Hands of Jesus

      There is something that almost everyone reading this has in common but we probably ignore almost every minute of the day.  Without these things you wouldn't be able to open your Bible, grasp a pen, or even hold a handkerchief to your nose when you sneeze.  The thing I am writing about is our hands.  Take a second and look at your hands.  Our hands are similar and yet different.  Some of our hands might be white in color, others maybe black, other maybe a tan color.  Some of our hands are smoother and softer and some of our hands are callous and rugged.  My dad has been a machinist for over forty years and needless to say he has strong, rough hands from all those years of heavy labor.

      Fathom for a moment that someone writes a book about the story of your hands.  The story would begin with cute, frail little digits.  The opening chapter might be about the time you wrapped your tiny fingers around your dads pointer finger, or maybe about when you held your bottle for the first time, or maybe when you used a spoon to feed yourself.  The story would include lots of first like holding someone's hand, when you changed your own oil, built something, or cooked something.  Flash forward a few years when your hand placed a ring on the finger of your love.  As a parent your hands are used to put Mickey Mouse bandaids onto your children's wounds.  Maybe your hands have been used to play an instrument filling a room with beautiful music.

      But the story of our hands would not just include good things we did with them, it would also include things that brought us shame.  The story of our hands would talk about a time when we touched somebody we should not have touched, when we clinched our fingers to make a fist, when we pointed our finger in defiance, or when we clicked the mouse pad to look at an inappropriate image.  What story does our hands tell?  A story of grace and love or hatred?  A story of giving or taking?  Loving or seducing?  Our hands are dirty and James tells us to wash our hands as sinners, BUT there is someone who has perfect hands.  His name is Jesus Christ.  I want to look at a few traits about Jesus' hands.

      The first trait I want you to see is the cleansing hands of Jesus.  Jesus as the Son of God, God in the flesh was endowed with power to touch people physically and to heal them.  There are countless miracles in the Gospels that showcase Jesus amazing power to heal those from a variety of different maladies.  This miraculous power to touch those that were sick was given as an evidence, a proof of His deity.  One particular miracle that Jesus committed can be found in Luke 13:10-13 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A10-13&version=ESV).  On this particular day we find Jesus teaching in the synagogue and during His teaching a woman is brought before Him who was seriously sick.  Culturally this would have been unheard of.  A woman typically wasn't allowed to enter the synagogue.  You can almost heard the religious leaders in the community gasp in dismay.

      The woman who comes before Jesus was basically paralyzed.  She had been in that condition for eighteen years.  Think about the length of time.  Eighteen years is a LONG time and much had changed in the life of the woman during that

season.  The woman was so bent over she couldn't stand straight.  I personally think that Jesus would have knelt to look her in the eye and in her eyes He saw pain and anguish.  The best years of this woman's life was taken away.  She went from being a blessing to a burden.  She wasn't able to hold her husband, play with her grandchildren, pick her favorite flowers, or cook her favorite meal.

      The text tells us that Jesus simply spoke to the woman and her infirmity was gone!  But I don't think it was just His words that healed her, but the text also says that Jesus touched her!  He laid hands on her.  Now I am not a Pentecostal faith healer.  I'm not a name it and claim it guy.  I don't think that God endows people with the power to heal like He did in the New Testament, but I still believe that God heals and touches people in unique and special ways.  We as believers should not discredit the ability of the great physician to touch the life of people.  We cannot afford to allow our malady to become bigger then our faith in God.

      The second thing I want to point out about the hands of Jesus is that they are compassionate.  The compassionate hands of Jesus are richly placed on every page of the Gospels but the example that stands our to me can be found in Matthew 8:1-4 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+8%3A1-4&version=ESV).  Jesus had just finished preaching is considered His greatest sermon, The Sermon on the Mount.  People began to crowd Jesus to ask Him questions about His remarkable teaching.  But one man in particular approached Jesus.  As he approached you could hear the crowd yelling "unclean, unclean."  The people would have parted from this man like the water did at the Red Sea.  This man was a leper.

