Our Holy Comforter “The Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit”… (John 14:26) On the morning tide… Yes, today… Indeed, remember… each day Jesus still cheers us, not by His personal presence, as He shall do in the future… but by the indwelling and constant abiding of His Holy Spirit… It is this… The Holy Spirit, who is evermore the Comforter of the church… evermore the Comforter of His people… your and my Comforter. It is His office to console the hearts of God’s people. Yes… He convinces of sin… Yes… He illuminates and instructs… But still the main part of His work lies in making bring peace… bring gladness into the hearts of the renewed… Yes, even a measure of needed Joy that is often unexplainable, in the midst of pain. He confirms and strengthens the weak… He lifts up all those who have bowed down. He does this by revealing Jesus. Yes… The Holy Spirit consoles, but Christ is the consolation. I pray we may find comfort in this example… I do each day. Remember… The Holy Spirit is the Physician, but Jesus is the medicine. He heals the wound, but it is by applying the Holy ointment of Christ’s name and grace. He applies not of His own things, but of the things of Christ. So if we give to the Holy Spirit the Greek name of Paraclete, as some have done, then our heart confers on our blessed Lord Jesus the title of Paraclesis. If the one be the Comforter, the other is the Comfort. So… Brother… Sister… Family… Extended Family… Fellow members of this journey in Christ… Now, with such rich provision for our need… How can we be sad and despondent? For… The Holy Spirit has graciously engaged us as our Comforter… Please see this… Please accept this… Are you weak and trembling? Are you fearful that He will be negligent of His sacred trust? Do you think that He has undertaken a task which He cannot or will not perform? Do not fret… For, it is His especial work to strengthen you, and to comfort you… Do you think He has forgotten His job, or that He will fail in the loving work, in which He is charged to perform? Hear this clearly… Do not go there… Do not think so foolishly… Do not think this of the tender and blessed Spirit whose name is “the Comforter.” For, He delights to give the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Trust in Him, and He will surely comfort you till the house of mourning is closed forever, the pain is fully covered by His Love and Grace… and the marriage feast has begun. Draw Close… He is near. Yes, He is.= Challenges… Challenges… Challenges… They do come from time to time… and sometimes they just settle in for a longer time. Oh, Yes !!!! We are in such a time now… Covid and all it effects and changes has been with us for months… and will likely continue to persist for undetermined months more… And even whilst it is challenging us with its set of issues… there will be others which will raise up their dungy head and co-mingle with the pandemic. So… Challenges… Challenges… Challenges… How will you respond? Today, take a few moments and name your greatest challenge. Did you ask for that challenge to be in your life? Probably not. But… Can you choose how to respond to it? Absolutely! Scripture has much counsel… Psalm 54 is David’s prayer when he was betrayed to the king who sought his life (1 Samuel 23:19–24). He declares his peril: “Strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life” (Psalm 54:3). He did not choose this crisis, but it chose him. However, David knows that his circumstances cannot change the character of his Lord: “Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them” (vv. 4–5). As a result, he chooses to worship in the midst of his danger: “With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good” (v. 6). A “freewill offering” is a type of peace offering (cf. Leviticus 7:16) that celebrates God’s goodness. David continues… He is grateful for what God has done in the past: “He has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies” (v. 7). As a result, when he remembers God’s previous provision, he is able to trust him in the present crisis. See this clearly… Here is how God answered David’s prayer: as the king and his soldiers “were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, ‘Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.’ So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape” (1 Samuel 23:26–28). In the experience of David’s… we find three facts that comprise a brief theology of suffering. Please consider them as invitations to reframe challenges you face today. <> Know yourself more realistically Oswald Chambers notes: “God expects his children to be so confident in him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones.” We cannot know if we will be “reliable” in the crisis until it comes: “It is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon who we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in him.” David proved his faith in God when his faith in God was tested at the peril of his life. We do not know how high we can climb up a mountain until we try to climb a high mountain. We discover the strength of our stamina when we test it. This is one way God redeems the challenges of our fallen world—by using them to reveal our true spiritual condition to ourselves. <> Experience your Lord more powerfully While in China… I heard my Chinese Christians friends say and sing: “The greater the persecution, the greater the revival.” Mother Teresa observed, “You’ll never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.” When David asked God to “vindicate me by your might” (Psalm 54:1), he experienced the might of God. By contrast, James admonished his readers: “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2). I am convinced that we would know more of God’s power if we sought more of God’s power. He honors the freedom he has given us and will not force upon us what we will not receive. But