Peter’s Posts

Luke 5.

Remember what it’s all about, Good News. Let’s look to see if we can find the good news anthem in this story.

“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

If we look back at the verse Jesus read to his friends and family in Nazareth back in Chapter 4, what do we see as the role of messiah?

‘“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”’

Where do tax collectors fit into this messianic mission? I would suggest Good news to the poor. The poor? Sometimes rich people can be poor in spirit. Jesus was reaching out to the despised sellouts, the tax collectors. We know that everyone needs God’s forgiveness because we know that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.

How does the saying go? I think at one point in my life I lost the plot.

Back in the day We had a single mom across the street, a single mom next door and a single dad on the other side of us. I saw the need and didn’t help. I could see that they were hurting but I didn’t see my role in helping them.

I was at the point of insulating myself and my little family against the evil of this world. We were all tucked in and safe. We had cut ourselves off from the world and its influences. While doing that, I believe that we may have lost sight of the needs of the sick and dying souls around us. There were kids in the neighborhood that needed to know that there is a Father in heaven who loves them. There were neighbors who needed help and to know that Jesus loves them but I was too busy isolating myself from the evil of the world to see their need.

Leprosy is a contagious disease. You can get it by exposing yourself to it. Lepers are not to be touched.

Yet earlier in chapter 5 we have Jesus doing this:

“While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.”

Sin is a disease that affects us all. Am I willing to go to those who are covered in sin like this man was covered in leprosy?

Am I willing to “touch the lepers”? Am I willing to reach out to the unloved and unlovable like tax collectors? Am I willing to go to the spiritually sick because they need the doctor Jesus?

It is the sick that need a doctor.

Jesus is the doctor. Jesus is willing to heal. Am I bringing the people that need Jesus to Jesus?

Something to think about today.

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 that I was in at age eleven 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 everything, 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.

In Philippians chapter 4 it says this: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Let’s look at that verse in Isaiah one more time.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
Isaiah 26:3 NIV

Peace comes in telling God what we need, remembering what he has already done and trusting, resting in him. Leaning back into him. Like a trust fall, but he just lets us lean back, like being on a good father’s lap, and leaning back into him and trusting and resting.

May we all experience this today.

I’m reading Luke chapter four this morning. I saw something today that I have not seen before.

The chapter starts out with Jesus fasting for 40 days then being tempted by Satan and Jesus successfully rebuffing the attack with authority and with the word of God. Jesus is the word and everything he says is the word of God but he used the written word of God to rebuke and rebuff the devil. That’s not the new thing I saw.

The next thing Jesus does is go back to his hometown of Nazareth. On the sabbath he stood up and read from Isaiah 61, the passage where Isaiah predicted the ministry of the coming Messiah. Then he said, “today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”.

Basically, “I’m the guy. Watch what I do, I am the one sent.”

At first the people marveled at him. Then There was a kerflufful and the townspeople tried to kill him. That’s not what I wanted to mention either.

After he left Nazareth he went to Capernaum where he began casting out demons and as they came out they declared who Jesus is but Jesus silenced them.

I’m running out of time this morning, so I will try to hurry this along. Here’s what I saw. Jesus knew he was and what his ministry was to be all about. Let’s revisit Nazareth.

“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”’

When he entered the next village He did not come into Capernaum loudly proclaiming he was the messiah. He just started doing what God had said the messiah would do. The people he ministered to were allowed to come to their own conclusion about who he is.

He didn’t say Boom I’m the messiah let me get messiahing up in your life.

He took care of the needs of people and showed he was the messiah by doing all the things that Isaiah had predicted. The demons knew who he was and he silenced them, he wanted the people he was ministering to, to make up their own minds about who he is.

This is the part that is new to me. The silencing the demons so the people could draw their own conclusions about who Jesus was and is. That’s the new understanding. Jesus wants each of us to make up our own minds. We can’t change who Jesus is. He was then is now and will always be Jesus The Christ, the messiah, but we each get to come to know him through was has done, is doing and will do in our lives and those around us.

That’s still true today. Jesus doesn’t enter our life like a swat team shouting over a bull horn, “I am the messiah and I have come to take over your life, put your hands behind your head – or up in the air in worship, prepare to be radically changed whether you like it or not!”