      Leprosy was the scourge of the  ancient world.  It was a slow death certificate while you were alive.  The illness would kill your pain sensors and cause you to be unable to feel anything at all.   It also effected your skin making you look almost inhuman and undesirable to be looked upon. You would no longer be able to grasp anything.  For this man that meant that he would not have been able to work.  What good is a fisherman that can't feel the ropes, or a farmer the plow, or the tools for a carpenter.  A person that suffered with leprosy would get severely injured and not feel the pain.  Many times they would lose toes or fingers without feeling an ounce of pain.

      The physical damage was terrible but the social effects were just as bad if not worse.  Leprosy demanded that you be an outcast from society, forbidden from being near those that you love.  A leper wouldn't be able to shake hands, steal a kiss, hold hands, play catch with your kids, you wouldn't even be able to tap you on your shoulder.  This man would have to leave everything that he knew and loved.  He would have stared into his wife's eyes one last time with tears wanting to embrace her, or maybe to the pain knowing that you would not be able to hold your kids again.  Fathom having to walk away from your home with ZERO hope that you will ever return.  Leprosy was a disease that didn't just steal your health, it stole your life.

      Everyone in Matthew's account was stepping away from this man, but Jesus came to this man.  Everyone was yelling unclean but Jesus called out "be clean!"  The leper was healed by the words of Jesus, but notice in the text that the Bible says that Jesus touched the man before healing him.  WOW!  Jesus touched the outcast.  It might had been years since this man had felt a physical touch from Jesus.  Why did Jesus touch him if it wasn't His hand that healed the leper?  I think the reason why was to show COMPASSION.  Jesus committed what would have been considered a huge no-no by touching this man, but compassion knows not bounds.  Jesus shows this man, that crowd, and us that there is no such thing as someone too far gone or an outcast beyond His long reach.

      I doubt many of us reading this had ever met a leper before, but we surely have treated people as lepers.  We treat people as lepers when we do not grant them compassion.  I have pastored for thirteen years and I have seen Christians ostracize a litany of people; people like those that were divorced, single mothers, immigrants, or somebody of a different skin color.  Compassion should not be meted out to those who are like us nor those of us who we think deserve it.  Compassion should be granted to all and shown by us as believers.  Let our hands not be self righteous but instead let them be used to comfort, encourage, and build up.

      The final point I want to note about the hands of Jesus is that they were crucified hands.  All four Gospel's point this out but I want to just focus on Luke 23:32-38 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+23%3A32-38&version=ESV).  The hands that touched the blinded eyes, embraced the little children, scolded the Pharisees, broke the bread, washed the disciples feet were turned over to be crucified by cruel men with cruel purposes.  Nails would pierce the precious hands of Jesus Christ.  I once heard a preacher say that the three nails had names to them.  The name of the first was "God", the second "loves", and the third "you."  The name of those three nails were God loves you.  Truly man made nails nor a man made cross could never hold the Savior of the world.  It was love, love for you that held Him there.

      His hands were stretched apart on the cross, taking upon Himself the sin of the world (your sin).  It was there that Jesus removed our sin as far as the East is from the West.  It was there that our sin was drown in the sea of God's forgetfulness.  I'm reminded of the words in Zechariah thirteen.  In that chapter people ask the question "where did you receive these wounds in your hands" and the response from Jesus is that He received them in the  house of His friends.  Jesus was wounded, beaten, suffered, and died for you because He loves you.  His hands have the power to cleanse, His hands are compassionate, and His hands were crucified to take away your sin and take you to be with Him forever in heaven.  Have you trusted in Him?

Reflections on the Road Week Four

Reflections on the Road

Week Four

"God is with us."

Focus Passage: Psalm 23

Focus Verse: Psalm 23:1

Bible Reading: Matthew chapters 22-28

   The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe. But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods and he was terrified! Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long. 

      The boy was in a seemingly dangerous situation thinking that he was all alone but his father was there the whole time.  The same spiritual truth applies to us as Christians.  There are times when we feel alone and scared but Jesus is always there for us.  He hasn't left us or abandoned us, though it might feel like it at times.  Our verse is Psalm 23:1, "The Lord is my shepherd."  If God is our shepherd then that means we are sheep.  Sheep are weak and defenseless creatures.  There is nothing scary or frightening about sheep.  They are defenseless, so they need someone to protect them in the face of countless dangers.  In turn we need someone to defend us, someone to protect us against the enumerable spiritual dangers (and physical dangers at times). We are unable to protect ourselves because we are weak and frail.  We need someone strong to be our protection.  God is our protector, He is our shield, He is a strong tower, and enables us with the strength to battle each day with His aid.  2nd Thessalonians says "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."  He is our Good Shepherd, He is our protector.  Trust in His protection.  Lean on His everlasting arms.