if we will trust difficult times and people to him, he will use them to draw us into his transforming grace. Luke Ditewig of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Boston writes: “We Brothers say that the person who most gets under your skin in the community has a special role to play. That one is your teacher. Often what annoys us in another relates to something in ourselves. Uncomfortably, he or she is the one whom you especially need on the bus. We all belong in one large, messy family of God.” <> Reveal your Father more persuasively Before other people will trust God for their “Rock of Escape,” we must trust him for ours. We have no right to expect them to do what we will not do. However, when we trust our Father in our crisis, we show them that they can trust him in theirs. Even a well known non-believer might have had an inkling of truth to share on this subject… As, Jean-Paul Sartre, who was known for his atheistic existentialism… observed, “It is impossible to appreciate the light without knowing the darkness.” So… What about the Light will you appreciate today? The perfect Light of our Savior and Lord… The perfect Light of His Word and Love… What say you… How shall you respond today… Many will see how you respond. Draw Close, Indeed He is O’ so Near. On – Staying on Track “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words … guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” ( 2 Timothy 1:12-14) In this part of scripture, Paul was concerned about the spiritual condition of Timothy. He knew Timothy could drift into error in many different ways. Throughout the Bible, it teaches us that a central way to stay on track… is to be confident about one’s beliefs. Paul demonstrated this confidence in his own life, declaring that he knew “whom I have believed.” He knew that Jesus would guard him. Paul urged Timothy to have the same level of confidence. So… How was he to do this? He reminded Timothy that he had been given a “pattern of sound words.” This pattern applied to every part of his life… his thoughts and actions… his decisions… his relationships… and his travels. This pattern was given “in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (v. 13). Timothy needed to have a relationship with Jesus. And his actions needed to be inspired by faith and love, not just a sense of duty or obligation. Further, Paul reminded him of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwelt within Timothy, and He also “dwells within us” (v. 14). The Holy Spirit can “guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” Timothy needed to be sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Hear this clearly… This pattern applies to all of us. Make sure that you are confident about what you believe. Know whom you have believed. Develop your relationship with Jesus, and stay sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, help us daily to follow the patterns in Your Word and be confident in our relationship with You. Guide us Lord… In Jesus’ most Holy Name… Amen. Draw close, He is O’ so near. Are you wondering about the future? As you read or listen to the news, are you concerned about the future… what it will look like? Please remember… Please take to heart… Hear this clearly… The Bible reminds us that all human ideas, concepts and forecasts have limits, for we all “see things imperfectly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). But God is different. Only He can tell us “the future before it even happens.” Everything He plans “will come to pass” (Isaiah 46:10) because He is God! Please… Make sure you trust in Him. Please… Let His Word shape and guide your thoughts and beliefs. And as you navigate these troubling times, take to heart and mind that, indeed He really knows the future. For… “I am the Lord … Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens.” (Isaiah 42:8-9) Furthermore He loves you… He cares about you… And He even seeks you when you run from Him or wander about in search of truth, not knowing where and in whom to find it. Draw Close, He is Near Whew – the 1st Half of 2020 is behind us… What a 1st six months of a year… 2020 began as 1973 did, with impeachment. And… there was so much more.. So… Then yesterday, we heard Dr. Anthony Fauci tell a Senate committee that he is very concerned about the surge of coronavirus infections in many parts of the US… stating that he would “not be surprised if we go up to one hundred thousand cases a day if this does not turn around.” If that was not a sobering enough warning, news agencies broke the story of a new flu virus (G4) in China having the potential to become a “pandemic flu virus.” So… Here we are… July 1, 2020 I sense that one lesson the first half of 2020 has taught us is that we cannot predict the second half of 2020. Consider this – Hum… we are not in control of our world. It is tempting in our “scientifically advanced, technologically sophisticated” culture to think we can control our natural world, but natural diseases and disasters point out the folly in such suppositions. It is likewise tempting in our “existentialist culture” to predict the future based on the present, but recent months prove how also flawed that suppositions… and how uncertain our lives really are. So… Jesus prayed for his followers: “Sanctify them in the truth” (John 17:17). In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis described the way sanctification works: “The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to ‘inject’ his kind of thought and life . . . into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.” Please understand that as sinners, we cannot sanctify ourselves. However… our obedience is nonetheless essential to the process. So… A prayer I encourage you to make your own Some time ago when he was among us Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian, offered this prayer: “O Lord, who else or what else can I desire but you? You are my Lord, Lord of my heart, mind, and soul. You know me through and through. In and through you, everything that is finds its origin and goal. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love and compassion. “Why, then, do I keep expecting happiness and satisfaction outside of you? Why do I keep relating to you as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim, and sensual pleasures? Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make you the only one? Why do I keep hesitating to surrender myself totally to you? “Help me, O Lord, to let my old self die, to let me die to the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to my false desires. Let me be reborn in you and see through the world in the right way, so that all my actions, words, and thoughts can become a hymn of praise to you.” “I need your loving grace to travel on this hard road that leads to the death of my old self to a new life in and for you. I know and trust that this is the road to freedom.” So… I pray you will engage daily with me in prayer that the Holy Spirit will be the “Who”… Dispelling Anxiety in Covid Times Indeed, we live in anxious times. So… What do you do with your anxieties in the coronavirus pandemic? How are you dealing with the fear of catching COVID-19? Maybe you and your family members… maybe friends… maybe those of the front lines providing needed services in the face of Covid… Maybe even a fear that our nation may not survive these times… Yes, there are many causes for anxiety… For, these are real dangers and they seem to be everywhere… On our news feeds and in our conversations: sickness, not having enough food, financial losses, social isolation, being quarantined or constrained, family conflicts, cancelled or changed events, not being able to work or work full-time – what often seems like a grim future. Unfortunately, many people looking for help from Bible promises or even turning to Christian leaders get the idea they should not feel afraid: “Just have faith… Believe God’s promises… Be strong… Focus on loving others”… not effectively or properly linking God’s Word to real… now… trying situations. These messages are often caused by laziness – simply recycling old messages or even suggest a casual understanding of God’s Word which crept into a once vibrant ministry. Often, they can even shame people for having emotions and weakness. And they may create discouragement rather than faith in God. Hear this clearly… Faith is trust. To trust God (or anyone) includes being emotionally honest and vulnerably asking for what you… what those you come in contact with… your flock… actually need and are contending with. Real faith is cultivated by having and being willing to express real emotions like fear, anxiety, anger, discouragement, sadness and unbridled gracious to God and to people. Remember to ask for God-centered empathy and then, maybe in time you will be able to return to true peace, joy, confidence, and love for others. When you’re emotionally wobbly and receive empathy it grounds you so you can stand up again… and again… and again. It clears your heart and mind to absorb the comfort, wisdom, and strength of God’s Word. So, let’s build or rebuild or re-energize proper, God centered… Scriptural – Faith… Let’s stand up… engage the real world and apply with rifle-shot accuracy… guided by His Spirit… His Word… His Truth… His Heart. These Bible promises are helping me…. These Bible promises help encourage a healthy faith in God which fosters non-anxious living and courageous love for others. I sense that these Scriptures may be especially encouraging in this time of the coronavirus. Jesus is Calm in the Storm (Then he Calms the Storm and his Disciples) “Then [Jesus] got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping” (Matthew 8:23-24). When You’re Stressed and Tired Jesus Offers Rest for Your Soul “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Ask Jesus’ Father to Receive Good Gifts “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you… your Father in heaven [will] give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7, 11). God Cares for Your Emotions “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me. Fear and trembling have beset me… I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He rescues me unharmed…” (Psalm 55:4-5, 16-18). God Takes Your Hand to Comfort Your Fears and Help You “I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God… For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you’” (Isaiah 41:9-10, 13). Fear Melts Away When You Hear God’s Love Song for You “Never again will you fear any harm… The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:15, 17). God’s Love Through One Another Calms Fear “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another… There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:11, 18). Empathy Engages us with God’s Spirit of Power, Love, and Self-Discipline “To Timothy, my dear son… Recalling your tears, I long to see you… I am reminded of your sincere faith… For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:2, 4-5, 7). God’s Grace Helps You Accept Your Weakness and Become Strong “Three times I [Paul] pleaded with the Lord to take [the thorn in my flesh] away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ …That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). Trouble, Hardship, and Death Don’t Separate us From Christ’s Love “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? …Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:31-32, 35-37). Be Still to Take Refuge in God in Trouble “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea… He makes wars cease… He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:1-2, 9-11). Rest in the Lord’s Beauty and Strength to be Safe “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? … Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling” (Psalm 27:1, 3-5). God’s Mighty Hand Protects and Cares for You “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). Jesus is Our Healer “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness” (Matthew 9:35). The Word of the Lord Ministers Healing “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave” (Psalm 107:19-20). Be not anxious… He is with you… Draw Close, He is Near Praise Him!