No, that is not how Jesus comes into a persons life.

This how. Jesus says this is how he approaches us.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Rev 3:20

He saying that to you today. He is saying that to me too, to all of the ones that he died for to save. Now is he is alive and wants to establish a relationship with you, with us.

What do you say? Are you interested?

Love in action.

1 John 3:18 says this, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

I know this verse because it was printed on a t-shirt that was given to me by Compassion International.

The verse is a summary of another set of verses that I have read recently found in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

How then shall we live?

Love in Action
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. On the contrary:“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” NIV Rom 12:9-21

This is how followers of Jesus should live. It is the expanded version of “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself” which was Jesus’ summation of the most important laws.

So live like this.

Impossible you say?

Without a change of heart and mind, yes, impossible.

Followers of Jesus get a bonus guide. When a person makes Jesus their master and believes that Jesus has raised from the dead, they go through a rebirth and at this birth God’s spirit comes to live inside them as a guide, an internal spiritual gps. All of our confessed sin is washed away. We are made clean and new.

When the new birth happens a new heart is transplanted into us, one that loves God and loves our neighbors. And as we grow, and learn how to follow Jesus by reading his word, our mind is renewed.

We get a restart, a new beginning with A guiding Spirit, a new heart which loves and a renewed mind.

From that place we can begin to live this new lifestyle. A life of love, mercy, grace and service.

“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.

Is there a standard that we can live by? Is there like a code of conduct that if we applied to our lives, it would make the world a better place? I didn’t say a code to force onto others, I said a code to live by, one that I apply to myself and my children.

Romans 13 has a code of conduct.

“Romans 13:7-10 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

It could work.

But it isn’t something to muster up, to force on over our lives like a wet suit that’s 2 sizes too small. It is only possible from a heart change that takes place when we have received God’s forgiveness through Jesus death on the cross. This kind of change can only happen from the inside out. The change must start by changing our hearts first.

Step 1. Admit our need. Which means we will need to one or all of the list below:

I). Stop justifying ourselves by either saying what we’re doing isn’t wrong or by comparing ourselves with someone else and seeing ourselves better than the other person. (Unless we are comparing ourselves to Jesus which should be done).

II). Stop trying to pay off our mistakes with good works. You can’t pay off mistakes with used sanitary products, which is what Isaiah called them “Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. “

Then, confess, say out loud, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.

From that beginning our hearts are changed and we will have Jesus living in our hearts. He can empower us to live out “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

It’s not just the code of the west, it’s the code of all who believe in and follow Jesus.

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

I’ve been reading through the book of Romans this year. I started in January. I read through a chapter a day and start over when I’m done with chapter 16.

This month I have been posting as I read through and verses jump out at me.

I am up to chapter 8.

Anticipating what I would say about chapter 8 before I read it because it holds my “life verse”. That verse that explains me and my relationship with Jesus better than any other single verse in the bible.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

My childhood was traumatic. I have a steel plate in my jaw and some nasty burn scars on my face. I got these before I turned 12. When I was burned I almost died. Getting the injuries that resulted in the steel plate I was actually clinically dead by the time I reached the hospital.

Again, ” And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

You’d think scars on a face would be a deterrent to finding love. It worked the other way around for me. Mary was actually drawn to me because I was scarred yet I was still laughing. Our story reminds me of the joke about the soldier in a doctors waiting room with a spear stuck through him. He was asked if it hurt. His answer was “only when I laugh”. Mary and I became friends in part because of my scars. We became friends, then boyfriend and girlfriend and then we got?

Broken up. You thought I was going to say married. Well we did, eventually but first for almost a year we were broken up. We even dated other people. I did not do well with that. I wanted out of town. I decided to join the Air Force. I was going to quit school, I had all of my credits already, quit and join and get out of town. I had all the papers signed except one. The medical release form. The recruiter went through rather casually until we got to the question about steel pins or plates. As it turns out the Air Force wouldn’t take folks with steel plates in them. I was stuck in Soap Lake and that and a big blue Dodge Polara and a catechism class are how Mary and I got back together.