Reflections on the Road:

Think of a time in the past when God protected you from some danger (physical or spiritual).  Write down that time and place it somewhere you can look at easily (wallet, purse, fridge, on the night stand).  When you feel frightened or scared, when you doubt if God is with you, go to that sheet and remember what God has done for you.  Remember He does not fail you.

What if: Part II

      In last week's blog I mentioned that I am an avid reader, and one of my favorite genre's is classical literature.  Give me Dickens or Arthur Conan Doyle and I will be lost in my imagination for hours upon hours.  But I also love old black and white movies.  My personal favorite actor is Humphrey Bogart (here's looking at you kid) but in a very close second is Jimmy Stewart.  I love the range that Jimmy Stewart played, and not just his range of talent but also his sense of morality.  His iconic role as Senator Jefferson Smith will go down as a masterpiece in cinema.  Or you could examine his countless Westerns (my personal favorite being the Far Country), or maybe one of his works with Alfred Hitchcock (if you haven't seen Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man who Knew too much, or the Rope you are missing out).  But probably the most famous Stewart movie was originally viewed as a cinematic failure, "It's a Wonderful Life."  I'm sure that each of you have viewed

this, probably countless times during the Christmas season.  The story follows the life of a man named George Bailey who was constantly sacrificing for other people for seeming little or no reward for himself.  George Bailey's big dreams were relegated to the small town of Bedford Falls.  Bailey goes toe to toe with the antagonist named "Potter."  Through a financial mistake George departs on committing suicide and upon his attempt his guardian angel named Clarence jumps into the water "saving" George's life.  Clarence then grants George's wish that he was never born.  George then finds out what would have happened if he was never born and found that his life had deep value.  George found out the greatest answer to his "what if" question.

      Last week we talked about the what if's in our life, but those what if's could never compare to the greatest what if, what if Jesus never rose from the dead.  Let's look at a few more what if statements from 1st Corinthians 15.

      The first what if I want to look at is in verse fifteen which says "Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raises not up, if so be that the dead rise not."  Let's hone in on one word, the word "witness."  We are familiar with a witness.  A witness is a person who tells others what they know.  Typically our first thought of a witness is a court room who is called to give facts (what they heard, saw, know).  A witness is not supposed to speculate, give hypothetical statements, or opinion.  A witness is supposed to give the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  If a person lies on the witness stand then their testimony is thrown out and could damage the person they are defending (or help the person they are accusing).  

    I mention this because our Bible tells us that we are witnesses for Jesus (Acts 1:8).  The Bible doesn't tell us so much TO WITNESS, but it tells us to be a witness.  There is a difference.  We do something because we are something.  We witness for Christ because we are a witness.  As a witness we are called to tell people what we know and what we know is Jesus Christ.  We tell the world about countless other things, somethings we aren't sure of (think about how much speculation has been spread just in this current Corona virus situation).  More opinion has been shared then fact.  God has not called us as Christians to share opinions or philosophy, but Christ.  But here is the rub, if Christ did not rise from the dead then we are LIARS.  We are deceiving the world.

      But is the resurrection a lie?  Let me answer that with another question, would the disciples have been willing to die for a lie?  NO.  These men were imprisoned, beaten, stoned, and many killed not for a lie but for the truth.  What did these men gain by preaching the resurrection?  Fame and fortune?  NO.  If these men were lying they gained nothing through the lie, if anything they lost everything through the lie.  These men were not willing to die for someone who was dead, but someone who was alive.  These men were willing to suffer greatly because they KNEW Jesus rose from the dead.  They saw Him, touched Him, heard Him, and ate with Him.  The same truth can be said about us as believers.  We are willing to serve Him faithfully because we KNOW He lives.