= 3 Truths on Father’s Day Father’s day is upon us… so let’s consider a gift which is endless… First, let’s consider the playing field… We have an enemy, and it’s not those people we disagree with or who believe differently than we do. It’s not people on the other side of the political spectrum. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. (Ephesians 6:12) Our enemy is oh so much worse. He is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). He pummels us with lies over the entire course of our lives. He pummels the men in your life again and again telling them who to be and what to do, what is real and what is right. His false messages are insidious because they don’t sound so bad… at first, at least. But, of course, if we believe them, if we follow his lies, they surely debilitate us… Keeping us unsure of ourselves… Causing us to be satisfied with merely surviving… Making us tired… Making us feel underutilized and isolated. And, eventually, these lies lead us to our deaths. So, here we are. In a upside-down, severely messed up world… A world screaming for redemption, A with a vicious enemy and O’ so many earthly agents of the evil one… So… here we are… in a world telling us that the odds stacked against us… In a world one can some days feel that it is impossible for us to ever live the way our God designed us to live. Yep, on the surface… things can look grim. But.. Stop… Look Up… Listen carefully… These are lies… they are not the Truth… Why? Because opposite of all those lies is something much greater… It is the Truth of God… It is the Truth of Jesus Christ. It is the Truth of His Spirt that Lives in us. And, furthermore… We are designed to be agents of His Truth… encouraging one another, telling the people in our lives the Truth we see in them, helping them to stand strong in the face of all this deception and malice… Yes… to shine the Light of Jesus Christ into the mixed up, dark world. So… This father’s day… As a unique and powerful gift, consider three things you can tell your husband… your dad… all the dads God has placed in your life… Remind him that he Is Never Alone Jesus promises he is with us wherever we go—when we’re home, when we’re at work, in tough circumstances, in every difficult call, every difficult meeting. “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Remind him of this. But tell him that you are with him too. For your husband… remind him of your wedding vows—to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part. Remind him that you are a team, that you are with him in every victory and every failure, every joy and every struggle. Remind him that he Is Loved, No Matter What Hear this clearly… we are each precious sons and daughters of an outrageously loving Father God. God’s love for each of us burns bright and true. It will never dim. Not ever. Not even a little. If you were to plot his love on a graph, the line would be high and flat. It wouldn’t fluctuate over time; it would never swing in response to our good actions—or even our worst. He doesn’t love us more because of the things we’ve accomplished or acquired in life. Remind your him of this. But remind him too that you love him for who he is—the love of your life—not for what he does and what he brings home. Remind him that even in these trying times that you are Not Worried For husbands… for dads, granddads, for all caring men… it sometimes feels like worrying is just a part of being a man. So often, they worry about the bad things that might happen—to them, to us, to loved ones. So, they, like each of us, strategize and plan about how to get out in front of all those things. And as we know, and the Word tells us… all that worrying can hang over our lives. It can haunt our thoughts and steal important moments—moments that should be joy-filled. But, hear this clearly… Jesus teaches us that we don’t need to worry. For he didn’t come so that we’d live lives haunted by fear. He came and died to set us free from such things (Gal. 5:1). He assures us that our Father God will take care of us, whether we worry or not (Matt. 6:26). So, this day… Remind your husband… your dad… or other father figure which God has placed in your life … of this, as well. But even more, tell him that you are not worried. Tell him you trust God. And tell him that you trust him too. Encourage him. Tell him you believe in him. Tell him that you know it’s all going to be okay, somehow. Most importantly… Tell him that you pray for him regularly… (And do it !!! ) Maybe even… Write your version of all these messages on a card. Or, perhaps better still, tell him with your own words, looking directly into his eyes. However you do it, surprise your husband… your dad… your God sent earthly father with these uncommon, right-side-up gifts on Father’s Day. Draw Close, He is Near= On – Knowing Him “… and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:9-11) Focus – “I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death “ (Phil 3:10) Paul says he is quite ready to give up the usual status symbols of the Christian for the personal knowledge and friendship of Jesus Christ. Please understand that he is speaking of this as an academic subject. Indeed, this is not a course in Christology or on the person of Christ. This is not knowing about Christ. This is knowing Him. As has wisely been said… knowing about has value; knowing has vitality. This knowledge the apostle is talking