The steel plate in my jaw God used to keep me around so that I could participate in the greatest blessing of my life. That blessing was to make up with Mary and get engaged to Mary on the same night then get married, have 4 kids and 11 grandkids and still be married 44 years later.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Even burn scars and a brief dance with Death with a steel plate as a bonus prize. God has used all things in my life, even ugly and painful things for my good.

Tomorrow is our 44th anniversary. Happy anniversary baby! Love you SO much.

Reconciled. I can’t get past that word. I’m reading in Romans chapter 5 today and the word reconciled is like a road detour or a stop sign. I have to sit here and think about this for awhile.

Being reconciled. Two parties that have been separated have been brought back together. Another definition is making what is into what it should be. At McDonalds we had to reconcile the cash drawers. Making sure the amount we had equaled what should be there from receipts. I don’t remember what we would do if it came up short. Somehow we had to make up for what if anything was missing.

How can a morally bankrupt person, someone with a moral cash drawer that is empty be reconciled to a God who has the receipts of what should be or what could be in our moral cash drawer?

“…we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received reconciliation.” Romans 5:11b

And this is how and why he did this.

“You see, at just the right time, when we still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will Anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man some one might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrate s his own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God himself made up for our morally empty cash drawer through Jesus. He paid our debt. He reconciled our debt AND he has reconciled our relationship to him.

“Since we now have been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from Gods wrath through him! For if, when we were Gods 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.” Romans 5:6-10

Our Account with God has been reconciled and now we are free to have a good and right relationship with Him. Him who made us and loves us.

I’ve been doing it wrong

I am reading a book by AW Tozer. So far I am only into the introduction. But he has already taught me something that will help me immensely.

You see, I have been reading the Bible wrong. I have been reading the Bible to learn the words written there. But those words that were written were written by a person who was trying, by writing the words, to reveal Himself. That person is not the human author of each book but is the God who inspired the human. God is attempting to reveal himself to us through his word. The words are important but the God who stands behind the words, the God who spoke the words through his apostles and prophets, it’s Him I am trying to learn about, it’s Him I am trying to hear, it’s Him who I am trying to get close to.

This morning I am reading a Psalm, what is God showing me about Himself through these words? What is he saying to me? What can I learn about Him today? What will he teach about myself? About others around me?

It’s not that the words of the Bible don’t matter, but they aren’t the end. They are the map to find the treasure that is God Himself.

“I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”
Psalm 108:3-5 – NIV

And I add my own words, show me who you are God my Father, and show me how to live.

Jesus- not just for Jews anymore.

I have been working my way through Matthew 22 and it ends on this verse about whose son is the messiah. What does that matter?

“Matthew 22:41-46 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. “

If the messiah is just the son of David then the kingdom he will rule is at a minimum, Jewish. Even if he were to rule the Jews and the Jews were to take over the world, his kingdom would be earthly and only continue as long as he or his son would maintain the throne.

But, if the messiah is God’s son? The playing field just got bigger. The players list just went from exclusive to inclusive.

Jesus had come as the messiah, the redeemer, the savior from the Jewish people but he was promised to all people, all the way back in the garden of Eden, God would provide a way for us to re establish our relationship with Him. He was from the Jews but he will be for all people.

We have a king, we have a savior, we have a redeemer. His name is Jesus. He has beaten our two biggest enemies; death and sin. He has restored our broken relationship with our creator God.

It is a transaction that you must initiate. If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Today is a good day to start.

Something to think about. I wrote this as I Was looking out of a train window traveling through Italy and seeing a plant we call in America, Virginia Creeper, and a tree we call Tree of Heaven. Both of these plants are weeds and a nuisance back in the states. I didn’t know they also grew on this continent. Seeing them there made me ponder about borders and nationality and nationalism.

Anyway, here’s my thoughts from back then, riding a train in Italy.

Train musings:

As I’m looking out the window of our train to Venice I’m realizing that the air, the water, the plants and trees don’t know or seem to care what country they are in. They listen to and obey a higher authority than a man who draws a line in the dirt and says “this is mine and that is yours”. They obey a higher authority, the one who made them.