      The second what if statement can be found in verse fifteen  too.  In verse fifteen we find that not only would we be liars but Christ would also be a liar if He did not rise from the dead.  How would Christ be a liar if He did not rise?  Didn't Jesus say in John 11:25-26 that He is the resurrection in the life?  Friend if Jesus did not rise from the dead then He lied to people...He

lied in the worst way possible by giving false hope who were bereft of hope.  If Christ were lying  He would be the cruelest man ever in John 11 because He told a grieving Martha those that believe in me will never die.  Or another verse in John 14:6 Jesus says that He is the way, the truth, and the life.  If Christ did not rise from the dead then we are lost, we are lied to, and we are dead.  Christ can only be the life if He is resurrected.  Or another example can be found in Matthew 20:18-19 which says "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up."  Did Jesus go to Jerusalem?  Yes.  Was He delivered to the religious leaders to die?  Yes.  Will He be handed over to the Gentiles?  Yes.  Was He mocked?  Yes.  What He scourged?  Yes.  Was He crucified?  Yes.  Why would there be a question over the final statement regarding His resurrection?  There is NO question.  Either all those statements are true, OR NONE OF THEM ARE.

      The Scripture makes it clear that it is impossible for God to lie, and since the Scriptures give us overwhelming evidence that Jesus is the God man that means that Jesus is UNABLE to lie.  Since He is telling the truth about His resurrection we can know that death has been defeated, that a gravestone has been placed over the grave declaring that grace has won!

      There is one final "what if" statement that I want to look at in 1st Corinthians, it can be found in verse eighteen which says "then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."  The phrase fallen asleep can be a little tricky.  It doesn't refer to literal sleep nor 'soul sleep' but it is a commonly used term to refer to Christians who have died and are now enjoying the presence of Christ in heaven.  The Apostle Paul is talking about the 'dearly departed.'  If Christ did not rise from the dead then the text says that those that have gone on before in faith perished.  The idea behind perish does not just mean to physically die, the implication is much deeper and much more tragic then mere physical death.  The word perish is used in 2nd Peter 3:6 when Peter describes those that died in the flood.  That death judgment was a spiritual judgment on sinful, rebellious men.  It speaks of a spiritual death, an eternity separated away from God in a place called hell.  Or we would look at 2nd Peter 3:9 when Peter wrote that God was not willing that any should perish.  If it merely spoke about physical death then the verse loses it's 'teeth."  Instead, God is speaking through Peter saying that God does not desire that anyone go to hell, be separated away from Him!  Or yet another example could be John 3:16.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes on Him should not PERISH.  There's that word again.  Jesus tells Nicodemus (and us) that He came in order to save those that were perishing (all of us because all have sinned).  He came to remove our sin, to wash the deepest stain, and to bring us home to be with Him forever.

      Let's look at one last set of verses in 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+4.13-18&version=ESV).  Paul in this letter comforts believers by saying that those that have gone on before the return of Jesus are in heaven, and that message should comfort others also.  How could we be comforted about the presence of those that have gone on before if Christ did not rise from the dead?  If Christ did not rise there is no comfort because that means that those that have gone on before died in vain and have perished without hope.  But we have hope, not just hope but a living hope in Jesus Christ.

      Let's recap.  We know that resurrection is true because the Scripture gives overwhelmingly evidence of the fact.  Since it is true we have been called to be witnesses to those that are around us.  And because He lives we can know that death has no power over us because death and the grave have been defeated by His glorious resurrection.  We as the believer do not live in the what if's, but the what is finished!

      

      

Reflections on the Road Week Three

Reflections on the  Road

Week Three

Who do we trust?

Focus passage: Psalm 118

Focus verses: Psalm 118:8-9

Bible reading: Matthew chapters 15-21

       There is a story of a pastor who took his son named Zac for a walk out in the country, climbing on some rocks (what little boy doesn't like climbing on rocks).  The pastor heard the voice of his little boy "Hey Dad, catch me!"  As the pastor turned around he saw Zac joyfully jumping off a high rock straight at him.  The pastor said he went into an instant circus act trying to catch his son.  It was pure instincts because he didn't have a chance to prepare himself.  Amazingly the dad caught his son and held him close.  He looked at his little boy and asked "Zac, why in the would you do that?  Give me one good reason why you jumped!"  The little boy responded to his father with total calm "Because you're my dad,  and dads always catch their little boys."  The pastor's son had total trust in his father and because he trusted his dad he could jump knowing that dad was right there.

