Tuesday Thought – November 10, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. ... You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Luke 12:35-40)

I heard that something big would happen in the midst of the four blood moons – maybe even Jesus would come – O wait, the blood moons have all already passed and nothing significant happened and Jesus didn’t come. I heard the same kind of prophecies in 2011 and in 2012. Someone set the date in the early 20th century and someone else said 1994 and others have been sure of other dates. So far no one has correctly predicted when Jesus will come again. Here’s what Jesus says – no one ever will correctly predict the date of His coming. Jesus said, “The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

The exact date of His coming is not the critical issue. If it was the critical issue then I’m confident that God would let us in on the secret. God always gives us what we need to please Him. If we needed the date of Jesus’ coming, we’d have it from Him.

The critical issue is to be ready on any day. Jesus challenges us to be dressed ready for service and with our lamps burning. We should live our lives – every moment of every day – in at attitude of surrender to Jesus and a willingness to respond immediately to whatever He asks.

If Jesus whispers in my ear tonight while I sleep, “Come with Me to heaven” – I need to be ready. If angel shouts and the trumpet blasts to bring this age to its end, I need to be ready.

Are you ready? Do you live in an attitude of surrender to Jesus? Are you ready to listen to whatever He asks and respond in obedience? Are your eyes open to see Him and your ears open to hear Him?

His, by Grace, Steve

Monday Thought – November 9, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Jesus said: ‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?’ … ‘For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.’” (Luke 12:22-26; 30-31)

These admonitions from Jesus are difficult to understand and from a human perspective they will never make sense.

We are not to even worry about the things that sustain our earthly life, like food. None of us can live without food and sometimes there are people – even people of great faith – who don’t have enough to eat. What does Jesus mean not to worry when we don’t have enough to eat? That makes no sense.

We are not to even worry about the things that are necessary to take care of our bodies – like clothes. None of us wants to live without clothes, and for many of us clothes are essential for the climates in which we live. There are people – even people of great faith – who don’t have adequate coverings and shelter for their bodies. What does Jesus mean not to worry when we don’t have enough cover or shelter? That makes no sense.

Even birds starve to death sometimes. Birds freeze to death in climates where there isn’t enough protection for them. Flowers are cut off before their prime, eaten by animals, or destroyed in a late freeze. If you look at the examples Jesus points to they don’t offer an ironclad guarantee that there won’t be any problems.

What does Jesus mean? He means that there are things more important than earthly life. There are things more important than taking care of our bodies. Life on earth is not the goal. To live here is not the purpose for which we draw breath. We live to serve God. Our goal is His glory, His will and the advancement of His kingdom.

Life will never make sense if all we look at are the years we spend here on earth. Life only makes sense when you look at it from an eternal perspective.

His, by Grace, Steve

Friday Thought – November 6, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

"And he told them this parable: 'The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.'" (Luke 12:16-21)

This story is about priorities and ignoring what is important. The rich man thought he was being wise and taking care of the future. There are many people like him in our day. People store up resources for retirement. We plan and save so that we can be sure we will be comfortable in our older years.

People insure themselves to protect their lives against harmful incidents. We insure our houses so they can be replaced in case of fire. We insure our cars so we can buy another if it is wrecked. We insure our health so that a medical problem will not wipe out all of our savings. We insure our life so our families are provided for in case of our death. People look ahead and prepare for the future and do all we can to make provision for what might happen.

Yet, many of those who prepare so wisely for the future ignore God and ignore what happens after death. This rich man did. He did a good job of planning for life, but he forgot to plan for death!

This parable is not trying to teach us to make no provision for our future. Rather, it's pointing out that provision for the rest of our lives on earth is still just short-term planning. Don't forget to do your long-term planning, too!

His, by Grace, Steve

Thursday Thought – November 5, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:4-7)

Life is dangerous! There are evil people in our world who take pleasure in hurting others or who hurt others in order to get something they want. There are natural disasters that do great damage to property and people – hurricanes, floods, tornados, earthquakes, and many others. There are diseases that wreak havoc on human bodies. There are accidents that injure and kill – car accidents, plane crashes, falls, and many other kinds of accidents. Life is dangerous! We should all be afraid.

Or should we? Jesus reminds us that although each of those dangers can damage our bodies and end our lives on earth, none of them has the power to do eternal damage. They may take our lives, but they cannot touch the real us – our souls.

