Holding Tightly to the Faith

Friday, June 16, 2023

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.  Hebrews 10:23

One of the reasons true Kingdom Families hold together better is that we were designed to be people of faith.  The how of holding tightly to our hope is that little phrase:  without wavering.  It is certainly easy to get sidetracked these days.  I see it every year when we attempt to enlist people to serve.  Holding fast to God’s faith has more to do than just being convinced in your mind that Jesus saves.  It has to do with serving consistently. 

 Every believer who draws near to God’s house should hold tightly to the faith with his service.  The why of this is found in what Paul said about the promises of Jesus, they’re faithful; they always come true.  Jesus promised rewards to His followers who serve Him faithfully, and it is a true promise!  The issue of holding tightly to the faith is important for making an impact on this world…at the very least, the small space we occupy in that larger world. 

I am only vaguely aware of how God fits everything together.  But looking back we see more clearly.  I was searching through some old papers and came across a note from Sarah Hollis.  Sarah was our daughter’s friend; they were both age 10 when we moved to Jacksonville, Florida.  She rode our van to church each week; her parents never came.  I had the privilege of baptizing Sarah.  One Sunday she came to me with a two-fold request.  She wanted me to pray for her uncle and his wife, and also go see them to “baptize their baby”.  When I met Sarah’s uncle and his wife it was clear they had very little church background.  What they had was worried hearts over a very sick, premature baby in an incubator. 

They wanted me to baptize their baby; the doctors said he was going to die within a day or so.  My heart went out to them.  As a Baptist pastor I couldn’t baptize this infant, but I would pray for him with everything I had.  I was fearful of the trust that couple placed in me as they asked me to talk to God for their son.  I told them the little kitten-sized child was in God’s hand.  I held their hands and we prayed.  That was in 1990.  Five years later Sarah wrote me this note:

…I still remember the day you prayed for Scott (my cousin) and gave his parents faith and helped them believe.  On the 28^th of this month he turns 5 year[s] old.  Today is his party.  Thank you for giving me the faith and hope.  Thank you, Sarah

Sarah remembered that day as a time when her pastor gave her faith.  At the time my main thought was frustration over Sarah putting me in an awkward situation about baptizing a baby.  I’d never even laid eyes on his parents.  I went, because I was her pastor.  But I went, mostly because I couldn’t deny Sarah’s pleading eyes. 

Looking back, I know, and she also probably knows, it was God who gave her faith.  In the end, God used a pastor doing his job to build faith in a little girl.  And God used a 10 year-old kid’s faith to spur a forty-something, Christian pastor into good works.  Sarah impacted my life with her faith, and my faith was strengthened because of her impact[1]. 

For You Today 

God keeps his promises…if you forget everything you hear today, but you learn to trust in that one fact…and hold tightly to it…your faith will be rock-solid in the only One who holds the keys of Heaven, hell, and eternity.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Root System  and  Living Into the Seed of Promise  and  Holding Tightly This Promise                                        

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

---

[1] See Isaiah 11:6 …a little child will lead them all.  Also Hebrews 13:2 …entertained angels without realizing it.

Joshua's Caution

 

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

The years passed, and the Lord had given the people of Israel rest from all their enemies.  Joshua, who was now very old, called together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel.  He said to them, “I am now a very old man.  You have seen everything the Lord your God has done for you during my lifetime.  The Lord your God has fought for you against your enemies.            

“Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth.  Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true.  Not a single one has failed!  But as surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him.  He will completely destroy you from this good land he has given you.  If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land he has given you.”  Joshua 23:1-3, 14-16

When Moses was about to die he passed the leadership of the young Israeli nation into Joshua’s hands.  Joshua had faithfully followed and served God, assisting Moses during the wilderness wanderings.  But it was time to cross Jordan without Moses, and obey God’s command to conquer and occupy the Promised Land.  Now, years later, Joshua is getting ready to pass along the leadership to another.  As he leaves the people he loved and led, he gives one last vital caution:  Keep serving God, who loves you – resist anything else.

The meaning of that message needs little explanation…except when a nation, obviously blessed by the hand of God, fails to remember what a blessing they’ve received, and begins to act like they can get along without guidance from, and obedience to, the hand from which that blessing came.

Walking with God’s approval means obeying God’s will. 

It doesn’t get simpler than that.

I mused on that late at night on July 4^th as I tried to go to sleep.  The fireworks flashing and sounding off made sleeping somewhat difficult, and the musing led to an inner sense of longing for America to return to serving God.  We have a long way to go on that journey. 

For You Today

Every journey begins with a first step, and God’s people know the right direction to step out.  Standing still will not suffice.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts on Rocky Road Devotions. 

To dig deeper into this topic or Scripture text:  What Kind of Nation Are We? and Why?

[1] Images:  WikimediaCommons  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Wakeup Call

 

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

After seven days the Lord gave me a message.  He said, “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel.  Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.  If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins.  And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.  If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins.  But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.  “If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die.  And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins.  None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.  But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too.”                Ezekiel 3:16-21

I’m not sure there is anything quite so annoying as the sound of an alarm clock at 5am.  It interrupts dreams, starts the dog barking, and pumps that early morning awareness that the workday beckons, and I’m still tired.  It’s a disturbance of the peace, and I’m not comfortable with that.