      Our Psalm today focuses on the realm of trusting God, even in the midst of times of difficulty.  Of late we have been enduring some hardships.  Our life is currently in flux and constant change.  But the one thing that should never change, no matter the circumstances should be our trust in God.  We can trust God in the good, the bad, and even the ugly.  The gauge of God's trustworthiness does not diminish in the face of trails or difficult.  The Psalmist wrote in verse nine that “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”  So often we trust in other things like mankind, money, or material things but none of those things can be trusted.  Money and material things can be lost, mankind is sinful at heart and breaks its promises, but God is totally trustworthy.  God has never failed nor forsaken one person, and that you includes you reading this.  God has never let you down once, despite of the many times that you have let Him down.  I believe that during this trying time that God is winnowing the things that we have trusted in over Him.  This week's challenge is that you will trust God with more of your life.

Reflections on the road

Take a moment and honestly reflect on an area of your life that you are struggling to trust God with.  Maybe it's your finances, your marriage, your job, your friendship, etc.  Write down that one thing and really focus on turning that one area over to God's unfailing trust.

"What If"

      Most of you know that I’m a nut over old black-and-white movies.  You might also know that I’m a person who ADORES Christmas.  When you combine an old black-and-white movie with a classic Christmas tale then you have me hooked.  The perfect marriage between the two is blended from Charles Dickens's classic piece of literature called "The Christmas Carol."  There have been dozens of renditions over the course of the years on the big screen starring Bill Murray, Patrick Stewart, Jim Carrey, Mickey Mouse, and even a band of muppets.  My personal favorite is one of the oldest, filmed in 1938.  Charles Dickens wrote the classic book “The Christmas Carol” in the year 1843 and since then has become a timeless piece of literature. Many people are familiar with the main character, a man named Ebenezer Scrooge.  Scrooge was an old, tight-fisted business owner that was only concerned with his own life.  Scrooge was a selfish, hateful, odious, and intolerable man.  The opening chapter begins with Scrooge telling people collecting money for charity that the needy were either better in the workhouses (which worked people for roughly sixteen hours a day and many died for pennies) or they were better off dead.  Scrooge even refused to give his employee Bob Cratchit any more coal to keep warm.  Scrooge was full of "bah humbugs."  That night Scrooge was visited by four ghosts, focusing mainly on the ghost of Christmas Future.  This ghost showed Scrooge what his life would be like "IF" he didn't change and the outlook was very grim.

    Now you might be asking “Don’t you know it’s Easter season, why are you talking about a Christmas story?”  The reason why is because Scrooge had a chance to look back at the past, to see the results of his past decisions.  There have been times in my life when I looked at the past.  I’m sure that we have all done that from time to time.  Sometimes we look back wondering what life would be like if something didn’t happen, what if we didn’t make that mistake or committed this act or said that word.  What if I would have taken this job or moved to this place or married that person or went to this college or majored in this?

      Life is filled with lots of ifs, but let me throw a curve ball at you, probably the biggest “if” statement in the history of man, what if Jesus didn’t rise from the grave. What would this world be like?  What would we be like?  The Apostle Paul uses this argument in 1^st Corinthians 15:13-19 by asking multiple different if statements.  We are going to take the next two posts to address the "what if's" of this powerful chapter.

      The first what-if statement that I want to look at is in verse fourteen, which reads "And if Christ has not been raised then is our preaching in vain, and your faith is in vain."  Hone in on that phrase "Your faith is in vain."  The idea behind vain means empty, devoid, blank, or to be

empty-handed.  The word can also mean to be devoid of purpose.  That is our faith if Christ did not rise from the dead.  Our faith would be empty.  Picture for a moment your car's instrument panel.  There is a fuel gauge with two letters, an F and an E.  The E stands for empty.  How many of you ever tried pushing your luck with the E?  How many of you paid the price for that?  Friend if we don't have a risen Savior then our faith isn't just on fumes, it is totally and completely empty...dry as a bone.  The reason why is that the entire basis of our faith is built upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Church would be purposeless, singing songs of praise would be purposeless, missions and prayer and Bible reading would all be empty....pointless.