about is not simply a casual contact now and then. You and I don’t get to really know our friends that way. The friends we know best are the ones we have spent the most time with, or have gone with through deep experiences. This knowledge of Christ comes the by continual sharing of experiences together. It comes as – two… Jesus and you… Jesus and me… living our lives together, moment-by-moment sharing experiences. It comes by gazing on the face of Jesus Christ as he appears in the pages of scripture. It comes by allowing every circumstance to make us lean back on His life, hiding nothing from His eyes, by bringing every friendship and every loyalty to His gaze, for his approval or disapproval… It comes by walking every day expecting Him to be with us. O’ such a blessed secret to the successful walk with Jesus. That is exactly what Paul says comes of… knowing Christ. O’so much more… First there is that power of the resurrection. It is a risen Lord who dwells within us, and we have that power which is able to do in us above all that we ask or think, according to that power which works in us. This is the power of Christ’s resurrection. Please know that it is power that is perfectly adequate for every possible circumstance. It is confidently acting in full assurance that He is acting with us simultaneously, and that risen power is ours. The second thing that stems from this knowledge of Christ is the participation in his sufferings. The remarkable thing about the sufferings of Christ is that they are always for someone else, never for one’s self. This is that compassion we all earnestly long for. It doesn’t come by trying. It comes by knowing him; by simply entering into what He is to you. This makes you compassionate. This is the primary reason why Christians suffer. Not so much for you, but for others. Have you ever noticed that when a Christian gets desperately sick and he takes it as an opportunity to manifest the grace of Christ, that Christian becomes the center of victory and hope and blessing to everyone who visits him? Then the last thing… becoming like Him in His death. So… What does that mean? The death of Jesus Christ was the end of the old life of sin and self-pleasing. We know that there was no sin nor self-pleasing in his own life, but on that cross he was made to be all that we are, sinful and self-pleasing, and then it was put to death. The cross was the end of that. Now, that is liberty, because for the first time if we accept this as being true, we are set free from our selfish, ease-loving, luxury-seeking. We are free to be real men and real women… Unbound, delivered, no longer constantly concerned about what happens to us, but only concerned about what happens to Christ. What a journey this is. Like the marvelous ministry among many people the apostle Paul had. And… This is freely offered to every believer in Christ. Please see that this is not achieved by just trying, struggling, striving. It comes as a by-product of truly knowing Christ. Dear Lord… Thank you, for the joy of simply knowing You. We pray that we may know the power of Your resurrection and the participation in Your sufferings, being conformed to You. Consider this… Do you want to know Christ merely to define your theology and refine your doctrinal views? Are you missing the life-defining pursuit of knowing Christ intimately? How can you truly learn to know Him? Engage… Yep, all in… He is near and awaits you. Energizer Bunnies of the Bible Have you ever thought about it… Wow, there were many exceptional people in the Bible who exhibited exceptional energy… energizer bunnies… Those who kept going for a very, long time… Those who kept going despite horrible circumstances… Those who kept going even the when people sought to stop or kill them… Those who kept going when confronted with poor health, old age and even surrounded my nay sayers. So what kept them energized? What or Who were they plugged into? Indeed, there were many, but this morning, let’s take a brief look at just one… plugged In David. Yep… David… an Old Testament Energizer Bunny So… What made David run? What makes the child run and shout with glee on a summer morning? What brings the lover running to the door where their beloved returns? So what made David run? David was a God-intoxicated man. For David had gazed on God until he was enraptured and he could not always contain that rapture. While still a young man, in the presence of the Holy Ark he let himself go in an ecstatic dance that delighted God as much as it outraged the coldhearted Michal. I don’t know about you… But, when I was young… I loved the Psalms of David long before I knew why. Back then I would return to them again and again… and at times it seems more than to any other portion of Scripture… I would chide myself for this preference for after all I was a New Testament believer and the Psalms belonged to the Old. Then one day I read a sentence from a little book by Horatius Bonar. It said simply… “The Spirit of Jesus dwells in the Psalms.” I thought… so true… I knew what I saw… what I loved… that same rapture of the Spirit of God touching… speaking to me through the Word… through the expressions of David… David, sold out to the Lord… at his best… even at his worst. For, David in the Spirit knew and communed with the One who was to be his son according to the flesh, “and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). It was the love of Christ that made David run… “O love of Jesus! Blessed love!” Yes, for energizer bunnies like David… David waited patiently for the LORD. He delighted in the LORD and committed his way to Him. This was David’s power source. It can be ours as well! Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. (Psalm 37:7a) Dear Lord, we have a hard time being still and waiting for You. We seem to be activity prone and impatient. May we sit still, shut up and wait on You… Amen Draw Close… He is Near… Listen Thoughts on your “Calling” “Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’” Mark 10:49 (NIV) Push the pause button on your busy world for just a bit. Consider this… Have you considered that your highest calling was something you sensed that you are supposed to do? Have you further considered that your highest calling might be something else… i.e. maybe some place you are supposed to be? Or… Have you thought that a “calling” was reserved only for some “special people” or those paid to do ministry. Yep’… I know the word calling can be complex… One dictionary definition of calling is “a profession or occupation,” but the one we most commonly think of is “a strong urge toward a particular way of life or career.” Christians identify God as the source of that strong urge, so the word calling sometimes seems too big for us. But… let’s take a look at Mark 10:46-50… where Jesus calls a very ordinary man. “As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means ‘son of Timaeus’), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ “Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ “Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ “So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus” (NIV). Bartimaeus wasn’t anyone special. In fact, he would have been considered sub-ordinary by a culture who mistakenly prejudged his blindness as sinful. That could have been a barrier, yet when Jesus called, Bartimaeus rushed to Jesus’ side. Bartimaeus didn’t let anything deter him from Jesus’ calling. So… Consider… What barriers or obstacles have kept you from God’s calling on your life? Sometimes doubt keeps us stuck, wondering if we really heard God or just imagined it. We can even doubt God would want to use us. Another stumbling block to calling is self-doubt, feeling certain that someone else is better or more equipped. Comparison kills calling. Some of us have let our callings die because of hard circumstances, the voices of naysayers or the diversion of busyness in our day-to-day lives. Soon… The dreams we once held dear have faded until they’re fuzzy and distant. The biggest obstacle to fulfilling our calling is that we often misidentify what our first calling really is. Our highest calling isn’t what we usually think. It’s not a job we do, a title we earn, or even a check we write. Our first calling is to respond to Jesus and go to Him, just like Bartimaeus did. We’re called to come close. When we do, Jesus draws us near and calls us His brothers and sisters (Matthew 12:50). He erases the divide between our humanity and His divinity by calling us friends (John 15:15). While our faith leads us to accomplish good works, our first and highest calling is simply to be near Jesus. When we are, everything else… all the doing… begins to fall in place. Dear Lord… we’ve often confused Your calling for our doing. Although faith includes action, our first and highest calling is to be near You. Today… this very day… We hear and accept Your calling. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Draw Close, He is Near=Our Holy Comforter
“Challenges…Challenges…Challenges…How will you respond”
“Staying on Track”
Wondering About the Future?
Whew – the 1st Half of 2020 is behind us… So, how about the rest of 2020
So, how about the rest of 2020.
Then it became like 1918, with the pandemic.
Next, it took on the financial shape of 2008 with a recession.
And, followed by looking like 1968 with civil rights protests.
Like most of you, I remember all but the 1918 global pandemic.
Kobe Bryant and his daughter died in a helicopter crash along with seven others.
Wildfires swept Australia.
Locusts swarmed East Africa.
Earthquakes struck Turkey and the Caribbean.
I’m sure each of you can name some more.
Here we are…
It’s the 1st of July!
Yep, the year is officially only half over.
I’m not really sure why this suddenly became newsworthy, since it has been known in infectious disease monitoring circles since 2016, but they released this information: “Chinese researchers discovered a strain of influenza in pigs that has all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus.” “Pig farm workers showed elevated levels of the virus in their blood. As a result, “close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in the swine industry, should be urgently implemented (Published in paper by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
If there is any good news in the report – the scientists say there is no evidence that the virus is circulating among humans.
But, the bad news is that the World Health Organization made the same statement about COVID-19 last January.
How might this relate to Christians seeking godly character…
it’s called sanctification.
Paul similarly prayed for the Thessalonian Christians: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
He told the Corinthians that despite their former sins, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Just as we required Jesus’ atoning love for our salvation, so we require his Spirit’s transformation for our sanctification.
We cannot make ourselves more holy, no matter how hard we try.
Not to earn God’s sanctifying grace, but to receive it.
When we pray, read Scripture, and obey God’s word and follow his will, we position ourselves to be made holy by our Holy Lord.
Today, let’s choose to make praying for holiness a regular, consistent commitment and discipline.
God can give only what we will receive and lead only where we will go.
If we do not ask Him to make us holy, He cannot make us holy.
As we travel this road of the remainder of 2020…
How will you traverse it?
Who will walk with you?
Who will guide you?
Who will comfort you when perplexing situations occur?
Who…
Draw Close He is O’ so Near“Dispelling Anxiety in Covid Times”
Three Truths on Father’s Day
On – Knowing Him
“Energy For 2020”
“Thoughts on Your Calling”