive the word and become the soil that produces a hundred fold? Where am I today? Where are you? If we are bad soil will we pray for God to loosen up our hearts , to remove the rocks and weeds? If we are the good soil are we producing? Are we multiplying the seed that was planted in our hearts?

I have been the hard soil, I have been the rocky soil, and even now without diligence and Gods help and mercy I can easily be overrun with the cares of this world.

Jesus keep my heart clean and receptive to your word. Make me fruitful.

Luke chapter 7. Being dead isn’t the end. Jesus encounters a funeral procession and is moved with compassion for the mother of the deceased, a widow.

Jesus said “don’t cry” and to the son he said “get up”. And the story for the widow and her son changed.

God had compassion on my mom. When I was 11 I was in a car accident. My sisters Kitti and Judi , my foster brother Rodney and my sisters boyfriend Paul(?) were headed to Pendleton from Milton-Freewater. It was a dark and foggy night. We didn’t make it to Pendleton that night. A couple of miles out of town our truck hit a car head on and then we were immediately hit again by the car we were passing. The impact tore the cab of our truck off the frame and it was tossed out in the field. We were all alive. Busted up but alive.

It was a busy foggy night. Before it was over I understand that there were 17 cars piled up in the crash. It was busy at the hospital. I was on a gurney in the hall when my mom arrived. She saw doctors checking me then leaving me. She asked if it was okay to talk to me they said “it doesn’t matter now” and walked away. My mom touched my leg and I started coughing. The doctors turned on their heels and rolled me into ER. What my mom didn’t know was that I was dead. By the time I got to the hospital I was clinically dead. No pulse, not breathing, dead.

But being dead isn’t always the end.

The story about the boy being raised back to life isn’t really the one I wanted to talk about but it gives me an opportunity to share my story.

Read the story of the woman who lead a sinful life. Verses 36-50. Hear what Jesus said to her. “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you ; go in peace.” Weep in repentance and be forgiven. I did. I was and am.

Luke chapter 6 starts out with Jesus breaking a rule. He did not break a commandment. The commandment is to rest on the 7th day. To do no work. Then someone asked, “what Is work?” and the answer to that question became the rule that Jesus broke.

Rules became more important than people. Do I do that? I’ll have to think about it. I don’t want to do that.

Jesus has given us a new way to live and it’s not to amass wealth or possession or power. It is to serve.

“27 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

The Christian lifestyle is simple but it is not easy.

How am I doing? If this is a test God I fail. Forgive me when I fail. Thank you for your great mercy.

The Christian life is counter cultural. Come join the, I want to say revolution but it’s not a fight, not with flesh and blood anyway. There is a battle but it is not against people. People are what we are fighting for. Join me as I follow Jesus. Help me up when I stumble and I will help you.

Luke chapter 5 has a lot going on. Jesus calling of the disciples, but first providing a miraculous catch of fish, healing a leper, healing the paralytic with four faith filled friends, (it doesn’t say 4, I’m just thinking one on each corner), calling Levi the IRS guy and then answering the question about ministry style with a parable.

2 things stand out to me. What the leper said, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

More importantly Jesus answer, “I am willing, be clean”

And the second is Jesus reply to the Pharisees about who he hung out with, “it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”.

I need Jesus to touch me and make me clean today. I need a savior who is seeking me out not because I’m so good but because I need spiritual healing.

Thank you Jesus for seeking me out and touching my unclean life and bringing me back into a relationship with you.

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells us parables to help us grasp important concepts about the end of time, aka his return.

The first story is about 10 virgins. When my son Aaron was about 5 he asked me what a virgin was. From the look on his face and the discussion I had with Mary afterwards, I have determined that My answer was too accurate for a 5 year old brain. I recommend from experience that we define a virgin as an unmarried woman.

Let’s read the story.