      Our faith is also built on sound doctrine and reliable Bible teaching.  I love doctrine.  I'm an armchair theologian but all my theology and doctrine is empty unless Christ is risen from the dead.  You can almost imagine a spiderweb.  All our doctrine springs forth from the center, the center being Christ's resurrection.

      The second what-if statement that I want to look at is in verse seventeen which says "You are STILL in your sins."  I remember quite a few years ago I had the joy of paying my car off.  I had been paying $293.13 a month for sixty months.  Back then they used to give you payment booklets with stubs that you would tear out to pay.  Looking at those sixty payments was overwhelming, but the day finally came when I could write my last check to pay the debt.  I walked into that bank like I was Mr. Rockefeller.  My debt was paid in full.  Most of us battle with financial debt, but everyone battles spiritual debt.  Every man woman and child who was ever born is declared by God as a sinner (Romans 3:23), except for Jesus Christ.  Our sin creates an immeasurable and unpayable debt between us and God.  No good works, morality, religion, ethics, or giving can pay off one sin in your staggering debt against God.  That is why God sent Christ to die on the cross for you.  That is why Christ declared with His dying breath on the cross "it is finished."  The idea behind the phrase "it is finished" means to pay a debt totally.  Jesus is declaring that in His last earthly moments that the mission was accomplished, that His blood would pay the FULL and TOTAL price for our overwhelming sin debt.  Jesus left nothing undone for the forgiveness of our sins.  But if Christ merely died and did not rise from the dead then all that He said was for naught, it wasn't finished unless He rose on the third day.  We are still yet in our sins and worse than that, we can do NOTHING.  But we can rejoice to know that our sin has been removed as far as the East is from the West because Christ did indeed rise from the dead!

      For the reader maybe you fall into this category of still being in your sin.  How is that possible?  It is possible because you have not placed faith in Jesus alone to pay the full price for your sin.  Acts 16:31 says that if we believe on the Lord Jesus that we will be saved (debt paid in full).  We remain in our sin debt as long as we reject Christ as our Savior.  You either have placed faith in Jesus' finished work and you are saved or you haven't.  There is no middle ground, no gray area.  Which is it for you?

      Our final "what if" statement to look at can be found in verse nineteen which says if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  The term "miserable" can be a little misleading.  The term leans more toward meaning "pitiable."  Why in the world would we as Christians be the most pitiable of all people if Christ did not rise from the dead?  The reason why is because our living hope is not just invested in the here and now, but in the eternal.  If Christ has not risen from the dead we are still in our sin, and because we are still in our sin we are still destined for an eternity in hell.  As a Christian, we have a confident assurance that Jesus died and rose again.  Because of that, we have the calm assurance that we will spend eternity with Him in heaven.  Without Christ's resurrection, all our hope is in vain and our eternity is in serious jeopardy.  The reality is simply this, every one of us is going to die.  The question is not whether we will die, the question is where we will go when we die.  The Bible does not give a lot of options for life after death, it's either life in heaven with God or eternity in hell.  There is no choice C.  We should be pitied because everything we believe in would be a lie, our hope would be built on sinking sand, and when we die we will go into an eternity in hell.  That is the greatest pity in all the world.  

      But the what-if statements fall away in the undeniable reality of Christ's resurrection.  Since Christ shows indisputable evidence of His resurrection we can rest that our faith is not vain...but full.  Since Christ lives we can know we have an anchor for our souls and that our sin is indeed forgiven.  And since the Scripture tells us "Why search for the living among the dead, HE IS NOT HERE" we move from being the most pitied of all people to being the most envied of all people.  So what about you?  Have you trusted in Christ?  There is still time, but less of it with each passing second.  Come to Him, He loves you, and He lives!

