When Destination Enters the Journey

Monday, March 23, 2020

In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  John 1:1

So the Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.  John 1:14

Genesis tells us that when humans sinned in the Garden of Eden it broke the fellowship between man and God.  But it also broke the intended destination of mankind.  We are created for relationship and residence in our ultimate destination, the presence of God.  We are His family.

Jesus had that.  As the Word, Jesus was with God.  Jesus was always at the Father’s side in unbroken fellowship since before time began.  But it was interrupted by the cross of Calvary.  He came to dwell among us and die for us.  Fellowship with God was our intended destination.  When sin shut down man’s journey, Jesus came to enter and walk the journey with us. 

The Bible tells us that Jesus promised that:

“I will never fail you.  I will never abandon you.”.  Hebrews 13.5b

Before September 2001 many Americans felt safe, like our borders were largely impenetrable.  Nowadays the word terrorist is a daily part of our vocabulary; it is an uncertain and anarchy-prone, tumultuous world in which we live. Our children walk their journey somewhat nervous and cynical about the future. 

And, who doesn’t get even a little concerned, (or full-blown manic) about the novel coronavirus, Covid-19?  I went into a store last week and intentionally stuck my left hand in my pocket, so I’d only use my right hand to touch things.  I did everything one-handed, and when I got back to my car, I used the left hand to drench/cleanse my right hand with sanitizer. 

Life is different than it used to be…and isn’t that the nature of a journey into the future?

Jesus came to walk this valley journey with us.  He is the destination for which our souls were created, and that for which we crave.  But Jesus does not make us wait to get there – Jesus, our destination, has entered the journey to run the race with us.  What a joy!

For You Today

The main issue here is one of faithfulness.  Jesus is eternal, and yet he walks this temporary journey with us.  When He says, I’ll never abandon you, He isn’t just talking about this week, or as long as you do everything right.  This is an eternal commitment from Jesus to each of us who follow Him. 

How comforting is that thought!  It’s good to know you have something you can count on during this difficult and uncertain journey we call life. 

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

Go to VIDEO 

Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on John 1 see Catch  or  And the Word Became Flesh

When God is Your Whole World

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Friday, October 11, 2019

Praise the Lord!  I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people.  How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!  All who delight in him should ponder them.  Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.  His righteousness never fails.  He causes us to remember his wonderful works.  How gracious and merciful is our Lord!  He gives food to those who fear him; he always remembers his covenant.  He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations.  All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy.  They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.  He has paid a full ransom for his people.  He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.  What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!  Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.  All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.  Praise him forever!  Psalm 111:1-10

The amazement, wonder, awe, and gratitude for and to God flowing from the Psalmist’s pen are a sum of that in which my heart wants to lose itself.  I have lived long enough, and sinned big enough to know the vast difference between who is God and who is not.  And yet, my heart aspires to immerse all of who I am in God’s love, compassion, strength, and wisdom.  In short, I desire to desire Him more than anything.  I want to be (as Charles Wesley wrote), lost in wonder, love, and praise.[2]  Paradoxically, there also exists a side of me that fears to come that close; God is awesome, and His power is without measure.  Should God decide to not receive me with open arms, the mere thought of being in His presence immediately leaps to what terrible fate would become of a poor sinner like me.  (Toasted like a pop tart comes to mind!)

But God’s Word disagrees with that “toast” deduction.  Consider the evidence:

To a wicked culture that only paid lip service to being God’s people he said through the prophet Malachi: 

Return to me, and I will return to you.(Malachi 3:7)

Before David was king he was hounded by Saul, chased into the wilderness, living in caves, an outcast, man without a country.  David considered his experience and wrote: 

Taste and see that the Lord is good Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!(Psalm 34:8)

To His dull-minded disciples who just could never quite get it, Jesus said: 

…those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.(John 6:37)

To crowds listening Jesus offered:

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.(Matthew 11:28-29)

And, to anyone who ever did choose to come close, on bended knee, willing to allow God to make Him their whole life, He said:

…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.(Hebrews 13:5 KJV)

For You Today

It’s never smart to approach God casually, as if there is some slight chance that you can take Him or leave Him.  But, when you’ve made up your mind that you’re long overdue in getting things straight between your Creator and you…remember all those invitations to come close; God loves you too much to go back on that word!

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

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] Charles Wesley, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, The United Methodist Hymnal, (1989, UMC Publishing House, Nashville), 384

Bread of Life

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Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.  Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me.  However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.  For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.  And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.  For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.  

John 6:35-40^(NLT)

This morning let’s look at what Jesus said about the Father’s will, a few statements that Jesus made to those who rejected Him…statements about those who accept Him.

He Won’t Reject You

…those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.

Many people have made a wreck of their lives, and, believing that God could never accept a person as sinful as they are, refuse to make the one step of repentance that will lead to forgiveness.  God has promised that all who come with a repentant heart, the broken heart, the surrendered will, may come into the family. 

He will not reject you – He died for you!