Matthew 25:1-13 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

When I was in 3rd or 4th grade my mom bought me a basketball. Well I thought it was a basketball. It was a ball, it had lines on it like a basketball. It bounced and rolled like a basketball. I had a new friend Matt Millier that came over to play, I suggested that we play basketball he agreed, he was good at any and every sport he played. I brought out my new ball and he said “that isn’t a basketball”. I was deflated. I argued but it became evident that I had been wrong. My basketball was a reasonable facsimile. It was not the real thing. It was a cheap plastic play ball that was painted or printed to look like a basketball.

When I first read this story in Matthew and saw that the ladies fell asleep I thought that the sleep thing would be the point Jesus would make. It wasn’t.

Of the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom it seems that 5 were genuinely part of the party. The other 5 were reasonable facsimiles. We can tell that they weren’t the genuine article because the bridegroom says “Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.”

We see in the virgins not preparing for the long wait that they were not genuine in their relationship with the awaited bridegroom.

We need to be careful to look at our own hearts and our faith to make sure we have the faith to wait, and the love and longing for our bridegrooms return. We need to be genuine Followers of Jesus, not reasonable facsimiles.

Matthew Millier, if I didn’t say it then I will say it now, you were right, that wasn’t a basketball.

The pull of adventure can sometimes feel like gravity.

I’m not sure if this memory is a Prologue to a cautionary tale about an untimely death or the first paragraph of a legend starring me.

The scene is me at about 4 years old. My butt and my right leg are plopped inside the big brown coaster wagon, it wasn’t a radio flyer but it was along those lines. It was a lot of work to pull the wagon up to the the top of the east hill. Grandpa Loeffelbein’s little orchard was divided east and west by a deep gulley and the gulley had a small creek at the bottom. There was a bridge across the creek, just wide enough to drive grandpas Fordson tractor over. The road to the bottom was a gravel two track trail. The west side road was the steepest. Dead mans hill. Only fools tried riding the wagon down the west side. I had pulled the wagon down the west side and up the east side.

It would be epic I thought to myself. I was sure there was an award ceremony in my near future if only. If only I could over come the crippling fear that kept my left leg on the outside of the wagon extended with my heal dug in. I had my hand on the tiller. I don’t know if I squinted as I stared down to the bottom the hill, charting the course. It wasn’t that complicated. The road went straight to the bottom of the hill. All that was required of those bold enough to try was use the tiller to steer the wagon and keep it on the road and get over the bridge. On the north side of the bridge was about a three foot drop into the creek. On the south side it was more like a 4 foot drop and there was the barb wire fence and stinging nettles. If I had to ditch I would head for the north side. I didn’t know much about stinging nettles but rumor had it that it could result in blindness and death. Nettles were to be avoided. The course charted, and the plan made. As soon as I could swallow the fear I would begin.

I don’t remember what the trigger was that released my left foot emergency brake. I have an older brother and I suspect that there may have been taunting or some other challenge. It could’ve been the thrill effect where the excitement and anticipation of a thing fills up and over flows the brain bucket to fill and over flow the logic bucket and boldness bucket. Like a teeter-totter these three buckets on one side tipped the scale. The left foot came up, brake off, left leg got pulled over and in, tucked in and gravity took over. The part that I couldn’t have or at least didn’t anticipate was the vibration of the wagon and how it affected the steering. I was all over the road. As the speed approached Mach 10 and the vibration took over the controls I did the only rational thing my preschool brain could think of, I ditched to the north. As an adult I look back at this scene and see some dangers. The water in the creek isn’t deep to me now, shin deep. As a four year old my shins weren’t that tall. I remember that I was suddenly very wet and very cold.

The house where the adults were was at the top of the west side hill. There were some stairs that were made of old truck tires stacked and terraced into bank of the hill. Somehow my parents and grandparents were alerted to my catastrophic accident and near death experience. I don’t remember those details but I do remember the thrill of the ride down and the moment of deliberation before the thrill.

There were consequences. I did crash. I did get wet. I did cry. I don’t remember the wagon being at grandpa and grandmas house on the next visit.

I have dreams not of this but like this. One where I am sitting in a parked car the car is parked on a steep hill which turns into a cliff. In my dream the car starts to slide toward the edge. Not matter how hard I press on the brake it continues to slide down the hill.