Good Intentions Devotional

Day Two

Good Intentions Devotional

FOCUS PASSAGE: Psalm 1

FOCUS VERSE: Psalm 1:1-2

Bible Reading: Matthew chapters 8-14

     About a year ago I determined that I had to lose some weight. Needless to say, some of my suit pants were getting a little too snug, and many of them were in need of being retired! I said to myself “I’m going to go on a walk each day.” Well, I admit that my intentions were good, but I never actually started to make walking a part of my daily schedule.  The quarantine didn't help either. My body type changed to be more like Thor on Avengers Endgame (if you don’t know this reference you should lol).

      There is an old quote that goes “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Most of us have good intentions. We want to better ourselves by exercising, reading more books, being a better parent/spouse, and the list could go on and on forever. Sometimes we go as far as buying cookbooks, buying a gym membership, and making plans. We do the same thing with spiritual matters. Most people intend on starting to come to Church, read their Bibles, pray, or “get right with God” but many of those people never follow through. The Psalmist today talks about his daily walk. Notice the Psalmist didn’t intend to live the blessed life by writing “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!” but instead he made it a part of his daily practice. Each morning we wake up and face a battle with sin and temptation. There is spiritual warfare at every corner. It seems before your feet can even hit the floor the enemy is already there taunting you. What can we as Christians do to combat such a battle? We, first of all, have to determine to make Christ number one in our life, secondly, we need to start to practice godliness in our life. The desire of you the reader should be to not walk in the way of the ungodly but instead your desire should be to walk with God. But how can we walk with God? The Psalmist tells us in verse two “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.” Part of your walk is staying devoted to spending time in God’s Word. Your walk with God is affected by the time you spend in God’s Word. If we want to be people that seek after God’s own heart, it needs to start not with good intentions, but with action.

Reflections on the Road:

Where could you improve in your daily walk with God? How has the current situation affected your “good intentions” with the Lord?

The Great Turtle Rescue

The Great Turtle Rescue

     One of my wife's favorite things to do is to go for a drive in the country.  She loves seeing the blue skies, the green grass, and near our home are orchards that are in full bloom (check out Butlers or Orrs in Martinsburg)!  What an amazing sight as we behold the creation of God.  Needless to say, my kids (and at times me) are not always thrilled with the prospect of drives.  They tend to think they are boring (as a matter of fact I hear the word at verbatim on some drives).  But this particular day offered us a great adventure.  While were driving I noticed what I thought was a rock in the road but as we got closer I realized that it was a box turtle crossing the road!  This poor little guy was in some major trouble.  This was a pretty busy road and needless to say he wasn't moving at breakneck speed.  I pulled off, put my four ways on, and got out of the van to rescue Mister Turtle.  Mister Turtle wasn't really thrilled to see me at first.  He pulled his head and hid from me.  Now let me be the first one to admit that I'm not an outdoors kind of guy.  I never played with frogs, I didn't get dirty, and I was the classic over-protected only child.  I had never touched a turtle before!  I reached down, grabbed the little guy, showed him to my kids, and put him in a safe spot.  As we drove away my kids exclaimed that I was a turtle superhero (ironically I'm wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle shirt as I'm typing this), super dad, and countless other cool terms that I will never be able to use on a resume.  

     So, now that I'm branded as the great turtle rescuer I think of someone who rescued me in the past.  There was a time when I was in danger, more danger than I was aware of.  My turtle friend had no idea he was in trouble until I came along...and I was in the same spot.  I had no idea that I was in trouble.  I was living my life carefree.  My top priority was myself and making 'me' happy.  On the outside of my life I looked happy but on the inside, I was miserable, empty, and darkness encompassed my heart.  Nothing in my life made me complete, there was a void that I tried everything under the sun to fill, and yet none of it completed me.  At that time in my life I would have probably been considered an agnostic (I knew something was bigger than me but I didn't think that thing bigger than me cared for me, I surely didn't care for it).  I was as far away from faith as you can imagine.  That is until August 2003.  I sat at a church in my home town and a preacher clearly stated I was in trouble, eternal trouble.  At first this thought offended me.  This guy didn't know me, he couldn't pick me out of a police lineup, but he introduced me to somebody who did know me, Jesus.  He told the congregation that day that we were all sinners (Romans 3:23).  That also offended me.  He was telling me that I wasn't the good guy that I thought I was.  In my mind, I didn't kill anybody and I wasn't a thief.  My life was not destined for jail.  I knew I wasn't the best person, but I knew I wasn't the worst either.  I was a pretty good guy.  He then pointed his finger declaring that sinners were destined for hell (Romans 6:23).  If I wasn't offended prior to this I was now.  This stranger tells me I'm a bad person and I was going to hell....but for some odd reason I didn't shut this pastor out.  