People have some strong opinions about who belongs where. I’m sure that there were meetings in a smoke filled room somewhere. men wearing suits looked at a map and argued where the lines should go.

I don’t think that God sees it that way. The planet that is. One reason might be his vantage point looking down from
Heaven it all looks the same. No colors of states or countries. No lines.

Another reason could be that it is all his. All the land, all the animals, the trees plants fish birds all are his. He made it. He made it and he made us. All of us. No matter what hue our skin is or what language we speak or inside which lines drawn on the map we find our feet or our home. We are his. God is an international God because he only made one planet earth.

Growing up I thought God dressed like captain America Except he wore a robe but his robe was red white and blue because he loved America more than any other country. We were right and they( whomever) were wrong. In any fight, God was on our side.

In the revelation of John the apostle described the vision of the city of God. In that vision he describes the foundation stones of the heavenly city. It is made of 12 different colored stones. I wonder if those 12 colors encompass the colors of all the flags of all the nations?

From Johns description There isn’t going to be an American heaven and an Italian heaven and a French heaven. There is just going to be heaven, the place God dwells. Neither will there be sections for Catholics and a part for Protestants, a space for Jews there will be an all inclusive home for those who believe and receive Gods gift of salvation, being bought back to be a child of God from slavery to sin. No denominations of Protestantism , one God, one heaven, one family. Strange to think about.

One of the creeds I learned as a child said about us believers that we’re one holy catholic, which means universal, church. We are after all part of one body, the bride of Christ, his church.

P.S.

After I posted this memory I read my daily Bible reading. It took me to Ephesians chapter 3. The theme of this chapter is celebrating that the gentiles have been brought into God’s family through Jesus.

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

Jews and gentiles, all one family.

Paul the writer goes on to say this: “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

We are all part of God’s family through Jesus. And we are loved by Him, God our father. One Holy people, loved and cherished by God.

This morning my Bible reading took me to Ephesians chapter 2. There are verses in this chapter that changed my life.

I had grown up in church. My German name, Loeffelbein may give a hint to which denomination we belonged to, Lutheran. Lutherans are very Bible focused. The Liturgy is filled with quotes from the Bible so I don’t know how I missed the very center of Lutheran theology, that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works, not by piling up good deeds. But I missed it somehow. I was convinced that God was mad at me for my sins and I had to earn my way back into his favor by doing good deeds and avoid his wrath and anger by not doing bad deeds. I was wrong. This chapter in Ephesians slays that thought process, completely undoing a salvation by works mentality.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph 2:8-10.

Jesus death on the cross paid for my sins. Completely totally wiped away my debt. Some say it like this. Jesus + nothing = salvation.

I am completely saved by my faith in Jesus, what he accomplished on the cross. His last words were, “it is finished“.
Then he gave up his spirit. 3 days later he rose from the dead and is alive forever.

Where are you on your spiritual journey? Are you where I was, trying to earn your way into God’s favor and pleading for mercy, doubting you will ever measure up?

Later in chapter 2 of Ephesians there is more encouragement for us.

“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.”

Jesus said it was finished, he meant for all humans drawing breath, our debt for the sins we have committed has been paid and we now have access to God our father. We are accepted into God’s family through Jesus death and given new life through his resurrection.

My hope is that this gives you hope. That you will accept God’s gift to you of the sacrifice of his son to pay for all of your sins, our sins.

We are saved by grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor, a favor we do not, we cannot deserve. It is a gift. Will you receive God’s gift of forgiveness and adoption today?

I hope so.

A warning or an encouragement?

“There is either a warning or an encouragement here for every one of us. If you are a nice person- if virtue comes easily to you- beware! Much is expected from those to whom much is given. If you mistake for your own merits what are really God’s gifts to you through nature, and if you are contented with simply being nice, you are still a rebel: and all those gifts will only make your fall more terrible, your corruption more complicated, your bad example more disastrous. The devil was an archangel once; his natural gifts were as far above yours as yours are above a chimpanzee.