Why are these stories in my head? I was trying to think of an example of getting pulled away from safety into danger. How the excitement can overcome reason, and reasonable fear is pooh-poohed away. I walked away. Like a good landing is any landing you can walk away from, what doesn’t kill you makes you maimed, wait no, makes you stronger? Hmmm. Same guy who said that also said God is dead. Not a fan of the man or his philosophy.

Anyway, I did face a fear, I took a chance, had an adventure, scared my grandparents, (I’m not sure my parents were ever concerned about safety, they had a bohemian mentality in some areas), I had fun up to a point. I started writing this because I was feeling the pull of sin like I felt the pull of fun and adventure and sometimes it feels almost like the pull of gravity. Becoming a Christian didn’t make all of that go away however I have this working for me.

“Romans 6:15-23 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(This post is from an hospital stay in 2016, Mary made a full recovery).

I’m sitting in a quiet hospital room. Watching my wife sleep. There are a lot tubes and gizmos.

We had just returned from a nice trip to see family and the ocean. She started to have stomach pain and it kept getting worse. Finally she let me take her to the ER.

Now we wait in this quiet room for things to improve either by Gods miraculous power or by surgery. It’s not a “death is imminent” situation but it is “death is possible”.

We have been here before. Twice in our marriage she was a surgery away from checking out.

Mary is ready either way. She has trusted her heart and life to Jesus.

I guess I just want anyone who’s not following Jesus because they think they have time to consider how unpredictable life is. And I hope that those people will hear the love of a Father who longs to gather his children in like a hen gathers her chicks, scooping them gently into her fluffy feathered bosom.

God loves you. He sent Jesus, his only son Jesus to die in your place, to die for your sins. He died for all of our sins. We are all lumped together in the group called sinners. We just need to admit it. Confess we need someone to help us because we cannot, not sin.

Paul talks about this in his first letter to the Corinthians.

“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

We just don’t know the number of our days. Do not put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

I ask of you 2 things: 1. Pray for Mary and her recovery, 2. consider your own soul. Have you found a way to wash your sins clean? Jesus is THE way.

In Luke chapter 4 we have the story of the temptation of Jesus. Jesus was victorious over sin because he was victorious over temptation.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Luke 4:4,8,12

Jesus crushed every temptation with the word of God.

What do I do? I explain to the temptation why it wouldn’t be a good idea. I explain the consequences of moral failure. Sometimes I just say, not now. So the temptation comes back again and again. Temptations are very persistent. They keep coming back. What else do they have to do?

I wonder how much less sinning I would do if I would just counter every temptation with “here’s what God says about that…..” But then I would actually have to know what he said. Hmm?

It stinks.

It gets everywhere and touches everything.

It’s odor is on everything.

Invasive.

Pervasive.

Sin.

Did you think I was talking about the smoke? Well that too. But it just keeps reminding me of the human sin condition. There is no escaping it. Young or old rich or poor ugly or beautiful, high or low. Sin and smoke. They are both permeating all of us.

What is the answer?

Rain.

Rain can wash the air clean. Rain will quench the fire that is causing the smoke.

There is a cleansing for the cloud of sin too. It’s not as pretty. The cleansing comes through blood.

The song asks, what can wash away my sin? Then answers, nothing…but the blood of Jesus.

Paul says this in his letter to the Ephesians about the effectiveness of Jesus blood in washing away the stain of sin: “Ephesians 2:13-18 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. ”

Sin and this smoke are infecting and affecting everyone in the area.

Let’s pray for rain. Rain for cleansing and let’s pray for forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.

Next up? The good news according to Dr Luke.

For 400 years there is silence from heaven. No prophets, no revelation. The people of God carry on. They continue to pray and worship. It becomes routine

Worship can become routine. We do it because we do it because that’s what we do. Then something happens. Last week our power went out right before service started. It broke up the routine and we had to decide to worship not because it’s what we do but because we want to connect with the God of the universe, with the great God of mercy, with the God who loves us enough to die for us.