There is One who can destroy our souls. God created us – body, mind and soul and God can end us – body, mind and soul. We should all fear Him.

Or should we? Reverence Him – absolutely – but fright – no. Jesus reminds us that God knows us intimately – down to the number of hairs on our heads. Not only does God know us – God loves us. God’s basic character trait is love. You can see it in His care and concern for the creation – birds and animals. But no bird or animal can compare in worth to God to humans.

God loves us. God loves you. Don’t be afraid of the dangerous things of this world – nothing happens to us that catches God off guard and thwarts His will. Don’t be afraid of God – sense His love and rest in His care.

His, by Grace, Steve

Wednesday Thought – November 4, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.’” (Luke 12:1-3)

What is the feeling that springs up in your heart after reading that teaching of Jesus?

If you said fear, then you are pretty normal. There isn’t a one of us whose life could stand the scrutiny that Jesus speaks of. Every one of us has things from our past – and our present – that we want to keep secret. There are words that we have spoken in whispers and quiet places that we want to see left there for no one else to hear.

The reality is that nothing we have ever done or said will be kept secret and hidden. Our secret acts will be exposed for all to see. Our private words will be broadcast for all to hear.

For those whose sins have not been forgiven through faith in Christ, the prospect of exposure and judgment awaits. That should cause fear and lead to repentance and a plea to God for mercy and grace. That’s what judgment is designed to do – move people towards God’s grace.

Jesus doesn’t limit the exposure He speaks of just to those whose sins have not been forgiven. He doesn’t say those who follow Him will be exempt from having our sins exposed. Should that frighten us or cause to tremble in embarrassment? I don’t think so. Our sins will be revealed in context of God’s grace and mercy. Every sin we’ve ever committed is covered by Jesus’ sacrifice and forgiven through His blood. Those sins don’t remain a cause of embarrassment. Instead, they are a badge of grace, evidence of God’s love. God loves us so much that despite the enormous pile of our sins, He has forgiven us.

Praise God that we don’t have to tremble in embarrassment at the exposure of our sins.

His, by Grace, Steve

Tuesday Thought – November 3, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.’” (Luke 11:39-42)

Which are you more concerned about – the image you present or the actual state of your heart?

For the Pharisees, their image was of foremost importance. They believed that they would be judged by God by what they were on the outside, without regard to what was in their hearts. Boy, did they get that wrong.

Jesus looked into the hearts of the Pharisees and came down with greater criticism and judgment on them than He did on anyone else. Apparently, from God’s perspective, the heart is pretty important. In fact, God judges by what is in our hearts, not what our image looks like.

That doesn’t mean that our actions aren’t important. Our actions are important, but only if they come from hearts that are right before God. Our good actions can’t ever make up for our bad hearts. But pure hearts do make up for our failures of action.

So, here’s the point: open your heart to the Lord and allow Him to change you – from the inside out. That’s the only way real and lasting change happens – from the inside out. Real and lasting change doesn’t happen from the outside in.

His, by Grace, Steve

Monday Thought – November 2, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Jesus said, ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.’” (Luke 11:29-32)

Sometimes God seems so absent and invisible. It would be a whole lot easier if I could see Him work miracles and act in ways that left no room for doubt.

That was the attitude of the people of Jesus’ day. They wanted to be convinced. They wanted all doubt to be erased. Even when Jesus did perform miracles it wasn’t enough. They always wanted more proof – another miracle – an additional sign of God’s presence and work.

There comes a point at which a person has to step over the line and trust what cannot be seen and what will not be proven beyond all doubt. That is what faith is – to trust when you can’t see everything.

That doesn’t mean no proof exists – there is proof of God’s existence and proof of God’s care – just never enough to satisfy all doubts. To remove all doubts would be to eliminate the need for faith. But faith is what God is looking for and what pleases Him.

Solomon was a living example of God’s gift of direction and guidance. Jonah was a living example of God’s desire to see people change and work to accomplish that. People were impressed with Solomon and people repented at Jonah’s preaching.

Someone far greater is here for us. The teaching of Jesus shows wisdom that exceeds Solomon’s. The compassion of Jesus shows love what Jonah showed. The sacrifice of Jesus shows grace and mercy unlike any that has ever been seen.

Look at Jesus. Examine His life. Listen to His teaching. Gaze into His love. In Him is the basis you need for faith.

His, by Grace, Steve