But if you are a poor creature-poisoned by a wretched upbringing in some house full of vulgar jealousies and senseless quarrels- saddled, by no choice of your own, with some loathsome sexual perversion- nagged day in and day out by an inferiority complex that makes you snap at your best friends- do not despair. He knows all about it. You are one of the poor whom he has blessed. He knows what a wretched machine you are trying to drive. Keep on. Do what you can. One day (perhaps in another world, but perhaps far sooner than that)He will fling it on the scrap heap and give you a new one. And then you may astonish us all-not least yourself: for you have learned your driving in a hard school. (Some of the last will be fist and some of the first will be last).”

C.S.Lewis. Mere Christianity

How did Professor Lewis know me and my family so well? In a recent conversation with my older brother, he reminded me of a fight my parents had behind closed doors. It was the swinging 60s. We don’t know what happened but my mom used words that we never heard her say before or since. At some point she left us for weeks. That house, that home, that atmosphere of perversion and anger, it colors me still. And God knows. He knows my innocence was stolen. He knows the wreck of a life I was given to drive. Someday I will be free of it all, but in the meantime I am helped and I am understood. I am forgiven and am loved. So I keep on and I do what I can.

I hope this helps someone today.

“3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3-10 – NIV

I’m still on my journey of reading through the New Testament in a year. It only requires reading one chapter a day, 5 days a week. Right now I’m reading through Paul’s letter to the Romans. I read chapter 8. It holds one of my life verses.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 NIV

I am surrounded by beautiful people. My wife is a beautiful person inside and out. We created 4 beautiful children. Those children have given us 11 beautiful amazing grandchildren. I have an amazing job and work with some brilliant people. I go to church and serve with some of the most gracious and loving friends.

It’s like I have been plopped down into the most beautiful, amazing, fragrant, gorgeous garden, all around me and even from me is beauty. But this shouldn’t ought to be. I don’t fit. I don’t fit into my own life. My life was radically altered at age 8 when my face was burnt off and I was left permanently scarred and disfigured. How is this so? How can a man be disfigured and scarred and yet be surrounded by beauty?

God. Only God could do something like this. I should’ve been destroyed and/or remained an outcast but God has turned my literal ashes into beauty, not me, I’m not beautiful, but all around me? Beauty.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

God is good. He does good things. When we submit our lives to him He takes the worst parts and builds them back into who we are and makes them a blessing. At least that’s been my experience.

What can he do in your life? There’s no limit to his power, creativity, and love for us.

Romans chapter 8 ends with some of the most encouraging words ever written.

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The love of God is transformative. Look at me. Look at my life. Look at what beauty God has brought about through the very ugliness that could’ve, maybe should’ve destroyed me. Will you reach out to him today and invite him into your life?

Isaiah 61 has more words of encouragement.

“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.”

Did you catch that one phrase that describes my life? Beauty for ashes. Literally my nose was a crusty cinder. Now I am surrounded by beauty.
How?!
God!
Why?!
Love.

Where are you on your spiritual journey today? Will you invite God into the middle of it. Even if it is messy he will transform it. That’s what he does. If you need an example just look at my life.

He’s talking about us.

In Matthew 22 Jesus was talking to the religious leaders of his day about you and me.

“22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

“‘So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’”

We are invited to the wedding! God has invited us to the party. In days gone by it wasn’t so easy to become part of God’s family and to be invited in but now through Jesus all we have to do is confess and believe to become part of his family and to be invited to the party.

Paul explains it in his letter to the Romans:

“21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

Then later in his letter he says this:
“But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” 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.”[e] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”’

Come today, come to the party, God’s invitation is open to any and all. Welcome.

On our last night in Italy we stayed at a hotel that had a wonderful restaurant. As we entered the restaurant the owner stood at the door with his arms stretched out and said “hello! My name name Guido and this is my restaurant, come in and enjoy!”

That’s how I see God right now waiting for anyone who will hear his voice.

Listen! He’s calling us! Today, Right now, today.

Will you enter? Today?