He Won’t Neglect You

And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me

I have known so many people who imagine that God’s forgiveness is so fragile that it can break and fade.  People walk around praising God today for the fact that salvation is free, and grace is sufficient.  The next day they are wondering if it has run out of warranty.  The problem with people in this group is they are operating on feelings, and not the assurance of the Word of God.  He promised, I will never leave you, or forsake you.[2] If He will not reject you, He will also not neglect to hold onto you. 

Dr. F. B. Meyer once told about a Sunday school superintendent who asked his class, who can tell me what a yoke is?  Something they put on the necks of animals, answered a ten-year- old girl.   Then, asked the leader, what is God's yoke?  There was silence until a four-year-old raised his hand and said, God, putting His arms around our neck.

He will not reject, will not neglect, but...

He Will Resurrect You

…raise them up at the last day

Resurrection is not only the theme of Christianity, it is the center.  Without the resurrection of Jesus, we have no reason to celebrate, or hope.  When it comes down to it you either believe in the resurrection or you do not.

All these questions have the same answer; find the common thread:

·      What is it that gives a widow courage as she stands beside a fresh grave?

·      What is the ultimate hope of the cripple, the amputee, the abused?

·      How can the parents of brain-damaged or physically handicapped children keep from living their entire lives totally and completely depressed?

·      Why would anyone who is blind or deaf or paralyzed be encouraged when they think of the life beyond?

·      How can we see past the martyrdom of some helpless hostage?

·      When a family receives the tragic news that a little daughter was found dead or their dad was killed in a plane crash or a son overdosed on drugs, what single truth becomes their whole focus?

·      What is the final answer to pain, mourning, senility, insanity, terminal diseases, sudden calamities, and fatal accidents?

By now you have guessed correctly; it’s the hope of bodily resurrection.  That is the Father’s will.  And Jesus came to make that possible.

For You Today

When you place your faith (all your hope, trust and entire existence) in Jesus Christ, that hope extends into the endless eternity beyond time and space; you are part of a family God will build and bless forever. 

This world will pass away, replaced by the New Jerusalem, New Heavens, and New Earth.  Like the Apostle Paul wrote[3], our faith is in the resurrection of Christ as our sure hope; He died, but He rose again…and said we would too!  He is the bread of LIFE!

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

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] Hebrews 13:5

[3] 1 Corinthians 15:19

When HOPE Becomes a Distant Memory

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Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Then Job spoke again:  “If my misery could be weighed and my troubles be put on the scales, they would outweigh all the sands of the sea.  That is why I spoke impulsively.  For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows.  Their poison infects my spirit.  God’s terrors are lined up against me.  Don’t I have a right to complain?  Don’t wild donkeys bray when they find no grass, and oxen bellow when they have no food?  Don’t people complain about unsalted food?  Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg?  My appetite disappears when I look at it; I gag at the thought of eating it!  “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my desire.  I wish he would crush me.  I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me.  At least I can take comfort in this:  Despite the pain, I have not denied the words of the Holy One.  But I don’t have the strength to endure.  I have nothing to live for.  Do I have the strength of a stone?  Is my body made of bronze?  No, I am utterly helpless, without any chance of success.  Job 6:1-13 ^(NLT)

Not many people want the experience, let alone the responsibility of looking into the face of the kind of suffering which robs people of all hope.  As a pastor I have visited people in that condition.  You would think that is reserved for nursing homes or prison cells, or hospice houses only.  But you find the absence of hope in places you’d think it should flourish:  board rooms, school rooms, saloons, and sanctuaries; in these places and more there are people like Job, sitting in the pain of their boils and memories.

What do you do when faith in the future hits rock bottom?  The simple answer you hear all the time in church is:  Turn to God; He won’t let you down.  But what if you’ve already turned to God and you’re still suffering physically, emotionally, intellectually, and in every other imaginable way?  This was Job’s condition.  He’d never denied God, yet there were those boils covering his body, oozing the life from him, painful on his bed no matter which way he turned.  There was his wife, whispering the euthanasia option to end his pain.  There were his friends trying to sweat a confession out of Job, wearing him down with argument and rationale as to how he must have sinned to get God this mad at him; all this company, but no comfort.  And there particularly was the indelible memory of his houseful of children, all killed in the collapse of a building. 

The one thing Job would have given every final ounce of mortal strength in his body to hear was totally absent.  The poor, suffering shell of a man wanted only a simple reassurance from heaven that his life was not in vain; he wanted God.  Job wanted God to speak into his life a word of assurance.  He wanted to know there was hope for him.

The Good News is that did happen…and more!  The end of the story is that Job was comforted by God for all the stuff life did to him.  In fact, on balance, the end of his life was better than all previous years by quite a margin.

So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning.  Job 42:12^(NLT)

But the best part of that Good news is Job got the one thing he couldn’t hope without; Job got the hand of God to massage his spiritual heart back to hope.  Like the lady says in the back surgery commercial:  Job could live again!

For You Today

Is your “hope tank” running kind of low? 

Job thought his was empty…but he turned to the only real hope that exists, the Lord God, who also said:  I will never leave or forsake you.^{(Hebrews 13:5)}

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

Watch Devotion:  VIDEO

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[1] Title Image Courtesy of Pixabay.com