Zechariah was doing his job, his routine and a messenger of the great God he was serving showed up and had an answer to his prayer. It’s what we should expect. We should expect God to answer. He is listening. He is aware. He is watching and waiting for His perfect timing. Sometimes the routine becomes the thing. We forget that there is a God and a relationship with this God behind all the trappings.

I guess what I’m getting out of this is don’t give up praying. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. We have a God who hears our prayers and will answer them. Sometimes the answer is NO, and sometimes it is WAIT. What’s the difference? Time.

There are people that I have prayed for to get saved for over a decade with no change. There are others who did decide to follow Jesus. So I keep on praying and believing that God is hearing me and that someday he will take away the barrenness in this relationship and bring new life.

Gods plan for salvation has always been Jesus. When I follow his lineage back there were some nail biters in the generations. Cain killed Abel but God provided Seth. The entire world was flooded and God had Noah build an ark. He provided Shem. Abraham was old. Very old. Sarah was old, very old the time for children was gone. Long past. And then Joyous Laughter was born aka Isaac. And so it went, life almost snuffed out our hope but God made a way. Ruth’s husband died leaving her childless and hopeless then God provided Boaz, our kinsman redeemer. Over and over just before all hope is lost God provided a way all culminating in Jesus.

My take away is that Gods purpose and his plan are unstoppable. He did all of that so I could have a way of cleaning off my filthy sin and be welcomed with open arms back into His family.

“4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.”

That’s good news.

Ephesians 6 I want to start at the end.

Paul says that he has entrusted the letter to Tychicus not just as a postman but as one who will encourage the believers there. Basically Paul said Tychicus will carry the letter in his hand but he will stay and help because he has Jesus in his heart. Tychicus will be a living letter to the Christians in Ephesus. Tychicus is mentioned 5 times in the bible and every time it says this guy can be trusted, “faithful servant”, one who encourages. I want to be like him.

To the family of God:

Kids, obey your parents,

Fathers, raise them right. Do not exasperate

Slaves (people who have bosses, and even bosses have bosses) work like your boss is Jesus himself, obey respect, work hard

Masters (bosses) remember we all have one master Jesus and there will be a day of personal accountability.

We are in a battle but it’s not with who you think, because if you can mentally picture your enemy with skin on then you got it wrong. Our battle is not with flesh and blood and so neither are our defenses or weapons. Our battle is spiritual: truth, righteousness, good news of Jesus, faith in him, and being saved by him are our battle gear, the word of God is our only weapon.

Weird war. Let’s get to it then.

ma·laise

məˈlāz/

noun

1. a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify.”a society afflicted by a deep cultural malaise”

synonyms:

unhappiness, uneasiness, unease, discomfort, melancholy, depression, despondency, dejection, angst, ennui;

That’s where I am. Malaise.

The words sounds like and the mood feels like mayonnaise.

Big white blob of bland.

I am continuing my journey as a Christian but my life feels like a blob of mayonnaise.

I read something that encouraged me.

“21. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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.”

Mary and I just got back from vacationing in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. My malaise could just be jet lag or exhaustion but I feel this way almost every year at the end of August and beginning of September. September is the Thursday of months, a transition, not beginning, middle or end. All the expectations I’ve had for my life during the summer go through the September check off point, and i have to say to the stuff I didn’t get done, “well maybe next year”. Malaise.

But here is the good news, when Paul talks to any group of believers he uses the word “all”. No matter what kind of funk I’m in, the grace and peace that comes from God our father through Jesus Christ his son, also flows to me. I may be disappointed in myself or in life or whatever but God is still pouring his his love and mercy into me and over me and through me. And the best news of this passage is that he will not give up on me and his work in me. No matter how thick the malaise mayonnaise is, no matter what the season is, God is continuing his work in my life.

I don’t deserve it, I never can and I never will, but God will not ever quit me or quit on me.

All believers are covered in this promise, God will continue working on us and in us and through us till we see Jesus, either by our death or his return.

Let us be encouraged together.

For those reading this who are not yet believers, it’s simple to join us, if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that he rose from the dead, you will be saved.