The stone of heart

On my wandering through Pinterest I saw a craft that I thought was cute. Someone had encircled the base of a tree with heart shaped rocks and they were all painted with various colors and designs. I decided this could be an entry level craft that I could do with all my grandkids so on my daily walks I started looking for heart shaped rocks. While walking one day I started mulling over the phrase heart of stone. I remembered the verses about God wanting to remove our heart of stone and giving us a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

I thought about that for awhile Then I flipped the phrase to stone of heart. I thought you know, that’s who Jesus is. He is the cornerstone, the rock of salvation yet he is loving and kind and gracious. He is a stone made of heart (love).

In the meantime I have been reading through the Gospel of Matthew and a couple of words have stuck out, Every and All.

Whenever Jesus encounters crowds of people, the sick and infirm and lame and blind and demon possessed are brought to him and he heals them, heals them all.

I first noticed it in Matthew 4. Everyone was healed of every sickness disease and demon possession. I note Matthew 4 but the theme holds true throughout the book. He healed everyone, he healed them all.

attendant this writing I am up to chapter 21. Jesus has just entered Jerusalem and the first thing he did was to “cleanse the temple”. He didn’t grab a mop and a broom and start washing the floors. He stopped people from doing evil. He stopped merchants from fleecing the people who came to worship God.

He overturned the money changers tables and those selling doves.

A little background might help those who are unfamiliar with this section of the story. Everyone who came to the temple had to bring an animal sacrifice. The only way to appease God and have sins forgiven was through the shedding of blood. Sheep, goats, bulls, oxen, there were times for each of these to be the required sacrifice but if you were poor, or if you traveled a long way to get to the temple, the entry level sacrifice was a dove. Normally you wouldn’t travel with the dove, A dove needed to be purchased At the temple, an overpriced dove. That was fleecing operation one. overcharge for the required dove sacrifice. fleecing operation two: overcharge for a currency exchange. You needed to buy a sacrifice to make yourself right with God, However, you couldn’t buy it with regular currency. Roman coinage was no good at the temple you had to use temple money which could be exchanged from Roman coinage, but there was a handling fee, exorbitant handling fees. The merchants had turned worship into a money making scheme. And the priests and Pharisees were okay with this. It had become a business.

Jesus disrupted this whole scheme, undid the scam. He overturned the tables and chased away the money grubbing merchants. The ruling authorities were ticked off. They asked Jesus “who do you think you are?!”

“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.”

We know from this side of the story that Jesus is the chief corner stone.

He is the stone that the builders rejected.

Matthew 21:42 quoting Psalm 118:22-23.

“Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Jesus is the cornerstone of our belief in God. When building a building you You start with the cornerstone. The stone is made level and plumb it is made Straight because everything else is built off of the cornerstone. We are built on him. Jesus is the only human to ever be “level and plumb”. He was and is perfect. We can use him to base our lives on.

He is a stone. Solid. Unmovable. And he is love.

Luke 19:10 says “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

John 3:16-17 says “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.”

The letter of 1 John says this about God’s love, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

Later on in the same letter John continues about God’s love for us, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

God loves us, he sent Jesus to die for us, Jesus loves us, he willingly gave up his life for us to pay for our sins. Jesus after ascending into heaven sent us the Holy Spirit as our comforter, guide, companion, and advocate. What a loving series of actions.

If this is all true then Jesus is as my aimless mental wondering declared the stone of heart.

Jesus knows.

He knows stuff. He knows the future and he knows the past. In Matthew 21 Jesus predicts not only what would happen within days but then what would happen in about 37 years.

“33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’[h]?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[i]

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.”

It all came true. They will arrest him. They will try and convict him. They will beat him. They will force him out of the city. They will kill him. And then God will boot them (the religious leaders) out of the city, destroy the temple and the city in 70 a.d.

Jesus knows stuff. Not just general events kind of stuff but heart and mind stuff. He knows my heart. Even when my heart wants something bad, something wrong, or when it will not forgive, or when it hates. He knows that stuff about me, about us. And yet…

And yet he died for me, for us. He died the death we deserve. And then…

And then he rose from the grave! Jesus is alive! Today, right now, he is alive and well and is waiting for us to choose to accept his deal, the deal of all of eternity, we confess we need him, and he forgives all of our bad and we become part of his family!

He knows stuff. He knows stuff about us. And he still loves us.

Today is a good day to accept his offer.