      At this time conviction started to wash over me.  I began to examine my life and found that I was indeed a sinner in my heart.  I had done things that were obviously not good and I started to feel bad for them, I was revolted by them.  I also understood that since I sinned I was indeed in danger.  I gave up hope at that time because I was trying my best (or at least I thought) and it wasn't enough.  God wasn't going to accept my best...I despaired for a moment.  The pastor made it clear that God won't accept my best effort to rescue my soul, but instead, He sent someone to rescue me.  That was a strange thought.  I was raised in a works-related religion, and the concept of working for my salvation had been ingrained in me from children's church.  It was a constant battle of balancing the scale of good more than evil.  Now I heard that someone didn't just come to balance the scale, but outweighed all my sin and evil.  The preacher shared the simplicity of John 3:16.  I heard that someone came to save me and loved me.  In my mind, I thought that God would only love me if I loved Him and did good things.  Instead I heard clearly that God loved me, period, end of story.  He loved me so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross to rescue me from my sin.  To take away my sin (past, present, and future sins).  And friend, not just rescue me...but to rescue you.  The passage in John 3:16 says God loves the whole world, which means you.  You could replace your name with the term world because you are inferred.  God loves you, He is "crazy" about you.  He is the great people rescuer.  

      Let me close up with this thought, my little turtle friend was in tremendous danger on one of those country roads in West Virginia that John Denver sings about (you know you want to sing it with me).  He needed someone to rescue him.  Let me put it in perspective, you are an immobile turtle trying to cross I-95 in DC during rush hour (see picture).

You are doomed.  Fathom someone stopping their car along I-95 and crossing multiple lanes of traffic to rescue that turtle.  You would call that crazy.  That person would really have to love turtles to put himself in such danger.  The truth is someone loves you so much that they laid down their life to rescue you, to take away your sin.  Have you trusted in that great rescuer?  Have you called out to Him to save you?  Don't be like the turtle and hide in your shell trying to hide from the one that came to save you, instead come out of your shell asking Him to save you!

      

      

Reflections on the road week one

Reflections on the Road

Week One

Panting After the Word

FOCUS PASSAGE: Psalm 42

FOCUS VERSE: Psalm 42:1-2

Bible Reading: Matthew chapters 1-7

There is an old story of a solider whose plane went down in the desert.  He only had one small canteen of water and in order to survive he had to ration it out.  A few days later a rescue crew found him and he was nearly dead.  The first thing he asked for was a cold drink of water!

Now, I’ve been thirsty but never to the point of life and death.  We get thirsty after working a long day out in the sun from mowing grass, or working on our car, or maybe just from playing with our child or grandchild outside.  Thirst is natural….thirst implies that a need has to be met.

But there is another thirst that I think is just as important as our physical thirst, it is a thirst for the Word of God.  Each Christian should have a yearning to spend some time in God’s Word, or as the Psalmist says “as the hart (deer) panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee o’ God.”  When was the last time that we can honestly say that we really “thirsted” for God and His Word.  Sadly a lot of Christians treat God’s Word like the solider did in the desert…we think we have to ration it out, but instead God wants us to have it in abundance.  You don’t have to “ration” the Word of God, instead you can drink and feed upon it to your heart’s content.

Over the next few weeks you will be challenged to “thirst for God’s Word.”  Your challenge will include reading the devotional passage for the week, becoming familiar with the key verses, and reading one chapter from the Word of God each day.  Maybe you already do this, which is great, but maybe you’ve never made God’s Word a part of your life.  This is a chance for you to learn how to thirst for more of God’s Word in your life!

Reflections on the Road:

Honestly, between you and God, do you have a special daily time in God’s Word?  If you do then write why, if you don’t write why you don’t but the reason you want to start