Ezekiel was Israel’s early morning alarm clock, the watchman for God’s signal that there was work to do, righteousness that was failing, responsibilities ignored, and the devil to pay for defying God’s holiness.  Ezekiel’s voice may have been the most annoying, irksome, and interfering sound they could hear.  But alarms are not supposed to be comfortable…you don’t want to sleep through it! 

It's impossible to read any of the prophets and not get a little uncomfortable, that is, if you’ve got an ounce of sense in your body.  The message is always disconcerting, particularly for those who have been either fighting God, or trying to ignore Him.  The duty of a prophet/watchman is to be a harbinger of judgment.  Most people don’t want to hear that; they’d rather concentrate on taking that vacation to Disney.  But judgment is at the end of things, just as surely as that sign-then-drive contract at the car dealership means you’ll be paying big time at the end of the month. 

Scripture warns of such, both death, and God’s judgment following death:

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, Hebrews 9:27

For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.  2 Corinthians 5:10

But the sound of voices like Ezekiel, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the others, can also be reassuring.  The reminder of judgment also signals the lovingkindness of God, His forgiveness just waiting for us to return to Him.  As a promise, this rates better than five-stars on a hotel at Disney or the Riviera – it’s a pathway right to the throne room in Heaven.

For You Today

The next time your pastor preaches on either judgment or Heaven, remember that BOTH are always present.  If you want one, and not the other, the choice is always available.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

The Word of God - First & Foremost

[i][ii]

I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people.  But let them not return to their foolish ways.  Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory.  Unfailing love and truth have met together.  Righteousness and peace have kissed!  Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.  Psalm 85:8-11

Note that the Psalmist says that he listens carefully to what God the Lord is saying.  When we listen carefully, it isn’t just so we can hear what God is saying, and then do what we please.  That is always a possibility for humans because of free will.  But that would not be serving God with integrity; it amounts to lip service!  A few examples:

·      God rejects murder of the unborn; our Supreme Court didn’t think so…

·      God requires humans to be heterosexual…our Supreme Court didn’t think so…

To listen carefully implies receiving information AND acting in obedience to God’s will; believing means behaving!  The idea is to gain truth and put that truth in relationship with righteousness.  We are to practice the kiss of truth (understanding what is right) and righteousness (doing what is right).  This is the kind of integrity our leaders and citizens must have to be right with God.

The point is simple:  it doesn’t matter what a majority of humans think; God requires obedience.  Man’s Supreme Court has nowhere near the authority of eternity.  When we forget that, or forsake that, we court war with heaven.

Throughout history Scripture has always been foremost in authority. 

Here are six important historical Christian leaders who thought that way:

1.     Peter was fond of saying it is written.

2.     Paul told Timothy[1] that he should study Scripture hard and teach it diligently if if he wanted God’s approval.

3.     Martin Luther (father to our Lutheran brethren) stood on sola Scriptura.

4.     John Calvin (Presbyterian founder) wrote 944 pages of theology that all point to Scripture as authoritative.

5.     Baptist Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached for 57 years an average of 7-8 times weekly.  In his spare time he wrote 150 books.  Every bit of that bends the knee to Scripture.

6.     And for the purist Methodists among us, John Wesley’s “quadrilateral” (Scripture, Tradition, Reason, Experience) takes us to the Bible first and foremost.  If you check out his sermons you cannot find a seminal or stray thought that doesn’t have Scripture as its base.  He quoted Scripture so often in his sermons if you read them (all 40,000 times preached) you get credit in Heaven for reading the Bible twice.  Today Wesley would cringe that his preachers know more of the Book of Discipline than Scripture.

There are all kinds of decisions made about right and wrong, about what’s best for our country, police forces, the law, family, and culture.  It may not be possible to figure out what is best from the arguments that are constantly presented in the news or media, but Scripture, God’s Holy Word doesn’t leave us in doubt.

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.      Psalm 119:11

Letting truth (understanding what’s right) and righteousness (doing what’s right) have that kiss, because you will listen to God, and then DO things God’s way, will always land you on the right side of history; it’s a perfect kiss!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!

Go to Worship VIDEO

---

[1] 2 Timothy 2:15

---

[i] All Scripture quoted is from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated)  Title Image:  Pixabay.com

[ii] Title Image:  By Jan Adam Kruseman via Wikimedia Commons

Ears to Hear; Heart to Obey

[1]

Monday, September 4, 2017

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis.  This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:

“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.  Wake up!  Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead.  I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.  Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly.  Repent and turn to me again.  If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.  “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil.  They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.  All who are victorious will be clothed in white.  I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  Revelation 3:1-6^(NLT)

If there is one passage in Scripture that is scary beyond belief, for me it is this one.  I’m not referring to the glorious white clothing of the struggling saints.  I’m not thinking of a name written indelibly in the Book of Life.  I’m staring at a false reputation.