Change. Jesus brought it with him. He could change people physically and change them spiritually. He changed water into wine. He changed blind and lame and deaf and mute people into seeing and walking and hearing people. He changed dead people into living people. When he entered the temple he changed it from a market back into a house of prayer.

I can change my house, we’ve done a lot of changing it. I have the authority to do so because I own it. (I will own it after 456 more payments).

In Matthew 21 the religious leaders of the day questioned Jesus’ authority to make the changes that he did.

“23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”‘

Does the owner of a thing have to show his deed to the place at the hardware store? I never have. There are times when I should have. Maybe not questioned my authority but my ability.

Jesus has both, authority and ability. He has a master plan for each one of us. He is standing on the front porch of our lives with blueprints and tools and supplies patiently knocking on the door. He is the owner, we are only tenants.

Paul says this in his letter to the Philippians, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy I thank my God every time I remember you. 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.” Phil 1:4-6 NIV

Remodeling is a lengthy and messy business. God is committed to completing what he started in each one of us. Last night I just finished painting over the spackle that I used to fill in holes that I made by mistake. It was a project that I started almost a year ago. There is dust and junk and unexpected detours. But God has a plan. He actually knows how best to change us to make us into what he needs to expand his kingdom. That is the goal, kingdom expansion. God wants his flag flown over every home.

Will we let Jesus into our lives so he can change us?

Today is a great day to get started.

I’m on a quest to read through the New Testament in a year. Today I read Romans chapter two.

At the same time at our church we are studying with The Man in the Mirror studies which promotes the concept that Christianity is not a set of rules set up for behavior modification but it is rather a relationship with Jesus where he transforms us from the inside out through his grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to change us.

Chapter 2 talks about behavior. It has confused me.

“He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.”
Rom.2:6-8 NLT

This sounds like it is all up to us. That we earn what we get.

But later in the same chapter as Paul speaks to his fellow Jewish believers we read this:
“ No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”
Rom 2:29 NLT

Later on in chapter 3 Paul will show us that we all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God both Jews and non-Jews (gentiles).

“But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”
Rom 3:21-28 NLT

We enter into a relationship, into a family, it’s like we are born anew or born again into a relationship with Jesus when we believe in his death and resurrection washing us clean of all of our sins and mistakes.

Christianity is not a mold we form ourselves into my lobbing off the behaviors that don’t fit the mold. It is being born into a new family where we are guided by the very spirit of the God we have fallen down to worship and adore. We now grow into the new thing God is creating in us.

We grow into a new person like when a baby is born. We aren’t forcing a new life over an old life. We are starting a fresh new life.

I was hoping for a clever finish but this the best I can come up with. I hope this makes sense. If you are a man looking for a place to learn more about Jesus and how best to follow him, Desert Men – Kingdom Builders meet every Thursday, 7 pm, at Desert Church in Ephrata. Come and join us.

Do you need something big?

Maybe it’s so big that it seems impossible?

Ask my God for it. I serve the God of the impossible. Even if you don’t know him very well yet, you can still ask him. He hears our prayers. I know it’s another thing that seems impossible, one being hearing all of our prayers, but he isn’t like us, only infinitely better, he is completely different, completely separate from us.

The apostle Paul has this to say about him “now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen“

He isn’t a genie, we can’t demand anything from him, but we can ask him for everything. He will answer and his answers are always perfect, they yes, no and not yet, or wait, I have something even better than what you’re asking for.

We have not, because we ask not.

In 4th grade I was having a bully problem. I asked for something that would level the playing field, literally level the ground and/or the school building, I asked for a bazooka, a powerful weapon. I didn’t get it. Not because God couldn’t provide a bazooka, but becauseGod in his wisdom knew I didn’t need a bazooka, I needed conflict resolution skills, courage and forgiveness. He gave me what I needed, not what I asked for.

So again, I say to my friends who read my posts, do you have an impossible need? Ask my God and what he will do for you.

He sent us his very best gift already. He sent us his only son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross to pay for all of our sins. Then he conquered death by raising to life again 3 days later.

You can read more about that in Romans chapter 5:6-11.

Ask for the impossible and see what my God can do.