“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. 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. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

Romans 10:9-11

Become one of the “all” and be covered by God’s grace found in Jesus’ substitutionary death and share in his resurrection power.

I was listening to a radio pastor yesterday and heard something new or at least fresh. A fresh thought.

As I get closer to Jesus , the light he brings into my life continues to expose more and more of the mess in my life.

Like if I were with Jesus in a dark room. He asks me if the room is clean. Hmm, the room is dark, nothing under my feet, I say yes. He then lights a match and we see just a little way around us. There are dirty dishes, litter, a pair of underwear that didn’t make it to the hamper. Then he turns on a flashlight and we see deeper into the room, more mess, then he flips on a light and we see clearly, smudged walls, mildew and mold.

The longer I hang out with Jesus the more stuff he exposes. Sometimes the pain and shame of a life exposed is too much and I want to push Jesus back out of my life and shut the door and please oh please, kill the light. The mess doesn’t go away when Jesus leaves and the light goes out, but if we don’t have to see the mess of our lives, we can pretend it isn’t there, and the pain and shame fall and fade.

Meeting Jesus and inviting him into my life will not make my life a blissful rose garden. Well not just the flowery part. Jesus will begin to clean up and the fascinating thing he will do is to use the poop of my life to grow beauty. The bible says the he will give us beauty for ashes. Ashes are the waste product of the end of something, something gone and useless. God has the ability to turn that part of life, and poop is a useless waste end of life product too, the poop and ashes and reuse them to bring us beauty, like roses.

This will only happen if we allow him into our lives and trust him enough to expose the mess behind the door. Denying a mess doesn’t make it go away. Admitting to a mess doesn’t make It go away either but it can start the process of cleansing.

Isaiah 61:1-6 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.”

Today will you let Jesus into your life to help you declutter your your heart and soul? He will turn it around for you. Beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise for despair. He loves us and just wants to help.

Ephesians 5 is more family business meaning this is written specifically to those who are following Jesus, to Christians.

Being a Christian is brand new to some of us. What do we do? How do we act? What are the rules?

Here’s a general guideline:”1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Things NOT to do:

Be sexually immoral

Be greedy

Get drunk

Don’t do these.

Instead, Do these:

Be filled the Holy Spirit

Sing

Make music

Give thanks

Wives submit to your husbands like you do to Jesus

Husbands love your wife. be the Christlike man that a woman doesn’t have to fear submitting to. Love your wife like you love you. Love like Jesus did- Die to yourself and live for Jesus and your family. Love your wife. Love your wife like you love you. Love your wife. (I added one more “love your wife” than Paul did, sorry, now two more)

Being a Christian is the simple life. It is not the easy life but it is simple.

Live a life of love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

Every once in a while our Pastor will say that what he is speaking about is “family business” meaning it pertains to those of of us who are part of that specific body of believers. It is a specific message to a specific group of people.

I feel like Ephesians 4 is a “family business” chapter but not just for the people in Ephesus but all believers everywhere for all time.

I think I just said that it is specifically written to a general group. At least that’s what I intended.

John 3:16 is written to everyone, everywhere. “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.”

Once we decide to follow Jesus we join a new group, the body of Christ. The group of people known as the body of Christ live by a different set of guidelines.

I will use myself as an example. Basically there has been a shift, a change of command has happened. I used to be in charge. I did what I wanted. Now I have given over the control of my life to Jesus.

I’ll let Paul say it, “Living as Children of Light

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Paul goes on to say how our honesty in word and deed, and our reaction to anger needs to be different now that we are filled with Gods spirit. Our life experiences haven’t changed. We will still face the same temptations and trials that the general population does but now we are empowered to respond differently.

I’d like to quote one more verse that reminds me that when I need to forgive someone, that I too am in constant need of forgiveness.

“32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Watch out!

Keep watching, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it. Jesus has been saying watch and wait for 2 millennia. Really? Keep watching? Keep waiting? Why?

“Matthew 24:42-51 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ”

I’m not focusing on the avoidance of punishment as much as I am focused on hearing the words from Jesus, “well done!”

What do we do while we wait? Read magazines in the waiting room ? Nope. We have a job to do.