The church at Sardis had a reputation that they were alive, serving God with every bit of their strength, but their reputation was for the past; they had long since ceased to deserve the title servant; theirs was a false reputation.

The church in the 21^st century might take a hard look at this.  Nearly 90% of America's churches are either plateaued or declining in membership.  You cannot decline without somehow decaying, and, eventually deceasing! 

Our text tells us that Christianity in the church and the individual Christian can die.  The programs and services can be staffed and performed, but without life.  The blower in the furnace is on, but the fire has long since been extinguished!  Someone has said that if the Holy Spirit left most churches today, she wouldn't be missed. 

As a pastor and student of Scripture, one who is charged with leading others to know Christ, I have had the privilege to spend much time immersed in the things of God.  On the other side of that coin lies the responsibility I face to not only discharge that duty, but to be faithfully persistent in that work, always, as Paul said[2], pressing forward towards the target of Christ as my character. 

This is why I’m bothered whenever I hear this part of John’s Revelation message to Sardis, about a false reputation.  Pastors are really subject to this enigma of trying to remain humble while people in churches, with best intentions, lift you to a place that sets your ego up for a fall.  In the churches I’ve served people have always been very kind to shower me with loving comments about doing a great job, or wonderful sermon, pastor, or some other nugget of praise I store up in my basket of warm memories.   

Now, I know Russell, and that man can live for weeks on a simple compliment.  The problem is addiction; one can become so joined to praise, deserved or not, that it becomes your reason for breathing.  And when that happens, you do things to bring praise…more praise…instant praise…higher praise.  And then you begin to believe your press reports, and that’s when the self-opinion poll in which you imagine you’re the greatest asset God ever had becomes your reputation…and it’s firmly-entrenched in your thinking.  You have become a legend in your own mind!

That’s what scares me about this passage, and, frankly, I’m glad it does.  I’m glad I worry about living a life of basking in a reputation of well-done, when deep down I know you’re only done (well or poorly), when He calls you home.  This is what keeps me pushing – pressing every day to that mark of the high calling in Jesus Christ.

For You Today

John said anyone can hear with ears ; the real test is whether we will understand and obey with our hearts…and feet!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

---

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com here and here

[2] Philippians 3:14

Perfect Storm

[i]

Thursday, May 18, 2017

The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard.  The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard.  The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.  

Acts 27:18-20^(NLT)

My mind has been occupied by storms lately; then this passage in Acts shows up on my reading schedule!  I guess there’s no escaping it, is there?

Paul was on a prison ship bound for Rome, where he would stand trial and eventually be executed for his faith in Christ.  The ship runs into the perfect storm and the crew does everything they can to survive, but despite throwing the cargo and even the ship’s gear overboard, a 14-day raging monster storm destroys all hope of ever seeing the light of another day; all hope was gone!

Of course Paul (and everyone else on board) lived to tell this story.  And the storm and its story are simply a footnote to Paul and Luke’s travel journal.  What’s more important is that Paul had been assured by God that all the humans would survive, but the ship and its contents wouldn’t.  Then God made sure that plan happened.

So…surviving the storm is not at all the central reason to pray and ask God to save you from the pain of injury or death; it’s a more important lesson we learn when we pay attention to what comes after a storm, than the storm itself.

Of all the lessons I’ve learned in life, starting as a 6 year old needing to be humble enough to stand still while Mom zipped up the jacket I could never quite manage …to fumbling the ball with a sermon or missing an appointment because I was too lazy to write it down…I’ve learned that the storm isn’t the teacher…the valued lessons are because of what God is doing with the storm, and its results, and what He wants to teach me about living by faith. 

These lessons are by God’s design for my growth as a disciple, but I’ll never truly understand them if I don’t let go of my sinful pride and stubbornness.  That stubborn pride is what makes me second-guess God’s allowing me to fall into some of the storms with people and the natural elements…as well as the dumb things I’ve done while not paying attention or just simply stumbling my way through life without prayer.

As I mentioned at the outset in this devotion, my mind has been filled with storms lately.  I’ve been reading Talbot Davis’ The Storm Before the Calm.  In his chapter on this text[ii] he writes over and again, the longer the storm, the lighter you travel.  I take that to mean, when God’s trying to get your attention with a storm, you need to toss whatever it takes over the ship’s rail to lighten the load so you can respond to the call.  But we don’t…do we?  Rather we sail through the raging darkness, blind, no clue where the stars are to help us navigate.  As Rev. Davis writes:  maybe you have convinced yourself that, sun and moon or not, you can find your way alone.  That attitude becomes your cargo, and it weighs you down.  Toss that mindset overboard and get serious about the guidance you need.

For You Today

If the storms of life are rocking your boat, maybe you just won’t hear what God’s been trying to say until you throw some of that excess baggage overboard.  That’s what would make a storm a Perfect storm!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

NOTES

---

 ^I Title image:  Ivan Aivazovsky [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] Talbot Davis, The Storm Before the Calm; Making Sense of Life’s Troubles, (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2015), p.84