“Matthew 28:19-20 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ‘

We live in a desert. The Eastern side of Washington state is a desert. It lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade mountains. Our annual rainfall is around 10″. There is very little water here naturally. My Grandpa Loeffelbein’s property in Cashmere out on Pioneer Ave where i spent many a summer day, had a tiny little stream. It was so small that I could jump across it. The odd thing about it that it was always flowing, and it flowed fast. It was not a lazy little trickle. Put your foot in and it would try and knock you over. It took strength to stand in the flow. The water was cold, and the force was steady and strong.

Sometimes my life feels like a desert, arid and dry. Living life sometimes sucks my soul dry. I need a source of refreshing.

Gods love is like that little stream in some aspects. It’s steady, strong, constant, refreshing, water in a desert. It just isn’t little. When my son in law Nathan Dowd preached recently he quoted someone who said “Gods love is an ocean without shores and without bottom.”

“17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Lord I need to know your love today, not just know it but feel it. I need your wisdom and understanding, I’ve got things to do today that go beyond me. Help me Jesus. Fill me up. Refresh me with your boundless endless love.

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Isaiah 26:3 NIV

This is going to sound stupid but this is one of those verses that bugs me. It bugs me because its sounds like it can’t be true. Like it’s the picture of the imaginary Christian life, the pretend Pollyanna Christian life.

The reason is that I have been utterly terrified before. Waking up after having your head bashed against a dashboard, the vehicle upside down and family members moaning and crying can bring on overwhelming fear. I have been in stark terror.

That car accident has been my scariest moment, but my most blissful peaceful moment came only minutes later. Somehow the people who came to the wreck got me out of the wreckage and put me in an ambulance. As I laid there fear was almost to crazy level which is 5 clicks past 11 on the fear dial, then I heard words,in my head or my heart or my ears I don’t know, the words were “Jesus will take care of you”.

Peace flooded over me and I relaxed. That could be when I died I don’t know. When we arrived at the hospital I was clinically dead, no pulse and not breathing.

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Isaiah 26:3 NIV

Maybe in the days since then when I’ve encountered fear, it wasn’t God’s fault, it was mine for losing sight of him. How can we fear if we know the God who said to nothingness “let there be light” and there was light, who created mankind and watched as we as a race defied him, then he provided a way back to him through giving up his only son to be punished in our place. If we know that God, and can keep him in our sights and believe and trust in his existence and receive his persistent love, maybe our souls can experience peace.

“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.”

God is merciful.

For some of us that is the problem. His mercy attracts us but also repels us. If he can forgive me, and welcome me, then what’s to keep him from forgiving and welcoming my enemy? How can he forgive the person who hurt me so deeply? It isn’t fair.

Some of us are stuck in the attraction/repulsion zone. We know what Jesus said about forgiveness, that to receive it we must give it.

“Matthew 6:12-15 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. ”

We get stuck right here.

There are 3 things to consider if we find ourselves stuck, needing forgiveness, but unable to forgive.

1. God knows. He knows our hearts. He also knows what happened. He will take us where we are, how we are. We may not be able to forgive today, but once we are God’s he begins to make us new.

2. God will change us from the inside out. The person that enters a relationship with God through Jesus death for them and his resurrection, will be transformed, from the inside out. Hurts will be healed, slowly, sometimes instantly but always persistently he moves to completeness and wholeness and health. We won’t finish our lives, as we Have started them, once we have given control over to God. Like a master carpenter/engineer/builder remodeling a shambled wreck, he restores, renews, rebuilds us.

3. God is infinitely merciful and he is infinitely Just. We find this in Acts; “Acts 17:26-31 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” ‘

There is still a day of accounting to come. This will be the day when all things wrong get righted. I don’t know how it will work. I know Jesus has paid for my sins so I will not be punished, but somehow he will make up for wrong that I did. His way of Justice will be as perfect as his way of Mercy. He is infinitely powerful and infinitely creative and solutions are unlimited to him.

Today, please consider surrendering to the great God of mercy and let him begin the process of renewal in you.